William Fairfax

“ She was ever a good friend to another ill-used solitary wife, Catherine of Braganza. Marvell had every reason to be proud of his pupil.
Beside the actual inmates of the great house, the whole countryside swarmed with Fairfaxes. At the Rectory of Bolton Percy was the late Lord-General’s uncle, Henry Fairfax, and his two sons, Henry, who succeeded to the title, and the better-known Brian, the biographer of the Duke of Buckingham. At Stenton, four miles off, lived the widow of the gallant Sir William Fairfax, who died, covered with wounds, in 1644 before Montgomery Castle. ”

“ When not at Williamsburg attending the assembly, the young Fairfaxes resided at Belvoir, where Sally acted as hostess for her widowed father-in-law or the bachelor Lord from Greenway Court. This house, after the Palace at Williamsburg, was the center of the social and political life of Virginia. The Fairfaxes were of ancient, noble lineage, with ample fortune, representing the very best in Old World culture. William Fairfax, as President of the Council, was second only in importance to the royal governor, serving as head of the state during the absences of His Excellency. ”

“ It is difficult to reconcile one's self to the idea of the cool and sedate Washington, the great champion of American liberty, a woe-worn lover in his youthful days, "sighing like furnace," and inditing plaintive verses about the groves of Mount Vernon. We are glad of an opportunity, however, of penetrating to his native feelings, and finding that under his studied decorum and reserve he had a heart of flesh throbbing with the warm impulses of human nature.
Being a favorite of Sir William Fairfax, he was now an occasional inmate of Belvoir. ”

“ I can tell you a place like that is something worth while.”
“The Washingtons have always been rich,” had been Joseph Morris’ answer. “And Lawrence Washington lost nothing by marrying William Fairfax’s daughter. Those families own more land than they know what to do with.”
“Old Lord Fairfax was there,” Henry had continued. “He takes a great interest in George Washington. George is learning surveying at school, and Lord Fairfax said he might give him the work of surveying his estate some day.” ”

“ Having his eyes and ears open for all that was improving, George learned many things at Belvoir. He also became acquainted there with an important and at the same time interesting personage—a nobleman of the same name from England, a cousin of William Fairfax, and therefore, since the marriage of George’s step-brother, a sort of relative of his. This Lord Fairfax was a man nearly sixty years old, over six feet tall, gaunt and rawboned, with light gray eyes, sharp features, and an aquiline nose. In England he had distinguished himself equally in the use of the sword and the pen. ”

“ On a mild January morning George and Betty left Mount Vernon for home in a two-wheeled chaise, which Laurence Washington sent as a present to his step-mother. In the box under the seat were packed Betty's white sarcenet silk and George's clothes, including three smart uniforms. The possession of these made George feel several years older than William Fairfax, who started for school the same day. The rapier which Lord Fairfax had given him, and his midshipman's dirk, which he considered his most valuable belongings, were rather conspicuously displayed against the side of the chaise ”

“ Washington's feelings were of a mingled nature. They may be gathered from a letter to his friend and neighbor, George William Fairfax, then in England, in which he lays the blame of this "deplorable affair" on the ministry and their military agents; and concludes with the following words, in which the yearnings of the patriot give affecting solemnity to the implied resolve of the soldier: "Unhappy it is to reflect that a brother's sword has been sheathed in a brother's breast; and that the once happy and peaceful plains of America, are to be either drenched with blood or inhabited by slaves. ”

“ The year 1785 saw the erection of the Alexandria academy and Robert Adam laying the cornerstone.
Like Adam before him John Hough had only a passing interest in the property of George William Fairfax. He disposed of two small lots, one to Benjamin Shreve, a hatter, and one to George Gilpin, the colonel-to-be. He sold the remainder of lots Nos. 56, 57 and 58, fronting on Prince Street to John Harper, a sea captain of Philadelphia, in June 1773 for the munificent sum of £780, with all and every improvement and all houses, buildings, and so on. [Pg 92]
The small parlor, restored. ”

