Chapter 1

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A HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF FAIRFAX

by

JEANNE JOHNSON RUST

1960

Illustrations by Paul R. Hoffmaster

First Edition Second Printing

Copyright 1960, by Jeanne Johnson Rust All rights reserved

Printed by Moore & Moore, Inc., Washington, D. C.

Designed by William M. Guillet

To My Husband

_and his favorite town--his birthplace_.

MAP LEGEND

1. _Court House_ Pages 29, 33, 57 2. _Duncan's Chapel_ Pages 39, 43 3. _Payne's Church_ Page 19 4. _Store Site_ Pages 25, 31 5. _Ford Building_ Page 25 6. _Rose Bower_ Page 38 7. _Site of Willcoxon Tavern_ Pages 24, 32, 48 8. _Rectory_ Pages 25, 48 9. _Truro Church_ Pages 20, 38, 61 10. _Coomb Cottage_ Page 36 11. _Coomb Cottage Building No. 1_ Page 36 12. _Coomb Cottage Building No. 2_ Page 36 13. _Cooper Carriage House_ Pages 37, 45 14. _Confederate Monument_ Page 64 15. _Site of Ratcliffe Home_ Page 32 16. _Ratcliffe Grave Yard_ Page 32 17. _Earp's Ordinary_ Pages 23, 45 18. _Willard Place_ Page 55 19. _Blenheim_ Page 24 20. _Ratcliffe Race Trace_ Page 32 21. _D'Astre Place_ Page 37 22. _Richardson House_ Page 38 23. _Site of Judge Thomas House_ Page 37 24. _Oliver Building_ Pages 25, 44 25. _Farr Home_ Page 22

CONTENTS

_Introduction_ 6

I. _Jamestown_ 7

II. _Rebellion_ 10

III. _The Gentry and the Convicts_ 14

IV. _The Push Inward_ 17

V. _The Town_ 23

VI. _The Revolutionary War_ 26

VII. _The Court House_ 29

VIII. _Development of the Town_ 36

IX. _The Civil War in Fairfax_ 43

X. _Spies_ 53

XI. _Stealing of Important Papers_ 57

XII. _Reconstruction_ 61

_Bibliography_ 68

_Index_ 69

A HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF FAIRFAX

_When man reaches out into space to explore a new planet, his adventure will be comparable in many ways to that of the colonists who braved the space of water in the early seventeenth century to establish their proprietary rights on a strange continent called "America"._

_These colonists found themselves confronted with the need to feed, house and clothe themselves with unknown and untried materials reaped from a wilderness which hid their enemy, the red man, and housed the dread mosquito which carried the deadly malaria._

_Proof of their danger lies in the history of the Jamestown Colony. Being attacked by red savages upon landing at the malaria infested Jamestown and inexperienced with survival under wilderness conditions, the colonists were reduced to eating their own dead before help finally arrived._

_Strengthened in number and sustained by food and help brought by Lord de la Warr, the colonists eventually set up a government, bought peace with their enemy, and settled down to raise tobacco on the land to which they received proprietary rights. Later they expanded their holdings; developed their resources; improved their government; established churches, schools and colleges; gained their independence from their mother country; survived civil strife; and advanced their civilization._

I. JAMESTOWN

At Jamestown the colonists found that they could not succeed without expanding the Indian's agriculture. They found the savages of the Tidewater section growing corn, muskmelon, pumpkin, watermelon, squash, maypops, gourds and peas in their fertile well-organized gardens. Grapevines were cultivated at the edge of clearings and there were rich harvests of chestnuts, hickory nuts and acorns. Strawberries and other small fruits grew in abundance and mulberry trees stood near every village. Tobacco was grown to itself, in carefully prepared hills arranged in well-organized rows. It developed into a slender plant less than three feet tall and the short, thick leaves, when ripe, were pulled from the stalk and dried before a fire or in the sun. The colonists learned to grow and store the Indian foods for cold winters and they learned to earn their livelihood from the export of the tobacco they grew.

In the northern part of Fairfax County, the Indians grew corn. They fished, mined, and herded buffalo. In order to have sufficient grassland for their "cattle", or buffalo, the Indians deliberately set fire to the forests. They also burned their "old fields" that had once been cultivated for they found that grass grew voluntarily on them if the trees were kept down.

