Bryan Fairfax (1736 - 1802)

Born 11 Aug 1736 in Belvoir Manor, Fairfax, Colony of Virginia

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth (Cary) Fairfax — married 1759 in Belvoir, Fairfax, Virginia

Descendants

Died 7 Aug 1802 at age 65 in Mount Eagle, Fairfax, Virginia, United States

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Biography

The title to the Scottish peerage, the 8th Lord Fairfax of Cameron descended to him in 1793, and although his claim was recognized by the House of Lords he never asserted it.

Birth: 11 August 1736 Belvoir Manor, Fairfax, Virginia^[1]

Wikipedia ~ Biography

"Bryan Fairfax was the son of Col. William Fairfax (1691–1757) of Belvoir and Deborah Clarke (1707–1747).

"Bryan Fairfax lived at Belvoir, as a young man, with his father Col. William Fairfax, business agent for his cousin, Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron. William's son, George William Fairfax and Sally Fairfax also lived there, and were close neighbors to George Washington's Mount Vernon. George Washington as a young man, with his brother Lawrence Washington, visited the Fairfax family at Belvoir often; Lord Fairfax employed George Washington to join a surveying team of his western lands, in the valley of Virginia.

"In 1754, Bryan Fairfax clerked for his brother-in-law, John Carlyle, in Alexandria, Virginia, and was appointed as a deputy clerk for Fairfax County.

"Bryan Fairfax served as a Lieutenant in George Washington's Militia Tegiment, in George Mercer's Company early in the French and Indian War, but he resigned his commission in 1756.

"After a whirlwind social scene in Westmoreland and Essex County, John Carlyle caught up with him in the Annapolis gaol, and brought him back to Belvoir, in 1757.

"Bryan Fairfax married Elizabeth Cary, sister of Sally Cary Fairfax, in 1759. They had three children: William, (died in infancy), Thomas (1762–1846), and Ferdinando (1766–1820). George Washington and Martha Washington traveled to Towlston Grange to stand as godparents for Ferdinando.

"Brian Fairfax lived at Greenhill (Accotink Creek and Back Road, now Telegraph Road) from 1760 - 1765. He then lived at Towlston Grange (Difficult Run and Leesburg Pike, now Route 7) from 1768 - 1790.

"Bryan Fairfax served as a Justice for Fairfax County at the same time as George Washington. He was an avid foxhunter, and he and George Washington often rode together."^[2]

Wikipedia ~ Revolutionary War

"When the Fairfax Resolves were debated in 1774, Bryan Fairfax corresponded with George Washington, the chairman of the committee considering the Resolves.

"Bryan Fairfax was torn over the question of American independence during the American Revolutionary War. On his own in 1777, he tried to travel to England. He was arrested in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, for refusing to sign a loyalty oath. However, he wrote to his good friend, George Washington, who sent him a pass to travel between the lines. In New York, British officials also required a loyalty oath, to board ship, which he refused to take. With his attempt thwarted, on his return trip home, he visited George Washington, at Valley Forge."^[3]

Wikipedia ~ After the War

"Bryan Fairfax later married Jennie Dennison. With her, he had two daughters.

"He had long considered a religious life, and he was ordained priest in the Episcopal Church in 1789, serving as rector of Christ Church from 1790 to 1792.

"He moved to Mount Eagle (plantation), (south of Hunting Creek, and Alexandria), where he lived from 1790 until his death.

"In 1790, he built Ash Grove (plantation), on Leesburg Pike, (2 miles west of Tysons Corner), for his son, Thomas Fairfax. It was sold to James Sherman in 1850.

"When the Seventh Lord Fairfax died in 1793, Bryan Fairfax initially ignored the title. However, while in England in 1798 on other business, he presented the necessary proofs to the House of Lords to claim the title.

"George Washington’s last meal away from Mount Vernon, on December 7, 1799 was with Bryan Fairfax at Mount Eagle; Bryan Fairfax was among the last guests at Mount Vernon, on December 11, 1799, before George Washington died. He was one of the principal mourners at George Washington’s funeral, and George Washington left him a bible in his will.

"In 1800, after he had returned to Virginia, the peerage was adjudged, and he became the Eighth Lord Fairfax. Bryan Fairfax died in 1802. His widow sued his executor, but the Supreme Court found for the executor in 1809. His son Thomas Fairfax became the 9th Lord Fairfax of Cameron."^[4]

From "Martha Washington: First Lady of Liberty" by Helen Bryan, Wiley and Sons, 2002:

"The Washington's also caught up with news of the Fairfax's. Their old neighbor, George William's younger half brother Byran Fairfax, came to visit them at Valley Forge. Bryan Fairfax had grown serious with age and was no longer the feckless irresponsible boy Martha and George had known. Bryan had taken holy orders and was now the Reverend Bryan Fairfax. Married to Sally Cary Fairfax's younger sister Elizabeth he lived at his plantation, Mount Eagle in Fairfax County. He had also had a least one child, a boy names Toulston Fairfax, by one of his slaves, an experience that was causing him to question the system of slavery" (Bryan 2002, 230).

Sources

1. ↑ Millennium File
2. ↑ Wikipedia: Bryan Fairfax, 8th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (Biography)
3. ↑ Wikipedia: Bryan Fairfax, 8th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (Revolutionary War)
4. ↑ Wikipedia: Bryan Fairfax, 8th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (After the War)

• Ancestry Family Trees
• Millennium File
• "Martha Washington: First Lady of Liberty" by Helen Bryan, Wiley and Sons, 2002