Chain of Ownership and Division

Mordecai Fitzhugh inherited this parcel following the death of his father, Henry Fitzhugh (Colonel), in 1783. In July 1798, he and his brother Giles Fitzhugh sold/exchanged their Ravensworth lands with Giles receiving this parcel. It is Lot 3 of seven lots created by deed A2:186 in the division of parcel 1.1 (Ravensworth North) among Mordecai, Giles and three more brothers.

Giles’ “small while house”

By 1804 and perhaps earlier, Giles had established his residence here. An 1804 letter and map by his brother Nicholas Fitzhugh located Giles’ house on “the Alexandria or Court house road…, which is a small white House surrounded by trees.” The location of the house – marked on this map – is believed to have been in or near the triangle formed by today’s Annandale and Gallows roads and Columbia Pike. The survey plat in deed A2:186 that created parcel 1.1.3 shows a building already existing in 1792 in this location, which may possibly be the house.

The 1810 federal census recorded Giles household as including himself, one free black and 34 enslaved people.¹ Thus we know he farmed at least a portion of his Ravensworth land with slave labor for several years.

Division of Parcel 1.1.3

This ended in 1814 when he had sold all his land. By the end of 1805, Giles sold almost one third to Nicholas in two sales of 620 acres (Parcel 1.1.3.1) and 69.5 acres (Parcel 1.1.3.2). In 1814 the residual 1626 acres went in a sale to Andrew Scholfield and his nephew Jonathan Scholfield. The deeds that created Parcel 1.1.3.1 and the residual of 1.1.3 are lost. What is known about them has been developed from Nicholas Fitzhugh’s will and later deeds issued when new owners divided and sold portions of the land.

The sale to the Scholfields occurred in the first days of February 1814. Although the deed is lost, the terms were recounted 10 years later in deed V2:21. The Scholfields financed their purchase with three promissory bonds secured by trusts held by Nicholas Fitzhugh to be paid to Giles as follows: $4317.60 on 2/1/1815; $4517.60 2/1/1816; $4517.60 2/1/1817.

The Scholfield’s joint ownership lasted only a day or two until they partitioned the land. Jonathan received approximately 1300 acres and assumed full responsibility for paying the promissory bonds. Andrew received 294 acres (Parcel 1.1.3.3). A month later in June 1814, Jonathan sold 60 acres to William Gooding, Jr. – Parcel 1.1.3.4, where Gooding was already living and operating Gooding’s Tavern. Seven years would pass before his next sale.

In 1816 Jonathan was overextended in his financial obligations, which surely affected his ability to pay on the bonds.² John Lloyd had assumed responsibility for his $14,326 debt to the Union Bank of Alexandria, which would have included the trust that secured the bonds. In August Jonathan restructured this debt, along with another nearly $9000 he owned Lloyd, in a new trust agreement that pledged his 1300 Ravensworth acres as part of the security.

With John Lloyd now in control, further subdivision and sales resumed in 1821. And in May Jonathan Scholfield was out of the picture. Sales by Robert Taylor, as the bank’s holder of the trust, typically were financed by new trusts with the buyer’s mortgage payments going to Lloyd. Sales in 1821 included:

• Parcel 1.1.3.5 (126 acres): to Jeremiah Hampton
• Parcel 1.1.3.6 (100 acres): to William Gooding, Jr.
• Parcel 1.1.3.7 (400 acres): to William and Jane Newton
• Parcel 1.1.3.8 (200 acres): jointly to John and Rebecca Weaver and Henry and Lydia Burdick for $9600.

Within a few years, the last two deals ended in default and Taylor resold the land at public auction. In both cases Lloyd was the high bidder and gained outright ownership at bargain prices. He bought:

• Parcel 1.1.3.8 for $345 in 1824 and sold it 17 years later in 1851 to Isaac Haynes for $2000
• Parcel 1.1.3.7 for $930 in 1827, which he later subdivided in 1836 in selling 250 acres (Parcel 1.1.3.7.1) to Francis Fish for $2600, and 158 acres (Parcel 1.1.3.7.2) to Elijah Heath for $1500 in 1851.

