Fairfax Parish, Virginia

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Fairfax Parish was the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Anglican church in colonial Virginia with jurisdiction over part of Fairfax County with its central church located at The Falls Church. The parish was created in 1764 from Truro Parish.

Fairfax County, Virginia County in Virginia

Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax is located in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Part of Northern Virginia, Fairfax County borders both the City of Alexandria and Arlington County and forms part of the suburban ring of Washington, D.C. The county is thus predominantly suburban in character, with some urban and rural pockets.

The Falls Church United States historic place

The Falls Church is an historic Episcopal church, from which the city of Falls Church, Virginia, near Washington, D. C., takes its name. The parish was established in 1732 and the brick meeting house preserved on site dates to 1769.

Truro Parish was the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Anglican church in colonial Virginia with jurisdiction originally over all of Fairfax County. The parish had its central church at the Truro Church and the parish was named for the parish in Truro in Cornwall. The parish was created on November 1, 1732 from Hamilton Parish. It was divided twice: in 1748, Cameron Parish was formed and in 1764 Fairfax Parish was created. After 1765, Truro Parish covered southern Fairfax County until disestablishment ended the parish system by 1786.

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Formation of the parish

The Anglican church was the established religion of the Colony of Virginia from 1619 - 1776. [1] Each parish in the colony was ministered to by a single minister and governed by a vestry usually composed of 12 local men of wealth and standing in the community. [1] Parishes were created by acts of the House of Burgesses and the upper house of the legislature, the Governor's Council. [2]

Colony of Virginia English/British possession in North America (1607–1776)

The Colony of Virginia, chartered in 1606 and settled in 1607, was the first enduring English colony in North America, following failed proprietary attempts at settlement on Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey Gilbert in 1583, and the subsequent further south Roanoke Island by Sir Walter Raleigh in the late 1580s.

A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England and Wales, which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquially as the "vestry".

House of Burgesses The Representative Body of the Colony of Virginia

The House of Burgesses was the elected representative element of the Virginia General Assembly, the legislative body of the Colony of Virginia. With the creation of the House of Burgesses in 1642, the General Assembly, which had been established in 1619, became a bicameral institution.

Starting in 1761, residents of the northern reaches of Truro Parish petitioned the Assembly to divide the parish. The Assembly acted in 1764 and created the Fairfax Parish in the areas north of a line "by Doeg creek from the mouth thereof to Mr. George Washington's mill, and from thence, by a straight line, to the plantation, of John Munroe, and the same course continued to the line that divides the counties of Fairfax and Loudoun." [3] It appears that the portion of Truro that remained in that parish was disadvantaged and in 1765 the boundaries were redrawn to place Washington's plantation at Mount Vernon and nearby farms back into Truro.

George Washington First President of the United States

George Washington was an American political leader, military general, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Previously, he led Patriot forces to victory in the nation's War for Independence. He presided at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 which established the U.S. Constitution and a federal government. Washington has been called the "Father of His Country" for his manifold leadership in the formative days of the new nation.

Loudoun County, Virginia County in Virginia

Loudoun County is located in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. In 2018, the population was estimated at 406,850, making it Virginia's third-most populous county. Loudoun County's seat is Leesburg. Loudoun County is part of the Washington–Arlington–Alexandria, DC–VA–MD–WV Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Mount Vernon Plantation estate of George Washington, in Fairfax County, Virginia, USA

Mount Vernon was the plantation of George Washington, the first President of the United States, and his wife, Martha Washington. The estate is situated on the banks of the Potomac River in Fairfax County, Virginia, near Alexandria, across from Prince George's County, Maryland. The Washington family had owned land in the area since the time of Washington's great-grandfather in 1674. Around 1734 they embarked on an expansion of the estate that continued under George Washington, who began leasing the estate in 1754, but did not become its sole owner until 1761.

Drawn over today's civil boundaries, Fairfax Parish would include all of the City of Alexandria, Arlington County, the City of Falls Church, the City of Fairfax, and the western and northern areas of Fairfax County.

Alexandria, Virginia Independent city in Virginia, United States

Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 139,966, and in 2016, the population was estimated to be 160,530. Located along the western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately 7 miles (11 km) south of downtown Washington, D.C.

Arlington County, Virginia County in the United States

Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia, often referred to simply as Arlington or Arlington, Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county is coterminous with the U.S. Census Bureau's census-designated place of Arlington. Arlington is considered to be the second-largest "principal city" of the Washington metropolitan area.

Falls Church, Virginia Independent city in Virginia

Falls Church is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 12,332. The estimated population in 2018 was 14,772. Falls Church is included in the Washington metropolitan area. Falls Church has the lowest level of poverty of any independent city or county in the United States.

Places of worship

The main church was located near the falls line and was called the Falls Church. Christ Church in Alexandria was also a chapel of the parish. In addition, The Glebe of Fairfax Parish were the lands and house set aside for the maintenance of the parish and a dwelling for the minister. They are located in present-day Arlington County, with the current house dating to 1810, after the disestablishment of the church.

Christ Church (Alexandria, Virginia) United States historic place

Christ Church is an Episcopal church located at 118 North Washington Street in Alexandria, Virginia. Constructed as the main church in the Church of England's Fairfax Parish, the building was designed by Col. James Wren, a descendant of Sir Christopher Wren. To finance construction of the church, the Fairfax Vestry raised 31,186 pounds of Oronoco tobacco from parishioners. Construction began in 1765, under the direction of James Parsons. After four years, the church was still unfinished. The vestry relieved Mr. Parsons of his duties as overseer of the construction. John Carlyle accepted the position and handed the keys of the completed building over to the vestry in February 1773.

See also

Episcopal Diocese of Virginia:History

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Cameron Parish was the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Anglican church in colonial Virginia with jurisdiction over the western part of Fairfax County and, once it was created in 1757, over Loudoun County. The parish was named for the minor title of Thomas, Lord Fairfax, Baron of Cameron. The parish was created in 1748 from Truro Parish. It was divided in 1770 and Shelburne Parish was formed from the western half of Loudoun County. After 1770, Cameron Parish covered eastern Loudoun County until disestablishment ended the parish system by 1786.

References

  1. 1 2 Parish in Colonial Virginia Encyclopedia Virginia. Accessed on July 8, 2012
  2. Seiler, William H. (1959). "The Anglican Parish in Virginia". Seventeenth-Century America: Essays in Colonial History: 119–142.
  3. Slaughter, Rev. Phillip (1907). "The History of Truro Parish in Virginia". George W. Jacobs and Company. Retrieved July 8, 2012.