Misplaced Pages

#359640

39-685: The grant became actual in 1660 when Charles was restored to the English throne. By 1719, these lands had been inherited by Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (1693-1781). By that time the question of the boundaries of the designated lands had also become highly contentious. It was decided in 1746 that a line between the sources of the North Branch of the Potomac and the Rappahannock River (the " Fairfax Line ") would constitute

78-844: A large portion of the Shenandoah and South Branch Potomac valleys , and consisted of approximately 5,282,000 acres (21,380 km ) of land. Struggling to keep up an expensive lifestyle and maintain Leeds Castle, Fairfax relied heavily on the income he derived from the Northern Neck Proprietary, both from the sale of parcels of land to and annual quit-rents from planters who settled in the Northern Neck of Virginia. His affairs in Virginia were handled by Fairfax's resident land agent, Robert Carter I . In

117-623: A profitable operation based on the forced labour of several hundred black slaves . A steadfast Loyalist during the American Revolution , he was largely protected from the loss of his property due to Fairfax's friendship with George Washington . Several places in Northern Virginia and the eastern panhandle of West Virginia are named for him, including Fairfax County, Virginia and the City of Fairfax . Thomas Fairfax

156-606: Is also in Fairfax Station, further upriver from Sandy Run Regional Park, past Bull Run. Lake Braddock Secondary School and Westfield High School , also VASRA members, use the park for rowing. The Occoquan River is bordered by three parks administered by the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority . The three parks are Bull Run, Occoquan, and Fountainhead. In addition to horse riding, trailing cycling, fishing and boating access,

195-497: Is at the town of Occoquan , a reservoir belonging to the Fairfax County Water Authority , which serves as a source of drinking water for parts of Fairfax and Prince William counties. The Occoquan Reservoir stretches from Occoquan to Bull Run. Further upriver is Lake Jackson. The dam that creates Lake Jackson is at Virginia State Route 234 , Dumfries Road, and is a former hydroelectric facility. Today

234-542: The 8th Lord Fairfax of Cameron . Fairfax County, Virginia , and the City of Fairfax, Virginia , are named for Lord Fairfax. Fairfax and Cameron Streets in Alexandria, Virginia , are named for Lord Fairfax. The town's first survey map was made in 1749 by Lord Fairfax's young protégé George Washington. The Fairfax Line and Fairfax Stone both bear Lord Fairfax's name. Lord Fairfax Community College bore his name, but it

273-539: The Blue Ridge Mountains , which was Washington's first employment. Fairfax, a lifelong bachelor, moved to the Shenandoah Valley in 1752. At the suggestion of his nephew Thomas , he settled down in a hunting lodge at Greenway Court . Fairfax and Thomas lived together in a style of liberal hospitality, frequently engaging in fox hunts . He also served as both county lieutenant and justice of

312-554: The Fairfax Stone at the headwaters of the North Branch Potomac River . Returning to North America in 1747, Fairfax first settled at Belvoir , a slave plantation which had been completed by William six years earlier. In the same year, he also set aside land for personal use at Swan Pond Manor . Fairfax also became active in developing his Virginian estates and collecting quit-rents, along with utilising

351-539: The Virginia Scholastic Rowing Association (VASRA). The member schools which call this park their home are Robinson Secondary School , W. T. Woodson High School , Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology , James Madison High School , Fairfax High School , Oakton High School , West Springfield High School , Langley High School , Justice High School , and South County Secondary School . Fountainhead Regional Park

390-616: The forced labour of hundreds of black slaves who worked on his estates. He personally bought and sold slaves and, in 1777, engaged in the "little talked about" activity of "bedding down with a negro wench". Fairfax was the only British peer who resided in the Thirteen Colonies . In 1748, he became acquainted with George Washington , who was distant relative of the Fairfax family. Impressed with Washington's energy and talents, Fairfax employed him to survey his lands west of

429-524: The Assembly as one large county called Northumberland. In 1653, the majority of the northern portion of Northumberland was named Westmoreland County. In 1664, Stafford County was created from the northern portion of Westmoreland. What is now Fairfax was first in Northumberland, then Westmoreland, and from 1664 to 1730, Stafford. In 1730, there was a new procedure in which, to create a new county,

SECTION 10

#1732797266360

468-507: The Assembly would first create a new parish and then a new county whose boundaries were coterminous with those of the parish. In this manner, Hamilton Parish became Prince William County, Truro Parish became Fairfax County, and Cameron Parish developed into Loudoun County. The County of Fairfax was created by legislation introduced in May 1742, effective the following December. It was most likely named for Thomas, sixth Lord Fairfax. The dividing line

507-555: The Occoquan between Alexandria and Richmond during the 18th and 19th centuries. It consisted of three islands and a mill, now submerged under the Occoquan due to higher water levels following damming for flood control, water supply, and power generation. Between c. 1900 and 1976, the Occoquan was frequently called "Occoquan Creek," but a campaign to restore its status as a river was successfully conducted by Rosemary Selecman. The Occoquan has three dams along its length. The first