Maxwell in "The Use and Abuse of Forests by Virginia Indians" tells us, "Virginia, between its mountains and the seas was passing through its fiery ordeal and was approaching a crisis at the time the colonists snatched the fagot from the Indian's hand. The tribes were burning everything that would burn and it can be said of the Alleghanies that if the discovery of America had been post-poned five hundred years, Virginia would have been pasture land or desert."

This point is further illustrated by the Manahoac Indian's remark to Captain John Smith that he knew not what lay beyond the Blue Ridge except the sun, "because the woods were not burnt".

Although the settlement by colonists helped to slow down this burning process, it did not stop it altogether. The colonists cleared their land by burning also and when they had exploited one area moved on to another. (They did not burn as large areas as the Indians.) As other freemen came, they pushed upward and inward along the waterways to find unexploited land. This, of course, hastened the development of the Fairfax County area but it left acres of "old fields" going idle for want of a little fertilizer. Many ignorant overseers of large land holdings knew little of fertilization or replenishing the soil and they too, when they had exhausted one part of the proprietorship, moved on to another, which they cleared by burning. They gathered slaves from other plantations to help fell the trees and at night large groups of negroes gathered round the mound of burning trees and raised their voices in the spiritual singing that was characteristic of them. Sometimes the burning lasted for two or three days and laughter, song and wine were plentiful.

Fairfax County itself was gradually being occupied by men from two of the colonies: viz., Maryland and Jamestown. The Maryland colonists were English traders who, for one reason or another, had left their colony (1632) and taken up their residence among friendly tribes along the Virginia shore of the Potomac. The Maryland colonists preceded the Jamestown colonists by a few years.

The Jamestown colonists in their search for unused land had gradually started to move into Fairfax County around 1649. Word had spread that the area farther north (part of which is now known as Fairfax County) was the "land of opportunity" and wealthy land-holders began buying large units of five hundred to three thousand acres for speculation. Among these were the Masons, Draytons, Baxters, Brents, Vincents, Merriweathers, Fitzhughs, Hills, Dudleys and Howsings.

Most of these men were not ready to make their homes here, however, for this area was still infested with unfriendly Indians. Instead they hired indentured slaves who came from England, Scotland, Ireland, France, etc., who worked the land for a few years, earned their freedom and then became land owners in their own right. It stands to reason, therefore, that the society of the Fairfax County area at that time was necessarily crude. These indentures, though vigorous and having outstanding individuals among them, had the reputation of not being given to the amenities. Unfortunately, the men in well established areas south of the indentures did not have a realistic understanding either of the struggles and trials of these men who were pioneering the Indian infested areas farther north. This lack of understanding led to dissension and, in some instances, rebellion.

II. REBELLION

When the wealthy land-owners of the southern part of the colonized area started buying up land in lower Fairfax County for speculation, they did not buy out the title of the Doeg Indians, who occupied this area at that time. (The white man established no relations with the Doeg except to hold him off whenever possible). A series of murders were committed on the frontier by Doegs and in retaliation the colonists mistakenly killed Indians who were not Doegs. By 1675, through a series of hot-headed misunderstandings the Susquehannock Indians became involved and they struck whenever and wherever they could. Captain John Smith described the Susquehannocks as having booming voices, being seven feet tall and treading on the earth with much pride, contempt and disdain.

Although no records were kept at the time, we can assume that many homes were burned, women and children killed, etc. It is a known fact that thirty-six people were killed on the Rappahannock in one raid and that Indian retaliations of one nature or another caused the English settlements that had reached Hunting Creek to recede to Aquia, where they stayed for the next ten years.

Sir William Berkeley in order to help the frontiersmen, unwisely, and at great expense to the people, commanded a fort to be built at the mouth of each head river; e.g., one was built at Colchester on the Occoquan. These forts proved of no value, being made of mud and dirt. Other precarious forts were built in place of the mud ones. These proved useless too and the governor and gentry declined to do more.

Taking matters into their own hands, two hundred men (including men from the Fairfax County area) joined under the leadership of Nathaniel Bacon. They incited the Occannechi to massacre the Susquehannock. Then, having disposed of the worst enemy, they turned on the Occannechi and murdered them. The few Indians who survived stabbed at the colonists occasionally but gradually drifted into Pennsylvania taking the Doegs with them. The frontiersmen and governing gentry, however, still remained at odds and another cleavage began to appear. This one was centered around the men's livelihood--tobacco.

