Journalist Tom Shoop’s August 23 article The Plantation and the Pizza Hut examines past and current efforts to preserve history in Fairfax County. This website was one of his many sources. And I am pleased that my photo of Dennis … Continue reading →
Role in Ravensworth: leaseholder in Parcel 1.2 – 135 acres (Thanks to Smothermon descendant and retired Fairfax County librarian Karen Moore for sharing her research in developing this profile of her favorite ancestor. Smothermon is also spelled Smytheman and Smitherman … Continue reading →
John Ratcliffe married Ravensworth leaseholder Ann Moxley about 1750. He leased land in Parcel 1.1 in 1767 and in Parcel 1.2 in 1773, the only person identified so far with leases in both the north and south parts of Ravensworth. … Continue reading →
Role in Ravensworth: tenant and leaseholder in Parcel 1.1, leaseholder in
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 →
Existing pages recently updated with new information: William Marbury Fitzhugh – details of his return from Kentucky and a federal job Orange and Alexandria Railroad – added Ravensworth Station, a private depot serving the Ravensworth plantation (from research prompted by … Continue reading →
President Thomas Jefferson’s visit to Ravensworth on April 1-2, 1804 was arranged in three letters between President Jefferson and Nicholas Fitzhugh. Fitzhugh’s letter enclosed a map outlining a route leading into and part way through Ravensworth. An interpretation of that … Continue reading →
The road of approximately 34 miles was built between 1803 and 1810-12 from Alexandria to the Little River ford in Aldie, Virginia. That terminus further connected to established roads through western counties and through the Blue Ridge Mountains to the … Continue reading →
Role in Ravensworth – owner in parcels 1.1.1 and 1.1.7 Augustine Jaquelin Smith was born on May 28, 1774 to Augustine and Margaret (Boyd) Smith. The father died ten days later, and within seven years his mother and grandparents had … Continue reading →
From May 1807 and until his death in 1861, William Gooding, Jr. maintained a license from the Fairfax County Court to operate an ordinary – a place of hospitality and lodging. The tavern was in his house on land owned … Continue reading →