Quiet Listers: The Fauquier site has been Inactive as of late! Maybe I can stir up some response with this Question for the group to discuss: Seriously, I know from being a long time subscriber to this List, that we have attorneys, Real Estate Title Researchers, Court House workers, among others, who regularly read these postings. To me, one of the most interesting aspects of Genealogy is to follow the Real Estate. My question stems from several months ago when the book "1815 Directory of Virginia Land and Owners" was the HOT topic. Everyone was asking for a lookup. My ancestor was listed as a land owner in Fauquier. This suprised me, as he is not in the Grantee, or Grantor books.......nor the will books (as an inheritor, But, he did leave a will in 1834). To make this short, I ordered the Real Estate Tax microfilm from Richmond for Fauquier on inter-library loan. My ancestor is there alright; But under column #3 titled Estate, it says lease!! Indeed, for about 80% of the people listed it says either "fee" or "lease." >To me, this does not imply OWNERSHIP.< 1. How can we researchers find out who our ancestors "leased" the land from? Or paid the "fee" to? > 2. If they didn't own the land, how could their "Last Will & Testament" leave their lands to the wife for their lives? There seems to be some type of transition in the 1820- 1830's where the Land moved from the Fairfax's to in- dividual ownership. Where are the records for these purchases, homesteads, squatters rights???? 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? Just Thinking out-loud with you; This has always been a friendly list, So I just thought I would throw out something that has me puzzled. As always, just delete it, ..............if it is not your forte! Thanks for reading, Skip

But under column #3 titled Estate, it says lease!! Indeed, for about 80% of the people listed it says either "fee" or "lease." Could the "fee" mean the ownership of estate? for example a Fee Simple Absolute and a Fee Tail conveys ownership. Today, most property is purchased as FSA or Fee Simple Absolute. -----Original Message----- From: Skip [mailto:fflat@worldnet.att.net] Sent: Monday, November 10, 2003 11:27 PM To: VAFAUQUI-L@rootsweb.com Subject: 1815 Land-Owners Quiet Listers: The Fauquier site has been Inactive as of late! Maybe I can stir up some response with this Question for the group to discuss: Seriously, I know from being a long time subscriber to this List, that we have attorneys, Real Estate Title Researchers, Court House workers, among others, who regularly read these postings. To me, one of the most interesting aspects of Genealogy is to follow the Real Estate. My question stems from several months ago when the book "1815 Directory of Virginia Land and Owners" was the HOT topic. Everyone was asking for a lookup. My ancestor was listed as a land owner in Fauquier. This suprised me, as he is not in the Grantee, or Grantor books.......nor the will books (as an inheritor, But, he did leave a will in 1834). To make this short, I ordered the Real Estate Tax microfilm from Richmond for Fauquier on inter-library loan. My ancestor is there alright; But under column #3 titled Estate, it says lease!! Indeed, for about 80% of the people listed it says either "fee" or "lease." >To me, this does not imply OWNERSHIP.< 1. How can we researchers find out who our ancestors "leased" the land from? Or paid the "fee" to? > 2. If they didn't own the land, how could their "Last Will & Testament" leave their lands to the wife for their lives? There seems to be some type of transition in the 1820- 1830's where the Land moved from the Fairfax's to in- dividual ownership. Where are the records for these purchases, homesteads, squatters rights???? 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? Just Thinking out-loud with you; This has always been a friendly list, So I just thought I would throw out something that has me puzzled. As always, just delete it, ..............if it is not your forte! Thanks for reading, Skip ______________________________

I know just enough to be dangerous in this matter--I am not a lawyer, or a title searcher, but have spent numerous hours reading records. "Fee" means the man owned the property in "fee simple." That translates into "clear title." Lease, could mean either a lease for lives, or something similar to what we would consider a lease in today's terms. Perusing the tax records (other than just 1815) Will tell. Work your way back to 1782, reading the lists, year by year. At some point, in Loudoun (not having used Fauquier's land taxes) the "owner" of a modern-type lease will be named. It all depended on who was responsible for paying the taxes--could have been the lessor, or the lessee. Theirs was a specific agreement between owner and tenant. I'll talk about the Fairfax leases in another message/post--basically they morphed into fee simple after (long after) the Revolution. 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: "Skip" <fflat@worldnet.att.net> To: <VAFAUQUI-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, November 10, 2003 11:27 PM Subject: 1815 Land-Owners > Quiet Listers: > > The Fauquier site has been Inactive as of late! > Maybe I can stir up some response with this > Question for the group to discuss: > > Seriously, I know from being a long time subscriber > to this List, that we have attorneys, Real Estate > Title Researchers, Court House workers, among > others, who regularly read these postings. > > To me, one of the most interesting aspects of Genealogy > is to follow the Real Estate. > My question stems from several months ago when the > book "1815 Directory of Virginia Land and Owners" > was the HOT topic. Everyone was asking for a lookup. > > My ancestor was listed as a land owner in Fauquier. > This suprised me, as he is not in the Grantee, or > Grantor books.......nor the will books (as an inheritor, > But, he did leave a will in 1834). > > To make this short, I ordered the Real Estate Tax > microfilm from Richmond for Fauquier on inter-library > loan. My ancestor is there alright; But under column > #3 titled Estate, it says lease!! Indeed, for about 80% > of the people listed it says either "fee" or "lease." > > >To me, this does not imply OWNERSHIP.< > > 1. How can we researchers find out who our ancestors > "leased" the land from? Or paid the "fee" to? > > > 2. If they didn't own the land, how could their "Last Will & > Testament" leave their lands to the wife for their lives? > > There seems to be some type of transition in the 1820- > 1830's where the Land moved from the Fairfax's to in- > dividual ownership. Where are the records for these > purchases, homesteads, squatters rights???? 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? > > Just Thinking out-loud with you; This has always been > a friendly list, So I just thought I would throw out something > that has me puzzled. > > As always, just delete it, ..............if it is not your forte! > > Thanks for reading, Skip > > ______________________________