546-739: The Potomac to its head; this included Major William Mayo and Mr Brookes for the Colony (and King) and Mr Winslow and John Savage for Fairfax. A second party was to explore and map the North Branch of the Rappahannock (Mr Wood, Mr Thomas, Jr) and the final party was to explore and map the South Branches (Rapidan and Conway Rivers) of the Rappahannock (Mr Graeme, Mr Thomas, Sr). All parties consisted of surveyors and commissioners and their works were completed in all three cases. The work of

585-524: The Proprietary came to one man, his son Thomas Colepeper, 2nd Baron Colepeper , who also received a new patent issued by King James II in 1688. Lord Colepeper died the following year. His 5/6th share of the proprietary was inherited by his daughter Catherine Culpeper and her husband Thomas Fairfax, 5th Lord Fairfax of Cameron . While some of the original proprietors' rights had been lost, the collecting of taxes from settlers had been established through

624-531: The Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers as a Proprietary . The extent of the grant was hardly recognized by either the King or the grantees because most of it had never even been mapped. The proprietors thought little of their grant since Charles II, due to political struggles in England, was a king without a kingdom. One of the seven grantees was John Colepeper, 1st Baron Colepeper of Thoresway (1600-1660). Control of

663-572: The dam contains the lake, but has not produced electricity in several decades. There is a third dam up Broad Run from its confluence with Cedar Run; this dam forms Lake Manassas , which is the primary water supply for the city of Manassas . Sandy Run Regional Park is at Fairfax Station and consists of the northeastern arm of the Occoquan Reservoir. The park is used exclusively for the education, practice, and competition of rowing. The high schools who use this park for rowing are members of

702-526: The efforts of their agents in Virginia and through Lord Fairfax himself to ensure that the proprietors received their income from their property. After Lord Fairfax died in January 1710, his son Thomas, the 6th Lord , inherited the title and his five-sixths shares in the Northern Neck. In May, his grandmother died leaving the new Lord Fairfax her one-sixth share. Because he was only sixteen years old at

741-637: The fall of 1732, Fairfax read Carter's obituary in the London monthly The Gentleman's Magazine and was astonished to discover the vast personal wealth Carter had accumulated, which included £10,000 worth of cash, at a time when the governor of Virginia was paid an annual salary of £200. Rather than appoint another Virginian to the position, Fairfax arranged to have his cousin William Fairfax move from Massachusetts to Virginia in 1734 to serve as his resident land agent. Fairfax travelled to Virginia for

780-596: The first time in 1735 to inspect and manage his estates there, remaining in the colony until 1737. In 1738, Fairfax established approximately thirty farms in the Patterson Creek Manor , a 9,000-acre (36 km ) piece of land granted to him by the Crown . The northwestern boundary of the Northern Neck Proprietary, which had been contested by the Privy Council of Great Britain , was marked in 1746 by

819-861: The peace for Frederick County . During the American Revolution , he kept quiet about his avowed Loyalist views, and was protected by his friendship with Washington. The title to his domain, however, was confiscated by the Virginia Act of 1779. Less than two months after Washington's victory at the Siege of Yorktown , Fairfax died in Greenway Court on 9 December 1781. He was buried in the Christ Episcopal Church in Winchester . Lord Fairfax's title descended to his younger brother, Robert Fairfax, 7th Lord Fairfax of Cameron , who

SECTION 20

#1732797266360

858-400: The proprietary and its inhabitants in the seventeenth century. When Lord Fairfax died in 1781 in Virginia, the proprietary effectively ceased to exist. All the land which had been granted by Lord Fairfax remained in the hands of the grantees; the remainder of ungranted land came under the control of the new Commonwealth of Virginia. Prior to 1649, the entire Northern Neck had been designated by

897-494: The proprietary. In 1735 Lord Fairfax came to Virginia to see about a survey to settle the matter. The survey was undertaken in 1736 (see Fairfax Stone ) and the next year Fairfax returned to England to argue his case before the Privy Council. Before leaving, he rode over much of his domain, and set aside for himself a tract of 12,588 acres (50.94 km) near Great Falls, in what was to become Fairfax County. A second survey

936-493: The river for the sport of rowing . The river is 24.7 miles (39.8 km) long, and its watershed covers about 590 square miles (1,528 km ). It is formed by the confluence of Broad Run and Cedar Run in Prince William County; Bull Run , which forms Prince William County's boundary with Loudoun and the northerly part of Fairfax counties, enters it east-southeast of Manassas , as the Occoquan turns to

975-533: The southeast. It reaches the Potomac at Belmont Bay . The Occoquan River is part of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The name Occoquan is derived from a Doeg Algonquian word translated as "at the end of the water". Geographers, foremost Harm de Blij , defined the river as the most apt border between the American North and American South . Wolf Run Shoals was an important crossing point on

1014-511: The state of West Virginia was created during American Civil War, it now marks the junction of Tucker , Grant and Preston Counties and is in Fairfax Stone Historical Monument State Park . Explore Historic Fairfax County Online ! ! Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (22 October 1693 – 9 December 1781)

