If anyone has access to the Fauquier Co. Tax List for 1800 - 1810, could you please look-up Isaac EUSTACE. I am hoping it will contain the name of his son, Thomas. I would appreciate it very much. Thanks, Velma

In a message dated 11/12/2003 7:55:59 PM Eastern Standard Time, jeanbout@juno.com writes: > Would you or anyone out there know where I could find out > who owned a farm and a house that William Toliver Turner > (WTT) leased? WTT's children, including my great grandmother, > were born in the home of Mrs. Eliza Letitia Steptoe (Clarkson) > Marshall, widow of Jaquelin Ambler Marshall (sources: Birth > certificates obtained from Fauquier County Courthouse)? > The birth certificates record WTT as an overseer and farmer. The > WTT family lived next to Eliza's house (source: census 1860). > Dr. J. A. Marshall died in 1852 and his wife, Eliza in 1868. They lived at "Prospect Hill", one of the Marshall homes given by his father Chief Justice John Marshall. The home is about two miles south of Orlean, VA. The old home burned and was replaced with a modern structure. The farm is now owned by the Doeller family. The Fauquier land records should show any bill of sale or lease to your WTT. Also, the tax records would include any levy on him for personal property. In old southern fashion, my g-grandfather married Eliza's sister Caroline and their son, my grandfather, married Eliza's granddaughter. There are lots of descendants around. Bill Stribling

My brick wall John Wilson in Fauquier Co. Virginia d. 1821 had proven 1 son that went to Kentucky and I believe possibly 2 but can't prove that. His name was John Stretchley Wilson b. 1805 d. 12 Feb 1855 Union Co. KY. Married Harriet Blue of Kentucky. John Stretchley's brother Rawleigh Chinn Wilson was in Kentucky briefly but ended up in White Co. IL which is in the Kentucky border near Union Co. KY. I do not know of any specifically that went to Ohio. However, John Stretchley's children were all born between 1836 and 1849. I only have their initials other than 1st born daughter Lucy who married a Charles J.F. Wilson b. 1827 and they moved to Carmi White Co. IL. Charles' father was Chief Justice William Wilson who served as the Illinois Supreme Court Justice for 24 years. Judge Williams was born in Loudoun Co. Va and lived for a short time in Kentucky before moving to Illinois. He married Mary S. Davidson of Wheeling, Va. They had a son JOHN COOK WILSON, named after Atty. John Cook who Judge Wilson did his apprenticeship under in Virginia. It is said that Judge Wilson's father died young leaving mom and two young boys. Anyone having any information is appreciated. This brings two related Wilson lines together but the connection is broken in Loudoun Co. Virginia........ Thanks. Janean ----- Original Message ----- From: <HMcdon3900@aol.com> To: <Wilson-Network-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, November 13, 2003 10:43 AM Subject: Re: [Wilson-Network] Wilson Chinn Porter Doddridge > Jean, my apologies for not including the state. My James Wilson apparently > lived in Bedford/Campbell County, Virginia after the Rev War. My John C. Wilson > was born in Campbell County, VA in 1796. I have been told that my James > lived in Madison County, VA before the Rev War (this is what caught my interest), > but I have nothing to prove that. I haven't been able to find anything on > James at all except for an article in the book "A Portrait and Biographical > Record of Mercer and Van Wert Counties, Ohio." George C. Wilson, a son of my John > C. lived and owned property in Fayette County, OH, before moving on to Van > Wert County, Ohio, where he was a prominent land and business owner. This is > the source of the info that my John C. arrived in Ross County, OH in December > 1800, and that John C.'s father was James, a Rev War soldier. Different family > members have said that my Wilson family came to Ohio by way of Kentucky, and > that some of the family (brothers of James, maybe) stayed in Kentucky. I > haven't been able to verify this because I don't know the names of John C.'s > siblings, or other family members. > > Thank you, > > Harold McDonald > Cantonment, Florida > > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 >

