Christopher Stophel Simmerman was a pioneer and soldier of the American Revolutionary War who enlisted in Montgomery County and served in the companies of Captain Findlay and Captain James Kent. The first court held for Wythe County in the town of Wytheville met at his home on June 22, 1790. Simmerman gave ninety acres of land of his own free will, and John Davis, a frontiersman and large landowner whose property adjoined Simmerman’s, gave ten acres to establish a town first known as Evansham. They conveyed all their rights and title to one hundred acres on the south side of the Great Road, including a certain large spring, while Simmerman reserved enough land to include his home, kitchen, and barn. An act establishing a town in Wythe County was passed by the General Assembly on October 29, 1792, and commissioners were appointed by the court to run surveys, lay off lots with convenient streets for public and private buildings, and prepare plans for a courthouse and a prison.