1053-399: The three groups and the county surveyors lead to the preparation of a map of the Northern Neck in 1736 and 1737. This map shows the courses of the Potomac and Rappahannock and cites latitudes across the map. What the map does not show, however, is a western boundary line for the grant. A line connecting the head springs of the Potomac with those of the Rappahannock had yet to be surveyed. This

1092-418: The time, the affairs of the Proprietary fell to his mother, Lady Catherine Fairfax. When she died in 1719, the sixth Lord Fairfax came to control all six shares of the proprietary. As the Virginia government at Jamestown were losing control over a significant portion of Virginia held by Lord Fairfax, the feud between them was significant. The specific issue at this time was the southern and western boundaries of

1131-483: The two counties stood for 41 years, and then in 1798, the General Assembly of Virginia passed an act that provided a new dividing line, one which has remained to the present day as the boundary between Fairfax and Loudoun Counties. In 1736, three different survey expeditions were organized with all three having representatives of both the Colony of Virginia and of Lord Fairfax. One party was to explore and map

1170-591: The western land was unoccupied by colonists at the time. In 1746 surveyors led by Colonel Peter Jefferson ( Thomas Jefferson 's father) and Thomas Lewis placed the "Fairfax Stone" at the source of the Potomac River, then made an approximately 77-mile line of demarcation known as the " Fairfax Line ", extending south-eastward from that Stone to the source of the Rappahannock River. Because the Potomac River initially runs westward from its source, and

1209-472: The western limit of Lord Fairfax's lands. The unsettled portions of his domain were finally confiscated during the American Revolution by the Virginia Act of 1779 and when he died in 1781 the Proprietary effectively ceased to exist. A portion of this estate, however, was later the subject of the landmark Supreme Court case Martin v. Hunter's Lessee (1816). In September 1649, King Charles II of England granted to seven Englishmen all of Virginia between

Northern Neck Proprietary - Misplaced Pages Continue

1248-682: Was a British peer, military officer and planter. The only member of the British peerage to permanently reside in Britain's North American colonies , Fairfax owned the Northern Neck Proprietary in the Colony of Virginia , where he spent the majority of his life. The proprietary had been granted to Fairfax's ancestor John Colepeper, 1st Baron Colepeper by Charles II of England in 1649. On his Virginian estates, Fairfax developed

1287-591: Was a line up Occoquan River and Bull Run, and from the head of the main branch of Bull Run, by a straight course to Ashby's Gap in the Blue Ridge. The decision was approved by the council and governor, and it became law 19 June 1742. The original Fairfax County only lasted until 1757, when the Virginia House of Burgesses passed an act cutting off from it the County of Loudoun. The dividing line between

1326-722: Was also descended from the 5th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, who died at Leeds Castle in 1793. Since, were it not for the Revolutionary War, his immense domain should also have passed to Robert Fairfax, the latter was awarded £13,758 in 1792, by Act of Parliament for the relief of American Loyalists. A portion of this estate, devised to nephew Denny Martin Fairfax, was later the subject of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Martin v. Hunter's Lessee (1816). His younger cousin, son of his manager William Fairfax and half-brother of George William Fairfax , Rev. Bryan Fairfax, would eventually return to England to assert his claim and become

1365-476: Was born on 22 October 1693 in Leeds Castle , Kent . The castle had been owned by his maternal ancestors since the 1630s. Fairfax was the son of Thomas Fairfax, 5th Lord Fairfax of Cameron and Catherine Colepeper, the daughter of Thomas Colepeper, 2nd Baron Colepeper . He succeeded to his father's Scottish peerage in 1709, and was educated at Oriel College, Oxford between 1710 and 1713. In 1721, Fairfax

1404-631: Was changed to Laurel Ridge Community College in July 2021. The Swan Pond Manor Historic District encompasses land Lord Fairfax set aside in 1747 for his personal use. Occoquan River The Occoquan River is a tributary of the Potomac River in Northern Virginia , where it serves as part of the boundary between Fairfax and Prince William counties. The river is a scenic area, and several local high schools and colleges use

1443-712: Was commissioned into the British Army , serving in the Royal Regiment of Horse Guards until 1733. He was also a contributor to The Spectator , a daily publication founded by Joseph Addison and Richard Steele in 1711 before ceasing publication in the next year. In 1719, Fairfax came into possession of the Northern Neck Proprietary in the British colony of Virginia , which had been granted to Fairfax's maternal ancestor John Colepeper, 1st Baron Colepeper by Charles II of England in 1649. The property included

1482-522: Was conducted with great difficulty in 1746 (the Fairfax Line ) setting a line between the sources of the Potomac and Rappahannock . In 1747, Lord Fairfax came back to Virginia, two years after having won his claim before the Privy Council to the most extensive boundaries for the proprietary in exchange for certain land concessions to the Virginia authorities. Virginia had won political control over

1521-537: Was to be the work of Colonel Peter Jefferson and Thomas Lewis — the " Fairfax Line " party — in 1746 and 1747, which finally settled the disputed claims. John Savage was an 18th-century surveyor who was part of this 1736 expedition. John Savage is the namesake of the Savage River in Maryland . The Fairfax grant extended westward to the boundary with the colony (later state) of Maryland , although much of

#359640