Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1898-01-13
FAIRFAX COUNTY, VIRGINIA
OUTLINES OF EARLY HISTORY.
NO S.


NO S.
In the year 1854, twenty-aight years
after the landing of the English colon
lists st Jamestown, Virginia, the vari-
GUS settlements which had been made
oy chem over the new territory were
0y an act of the General Assembly of
he province organized into eight dis
inct shires or counties, with the follow
,ng Dames and locations The Isle OF
Wight, west of the James river Hen
ricr, Warwick, Elizabeth City, James
City, York, ano Charles City, between
The Jamos and the Rsppahannock riv-
ers, and Northampton on the eastern
shore of Chesapeake bay. In 1913 the
IS dated settlements which had been
made al Chicoen on the shores Of the
wer Potomac were organized into
other county with the meme OF
northumberland It's boundaries were
,etioei as embracing al the territory
ly ng between the Potomac and Rap
.,hannock, and toe head waters there
+ and Which af;erwsrd by inheritance
become the sole possession of Thomas
9th l. ri Fairfax, through royal grant
Of Charles Secopd to his grandfather
Thomas, Lord Gu peper, for Il time prov
uciaI governor, and known as the
Northern Neck of Virginia With the
spid accession Of immigrants from the
oother country the tide of colonization
dvauced steadily up the rivers and
heir tributaries and 1868 was organized
he county of Wes' moreland. From
Nestmoreland in 1878, was formed tt e
county of Stafford. From Stafford in
l730 was formed the county of Prince
William and f,om Prince William in
ZAP was tsblished the county of Fair
ak. The Hon. William Fairfax,
c,usil and the agent of the lord pre-
,retor had come up from Westmoreland
ew years before and founded his home
II Belvoir on a tract of twenty-five hun
red acres lying next below ,he estate
f Mount Vernon and between the trib-
itaries OF Epsew .sson and Accotink.
q e opened here an office for the dispo.
,lion of the F .irfax lands though
PATENTS for large portion OF them had
tlready been issued in tracts of from
thousand totem thousand acres and the
most of them, too, were cleared of tim
,er and under cultivation. The timb r
hen being counted of little vilua, the
trees were girdlHd, and when dead We
led, cut into logs. rolled together IL
great heaps and burned On the ground,
heir ashes serving to still more fertil Z
he already enriched TO luxuriant
rops. These burnings made red the
,kies of the autumns and We're occasions
of night time junilees to the negroes
Who came in to assist from all the sur
rounding plantations, and there was
,ever stint of old Jamaica or kindred
frogs to stimulate to hearty work and
4xuberance of Africa j i'll y. Tobacco
RON the Fl st was the staple product OF
he soil and was deemed by the planter
he sine qua non of his existence, aud
Is production, supply, demand and
,Irice were the all eDgrossipg themes OF
discussion at the cross reads tavern, tue
village store and the court sessions. Tc-
oacco was interviewer with all the wOot
and warp of Virgina's early life. Many
,cts OF the General Assembly were
passed regulating lis culture, and one
prerogaiye of the early vestry of the
established church was TO appoint "pr'
ssioners"-reputabl free tolder- o
make and return enumeration OF all TO
oacco plants in each parish. The sala
ries of church ministers and civil otil-
GERS were paid in the weed aud it, or
notes representing it IL the store
houses. were the currency OF the coun-
trv. The saliry of minister was
$1,000 pounds of it per ennum, the value
OF which varied from $40 to ESQ in
money. A sweet scented parish" was
worth more than an Orinoco par
ish, There was deduction OF eight
Der cent. for cash aud tobacco was
sometimes as low rs six shillings per
hundred weight current money.
Soon after the organization OF the
county the General Assembly ordered
that commodious warehouses should
be- erected at the Occoquan "ferry" and
ON the Potomac 81 Belle Haven just
above the mouth of great Hunting
creek, and that all the tobacco coming
in by the various rolling roads should
be stored there for inspection by the
regularly appointed lnspectators, Ihese
two points were made ports OF entry
and soon became busy marts of traftc,
sending out for many years by ships to
foreign ports cargoes of tobacco and
other valuable products. The town OF
Alexandria was chartered by an act
for erecting a town at Hunting Creek
warehouse, in the county of Fairfax In
l74S The land dedicated for the town
was vested in the Right Honoranle
Thomas Lord Fairfax, the Hon. WI
liam Fai'fax, esq, Georse FairiaA'
Richard Osborne, Lawrence Was1ing'
ton VIM. Ramsay, John Carlyle, John
Paoan Gerard Alexander, Hugh West
and Philip Alexander.
The town of Colchester was incorpo-
rated by an act ofthe General Assembly
in 1853 and laid of in 1854 byi county
Malaria produces Weakness, General Do
h;i;tr R;l;nnsness. Loss of Appetite, lndlges.