Vaucluse (plantation)
Encyclopedia
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
in Fairfax County
Fairfax County, Virginia
Fairfax County is a county in Virginia, in the United States. Per the 2010 Census, the population of the county is 1,081,726, making it the most populous jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Virginia, with 13.5% of Virginia's population...
, 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...
, three miles (5 km) from 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...
and 10 miles (16.1 km) from Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, on a hill near the Virginia Theological Seminary
Virginia Theological Seminary
Virginia Theological Seminary , formally called the Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary in Virginia, is the largest accredited Episcopal seminary in the United States. Founded in 1818, VTS is situated on an campus in Alexandria, Virginia, just a few miles from downtown Washington, DC. VTS...
, that was owned first by Dr. James Craik
James Craik
James Craik was Physician General of the United States Army, as well as George Washington's personal physician and close friend.-Education and emigration to America:...
, and later by the Fairfax family, the first being Thomas Fairfax, 9th Lord Fairfax of Cameron
Thomas Fairfax, 9th Lord Fairfax of Cameron
Thomas Fairfax, 9th Lord Fairfax of Cameron , son of Bryan Fairfax. Thomas Fairfax, with his father, on December 11, 1799, was among the last guests at Mount Vernon, before Washington died....
.
Dr. James Craik
Dr. Craik, surgeonSurgeon
In medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...
in the Virginia Regiment
Virginia Regiment
The Virginia Regiment was formed in 1754 by Virginia's Royal Governor Robert Dinwiddie, initially as an all volunteer militia corps, and he promoted George Washington, the future first president of the United States of America, to its command upon the death of Colonel Joshua Fry...
, and the Continental Army
Continental Army
The Continental Army was formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in...
, was persuaded, by Washington after the Revolutionary War, to move his practice to Alexandria, Virginia
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...
. Dr. Craik settled at Vaucluse, where he died on February 6, 1814.
Thomas Fairfax
Thomas Fairfax, 9th Lord Fairfax of Cameron
Thomas Fairfax, 9th Lord Fairfax of Cameron , son of Bryan Fairfax. Thomas Fairfax, with his father, on December 11, 1799, was among the last guests at Mount Vernon, before Washington died....
was the son of 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:...
. He oversaw his land holdings of forty thousand acres, and established his family at Vaucluse, where he died, on April 21, 1846. His grandsons were born at Vaucluse: Charles S. Fairfax
Charles S. Fairfax
Charles Snowdon Fairfax was an American Democratic politician of California. He was of Scottish noble descent and was himself entitled to the title as the 10th Lord Fairfax of Cameron. Fairfax was lured west as part of the gold rush...
, was born on March 8, 1829, and John C. Fairfax was born on September 30, 1830. Thomas Fairfax left a life interest in Vaucluse to his widow, who lived there until her death in 1858, with her two widowed daughters, Mrs. Hyde, and Mrs. Cary.
Thomas Fairfax was related to 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....
, who emigrate
Emigrate
Emigrate is a heavy metal band based in New York, led by Richard Z. Kruspe, the lead guitarist of the German band Rammstein.-History:Kruspe started the band in 2005, when Rammstein decided to take a year off from touring and recording...
d to America, and settled at Belvoir (plantation)
Belvoir (plantation)
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 later Greenway Court, Virginia
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...
, where he actively managed his Northern Neck Proprietary, a land grant
Land grant
A land grant is a gift of real estate – land or its privileges – made by a government or other authority as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service...
of more than a million acres (4,000 km²) in the northern neck of Virginia, which he inherited from his mother, Catherine Colepeper.
Constance Cary
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...
, Thomas Fairfax's granddaughter, Miss Constance Cary was living at Vaucluse with her mother, Monimia Fairfax.
Momimia had married Archibald Cary (1815–1854), and they had three children: Falkland Cary, who died aged 16, Constance Cary, and Clarence Cary.
The family moved to Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
during the war, where Miss Cary wrote under the pen name Refugitta.
The mansion
Mansion
A mansion is a very large dwelling house. U.S. real estate brokers define a mansion as a dwelling of over . A traditional European mansion was defined as a house which contained a ballroom and tens of bedrooms...
was destroyed during the American 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...
to make place for Fort Worth
Fort Worth, Virginia
Fort Worth was a timber and earthwork fortification constructed west of Alexandria, Virginia as part of the defenses of Washington, D.C. during the American Civil War. Built in the weeks following the Union defeat at Bull Run, Fort Worth was situated on a hill north of Hunting Creek, and Cameron Run,...
, in the defenses of the city of Washington. In December 1861, Captain J. Howard Kitching
J. Howard Kitching
John Howard Kitching , often referred to as J. Howard Kitching, was an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He served in the cavalry, artillery and infantry in the Army of the Potomac and Army of the Shenandoah...
marched with four regiments to occupy the fort. The Fairfax family silver was buried there until recovered after the war.
See also
- Journal of Colonel George Washington
- Lord Fairfax of CameronLord Fairfax of Cameronthumb|Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of CameronLord 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...
- African-American Traditions in Song, Sermon, Tale, and Dance, 1600s-1920
- Constance Cary HarrisonConstance Cary HarrisonConstance Cary Harrison , was a prolific American writer. She was also known as Constance Cary, Constance C. Harrison, and Mrs. Burton Harrison, as well as her nom de plume, "Refugitta." She was married to Burton Harrison, a lawyer and American democratic politician...
- Famous Woman Authors
38°48′54"N 77°5′56.4"E