From the first, tobacco had been their staple product. It was Virginia's principal export crop. It was used as money. Salaries of ministers and civil officers were paid with it. Bounty for wolves and Indian scalps were offered in it and necessary equipment was bought with it.

However, due to English navigation laws forbidding the colonists to export to other countries, by 1682 England became over-supplied with tobacco and the planters soon began to feel the effect of this surplus. Growers began to go deeper and deeper into debt.

Major Robert Beverly and William Fitzhugh, young planter-lawyer from this area, concluded along with other prominent men that the solution lay in some type of crop control but England refused. She did not want to lose the two shillings tax on each hogshead of tobacco. She advised the colonists to wait until Thomas, Lord Culpeper, the titular governor of the colony returned to Virginia.

Lord Culpeper had received the titular grant to all of this area and a great deal more besides. He was happy in England, however, and not at all anxious to come to Virginia. He was 47 years old at the time and described as "able, lazy, unscrupulous".

While waiting for his return, the people became desperate. Taking hoes and farm tools, they roamed the countryside pulling up and cutting tobacco plants wherever they went. Some destroyed their own crops. The county militia was called out and plant cutting was brought under control but by this time 30,000 to 50,000 pounds of tobacco had been destroyed.

A few months later the people again became impatient and the government in Jamestown reacted by declaring the destruction of tobacco "open and actual rebellion". It promised a reward of 2000 lbs. of tobacco for information and promised to pardon the "squealer".

Finally, in December, Thomas, Lord Culpeper, departed from London and the arms of his mistress. He was briefed by the Privy Council before he left and as soon as he arrived in Virginia declared the offense to be treason. He had several planters executed as examples and granted amnesty to almost every plant cutter who would take the oath of loyalty to the king. There were approximately twenty men from this general area who took the oath.

In the meantime economic conditions improved for the colonists. The English began dumping their surplus tobacco upon the continent of Europe and the diminished colonial supply found a quick market.

As far as the Indian situation and forts were concerned, Lord Culpeper suggested that a small band of volunteer light horsemen be hired to range the woods of the heads of the rivers to protect the frontiersmen against surprise attack by the Indians. His suggestion was accepted by the Assembly and the "Rangers" were organized.

They were comprised of one lieutenant, eleven soldiers, and two Indians. They were supplied with horses and other necessities to range and scout the areas they served.

Lord Culpeper then proceeded to return to England where he was relieved as governor and his commission was turned over to Lord Howard of Effingham. It is rather ironic that neither Lord Culpeper nor Lord Fairfax, who inherited his estate and for whom the County and Town were named, cared particularly for Virginia. Lord Culpeper came under duress and returned as soon as possible to England. Lord Fairfax came, according to tradition, only after he had been disappointed in love in England and because his holdings demanded his attention. The people struggled on, however, and gradually the wealthy land owners began to move northward to occupy the tracts of land upon which their grandfathers had speculated.

III. THE GENTRY AND THE CONVICTS

George Mason II had moved to Pohick in 1690 but his home was considered such an outpost that runaway slaves were returned there by Indians. In 1746 the fourth George Mason moved to his property on Dogue Neck and built Gunston Hall in 1758. By 1734 Captain Augustine Washington moved his family to his plantation on Little Hunting Creek. His home was destroyed by fire and he moved back to the north bank of the Rappahannock in 1739. In the spring of 1741 William Fairfax built Belvoir. After his daughter married Lawrence Washington in 1743, the original part of Mt. Vernon was finished.

Along with the gentry's influx into the county, however, there was also the influx of convicts. Heretofore this land had, as stated, been occupied mostly by indentured slaves. When these indentures achieved their freedom and became land-holders in their own right, they found they too needed help for harvesting the fields. England, recognizing this need and being anxious to rid herself of an undesirable element, began to export convicts to America. Benjamin Franklin called this "the most cruel insult that perhaps was ever offered by one people to another".

Robert Carter, in his first term as proprietary agent, made numerous grants to the Irish and Hugenots and they took a substantial number of these convicts who were gin fiends, beggars, murderers and arsonists. These cheaper servants after serving seven years became parasitic wanderers, creating hotbeds of undisciplined passion wherever they went.