Virginia estate inventories did not typically identify farms. The inventory was of personal not real property. The exceptions are when slaves, equipment, and/or crops are listed by the names of the farms. This usually applied to the wealthy, who owned multiple properties. To find out approximately where someone lived, start with the tax records--both personal and land lists. That will give you at least a division, either 1/2 or 1/3 of the area. IF you can find church membership records those might further identify a neighborhood where your ancestor lived. Find the man on the census records, who were his neighbors for 20 houses on either side? Identify the large parcel land owners. Can you find where their property was located? Most importantly, "work" the deeds of that area. It's unusual to be able to locate one family in isolation from their neighbors. Ms. Marty Hiatt, CGRS "Document what you find, listen to what you are told, and especially, love and respect your work." John Morris CGRS is a service mark of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, used under license after periodic evaluations by the Board. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Janean Ray" <JRay38@neo.rr.com> To: <VAFAUQUI-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2003 2:10 PM Subject: Re: Land Owners > Bill, I just noticed a name you mentioned - Rawleigh Colston. I have a > Raleigh T. Colston married to Gertrude Powell d/o Humphrey Brooke Powell > Esq. b. 1795. I am looking for Wilson connections within the Powell family > as well as others. I also have a Charles Colston who's wife Rebecca Travers > is the daughter of my 10th great-grandparents who's line eventually gets > down to a Wilson. Wondering what the "T" in his middle name stands for. I > have Travers and Tarpley in my line and Rebecca Travers married John > Taverner. Their daughter Ann Taverner married Benjamin Winn who I bet is > related to Elizabeth Winn Smith that married Lloyd Noland and is the > daughter of Sarah Beveridge, sister to William Beveridge (the > brother-in-law-) mentioned below. > > Now regarding land owners. How does one locate an individual if they didn't > own land. I have a copy of a deed between my 6th great-grandfather John > Wilson and his brother-in-law William Beveridge, stating he was of Fauquier > Co. and the brother-in-law of Middleburg, Loudoun. Deed was in 1800 for > slaves and he died in 1821. I have a copy of the estate inventory account > and no property is mentioned. There appears to be no will. In 1832 his > wife Elizabeth Travers Chinn (Wilson) wrote a letter stating Middleburg but > that could be in Fauquier Co. All children left Middleburg just about the > time of mother's death 1834. Local history in Middleburg of Eugene Scheel > states Rawleigh Chinn (the father) built a house for the marriage of his > daughter Elizabeth to John Wilson in 1796 on Pickering St. This house later > became the property of Benjamin Thompson. The house once belonged to Joseph > Martin and burnt in 1934. They had to have lived somewhere. Janean > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <Bilannstrb@aol.com> > To: <VAFAUQUI-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2003 3:23 PM > Subject: RE: Land Owners > > > > I live in the heart of "The Manor of Leeds", in the portion which > the > > Chief Justice John Marshall owned. I have been interested in the history > of > > the area and will be glad to try to answer your questions. > > > > The book by Josiah Look Dickinson is one of my standby references. > He > > did a good job of compiling the ownership and location of many of the > leases. > > Not an easy job since there is little or no reference in the leases as to > > physical location. I also have an original ledger kept by Charles > Marshall, > > land agent for Denny Martin Fairfax, of the leases in the manor in 1795. > There > > are several other books about the Fairfax Proprietary. > > > > I have an original lease dated 1787, recorded in Fauquier County in > > 1788. On the back, four transfers are documented yet none of them are > recorded. > > In some cases, in the "loose papers" in the court house basement, one > can > > find subsequent owners through chancery or a default settlement. From > what I > > have seen the leases seldom lasted through the three lives. > > > > As for the Marshall family purchase of the vast manors it was a > long > > process. Lord Fairfax died in 1781 and by will "gave the manors of Leeds > and > > Gooney Run to his nephew, the Reverned (sic) Denny Martin, of County Kent, > > England." John Marshall represented Denny Martin in his dealings with > the State > > of Virginia and was negotiating with him for the purchase of his property. > > The sale was agreed upon in 1793 with John Marshall, brother James > Marshall and > > brother-in-law Rawleigh Colston as buyers. In addition, James Marshall > > purchased South Branch Manor and some small lots in Winchester from Denny > Martin > > Fairfax before he died in 1797 when the Virginia estate passed to Gen. > Philip > > Martin of Leeds Castle from whom the sale of Leeds and Gooney Run manors > was > > consumated in 1806.(1) > > > > The Marshalls had a difficult time getting the 14,000 pounds for > the > > 106,382 acres. Rawleigh Colston had one-fourth interest or 26,535 acres > in the > > northern part of Leeds Manor. James and John Marshall sold to another > > brother-in-law, John Ambler, 6,000 acres along the Shenandoah River > adjoining > > Colston, and 4,000 acres along Thumb Run in Fauquier Co..(2) James took > the Gooney > > Manor and a part of the Leeds Manor while John took the balance of Leeds > > Manor. All leases in the purchase were honored by the syndicate and it > took > > years to gain clear title to the property. Very little was sold out of > the > > family for a generation or two. The three principles passed their > holdings to > > their descendants who still own parts of the original. (I own 300 acres > of the > > 4,000 acre tract sold to John Ambler passed down to me through four > generations > > and my sons will be the sixth generation owners.) I can think of six > > original homes of the Marshall families in this area still in good repair > and > > occupied. A number of others burned or fell into ruin. There are > numerous > > descendants of James and John living in northern Fauquier County today. > > > > Bill Stribling > > > > (1) Dickenson's "The Fairfax Proprietary", p. 17-21 > > (2) ibid. p. 32 > > > > > > > > > > ==== VAFAUQUI Mailing List ==== > > Visit the Fauquier County USGenWeb Home Page! > > http://www.rootsweb.com/~vafauqui/fqva.htm > > Be sure to bookmark it!!! > > > > ______________________________

