With some new volumes of history and documenting in Fauquier County, I have made a few surprising and helpful discoveries. One must search the parent county of Prince William of which the county of Fauquier was formed in 1759. The county of Fauquier has not changed its shape or boundaries since that time. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Conclusions: It seems that the bulk of the 1st settlers there came in the second half of the 18th century. It was an area at the time which was also under the Proprietorship for the Northern Neck, in Stafford and Richmond counties. Richmond area along the Pappahannock was merged into the area of King George county in 1721. Settlement in Fauquier actually started along the south and east into the southern part of the county along the Rappahannock and its tributaries and later, along the Occoquan with most of the lands having been granted by the Proprietors via their agents by 1750.........one of those patents was the Manor of Leeds which gave the owner, Thomas Lord FARFAX (one of the last Proprietors) direct title to over 120,000 acres..........most of these were in the foothills of the Blue Ridge in northwest Fauquier.. Leases-for=lives given out by Lord Fairfax are said to have began in his Manor in 1753. the end results of the area was the Courthouse village now WARRENTON and by the time the Revolutionary War ended the area extended over the Blue Ridge into the Shenandoah Valley and beyond. This county is a vast delight of records! No burned out courthouses or mass destruction of recordings! While you can't expect to find "exact dates of births, etc" you can find very good and solid records of what I call "life,living,activity"........if you think you might have touched the areas, go here for records and also after that, to Prince William and Prince George. Think about it! __________________ Linda M. Thank lthank@turboisp.com __________________