fflat@worldnet.att.net writes: > I know > from reading the Court Orders that Lord Fairfax took > people to Court in droves, trying to collect rent; How did > these ancestors transcend from debtors to landowners? > My understanding is that the Marshall family, with the help of some wealthy Philadelphia in-laws, bought most of the Fairfax claims from the descendants then living in England. They paid very little for them, which allowed them to sell the leased land to the tenants (their neighbors) for less than full value, and still turn a healthy profit. Others here probably know more about it, than I do -- I'm sure there are books, articles, dissertations, research papers, and whatever about the subject, but I haven't come across a good one yet.