Belvoir (plantation)
Encyclopedia
Belvoir was the historic plantation
and estate
of colonial Virginia's prominent William Fairfax family. It was situated on the west bank of the Potomac River
in Fairfax County, Virginia
at the present site of Fort Belvoir
. The main house — called Belvoir Manor or Belvoir Mansion — burnt in 1783 and was completely destroyed during the War of 1812
. The site has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places
since 1973 as "Belvoir Mansion Ruins and the Fairfax Grave".
William Green's 1669 patent for 1150 acres (4.7 km²) encompassed most of the peninsula between Dogue Creek
and Accotink Creek
, along the Potomac River
. Although this property was sub-divided and sold in the early eighteenth century, it was reassembled during the 1730s to create the central portion of Col. William Fairfax
's 2200 acres (8.9 km²) plantation of Belvoir Manor.
Plantation house built
Fairfax's elegant new home was completed in 1741. Historic documents and archeological artifacts found at Belvoir Manor both attest to the elegant lifestyle enjoyed by the Fairfax family. The mansion was described in a 1774 rental notice as spacious and well-appointed. Its furnishings consisted of "tables, chairs, and every other necessary article ... very elegant." The family imported ceramics from Europe and the Orient to grace its tables.
Planters such as William Fairfax comprised a small elite of Fairfax County's population; most of their neighbors were smaller farmers who sometimes barely managed to make a living. The affluence of such planters was based not only on land and imposing buildings, but on the number of slaves they held. Slaves are in the records-as chattel passed from one generation to another, and as the probable users of the plain unglazed ceramics found in the outbuildings of Belvoir Manor. After William Fairfax
's death in 1757, the plantation passed to his eldest son George William Fairfax
(1729–87).
Lord Fairfax and Washington visit
Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron
moved to Virginia between 1735 and 1737 to inspect and protect his lands. Lord Fairfax came to Belvoir, to help oversee his family estates in Virginia's Northern Neck
Proprietary
between the Rappahannock
and Potomac
rivers, inherited from his mother, Catharine, daughter of Thomas Culpeper, 2nd Baron Culpeper of Thoresway; and a great portion of the Shenandoah
and South Branch Potomac valleys. The northwestern boundary of his Northern Neck Proprietary was marked by the Fairfax Stone
at the headwaters of the North Branch Potomac River. In 1752, Lord Fairfax moved to Greenway Court
in the valley of Virginia closer to his undeveloped land. George Washington accepted a surveying assignment for Lord Fairfax at Belvoir.
Fairfax's sister Anne married Lawrence Washington
soon after her brother had wed. A young George Washington
, Lawrence’s half-brother, began to visit Belvoir frequently. Wishing to advance his brother’s fortunes, Lawrence introduced George to George William. A friendship grew between the two men, despite the fact that George William was seven years' older. A relationship blossomed between Sally Fairfax
and Washington. Washington and Bryan Fairfax
, George William's younger half-brother, also became friends.
Abandonment
When Fairfax left Belvoir for England in 1773, he had the estate rented to Rev. Andrew Morton for 7 years. Its furnishings were sold at auction in 1774. It was confiscated during the American Revolutionary War
by the Virginia Act of 1779. In 1783, the mansion and several of its outbuildings were destroyed by fire, and the plantation complex gradually deteriorated into ruins. Ferdinando Fairfax
, who inherited the property, apparently did not live there. The bluffs below the former mansion site were quarried for building stone, but the house site was not developed.
. In August 1814, as British land forces attacked and burned the city of Washington, a British naval squadron sailed up the Potomac River and forced the surrender of Alexandria
. The fleet began the 180 miles (289.7 km) return trip down river. On September 1, the British attempted to run the deep-water channel below the Belvoir house site, a position that previously had been identified as a strategic defensive location on the river. A hastily assembled American force, composed of Virginia and Alexandria militia under the command of U.S. Navy Captain David Porter
, hurriedly began to mount a battery on the bluff above the river. For four days, British and American forces exchanged cannon and musket fire. The British fleet eventually passed the American positions, but British shells demolished what little was left of the old Belvoir Manor.
The association of Belvoir Plantation with the Fairfax family ended with the death of Ferdinando Fairfax in 1820. During the next decade, William Herbert of Alexandria acquired the property, which he quickly used as collateral for a loan. During the 1830s, Thomas Irwin, Herbert's creditor, operated the shad
fisheries at White House Point. Herbert's continued inability to pay his debts eventually led to the sale of Belvoir at public auction
in 1838.
All of the great 18th-century plantations in the Belvoir area changed considerably in the years before the Civil War
. Soil exhaustion and inheritance prompted the sale and sub-division of these formerly expansive tracts of land. As a new generation of landowners took up residence in southeastern Fairfax County, patterns of land use and ownership were altered.
.
The Belvoir ruins are on the National Register of Historic Places
(1973), but access is restricted since they are on the military post.