Thanks for the good explanation of land practices in early Virginia. E.W.Wallace

Found this link in Madison Co. Va website. Pass on to other lists you may be subscribed to. Janean http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/repehtml/repecap.html

Ah, yes - the McLaren-Lake-Grubbs leases. I remember that, since McLaren is in my Adams line. Had other fish to fry, though, so I haven't done anything on that. Any questions you have are fine, but I'm not sure I can help you much more than what I put in that "brief". Marty is the better one to clear the fog in that area. OK, Marty, so clue us in...!! -Nancy -----Original Message----- From: joslake@attglobal.net [mailto:joslake@attglobal.net] Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2003 2:24 AM To: 71561.634@compuserve.com; VAFAUQUI-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: 1815 Land Owners Nancy ..... thanks much for the excellent discussion (& a whole "bunch" of typing) of the VA Land matter under discussion the last two days. It gave me background and info that I should have had for the past 15 years. I sorta' had an intimation of a few of your points, but had not figured out the logical title tracing procedure which you outlined. I have kept coming back to those 1787 Massie leases (by Vincent Lake, Benage Grubbs and Archibald McLaren, witnessed each others leases, all signed on same date) but never making further progress (McLaren stayed in Fauquier Co c1800; Grubbs bought land "on the slope of Moores Mtn," in Culpeper c1800; Lake, who moved to now Rappahannock near Chesters Gap, never owned land that I have found altho he lived in Fauquier Co., formed 1759, from c1754). In any event I really enjoyed your solid material, as well as the whole discussion. I'll re-read tomorrow and perhaps have a question or two, if you will be so kind. Thanks very much. Joe Lake ----- Original Message ----- From: "Nancy Upshaw" <71561.634@compuserve.com> To: "'Joseph E. Lake'" <joslake@attglobal.net>; <VAFAUQUI-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2003 9:28 PM Subject: RE: 1815 Land Owners Joe, I think this forum is a great place to have this discussion. It is a more complicated subject than appears on the surface, but is one that needs to be understood better by all of us if we are to successfully find and analyze the records pertainig to these properties. My ancestor family which received a 3-life lease from Denny Fairfax in 1792 (actually recorded in a Frederick County deed book) never left the land until about 1942. I'm still not exactly sure how the transition from lease to fee simple occurred, but some research I did tonight gives some clues.

The first I learned about these kinds of leases based on the landholder's life or lives was in a lecture given by a professional Salt Lake City genealogist on landholding in Scotland--leases for three lives, for example. I have not memorized all this but generally in my large genealogical library, I head for the reference books to see what I can learn. The Oxford Dictionary and the Encyclopedia Brittanica (old ones at least) sometimes give this information. Black's Law Dictionary is another good source for real estate terms. Possibly there is something on the internet to guide you. On a trip long ago, I remember seeing a big sign in Dublin, Ireland, something about liver. I giggled to myself until I remembered the lecture on Scottish landholding and thought, Oh, yes, liver has something to do with the insurance the company was advertising. If you cannot find material about these *leases for three lives* and *the longest liver,* ask your public librarian to help you find some material on the holding of land in Scotland. Or--call early in the morning, depending on your time zone, to the British desk at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City and ask if there is a specialist on duty who knows about land-holding in Scotland. Just a tip! In genealogy, you don't need to know all the answers. What you need to do is try to find out WHO or WHAT may give you some guidelines. The Source, the Redbook, Hone's book (some critical of this) on Land and Property, etc. may give you enough guidelines to understand all this. If you live in Virginia, a call to the reference desk for genealogy may help solve your problem. E.W.Wallace a hugger of reference books (and increasingly google.com)