In 1824 Lloyd had bought back Parcel 1.1.3.5 from Jeremiah Hampton, and in three transactions acquired outright ownership of all the remaining unsold land formerly held by Jonathan Scholfield:

• Parcel 1.1.3.9 (36 acres)
• Parcel 1.1.3.10 (317 acres): which he sold to James Purdy in 1847
• Parcel 1.1.3.11 (88 acres): packaged with Parcel 1.1.3.5 in a 214-acre sale for $3000 to William H. Gooding in 1839

Turning now to Andrew Scholfield’s 294 acres, Parcel 1.1.3.3 was sold in two transactions.

• All but 17 acres went in January 1819 to two couples, John and Barbara Smith and Thomas and Elizabeth Smith. The Smiths resold it to Ambrose Cock in 1839 for $8280.
• In 1831 Samuel Tennison leased the Scholfield’s unsold 17 acres (Parcel 1.1.3.3.1) for $12 annual rent. The agreement provided that Tennison would own the land, if he paid $140 within 10 years. It’s clear he did, as five adjacent acres were added to the farm in an 1848 purchase from James Purdy (Parcel 1.1.3.10.1).

In 1856 Francis Fish sold Parcel 1.1.3.7 to Warren Sommers. By then as said earlier, other parcels had also changed hands and new ones had been created and sold. Working with Robert Taylor through 1827 and then on his own, John Lloyd sold all but 36 of Jonathan Scholfield’s 1332 acres. He retained Parcel 1.1.3.9 perhaps by choice, more likely because the long, narrow strip of land was of limited use. It is a combination of steep hillside and Accotink Creek flood plain. Today, it’s part of Fairfax County’s Mill Creek and Accotink Stream Valley Parks.

(pending image of Parcel 1.1.3 residual – owners and parcels in 1856)