Plantation economy
A plantation economy is an economy which is based on agricultural mass production, usually of a few staple products grown on large farms called plantations. Plantation economies rely on the export of cash crops as a source of income...
and estate
Estate (house)
An estate comprises the houses and outbuildings and supporting farmland and woods that surround the gardens and grounds of a very large property, such as a country house or mansion. It is the modern term for a manor, but lacks the latter's now abolished jurisdictional authority...
of colonial Virginia's prominent William Fairfax family. It was situated on the west bank of the Potomac River
Potomac River
The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...
in Fairfax County, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
at the present site of Fort Belvoir
Fort Belvoir
Fort Belvoir is a United States Army installation and a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Originally, it was the site of the Belvoir plantation. Today, Fort Belvoir is home to a number of important United States military organizations...
. The main house — called Belvoir Manor or Belvoir Mansion — burnt in 1783 and was completely destroyed during the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
. The site has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
since 1973 as "Belvoir Mansion Ruins and the Fairfax Grave".
18th century
OriginsWilliam Green's 1669 patent for 1150 acres (4.7 km²) encompassed most of the peninsula between Dogue Creek
Dogue Creek
Dogue Creek is an tributary of the Potomac River in Fairfax County, Virginia, named for the Doeg Indians. The lower of the creek form a tidal embayment of the Potomac to the east of Fort Belvoir.-Variant names:...
and Accotink Creek
Accotink Creek
Accotink Creek is a tributary stream of the Potomac River in Fairfax County, Virginia, in the United States. At Springfield, Accotink Creek is dammed to create Lake Accotink. The stream empties into the Potomac at Gunston Cove's Accotink Bay, to the west of Fort Belvoir.-External links:**...
, along the Potomac River
Potomac River
The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...
. Although this property was sub-divided and sold in the early eighteenth century, it was reassembled during the 1730s to create the central portion of Col. William Fairfax
William Fairfax
William Fairfax was a political appointee of the English Crown and a politician: he was Collector of Customs in Barbados, and Chief Justice and governor of the Bahamas; he served as Customs agent in Marblehead, Massachusetts before being reassigned to the Virginia colony. There he was elected to...
's 2200 acres (8.9 km²) plantation of Belvoir Manor.
Plantation house built
Fairfax's elegant new home was completed in 1741. Historic documents and archeological artifacts found at Belvoir Manor both attest to the elegant lifestyle enjoyed by the Fairfax family. The mansion was described in a 1774 rental notice as spacious and well-appointed. Its furnishings consisted of "tables, chairs, and every other necessary article ... very elegant." The family imported ceramics from Europe and the Orient to grace its tables.
Planters such as William Fairfax comprised a small elite of Fairfax County's population; most of their neighbors were smaller farmers who sometimes barely managed to make a living. The affluence of such planters was based not only on land and imposing buildings, but on the number of slaves they held. Slaves are in the records-as chattel passed from one generation to another, and as the probable users of the plain unglazed ceramics found in the outbuildings of Belvoir Manor. After William Fairfax
William Fairfax
William Fairfax was a political appointee of the English Crown and a politician: he was Collector of Customs in Barbados, and Chief Justice and governor of the Bahamas; he served as Customs agent in Marblehead, Massachusetts before being reassigned to the Virginia colony. There he was elected to...
's death in 1757, the plantation passed to his eldest son George William Fairfax
George William Fairfax
George William Fairfax was a planter and member of the landed gentry of late colonial Virginia. He was a contemporary and good friend of George Washington, and made opportunities for him through his powerful family....
(1729–87).
Lord Fairfax and Washington visit
Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron
Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron
Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron was the son of Thomas Fairfax, 5th Lord Fairfax of Cameron and of Catherine, daughter of Thomas Culpeper, 2nd Baron Culpeper of Thoresway....
moved to Virginia between 1735 and 1737 to inspect and protect his lands. Lord Fairfax came to Belvoir, to help oversee his family estates in Virginia's Northern Neck
Northern Neck
The Northern Neck is the northernmost of three peninsulas on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay in the Commonwealth of Virginia. This peninsula is bounded by the Potomac River on the north and the Rappahannock River on the south. It encompasses the following Virginia counties: Lancaster,...
Proprietary
Proprietary colony
A proprietary colony was a colony in which one or more individuals, usually land owners, remaining subject to their parent state's sanctions, retained rights that are today regarded as the privilege of the state, and in all cases eventually became so....
between the Rappahannock
Rappahannock
-Military:*Battle of Rappahannock Station I, a battle in the American Civil War*Battle of Rappahannock Station II, a battle in the American Civil War-Places:*Rappahannock River, a river in eastern Virginia...
and Potomac
Potomac
-Places in the United States:Washington, D.C. area:*The Potomac River, which flows through West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC**The Potomac Highlands of West Virginia, a region of the Potomac River's watershed in West Virginia...