Bill, I just noticed a name you mentioned - Rawleigh Colston. I have a Raleigh T. Colston married to Gertrude Powell d/o Humphrey Brooke Powell Esq. b. 1795. I am looking for Wilson connections within the Powell family as well as others. I also have a Charles Colston who's wife Rebecca Travers is the daughter of my 10th great-grandparents who's line eventually gets down to a Wilson. Wondering what the "T" in his middle name stands for. I have Travers and Tarpley in my line and Rebecca Travers married John Taverner. Their daughter Ann Taverner married Benjamin Winn who I bet is related to Elizabeth Winn Smith that married Lloyd Noland and is the daughter of Sarah Beveridge, sister to William Beveridge (the brother-in-law-) mentioned below. Now regarding land owners. How does one locate an individual if they didn't own land. I have a copy of a deed between my 6th great-grandfather John Wilson and his brother-in-law William Beveridge, stating he was of Fauquier Co. and the brother-in-law of Middleburg, Loudoun. Deed was in 1800 for slaves and he died in 1821. I have a copy of the estate inventory account and no property is mentioned. There appears to be no will. In 1832 his wife Elizabeth Travers Chinn (Wilson) wrote a letter stating Middleburg but that could be in Fauquier Co. All children left Middleburg just about the time of mother's death 1834. Local history in Middleburg of Eugene Scheel states Rawleigh Chinn (the father) built a house for the marriage of his daughter Elizabeth to John Wilson in 1796 on Pickering St. This house later became the property of Benjamin Thompson. The house once belonged to Joseph Martin and burnt in 1934. They had to have lived somewhere. Janean ----- Original Message ----- From: <Bilannstrb@aol.com> To: <VAFAUQUI-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2003 3:23 PM Subject: RE: Land Owners > I live in the heart of "The Manor of Leeds", in the portion which the > Chief Justice John Marshall owned. I have been interested in the history of > the area and will be glad to try to answer your questions. > > The book by Josiah Look Dickinson is one of my standby references. He > did a good job of compiling the ownership and location of many of the leases. > Not an easy job since there is little or no reference in the leases as to > physical location. I also have an original ledger kept by Charles Marshall, > land agent for Denny Martin Fairfax, of the leases in the manor in 1795. There > are several other books about the Fairfax Proprietary. > > I have an original lease dated 1787, recorded in Fauquier County in > 1788. On the back, four transfers are documented yet none of them are recorded. > In some cases, in the "loose papers" in the court house basement, one can > find subsequent owners through chancery or a default settlement. From what I > have seen the leases seldom lasted through the three lives. > > As for the Marshall family purchase of the vast manors it was a long > process. Lord Fairfax died in 1781 and by will "gave the manors of Leeds and > Gooney Run to his nephew, the Reverned (sic) Denny Martin, of County Kent, > England." John Marshall represented Denny Martin in his dealings with the State > of Virginia and was negotiating with him for the purchase of his property. > The sale was agreed upon in 1793 with John Marshall, brother James Marshall and > brother-in-law Rawleigh Colston as buyers. In addition, James Marshall > purchased South Branch Manor and some small lots in Winchester from Denny Martin > Fairfax before he died in 1797 when the Virginia estate passed to Gen. Philip > Martin of Leeds Castle from whom the sale of Leeds and Gooney Run manors was > consumated in 1806.(1) > > The Marshalls had a difficult time getting the 14,000 pounds for the > 106,382 acres. Rawleigh Colston had one-fourth interest or 26,535 acres in the > northern part of Leeds Manor. James and John Marshall sold to another > brother-in-law, John Ambler, 6,000 acres along the Shenandoah River adjoining > Colston, and 4,000 acres along Thumb Run in Fauquier Co..(2) James took the Gooney > Manor and a part of the Leeds Manor while John took the balance of Leeds > Manor. All leases in the purchase were honored by the syndicate and it took > years to gain clear title to the property. Very little was sold out of the > family for a generation or two. The three principles passed their holdings to > their descendants who still own parts of the original. (I own 300 acres of the > 4,000 acre tract sold to John Ambler passed down to me through four generations > and my sons will be the sixth generation owners.) I can think of six > original homes of the Marshall families in this area still in good repair and > occupied. A number of others burned or fell into ruin. There are numerous > descendants of James and John living in northern Fauquier County today. > > Bill Stribling > > (1) Dickenson's "The Fairfax Proprietary", p. 17-21 > (2) ibid. p. 32 > > > > > ==== VAFAUQUI Mailing List ==== > Visit the Fauquier County USGenWeb Home Page! > http://www.rootsweb.com/~vafauqui/fqva.htm > Be sure to bookmark it!!! >

Bilannstrb@aol.com writes: ----snip---- >. James and John Marshall sold to another > brother-in-law, John Ambler, 6,000 acres along the Shenandoah > River adjoining Colston, and 4,000 acres along Thumb Run in > Fauquier Co..(2) ---snip----are numerous descendants of James > and John living in northern Fauquier County today. Would you or anyone out there know where I could find out who owned a farm and a house that William Toliver Turner (WTT) leased? WTT's children, including my great grandmother, were born in the home of Mrs. Eliza Letitia Steptoe (Clarkson) Marshall, widow of Jaquelin Ambler Marshall (sources: Birth certificates obtained from Fauquier County Courthouse)? The birth certificates record WTT as an overseer and farmer. The WTT family lived next to Eliza's house (source: census 1860). Regards, JeanBout@Juno.Com ________________________________________________________________ The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand! Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER! Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today!

