Lot 374

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Description:

George Washington's First Boss Lord Thomas Fairfax Signed 1741 Northern Neck VA Land Deed

A 1p manuscript document signed by Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (1693-1781), as "Th. Fairfax" at lower right. Dated June 19, 1741, n.p. Beautifully inscribed in a secretarial script on an oblong piece of vellum, and displayed in a floating mount, matted and framed behind glass. Not examined out of the frame. Remnants of a red wax seal are located at upper left, and it is docketed at lower left. Expected wear consistent with age including minor folds, ink fading, and edge darkening, else very good to near fine. The document measures approximately 14.75" x 9" while the overall frame measures 24.5" x 18.5" x 1.5." Accompanied by wonderful provenance information from the Library of Virginia and other secondary sources.

Lord Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax, a Scottish peer, had inherited the Northern Neck Proprietary royal land grant in northern colonial Virginia by 1719. Lord Fairfax is closely linked to another famous Virginian, future 1st U.S. President George Washington (1732-1799). Lord Fairfax, a distant relative of Washington's, had offered the unusually serious and mature 17-year-old his first job in the summer of 1749; Washington surveyed the western parts of Lord Fairfax's land holdings as the official surveyor of Culpeper County, Virginia. Some 199 land surveys in Culpeper, Frederick, and Hampshire Counties are attributed to George Washington, undertaken between 1749-1752.

This document is not related to Washington as a surveyor; indeed, Washington was only nine years old in 1741. However, the document is related to John Warner (fl. 1727-1741), the official surveyor of nearby King George's County. George Washington was well aware of his predecessor John Warner; in a November 1765 letter addressed to Washington from a Fairfax relative, "a rough plat…of Warners" is discussed.

The document reads in part, with original spelling and punctuation:

"The Right Honourable Thomas Lord Fairfax Baron of Cameron of that part of Great Britain called Scotland Proprietor of the Northern Neck of Virginia To all to whom this present writing shall come Sends greeting Know ye that for good causes for + in consideration of the composition for my use paid and for the Annual Rent hereafter Reserved I have given granted + confirmed + by this presents for me my heirs + Assigns do give grant + confirm unto Brian Obanion of the County of King George one certain tract or piece of Land in the County of Prince William adjoyning on his own Land near the Pignutt Ridge + Capt. Wm. Russell + is found as by a survey thereof made by Mr. John Warner pursuant to the Warrant…"

The document (recorded as E 284) granted 197 acres of land in Lord Fairfax's Northern Neck Proprietary in Prince William County (modern day Fauquier County) to one "Brian Obanion." Pignutt Ridge served as the easterly boundary of the tract, and Broad Run was its southerly and westerly boundary.

Also known as the Fairfax Grant, the Northern Neck Proprietary was a royal land grant issued by King Charles II in 1649. It contained over 5,000,000 acres of land flanked by the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers of northern Virginia. Lord Fairfax administrated his colonial Virginia land holdings from abroad, relying on his cousin, William Fairfax (1691-1757), to be his land agent and customs collector. In 1747, Lord Fairfax decided to settle in the New World permanently. The Northern Neck Proprietary made Lord Fairfax an extremely wealthy man; he was enriched by revenue from multiple farms, likely producing tobacco or other mixed crops; and also by the enforced labor of several hundred enslaved persons.

Lord Fairfax sold the land to Bryant (also Bryan or Brian) O'Bannon (ca. 1695-1762), one of many early Irish settlers in colonial Virginia. O'Bannon immigrated from County Tipperary, Ireland to Virginia around 1702. Land grants were issued to O'Bannon over a 30-year-long period, in 1720, 1728, 1741, 1745, and 1753. Most of this property was found in King George County, Prince William County, Frederick County, and Hanover Parish, Virginia. The land purchase recorded here on June 19, 1741 was later bequeathed to one of O'Bannon's sons, as can be seen in Bryant O'Bannon's May 1762 last will and testament.

PROVENANCE

Information about the June 19, 1741 land grant selling 197 acres of Lord Fairfax's land to Bryant O'Bannon is easily retrievable in the historical records. Included with the lot are two photocopies from the Library of Virginia showing O'Bannon's purchase visually represented as a plat, as well as a verbatim transcript of the land grant produced contemporaneously. Also included are records from Gertrude E. Gray's "Virginia Northern Neck Land Grants, Vol. 1, 1694-1742" (Baltimore: Clearfield Company, 1987), p. 135, and views of a 1745 map of the Northern Neck Proprietary surveyed by John Warner now found in the Collection of Colonial Williamsburg.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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