“ After a time the lowlands of the coast region began to fill up and the people were pushing westward, just as they did in Pennsylvania and New York. No man had so great a part in this westward movement as the young surveyor, George Washington. In 1748 he was sixteen years old, a tall, strong lad, full of courage and energy. Lord William Fairfax, a rich English gentleman who had settled in Virginia, had bought great tracts of forest land up the Potomac behind the Blue Ridge mountains, and he was eager to have them surveyed. ”

“ At supper the three young people—George and Betty and William Fairfax—sat together. The conversation was gay and sprightly until the ladies left, when it grew more serious.
"Close up, gentlemen, close up!" cried Laurence Washington, cordially, motioning them to take the seats left vacant by the ladies. George and William Fairfax rose to leave the room then, as boys were not expected to remain on those occasions, but Laurence stopped them.
"Stay, George and William; you are both old enough now to be company for men ”

“ He was a bold rider and an admirable horseman, though he never claimed the merit of being an accomplished fox-hunter. In the height of the season, however, he would be out with the foxhounds two or three times a week, accompanied by his guests at Mount Vernon and the gentlemen of the neighborhood, especially the Fairfaxes of Belvoir, of which estate his friend George William Fairfax was now the proprietor. On such occasions there would be a hunting dinner at one or other of those establishments, at which convivial repasts Washington is said to have enjoyed himself with unwonted hilarity. ”

“ His brother Lawrence was happily married, living in comfortable circumstances on his estate at Mount Vernon, and George was often there. A few miles away was Belvoir, the large property of Lawrence’s father-in-law, the above-mentioned William Fairfax. This man had passed an eventful life. He was born in England, entered the army early, took part in several campaigns, and was later appointed by the English government governor and chief justice of an island of the East Indies. ”

“ A few men were brought up to professions; but as estates were entailed on elder sons, or they, at least, received the larger portions, and there was no army or navy, the younger sons were [90] generally without occupation and apt to fall into evil ways. I little knew, when I rode away, how fortunate was my choice.
We set out on March 11, 1747, George William Fairfax and I, with two servants and a led horse, loaded with a pack and such baggage as could not be carried in saddle-bags. ”

“ Streets, which he had purchased from John Harper, but he sold the lot without fulfilling his intentions.
When peace came in 1783, Captain John Harper, whose real-estate plans had been deferred by hostilities, began the division of his Fairfax property into building lots. At amazing speed and increasing prices he [Pg 93] sold off what had formerly been gardens and orchards, and as soon as George William Fairfax's house was vacated by Colonel Lyle, Harper disposed of it to William Hodgson of Whitehaven, England, in 1790. ”

“ III. THE GENTRY AND THE CONVICTS
George Mason II had moved to Pohick in 1690 but his home was considered such an outpost that runaway slaves were returned there by Indians. In 1746 the fourth George Mason moved to his property on Dogue Neck and built Gunston Hall in 1758. By 1734 Captain Augustine Washington moved his family to his plantation on Little Hunting Creek. His home was destroyed by fire and he moved back to the north bank of the Rappahannock in 1739. In the spring of 1741 William Fairfax built Belvoir. After his daughter married Lawrence Washington in 1743, the original part of Mt. ”

“ Washington, many a brave fellow has got to lay down his life before the English learn how to fight in the woods.”
These prophetic words came back vividly to George before many years had passed.
The summer came on apace. Never had George seen anything more beautiful than the outburst of tree and leaf and flower among these lonely peaks. The out-door life agreed with him perfectly, as it did with William Fairfax. They worked hard all the week, always leaving camp before sunrise, and generally not returning until after sunset. Lance always had a good fire and a capital supper waiting for them. ”