White Post, Virginia County of Clarke National Register Number 66000829 From 1751 to 1781, this was the estate of Thomas Lord Fairfax (1693-1781), the only English peer residing in the Colonies, and the proprietor of a 5 million-acre land grant in Virginia. Fairfax employed George Washington as a surveyor. (source: National Historic Landmarks Program) Greenway Court was approx. 1 mi. south of what is now White Post, Virginia near Rt. 277 in Clarke County, Virginia. More information can be read on site: www.fortedwards.org/fairfax.htm. June

There is a site that I think you would find interesting. It explains history background on Greenway Court/Fairfax. It also has a picture of a historical home for sale in the Greenway Court area. Go to Google.com and type in Greenway Court. It was the second listing for me Greenway Court Hollingbourne, Kent. Photo by Warren Culpepper, October 1999

This might be of interest to you. Type in: http://gen.culpeper.com/places/intl-eng/greenwaycourt.htm June

Mary Haitt & Listers Thank you for the reminder concerning more records that have not been microfilmed. I am still ordering and going over what material I can get here in California via microfilm; however, you are SOooo right because I have found parts of records but not the whole record in most cases. An example that happens to me is that I find the will and not the inventory and appraisal or I find the appraisal and not the inventory. Of course, the sale of a property but not the record the person acquired the property which brings me to a problem that maybe someone can shed light upon. I have found property in Frederick County, VA that is referred to in wills and tax records as "Carter's Lots." They seem to range in size from 150 to 170 acres. I have found two records where there was a lot number mentioned for Frederick Carper who married Mary Shiner described as "leased 150 acres known as Lot #35, Robert Wormley Carter" and William Carper "leased 169 acres from Robert Wormley known as Lot#31" William Carper married Margaret Ritter 20 Mar 1786. The Carpers are known to have lived southeast of Winchester near the Opecqon around the Clark County line. I have found quite a number of descriptions on tax and inventories using a "Carter's Lot" but no lot numbers which brings me to the problem. I have not been able to find anything on Robert Wormley Carter's lots that appear to be leased and appeared to have numbers. I have surfed the Library of VA records, one after the other, and have not found any such description in the record; however, there was very definitely the existence of a number of "Carter's Lots". Since apparently there were numbers assigned to each lot, somewhere there must be a record/list of the lot numbers, lot locations, and lot lessees. Assuming the lots were numbered starting with the number 1, there had to be at least 35 "Carter's Lots" and most likely more. Many of these people had Loudoun, Fauquier, and Shenandoah County connections. Any help or comments would be greatly appreciated and might help with all our questions on the different methods of holding land in this area. Chocy

Hello, I am new to this list and hoping someone can help me research some family members who I've just learned lived there. Specifically, I would like to find the burial place of MARSHALL K. ROYSTON and his wife MARTHA ROYSTON. I do not have death dates for either one, but I know Marshall, age 64, was a tailor in Fauquier County in 1880 and Martha age 67, was living with him along with their daughter Annie or Anna H. Royston, age 39. So they died after 1880. If someone has the books FAUQUIER CO. VA TOMBSTONE INSCRIPTIONS, 2 VOLUMES by Nancy Baird, Carol Jordan, & Joseph Scherer, 2000, would you mind seeing if these names are listed in your books? Thank you. Julie --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Protect your identity with Yahoo! Mail AddressGuard

