The Lord Fairfax of Cameron | |
|---|---|
| 9th Lord Fairfax of Cameron | |
 | |
| Tenure | 1802—1846 |
| Known for | Plantation owner |
| Born | 1762 |
| Died | 1846 |
| Nationality | American |
| Parents | Bryan Fairfax, 8th Lord Fairfax of Cameron Elizabeth Cary |
Thomas Fairfax, 9th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (1762–1846), was an American born Scottish peer, who along with his father, on 11 December 1799, was among the last guests at Mount Vernon before Washington died. [1]
Thomas Fairfax was born in 1762. He was the son of Bryan Fairfax, 8th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (1736–1802) and his wife, Elizabeth Cary, daughter of Colonel Wilson Cary and Sarah Cary. His brother was Ferdinando Fairfax (1766–1820), [2] whose godparents were George Washington and Martha Washington. [3]
In 1802, he succeeded his father to the title of Lord Fairfax of Cameron after his father's death. He lived the life of a country squire overseeing his 40,000 acres (160 km2), lived at Belvoir, Ash Grove, and Vaucluse, where he died.
He married three times: Mary Aylett, Laura Washington, Margaret Herbert. Fairfax birthed children with Mary Aylett, a Native Indian woman. He had seven children by his third wife Margaret: [4]
He maintained a winter home at 607 Cameron Street, Alexandria, Virginia, which he built in 1816. [5]
Thomas Fairfax was a follower of Swedenborg. Because of these religious beliefs, he manumitted his slaves (including the great-great-great grandfather of Virginia Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax [6] ), some of whom he taught a trade and sent to Liberia. [7] This is consistent with the thinking of the American Colonization Society.
His grandson, Charles Snowdown Fairfax, 10th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (1829–1869), succeeded him as the 10th Lord Fairfax of Cameron as Fairfax's eldest son, his father, predeceased him. Another grandson, John Fairfax, 11th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (1830–1900), a physician, became the 11th Lord Fairfax of Cameron as his brother Charles died without issue. His granddaughter was the writer Constance Cary (1843–1920). [2]
Thomas Fairfax was referenced by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson on rap musician Logic's 2017 album Everybody on the song "Waiting Room." [8]
Lord Fairfax of Cameron is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. Despite holding a Scottish peerage, the Lords Fairfax of Cameron are members of an ancient Yorkshire family, of which the Fairfax baronets of The Holmes are members of another branch. From 1515 to about 1700 the family lived at Denton Hall.
The Gedneys were among the original settlers of Salem, Massachusetts. The family patriarch, John Gedney, sailed in 1636 out of Yarmouth, England on the Mary Anne. One of his sons, Bartholomew, was one of the judges who presided over the infamous witch trials. Bartholomew's brother, Eleazor (Eleazar) built the Gedney House. which still stands in Salem, around 1665.
Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, was a Scottish peer. He was the son of Thomas Fairfax, 5th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, and Catherine Colepeper, daughter of Thomas Colepeper, 2nd Baron Colepeper.
Eleanor Parke Custis Lewis, known as Nelly, was a granddaughter of Martha Washington and a step-granddaughter and adopted daughter of George Washington.
Charles Snowden Fairfax, 10th Lord Fairfax of Cameron was an American Democratic politician of California. He held a Scottish peerage. Fairfax was lured west as part of the gold rush. The town of Fairfax, California, is named for him.
Ferdinando Fairfax was a Virginia landowner and member of the prominent Fairfax family.
Constance Cary Harrison, also referred as Mrs. Burton Harrison, was an American playwright and novelist. She and two of her cousins were known as the "Cary Invincibles"; the three sewed the first examples of the Confederate Battle Flag.
John Carlyle Herbert was an American lawyer, planter, military officer in the War of 1812 and politician. He served as a legislator in both Virginia and Maryland, as well as a U.S. Congressman representing Maryland's 2nd congressional district (1814-1818).
The Randolph family of Virginia is a prominent political family, whose members contributed to the politics of Colonial Virginia and Virginia after statehood. They are descended from the Randolphs of Morton Morrell, Warwickshire, England. The first Randolph in America was Henry Randolph in 1643. His nephew, William Randolph, later came to Virginia as an orphan in 1669. He made his home at Turkey Island along the James River. Because of their numerous progeny, William Randolph and his wife, Mary Isham Randolph, have been referred to as "the Adam and Eve of Virginia". The Randolph family was the wealthiest and most powerful family in 18th-century Virginia.
