Evening star., 1935-02-10
Historic BelrOir as Fort Name
Is Requested by Roosevelt
Fort Humphreys Change ,could Pre-
serre Glory of Fairfax Estate, Linked
With Name of Gen. Washington.

In calling upon the War Depart
ment to change the name of Fort
! Humphreys, Va. to Fort Belvoir
| President Roosevelt yesterday acted
| to perpetuate the memory of one OF
| the finest of the old Virginia Colonial
estates, the home of William Fairfax
which played a large part III the early
life of George Washington.
The President made known his wish
that the name of Belvoir might be
preserved to Secretary of War Dern,
who is expected within few days 20
issue the necessary order changing
the name of the reservation, which
is the home of the Army Engineer
School.
The name of Maj Gen. A. A.
Humphreys, who was chief of the
Corps of Engineers of the Army from
1866 to 1872, after being removed
from the nearby Virginia post. will
be given to some other Army reserva-
ton, not yet decided upon, Secretary
Dern said.
Historic Belvoir in its heyday was
known throughout Virginia as one Of
the greatest of the many notable es-
tates along the Potomc River. It
was at Belvoir that George Washing
ton began his career as a surveyor and
BelVoir was the first of the lands sur
veyed by the young Virginian. For
many years the fame. of Belvoir
eclipsed that of Mount Vernon, one
of its closest neighbors.
Nearly 5000 Acres.
Thomas, Lord Fairfax, when he be-
came the sixth Lord Fairfax, sent his
cousin, Sir William, son of Henry
Fairfax, to take charge of his Virginia
estates, and William established his
home at Belvoir. The Belvoir estate
comprised long peninsula of nearly
5000 acres, now the site of Fort Hum
phreys, on the west side of Dogue
Creek. The water front of the estate,
it was recorded, measures nearly 10
miles, but the creeks on both f1anks
made it possible to close the entire
acreage with little more than a mile
of fence, along the west side.
Here William Fairfax built Belvoir,
about 1874. 1t was great house in
those days and it stood on high
ground commanding the Potomac
River for miles and the surrounding
country.
When Thomas, Lord Fairfax came
to Virginia for the second time, in
1745, to take over personal super
vision of his enormous holdings of
more than 5,250,000 acres, compris-
ing nearly one-fourth of the Com
monwealth of Virginia, he lived for a
number of years with Sir William at
Belvoir.
Here. in 1748. Lord Fairfax made
the acquaintance of George Washing
ton, then a youth of 16 years. 1t was
at Belvoir that young George came
under the influence of "a polished
English household" and those days
played large part in the formation
of his character. it is said.
Start of Profession.
Lord Fairfax. impressed with the
capabilities of the boy, persuaded him
to undertake the profession of sur
veyor and set him to work on sur
vey of Belvoir and Mount Vernon and
then employed him to survey his lands
west Of the Blue Ridge.
Whenever he returned to the Poto-
mac, George visited Belvoir and when
Mount Vernon came into his hands
it was Sir William Fairfax who super
viSed much of the work of restoring
Mount Vernon, while Washington was
engaged in the French Indian wars In
the mountains and Ohio.
From the many notes in Washing
toms diaries and his affectionate ref
erences to Belvoir, it is known that a
great part Of his social life as young
man took place at the home of Sir
William. On the death of William
Fairfax, Belvoir was inherited by his
son, George William Fairfax, close
friend of George Washington and his
companion on the surveying trip in
the Shenandoah Valley.
When George william Fairfax went
to England in 1772, George Washing
ton accepted the agency of Belvoir
for him and, when Fairfax decided to