rivers, inherited from his mother, Catharine, daughter of Thomas Culpeper, 2nd Baron Culpeper of Thoresway; and a great portion of the Shenandoah
Shenandoah Valley
The Shenandoah Valley is both a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians , to the north by the Potomac River...
and South Branch Potomac valleys. The northwestern boundary of his Northern Neck Proprietary was marked by the Fairfax Stone
Fairfax Stone
Fairfax Stone Historical Monument State Park is a West Virginia state park commemorating the Fairfax Stone, a surveyor's marker and boundary stone at the source of the North Branch of the Potomac River in West Virginia...
at the headwaters of the North Branch Potomac River. In 1752, Lord Fairfax moved to Greenway Court
Greenway Court, Virginia
Greenway Court was the estate and hunting lodge of Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron in what is now Clarke County, Virginia, United States...
in the valley of Virginia closer to his undeveloped land. George Washington accepted a surveying assignment for Lord Fairfax at Belvoir.
Fairfax's sister Anne married Lawrence Washington
Lawrence Washington
Lawrence Washington may refer to:*Lawrence Washington , great-great-grandfather of George Washington*Lawrence Washington , grandfather of George Washington*Lawrence Washington , George Washington's half-brother and mentor...
soon after her brother had wed. A young George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
, Lawrence’s half-brother, began to visit Belvoir frequently. Wishing to advance his brother’s fortunes, Lawrence introduced George to George William. A friendship grew between the two men, despite the fact that George William was seven years' older. A relationship blossomed between Sally Fairfax
Sally Fairfax
Sally Cary Fairfax was the wife of George William Fairfax , a prominent member of the landed gentry of late colonial Virginia. As such, she was mistress of the Virginia plantation and estate of Belvoir...
and Washington. Washington and Bryan Fairfax
Bryan Fairfax, 8th Lord Fairfax of Cameron
Bryan Fairfax , 8th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, boyhood friend of George Washington, became the first American-born member of the house of Lords.-Biography:...
, George William's younger half-brother, also became friends.
Abandonment
When Fairfax left Belvoir for England in 1773, he had the estate rented to Rev. Andrew Morton for 7 years. Its furnishings were sold at auction in 1774. It was confiscated during the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
by the Virginia Act of 1779. In 1783, the mansion and several of its outbuildings were destroyed by fire, and the plantation complex gradually deteriorated into ruins. Ferdinando Fairfax
Ferdinando Fairfax
Ferdinando Fairfax was a Virginia landowner and member of the prominent Fairfax family.- Life :...
, who inherited the property, apparently did not live there. The bluffs below the former mansion site were quarried for building stone, but the house site was not developed.
19th century
Belvoir Plantation suffered further damage during the War of 1812War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
. In August 1814, as British land forces attacked and burned the city of Washington, a British naval squadron sailed up the Potomac River and forced the surrender of Alexandria
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...
. The fleet began the 180 miles (289.7 km) return trip down river. On September 1, the British attempted to run the deep-water channel below the Belvoir house site, a position that previously had been identified as a strategic defensive location on the river. A hastily assembled American force, composed of Virginia and Alexandria militia under the command of U.S. Navy Captain David Porter
David Porter (naval officer)
David Porter was an officer in the United States Navy in a rank of commodore and later the commander-in-chief of the Mexican Navy.-Life:...
, hurriedly began to mount a battery on the bluff above the river. For four days, British and American forces exchanged cannon and musket fire. The British fleet eventually passed the American positions, but British shells demolished what little was left of the old Belvoir Manor.
The association of Belvoir Plantation with the Fairfax family ended with the death of Ferdinando Fairfax in 1820. During the next decade, William Herbert of Alexandria acquired the property, which he quickly used as collateral for a loan. During the 1830s, Thomas Irwin, Herbert's creditor, operated the shad
Shad
The shads or river herrings comprise the genus Alosa, fish related to herring in the family Clupeidae. They are distinct from others in that family by having a deeper body and spawning in rivers. The several species frequent different areas on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea....
fisheries at White House Point. Herbert's continued inability to pay his debts eventually led to the sale of Belvoir at public auction
Public auction
A public auction is an auction held on behalf of a government in which the property to be auctioned is either property owned by the government, or property which is sold under the authority of a court of law or a government agency with similar authority....
in 1838.
All of the great 18th-century plantations in the Belvoir area changed considerably in the years before the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. Soil exhaustion and inheritance prompted the sale and sub-division of these formerly expansive tracts of land. As a new generation of landowners took up residence in southeastern Fairfax County, patterns of land use and ownership were altered.
20th century
In 1917, the Belvoir property was consolidated and ceded to the U.S. Army by Virginia, eventually lending its name to the modern military instillation of Fort BelvoirFort Belvoir
Fort Belvoir is a United States Army installation and a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Originally, it was the site of the Belvoir plantation. Today, Fort Belvoir is home to a number of important United States military organizations...
.
The Belvoir ruins are on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
(1973), but access is restricted since they are on the military post.