George William Fairfax was a planter in colonial Virginia who represented then-vast Frederick County and later Fairfax County in the House of Burgesses before the American Revolutionary War, by which time he had returned to England. A mentor and good friend of George Washington, Fairfax made opportunities for the younger Washington through his powerful British family, and Washington assisted him afterward by arranging for the sale of his Virginia property after he returned to Britain.
Thomas Bryan Martin (1731–1798) was an 18th-century English American land agent, justice, legislator, and planter in the colony of Virginia and in present-day West Virginia. Martin was the land agent of the Northern Neck Proprietary for his uncle Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (1693–1781) and served two terms in the House of Burgesses.
Vaucluse was a villa in Fairfax County, Virginia, three miles (5 km) from Alexandria and 10 miles (16 km) from Washington, D.C., on a hill near the Virginia Theological Seminary, that was owned first by Dr. James Craik, and later by the Fairfax family, the first being Thomas Fairfax, 9th Lord Fairfax of Cameron.
Virginia Randolph Cary was an American writer. She was the author of Letters on Female Character, Addressed to a Young Lady, on the Death of Her Mother (1828), an influential advice book.
Rev. Bryan Fairfax, 8th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (1736—1802) was an Anglican clergyman and Scottish peer. He was a lifelong friend of George Washington and became the first American-born Lord Fairfax; his predecessors were born in the UK. The Rev. The Lord Fairfax was the first cousin once removed of the seventh Lord. He lived in Virginia. He was the grandson of Reverend the Hon. Henry Fairfax, second son of the fourth Lord. However, it wasn't until 1800 that he was confirmed in the title by the House of Lords.
William Fairfax (1691–1757) was a political appointee of the British Crown in several colonies as well as a planter and politician in the Colony of Virginia. Fairfax served as Collector of Customs in Barbados, Chief Justice and governor of the Bahamas; and Customs agent in Marblehead, Massachusetts before being reassigned to the Virginia colony. In the Virginia Colony, Fairfax acted as a land agent for his cousin's vast holdings in the colony's northeast corner, known as the Northern Neck Proprietary. Also a tobacco planter himself, Fairfax was elected to the House of Burgesses representing King William County within the proprietary, which he helped split so that Fairfax County was created. Appointed to the Governor's Council, he rose to become its president. Fairfax also commissioned the construction of his plantation called Belvoir in what became Fairfax County to honor his family.
Mount Eagle was a plantation home built by Bryan Fairfax, 8th Lord Fairfax of Cameron in 1789–90, south of Hunting Creek and Alexandria in Fairfax County, Virginia. It was demolished in 1968; the Huntington Metro Station and several condominium complexes were built on the property.
Towlston Grange is an 18th-century plantation in Great Falls in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The estate served as a residence for several prominent members of the Fairfax family. Towlston Grange is located at 1213 Towlston Road in Great Falls. There is a photograph of Bryan Fairfax's Towlston Grange in its unrestored state, taken by "The Rambler" of the Washington, D.C. Evening Star newspaper in 1918, that shows a 1+1⁄2-story clapboarded house built in the English tradition.[4]
Bushrod Corbin Washington was a Virginia planter and politician, nephew of Supreme Court Justice Bushrod Washington, and grandfather of Confederate soldier and author Bushrod C. Washington (1839-1919) also discussed below.
Ludwell Lee was a prominent Virginia lawyer and planter who served in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly representing Prince William and Fairfax Counties and rose to become the Speaker of the Virginia Senate. Beginning in 1799, following the death of his first wife, Lee built Belmont Manor, a planation house in Loudoun County, Virginia, which today is on the National Register of Historic Places.
William Augustine Washington was a Virginia planter and officer who served one term in the Virginia House of Delegates representing Westmoreland County, as well as terms as colonel of the county militia and as the county sheriff, before moving to the newly established District of Columbia. The son of the half-brother of President George Washington, he was also one of the seven executors of the former President's estate.
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