Richard Ratcliffe bought this 1000-acre part of Parcel 1.1.7 in 1798 from doctors Henry Rose and Augustine Smith. Ratcliffe merged the land with about 2000 adjacent non-Ravensworth acres, which he had acquired over three decades. He called his plantation Mount … Continue reading →
Home to the Fairfax County courthouse, Providence was known as Fairfax Court House throughout much of the 19th century and particularly during the Civil War. Providence evolved to become today’s City of Fairfax and is its Old Town center. Historic … Continue reading →
Fairfax County Court records list 33 deeds from William Fitzhugh (of Chatham) to leaseholders in Parcel 1.2 between 1767 and 1804.1 In addition to the leaseholders, 18 others are named in boundary descriptions that specify shared corners and lines with … Continue reading →
The following selected passages are from lease G1:188 of 4/10/1767 between William Fitzhugh (of Chatham) and William Williams. The language, terms and conditions are typical, almost a fill-in-the-blanks boilerplate for Fitzhugh’s leases. (Long paragraphs are divided into shorter segments for … Continue reading →
Chain of Ownership and Division Meade Battaile inherited this parcel following the death of his mother, Ann Fitzhugh Battaile in 1880. It is one of six lots in the division of Parcel 1.1.4.3 among Meade and five siblings. Between 1882 … Continue reading →
Chain of Ownership and Division Giles Fitzhugh inherited this parcel following the death of his father, Henry Fitzhugh (Colonel), in 1783. In 1796, he and his brother Battaile Fitzhugh sold/exchanged their Ravensworth lands with Battaile receiving this parcel and giving … Continue reading →
Chain of Ownership and Division Battaile Fitzhugh inherited this parcel following the death of his father, Henry Fitzhugh (Colonel), in 1783. It is Lot 1 of seven lots created by deed A2:186 in the division of parcel 1.1 (Ravensworth North) … Continue reading →
Henry Fitzhugh (Colonel) recorded in his ledger for 1764 the following list of 43 tenants and rents. “1764 Ravensworth Rents The above is a list of my Tennants without any (?)”1 Although he labeled this a list of his tenants, … Continue reading →
Chain of Ownership and Division Nicholas Fitzhugh inherited this parcel and Parcel 1.1.6 following the death of his father, Henry Fitzhugh (Colonel), in 1783. It is Lot 2 of seven lots created by deed A2:186 in the division of parcel … Continue reading →
Over 40 years between 1814 and 1853, William Gooding, Jr. and his sons, Peter Gooding and William H. Gooding, acquired nearly 2100 of Ravensworth’s 24,112 acres (about 8.6%).1 The Gooding Family holdings were contiguous. They stretched in an unbroken line … Continue reading →