Deed	Date	Grantor	Grantee	Parcel	Transaction
A2:186	7/11/1797	Court	Nicholas, Richard, Mordecai, Battaile & Giles Fitzhugh	1.1.1 - 1.1.7	Survey (1792) and plat for divison of parcel 1.1 into seven parcels bequeathed to these five youngest sons of Henry Fitzhugh (Colonel) (died 1783)
A2:465	7/6/1798	Mordecai Fitzhugh	Giles Fitzhugh	1.1.3	Sale 2291 acres
D2:149	c. 1805	Giles Fitzhugh	Nicholas Fitzhugh	1.1.3.1	Sale about 620 acres. Deed D2:149 lost; location and boundaries determined from Nicholas Fitzhugh's will K1:283 and several deeds for sale of land he bequeathed to his sons.
G2:297	12/8/1805	Giles Fitzhugh	Nicholas Fitzhugh	1.1.3.2	Sale 69.5 acres bordering Backlick Rd and Little River Turnpike
Q2:140	Feb. 1814	Giles Fitzhugh	Andrew Scholfield & Jonathan Scholfield	1.1.3	Sale residual 1626 acres. Deed lost; see especially deed V2:21. Scholfields financed with promissory bonds secured by trust held by Nicholas Fitzhugh.
N2:265	5/3/1814	Andrew & Jonathan Scholfield	Andrew & Jonathan Scholfield	1.1.3.3	Partition: Andrew received 294 acres, Jonathan the residual about 1300 acres of Parcel 1.1.3 and assumed full responsibility for paying the promissory bonds (Deed lost, see deeds O2:321 & V2:21)
O2:51	5/4/1814	Jonathan & Eleanor Scholfield	Robert J. Taylor & Elisha Talbot	1.1.3	Assigns Scholfield's partitioned share in trust to secure indemnity for payment of primissory bonds; if not paid, trustees to sell land for payment (Deed lost, see deed V2:21)
?	6/15/1814	Jonathan Scholfield	William Gooding, Jr.	1.1.3.4	Sale of 59.75 acres north of Little River Turnpike. Original document unknown, a "contract of sale" cited in deed D3:560.
O2:321	8/6/1816	Jonathan & Eleanor Scholfield	Robert J. Taylor	1.1.3	In view of John Lloyd assuming Scholfield's $14326 debt to Union Bank of Alexandria and their additional debts to Lloyd of $4105 and$4855, assigns 635 Union Bank shares and Scholfield's partitioned share of Parcel 1.1.3 in trust to secure indemnity for payment
?	1/18/1819	Andrew and Elizabeth Scholfield	John & Barbara Smith, Thomas & Elizabeth Smith	1.1.3.3	Sale of 276 acres, deed unknown, see E3:318; Scholfields retained 17 acres
S2:429	5/1/1821	Jonathan & Eleanor Scholfield, John Lloyd & Robert J. Taylor	Jeremiah Hampton	1.1.3.5	Sale of 126 acres for $4800 to Hampton, Taylor concurring as trustee, payment to Lloyd
S2:417	5/2/1821	Jonathan & Eleanor Scholfield, John Lloyd & Robert J. Taylor	William Gooding, Jr.	1.1.3.6	Sale of 100 acres for $4,000; deed of trust mortgage to secure payment to Lloyd, conveyed to Taylor.
S2:412	5/2/1821	John Lloyd	William & Jane Newton	1.1.3.7	Sale of 400 acres on terms in separate Trust agreement
T2:52 (lost)	9/15/1821	Robert J. Taylor	John & Rebecca Weaver, Henry & Lydia Burdick	1.1.3.8	Trust agreement for purchace of 200 acres from John Lloyd for $9600 with interest in 9 annual installments
V2:21	1/10/1824	John Lloyd	Andrew Scholfield	1.1.3 & 1.1.3.3	Recognizes Scholdfield's release from responsibility for paying bonds owed by Jonathan Scholfield; clears Lloyd's control to sell the land. (Key information source that recounts history of earlier transactions in unknown and lost deeds)
V2:52	2/24/1824	Robert J. Taylor	John Lloyd	1.1.3.8	Trustee Taylor sell at auction 200 acres for $345, after John Weaver & Henry Burdick defaulted on trust agreement of 5/2/1821.
V2:54	2/24/1824	Robert J. Taylor	John Lloyd	1.1.3.9	Sale of 36 acres to Lloyd, boundaries confirmed in 7/4/1866 survey for Wm H Gooding in deed G4:161
V2:26	2/25/1824	Robert J. Taylor	John Lloyd	1.1.3.10	Sale of 317 acres in 2 lots of 260 and 100 acres (actually 2nd lot conveyed in 1827, but included here rather than map as separate parcel)
	2/25/1824	Robert J. Taylor	John Lloyd	1.1.3.11	Sale of 88 acres
V2:284	8/27/1824	Jeremiah Hampton	John Lloyd	1.1.3.5	Sale of 126 acres back to Lloyd
X2:179	7/6/1827	Robert J. Taylor	John Lloyd	1.1.3.7	Trustee Taylor sell at auction 400 acres, after William & Sarah Newton defaulted on trust agreement of 5/2/1821, to Lloyd for $930.
A3:309	11/13/1831	Andrew and Elizabeth Scholfield	Samuel Tennison	1.1.3.3.1	Lease 17 acres for rent yearly of $12, title to be vested to Tennison if $140 paid within 10 years
C3:272	1836	John Lloyd	Francis Fish	1.1.3.7.1	Sale of 250 acres for $2600
E3:318	4/5/1839	John & Barbara, Thomas & Elizavbeth Smith	Ambrose Cock	1.1.3.3	Sale of 276 acres for $8280 (less prior sale of 37 acres)
E3:259	1839	John Lloyd	William H. Gooding	1.1.3.5 & 1.1.3.11	Sale of 214 acres in two lots of 88 acres and 126 acres for $3,000
L3:258	1847	John & Ann Lloyd	James Purdy	1.1.3.10	Sale of 317 acres in 2 lots for $3315 (oddly, metes & bounds description encloses 11 acres outside Parcel 1.1.3 boundary)
N3:47	8/23/1848	James Purdy	Silas Burke & William Ball	1.1.3.10.1	Sale of 5 acres for $50 in Trust for Lucinda Tennison (expanded Tennison farm from 17 to 22 acres)
Q3:41	4/1/1851	John Lloyd	Elijah Heath	1.1.3.7.2	Sale of 158 acres for $1500, residual of original 400 acre tract
S3:15	4/1/1851	John Lloyd	Isaac Haynes	1.1.3.8	Sale of 200 acres for $2000
Y3:61	9/9/1856	Francis Fish	Warren Sommers	1.1.3.7.1	Sale of 250 acres for $9000

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