Joe, I think this forum is a great place to have this discussion. It is a more complicated subject than appears on the surface, but is one that needs to be understood better by all of us if we are to successfully find and analyze the records pertainig to these properties. My ancestor family which received a 3-life lease from Denny Fairfax in 1792 (actually recorded in a Frederick County deed book) never left the land until about 1942. I'm still not exactly sure how the transition from lease to fee simple occurred, but some research I did tonight gives some clues. First of all, how to find out who owned land being leased.... I always lean towards the tax records. If your guy (even with a lease) pays the taxes, then follow the tract of land your guy leased both forward and backward at least a decade, maybe more, if you don't find anything sooner. (It depends on how the lease was written as to who paid the taxes.) If the leaseholder paid the taxes, then sometimes I have seen something like, "Smith, John, lease - George Grant" where George Grant is the owner of the land and John Smith is the tenant. If you know approximately when the lease was written, try to find the same land in the tax records prior to the date of the lease. Somebody had to be paying the tax whether the land was leased or not. At some point the real landowner has to show up. Use the acreage and the watercourse & distance from the courthouse to pinpoint the correct land for each year. You can also try to correlate the land description in the lease (if there is one) to deeds found in the deed books and then trace it to when the land was purchased prior to the date of the lease. This can be difficult to do, but it is possible. Especially if you can first pin it to a current property that the county tax office can identify. Then you do a "title search", basically, following Grantee/Grantor correlations all the way back to whoever buys the land before your guy leases it. The leases in Leeds Manor made in the 1790's were the last ones made by Fairfax, and according to at least one source (Va. Land Grants by Fairfax Harrison), the 3-lives lease was used the MOST during Denny's tenure. Most of the leases early on were 21-year leases and had to be renewed at the end of the term. Three-life leases were good until the last person of the three named in the lease died, or until the rents were not paid for two years running (Fairfax, at least) or some other major infraction occurred. At the death of the third life, the land reverted to the Proprietor/owner. If one of the persons who are the three lives died very prematurely (such as a young child), it's possible that some negotiation went on to amend the lease to add a new person on. Also, the rights to a lease (to the end of term) could be sold (assigned), with approval from the proprietor, and in essence this was a land sale, but it would not have been recorded anywhere but the proprietor's office (unless after 1785), because technically this was not in the realm of regular government authority. After 1785 you will find assignments (sales) of the remaining lease terms from the current leaseholder to a "buyer" in the deed books. In the book The Fairfax Proprietary (Josiah Look Dickenson), he notes that 17 October 1785, the Va Legislature passed an act that was the first one not considered a violation of the Jay Treaty: "An act for safekeeping the land papers of the Northern Neck, etc." This act provided for the transfer of all Northern Neck land records to the Virginia Land Office. And "landholders within said district of the Northern Neck shall forever hereafter be exonerated and discharged from composition and quit-rents, any law, usage, or custom to the contrary notwithstanding." When this was enacted, Fairfasx brought suit, claiming rights to the manors and all unallocated waste lands, and hired John Marshall. John Marshall facilitated a compromise and then proceeded to pacify the government's fear of aliens owning property by putting together the syndicate that purchased the Manors Fairfax retained. (Just for the record, the Fairfax Manors were Leeds, South Branch, Gooney Run, Great Falls, Greenway Court, and Swan Ponds.) Any other land that had been granted or leased out through the proprietorship was simply "appropriated" by Virginia after 1785. Also, rights to all "waste" or unappropriated land within the Northern Neck was relinquished to Virginia and then the Governor (Patrick Henry at the time) started making grants. (book, Fauquier County 1759-1959) (Dickenson again) NN Land book S shows the last *grant* by Denny Fairfax 3 April 1780. The Gov. of VA made his first grant 15 Nov 1786. However, the Manor land records were retained by Fairfax until they were turned over to the Marshalls and the Marshall syndicate in 1793, so within the Manors, Denny Fairfax still controlled the land allocation until 1793. On p.26 of The Fairfax Proprietary, Dickenson says, "in the fullness of time, when the land was for sale instead of for rent, many of them bought the 'land where he now lives' and became landowners." I assume this would be from the Marshalls. I'm not sure how the state handled its side of the leases on non-Manor lands.(Don't forget there were people other than Fairfax, who owned their land outright, to whom grants had been made and who leased it out.) Dickinson refers to Fauquier County Land Causes, Book 2, p. 297 which says that a special reservation protected the rights of the tenants in their leases from both Lord Fairfax and Denny Martin Fairfax. He goes on to claim that the evidence is that the leases for three lives *were* honored until the last life ended. I assume that after that, the land then went up for sale by the Marshalls/Colston, or they appropriated the land for themselves. Again, what the state of VA did with the leases on its appropriated land, is not clear. The Marshall *syndicate* (including Colston) as I understand it, bought only the Manor of Leeds and some surrounding properties, 160,382 acres in three large tracts. Raleigh Colston got the northern end of the Manor, which is where my family's land is. In the "Rawleigh Colston Division" estate records in Fauquier (he d. 1823), the plat shows Mary Strother on her little piece of mountain land. It doesn't say whether she's leasing or owns it, but I do know she was paying taxes on it during that time until she died, at which time it passed to her grandson John. The other Manor lands (except Greenway Court) were also purchased by Marshalls, but not the *syndicate*, if the sources I'm reading are correct. A good web site that gives some interesting details of the Fairfax-Marshall-VA agreements and transactions is: http://www.wvculture.org/history/journal_wvh/wvh40-2.html A West Virginia history page. According to the Winchester Star (http://www.winchesterstar.com/TheWinchesterStar/030616/Area_historic.asp) Greenway Court was disposed of in a slightly different manner.... My guess is that somewhere there is supposed to be a deed from the Marshalls (or Raleigh Colston) to any lease holders who wished to purchase their leased land, assuming that particular tract was in a Manor and offered for sale; or their land fell in non-Manor lands turned over to the state; or, they skipped town, refusing to pay for land they had lived on for so many years; or they were subscribers of the Free State philosophy, in which case, who knows? -Nancy -----Original Message----- From: Joseph E. Lake [mailto:joslake@attglobal.net] Sent: Monday, November 10, 2003 10:57 PM To: VAFAUQUI-L@rootsweb.com Subject: 1815 Land Owners I have very small knowledge of the matter (as you will discover) but is it possible that land owners were still using "3 Lives Leases" as late as 1815 ? I don't know if such leases were susceptible to being passed to a new owner via a Will, but they certainly contemplated control remaining with one of the three lessees named in the lease (generally the primary lessee, his spouse and oldest male child) if the other two died. I'd never heard of the action by the Marshalls, but I recall reading some time ago that during several periods of economic hardship (which periods fell approx between the close of the Revolution and 1800, to the best of my knowledge) that lessees walked away from those leases in droves. I have a direct surname ancestor who must have walked away from such a lease, made in 1787 with Thomas Massie, in the Linden area on Goose Creek which I think would have been within the Fairfax proprietary. I have photo copy of the orig lease, but have never found info indicating that it might have been terminated "legally" (and the ancestor was in Culpeper Co, now Rappahannock, by c1800). If someone knows of or discovers an informed discussion of this matter in this period, I'd certainly appreciate having the title, location etc. posted on the list. I find it very interesting.

