County of Westmoreland be as follows, viz.: from Machoactoke River, where Mr. Cole lives, and so upwards to the falls of the great river Pawtomake, above Nescostines towne." Nescostines towne referred to was probably a settlement of Indians at the place now known as "Anacostia," on the Eastern Branch, now in the District of Columbia. Westmoreland County under this Act extended to "the falls of the Potomac," which would include the territory now comprising the counties of King George, Stafford, Prince William, Fairfax and Alexandria. King George County, formed in 1720, from Richmond County, named in honor of King George I. These five counties are formed within a peninsula, the southern and eastern boundaries being the mouths of the Rappahannock, and Potomac rivers. Many persons include the County of Stafford in the present "Northern Neck of Virginia." To include this county would bring the Northern Neck opposite to the City of Fredericksburg, and beyond it to include the limits of the whole county. The city of Fredericksburg is in Spotsylvania County, and lies on the southern banks of the Rappahannock, at the "falls" of that river-the head of tidewater of that stream. The original "Northern Neck of Virginia" distinguishes this peninsula as being once the seat of the largest individual land holdings ever in America. In 1661, Charles II, of England made a grant of land in America to Lord Hopton. and others, which included: "All that entire tract, territory and parcel of land, lying and being in America, and bounded by and within the headwaters of the rivers Tappahannock alias Rappahannock, and Quiriough alias Potomac rivers, the course of the said rivers as they are commonly called and known by the inhabitants, and description of their parts and Chesapeake Bay." This was sold by the original patentees to Lord Culpeper in 1683, and later was confirmed to him by letters patent in the fourth year of the reign of James II, of England. The elder-Thomas 5th-Lord Fairfax, married the only daughter of Lord Culpeper. These lands descended to the son by this marriage-Lord Thomas Fairfax, Sixth Baron of Cambridge. He came to Virginia in 1739 to look after this estate. This immense tract included the territory now comprising the counties of Lancaster, Northumberland, Richmond, Westmoreland, King George, Stafford, Prince William, Fauquier, Fairfax, Loudon, Culpeper, Clarke, Madison, Page, Shenandoah and Frederick, in the present limits of the State of Virginia, and Hardy, Hampshire, Morgan, Berkeley and Jefferson, now within the State of West Virginia; the whole estate comprising nearly 6,000,000 acres. It was said that the first grant was only intended to include the territory between the Rappahannock and Potomac rivers east of the Blue Ridge Mountains. When Fairfax discovered that the Potomac River headed in the Alleghany Mountains he went to England and instituted his petition in the Court of the Kings Bench for extending his grant into the Alleghany Mountains, so as to include the territory now composing the counties of Page, Shenandoah, and Frederick, in Virginia, and Hardy, Hampshire, Morgan, Berkeley, and Jefferson, now in West Virginia. A compromise was effected between Fairfax and the Crown, in which it was stipulated that the holders of lands, under what then were called "Kings grants," were to be quieted in their right of possession. Fairfax, under certain pretexts took it upon himself to grant away large quantities of these Crown granted lands to individuals other than those occupying or claiming them under the Crown grants, and thereby produced numerous lawsuits. His title was disputed on every hand. The northern boundary was disputed by the Maryland proprietary, and his eastern and southern boundaries were disputed by many settlers upon it. On the Maryland side the question was which of the two head streams of the Potomac was intended to be the northern boundary of Lord Culpeper's purchase in 1683. In Virginia the dispute was concerning the grants to settlers east of the Alleghanies, and also as to which of the two head streams of the Rappahannock was the Fairfax limits: "The Conway" (confluent of the Rapidan), or the Rappahannock, between these being all the land now comprised by the counties of Culpeper, Madison and Rappahannock. On a petition of Lord Fairfax, the King appointed a "Commission" for running out and marking the limits of his patent. The three Commissioners for the Crown were Colonel William Byrd, of Westover, John Robinson, and John Grymes. Lord Fairfax appointed William Fairfax, William Beverley and Charles Carter. In 1746 an expedition of forty gentlemen, amongst whom were Beverley, Lomax, Lewis, Lightfoot, Hedgman, Peter Jefferson, and young George Washington, started from Fredericksburg to survey and define the boundaries of "The Northern Neck of Virginia." This expedition laid the "Fairfax Stone" at the head spring of the Potomac. Lord Fairfax opened an office in the county-Fairfax-which was named in his honor. There he granted out his lands until a few years thereafter when he removed to Frederick County, and settled at a place he called "Greenway Court," twelve or fourteen miles southeast of Winchester, where he led a sort of hermit life, and kept his office during the remainder of his life. He died December 12, 1781, soon after hearing of the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. It is said that as soon as he learned of the capture of Cornwallis and his army, he called his servant to assist him to bed, observing: "It is time for me to die," and he never again left his bed until he was consigned to his tomb. His body was deposited under the Communion table in the then Episcopal church in Winchester. The lands were granted by Fairfax in fee simple to his Log Cabin, Corn Houses and Barns, on Wakefield Estate, William H. Washington, a distant relative of George Washington, standing on pile of corn cobs, |