The suit was not settled until 1786, when the Hites were awarded title to numerous Fairfax grants in the Lower Shenandoah Valley. During the 1740's and 1750's George Washington surveyed several plats in the Jefferson County area for Thomas Lord Fairfax. Using his surveying fees, he purchased his first piece of land from Robert Rutherford on the Bullskin in present day Jefferson County. Washington's brothers also acquired land here, and the family flourished in the area until the Civil War. More Washington descendants are buried in Jefferson County than in any other place in America.
Several homes built by Washington family members still grace the countryside.
The settlement of the area from the north and east by Germans, English, and Scots-Irish and the arrival from the south of Virginia planters created a cultural mix that persisted for much of the county's history. Planters and farmers, some owning slaves, lived and worked side by side. The slave population was not large and was concentrated mostly on a few plantations. Shepherdstown and Harpers Ferry developed strong economic ties with Baltimore and Hagerstown, Maryland, Martinsburg, and Philadelphia. Charles Town and Smithfield maintained ties with Winchester and points to the south.