“ Fairfax. "Not that I covet higher rank, but self-respect requires me to throw up my commission."
"For one, I can never blame you," replied Fairfax. "The animus of the thing is suited to discourage every soldier in the colony. If England expects the Colonies to fight her battles under such an arrangement, she will be greatly disappointed."
"So I think," answered Washington; "and if I do not mistake the temper of the colonists, they will never submit to such injustice; never. It is but the most reasonable thing that provincial troops should be placed upon the same footing as the king's. ”

“ Fairfax, who had come away on the spur of the moment without any provision for a visit, and who felt his presence here to be mere accident, nothing more, scarcely knew what to do or say. After he had helped Sir William up stairs on their arrival, he came to Lady Markham, confused yet smiling, with his hat in his hand. “I must take my leave now. I hope Sir William will go on mending, and no longer have need of my arm as a walking-stick.” ”

“ Why should he laugh? If Sir William was ill, and Paul on the point of abandoning his natural position and his native country on a wildgoose chase, with which in all probability he would soon be utterly disgusted, circumstances were very grave for the Markham family. Perhaps Fairfax felt it all the more strongly that he in his own person had no family to abandon. He felt the want so much that he wondered all the more at one who, with all these pleasant things belonging to him, should be willing to throw up everything, and go off into the wilds with Spears—with Spears! ”

“ Fairfax at Williamsburg, very much elated by the prospect before him. "I can see the end now. It looks as if General Abercrombie was the right man in the right place."
"I hope so," responded Mr. Fairfax. "He appears to think that two or three times as many troops as you have had before will be none too many to march against Duquesne."
"There is my hope," continued Washington. "An army large enough to strike an effective blow will save both money and men for the [254] government. Half enough is cruelly exposing all to defeat and butchery." ”

“ Washington replied from New York on July 10, 1783: "Your house at Belvoir I am sorry to add is no more, but mine (which is enlarged since you saw it) is most sincerely and heartily at your Service till you could rebuild it" and expressed his pleasure at George William's approbation of his Revolutionary actions. [90]
Fairfax, after becoming involved in lawsuit after lawsuit and dissension with his relatives, died in 1787 before inheriting his title. Sally lived on at Bath for twenty-five years after her husband's death. ”

“ His grandson William purchased the Manor of Walton in the West Riding, which continued for near six hundred years, till the extinction of the elder male line of the family in the person of Charles Gregory Fairfax, tenth Viscount Fairfax of Ireland, in 1772, the inheritance of his descendants. From a younger son of Richard Fairfax, of Walton, Chief Justice of England in the reign of Henry VI. the present family is descended, as well as Fairfax of Denton, Baron Fairfax of Cameron in Scotland (1627,) who represents an elder line,* and who resides in the United States of America. ”

“ But in these pursuits especially it is true that labour is its own reward: and he found a generous patron in Thomas Lord Fairfax, who allowed him an anual stipend to enable him the better to pursue his inquiries, and, what perhaps he valued more, rocured him access to many public and private collections of records. His industry was answerable to his patron's liberality. Ever witness for him that great national work the Monasticon Anglicanum, the labour of which, Sir William Dugdale would have been the first to allow, rested principally on his coadjutor Dodsworth. ”

“ They should be as liberally provided for, and enjoy the opportunities of promotion equally with the others."
"Unless they do, England cannot long claim colonies in North America," added Fairfax.
As indicated by the foregoing, Washington returned his commission, and other officers did the same. The measure which Governor Dinwiddie adopted to bring Washington to terms, and put the army more directly under his own control, suddenly upset his authority. Instead of marching upon Fort Duquesne at once, a speedy abandonment of the enterprise was forced upon him. ”

“ For his prowess he was promoted, and was in command at Worcester, when that place was stormed, at a time when the king fled from Oxford in disguise and the loyal cause was in peril. He received a letter from General Fairfax, whose victorious army was at Haddington, demanding the immediate surrender of Worcester. Colonel Washington replied:
"Sir,—It is acknowledged by your books, and by report of your own quarter, that the king is in some of your armies. ”