Nancy ..... thanks much for the excellent discussion (& a whole "bunch" of typing) of the VA Land matter under discussion the last two days. It gave me background and info that I should have had for the past 15 years. I sorta' had an intimation of a few of your points, but had not figured out the logical title tracing procedure which you outlined. I have kept coming back to those 1787 Massie leases (by Vincent Lake, Benage Grubbs and Archibald McLaren, witnessed each others leases, all signed on same date) but never making further progress (McLaren stayed in Fauquier Co c1800; Grubbs bought land "on the slope of Moores Mtn," in Culpeper c1800; Lake, who moved to now Rappahannock near Chesters Gap, never owned land that I have found altho he lived in Fauquier Co., formed 1759, from c1754). In any event I really enjoyed your solid material, as well as the whole discussion. I'll re-read tomorrow and perhaps have a question or two, if you will be so kind. Thanks very much. Joe Lake ----- Original Message ----- From: "Nancy Upshaw" <71561.634@compuserve.com> To: "'Joseph E. Lake'" <joslake@attglobal.net>; <VAFAUQUI-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2003 9:28 PM Subject: RE: 1815 Land Owners Joe, I think this forum is a great place to have this discussion. It is a more complicated subject than appears on the surface, but is one that needs to be understood better by all of us if we are to successfully find and analyze the records pertainig to these properties. My ancestor family which received a 3-life lease from Denny Fairfax in 1792 (actually recorded in a Frederick County deed book) never left the land until about 1942. I'm still not exactly sure how the transition from lease to fee simple occurred, but some research I did tonight gives some clues.

I received this from another list and thought it interesting... Since this year was the 100th anniversary of Harley Davidson motorcycles, here are some statistics from 1903 I found in one of the publicatons we receive: The average life expectancy was 47 years of age. Only 14% of the U.S. had a bathtub, and only 8% had a telephone. A three minute call from Denver to New York City cost $11. There were only 8,000 cars in the U.S. and only 144 miles of paved roads. The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph. Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa and Tennessee were each more heavily populated than California. With a mere 1.4 million residents, California was the 21st most populated state in the Union. The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower. The average wage in the U.S. was 22 cents an hour. The average American worker made between $200 and $400 per year. A competent accountant could expect to earn an annual salary of $2,000, a dentist $2,500, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000. More tha 95% of all births took place at home. And 90% of all physicians had no college education. Instead, they attended medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press and by the government as "substandard." Sugar cost 4 cents a pound, eggs were 14 cents a dozen and coffee cost 15 cents a pound. Most women only washed their hair once a month and used borax or egg yolks for shampoo. The five leading causes of death in the U.S. were, respectively, pneumonia and influenza, tuberculosis, diarrhea, heart disease and stroke. The American flag had 45 stars; Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Hawaii and Alaska hadn't yet been admitted to the Union. The population of Las Vegas was 30. One in 10 adults couldn't read or write, and only 6% of all Americans had graduated high school. Crossword puzzles, canned beer and iced tea hadn't been invented. Coca-Cola contained cocaine. 18% of all U.S. households had at least one full-time servant or domestic. There were only about 230 reported murders in the U.S. Times have changed.... _________________________________________________________________ Concerned that messages may bounce because your Hotmail account is over limit? Get Hotmail Extra Storage! http://join.msn.com/?PAGE=features/es