They received credit for burning many warehouses, private homes, public buildings, churches and finally the Capitol itself in Williamsburg. Arson became epidemic in the Northern Neck.

All legislative efforts to abort this infiltration by convicts were stopped by the "greedy planter" who loved the cheapness of this labor and the practice of importation survived the Revolution.

Consequently, this area was comprised of gentry, indentures, convicts and slaves. Yet the homes of the former two were similar in many ways. Their houses were made of wood; their roofs were made of oak shingles. The walls were made of clapboard sealed on the inside with mortar made of oyster shell lime which gave the room a look of antiquated whiteness. Some houses were constructed of bricks made by the colonists themselves. Most houses consisted of only two rooms and several closets on the ground floor with two prophets chambers above. They built separate houses for the kitchen, for Christian servants, for Negro slaves, and several for curing tobacco. Each household gave the appearance of a small village. There were no stables. Cattle and horses were allowed to run in the woods.

Merchandise was supplied by traveling salesmen from England who took their loaded ships from creek to creek.

Due to the fact that most people lived on widely separated plantations there were very few schools. Sometimes a house was erected on one of the old fields which had outlived its usefulness and there the children of the plantation owner along with those of relatives and neighbors would attend school under the supervision of a tutor hired by the main family. These were called "Old Field Schools". They were made of logs held together by wooden pins. The roof was shingled with hand-hewn wood shingles and a large field stone fireplace was used to heat the room. There were few books available and the tiresome methods of teaching were heavily interspersed with strict discipline. School began at eight o'clock in the morning and a recess was taken at eleven. It opened again at one o'clock and closed at four o'clock in the afternoon.

Public school systems did not make their appearance until 1857. As a rule, the parish halls of the various churches were used to house the students.

The children of the poor learned from their parents the art of working in the fields. The wealthier families sent their eldest son to England to be educated and other sons were educated at the College of William and Mary which had been established in 1693.

Recreation was found in the form of wrestling, playing with quarter staff, cock fighting, and pursuing wild horses. Beverly gives us a lively description of the latter: "There is yet another kind of sport which the young people take great delight in and that is the Hunting of wild Horses which they pursue sometimes with Dogs and sometimes without. You must know that they have many Horses foaled in the Woods of the Uplands that never were in hand and are as shy as any Savage creature. These having no mark upon them belong to him that first takes them. However, the Captor commonly purchases these Horses very dear by spoiling better in the pursuit; in which case he has little to make him amends beside the pleasure of the Chace. And very often this is all he has for it, for the Wild Horses are so swift that tis difficult to catch them; and when they are taken tis odds but their Grease is melted, or else being old, they are so sullen that they can't be tamed." (Due to the capture of tame horses roaming the woods, the sport of capturing wild horses was eventually outlawed.)

IV. THE PUSH INWARD

At this time the northern and central parts of the County were sparsely settled due to the large tracts of land held by a few. King Carter, of course, had assigned most of the land to himself during his second tenure as proprietary agent. However, there were large tracts owned by William Fitzhugh, William Moore, Cadwallader Jones and Lewis Saunders, Jr., which consumed most of the land in and near the Town of Fairfax. Since men could only "seat" themselves on this land, most of the indentures went over into the valley where they could work land that belonged to them. Thus the development of this territory was delayed for years.

However, when King Carter found what seemed to be substantial deposits of copper in the northern part of the county, he and his sons opened up a pre-existing Indian trail which came from Occoquan, past the future site of Payne's church, near the future site of Fairfax Court House, where it veered west and continued towards Chantilly. Ox Road made accessible the area now known as the Town of Fairfax; became a deciding factor in the future placement of the Court House that was to serve this area; and created the original western part of The Little River Turnpike.

As people followed this road inward to seat land, a new parish was set up which was named "Truro" by King Carter. He expected the parish to be a mining district and named it after a borough of Cornwall, England, which was a shipping port for tin and copper ore.

Truro tried to provide meeting places for all and called upon a man by the name of Samuel Littlejohn, who seated land south of the future site of the Town of Fairfax, for help in supplying a place to worship for this particular area. Mr. Littlejohn complied by renting his tobacco barn for regular services.