Lease: To rent or a legal contract in writing whereby a person conveys a portion of his interest in property to another, in consideration of a certain rent or other recompense. Lease and release: A technical way of avoiding English court fees for transferring land. The possessor of the land would lease it for a year to the person who wanted to buy it. The leaseholder would take possession of the land, and then could purchase the remaining rights to the land through a release. The entire process had the same effect as a sale of land. Lease for "lives": In colonial days the customary time for a lease to be in force was twenty-one years, but at times it was for three "lives." This could be for the lives of any three people: a man, his wife and chid, a man and two friends, or any other combination. At the death of the last of the three, the use of the land reverted to the owner. This type of lease usually was not recorded in the local land register. Leasehold: Land which has been rented. Fee: An Estate consisting of property to be given to the owner's heir unless the owner disposes of it before he dies. Fee simple absolute: Compete and unlimited interest in land. Fee simple title: Property which the owner can do with as he pleases. It can be subject to easements, restrictions, etc. Fee tail: property which goes to the owner's legal heirs, if he dies without selling, or otherwise disposing of it. Estate tail: Property which is limited to a person and does not go to his heirs in general, but his lawful issue in a direct line. When a person who owns the property dies without any issue the estate is terminated.

I live in the heart of "The Manor of Leeds", in the portion which the Chief Justice John Marshall owned. I have been interested in the history of the area and will be glad to try to answer your questions. The book by Josiah Look Dickinson is one of my standby references. He did a good job of compiling the ownership and location of many of the leases. Not an easy job since there is little or no reference in the leases as to physical location. I also have an original ledger kept by Charles Marshall, land agent for Denny Martin Fairfax, of the leases in the manor in 1795. There are several other books about the Fairfax Proprietary. I have an original lease dated 1787, recorded in Fauquier County in 1788. On the back, four transfers are documented yet none of them are recorded. In some cases, in the "loose papers" in the court house basement, one can find subsequent owners through chancery or a default settlement. From what I have seen the leases seldom lasted through the three lives. As for the Marshall family purchase of the vast manors it was a long process. Lord Fairfax died in 1781 and by will "gave the manors of Leeds and Gooney Run to his nephew, the Reverned (sic) Denny Martin, of County Kent, England." John Marshall represented Denny Martin in his dealings with the State of Virginia and was negotiating with him for the purchase of his property. The sale was agreed upon in 1793 with John Marshall, brother James Marshall and brother-in-law Rawleigh Colston as buyers. In addition, James Marshall purchased South Branch Manor and some small lots in Winchester from Denny Martin Fairfax before he died in 1797 when the Virginia estate passed to Gen. Philip Martin of Leeds Castle from whom the sale of Leeds and Gooney Run manors was consumated in 1806.(1) The Marshalls had a difficult time getting the 14,000 pounds for the 106,382 acres. Rawleigh Colston had one-fourth interest or 26,535 acres in the northern part of Leeds Manor. James and John Marshall sold to another brother-in-law, John Ambler, 6,000 acres along the Shenandoah River adjoining Colston, and 4,000 acres along Thumb Run in Fauquier Co..(2) James took the Gooney Manor and a part of the Leeds Manor while John took the balance of Leeds Manor. All leases in the purchase were honored by the syndicate and it took years to gain clear title to the property. Very little was sold out of the family for a generation or two. The three principles passed their holdings to their descendants who still own parts of the original. (I own 300 acres of the 4,000 acre tract sold to John Ambler passed down to me through four generations and my sons will be the sixth generation owners.) I can think of six original homes of the Marshall families in this area still in good repair and occupied. A number of others burned or fell into ruin. There are numerous descendants of James and John living in northern Fauquier County today. Bill Stribling (1) Dickenson's "The Fairfax Proprietary", p. 17-21 (2) ibid. p. 32