FAUQUIER COUNTY IN THE COLONIAL ERA

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FAUQUIER COUNTY IN THE COLONIAL ERA
Presented by Richard Deardoff
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1607 Jamestown founded
1776 Independence
169 years!
1776 plus 169 years 1945
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5, 280,000 acres THE FAIRFAX GRANT
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RED STORE
Pre-1764
PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY
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A system of roads too awful for modern
experience to contemplate. - T. Triplett
Russell and John K Gott in Fauquier County in the
Revolution
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GLEBE
SALEM
OCCAQUAN
PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY
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CENSUS OF 1790 Total Population 17,882
37.1
62.9
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VESTRYMEN - 12 men, appointed by the governor
Powers, Responsibilities 1. Maintain church
property 2. Hire Minister 3. Care for widows
and orphans 4. Administer welfare 5. Act as a
morals court 6. Collect tithes
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FAUQUIER COUNTY 1759
OCCAQUAN
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Sir Francis Fauquier
1702-1768 Lt. Gov. of Virginia (1758-1768)
The ablest man who ever filled the chair of
government. -Jefferson
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• Of Francis Fauquier, royal Governor of Virginia
  from 1758 to 1768, Thomas Jefferson wrote that he
  was the "ablest man who had ever filled that
  office."
• Historians may disagree with Jefferson's
  superlative praise, colored by the memory of a
  youthful friendship. Yet none should deny
  Fauquier's ability and vivid personality.
  Certainly he was a "compleat gentleman" and
  deserved the respect and admiration accorded him
  by his contemporaries.

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• Among the time-worn records in the York County
  Courthouse at Yorktown are copies of the will and
  the inventories of Francis Fauquier. Other
  valuable data regarding him has been collected by
  the Williamsburg Restoration Incorporated, of the
  old town where Fauquier lived while royal
  Governor. Used in connection with facts already
  available, this information enables us to form a
  clearer picture of the Colonial dignitary. We are
  able to appreciate why Jefferson accorded him
  such high praise. We can understand why he
  retained the friendshipof the Virginians even
  during the critical period of the Stamp Act and
  can estimate more carefully his influence upon
  Jefferson at the formative period of his life.

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• The Fauquier records in Yorktown include a copy
  of his will written in 1767 and the inventories
  of his personal property made after his death the
  next year. These documents have survived the
  siege of Yorktown in the Revolutionary War, the
  fire during the period of the War of 1812, and
  the siege during the War Between the States.
  Before the Union occupation of Yorktown in May,
  1862, the Fauquier records, with others at the
  courthouse, were carried by the clerk in a sloop
  up the York River. He planned to remove them to
  Richmond, but, learning that Union troops were at
  West Point, is reported to have hid them in an
  icehouse in King William County, Va. After the
  war, they were returned to Yorktown. They are now
  being indexed by research workers for the United
  States Government. The earliest are dated in
  1633, more than a century before Fauquier
  succeeded Robert Dinwiddie as Governor of
  Virginia.

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• The Fauquier will is torn in several places and
  was recently restored. It was signed by the
  Governor on March 26, 1767, in the sixty-fourth
  year of his age. The honorable William Nelson and
  Robert Carter, two of His Majesty's council the
  Honorable Peyton Randolph, speaker of the House
  of Burgesses and George Wythe, Esquire, were
  appointed executors for the estate and effects in
  Virginia. The document is somewhat lengthy the
  most important sections from the standpoint of a
  modern historical student are those relating to
  Fauquier's negro slaves and the disposal of his
  body after his death.

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In 1825 Fauquier Courthouse will become Warrenton
Dr. Joseph Warren
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Richard Henry Lees Donation
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The 12 vestrymen now become JUSTICES OF THE PEACE
Individual J.P.s will maintain peace and settle
disputes inside their districts, ordering arrests
until monthly meeting of the county court.
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Collectively, the J.P.s met monthly as
the COUNTY COURT
At least four J.P.s must be present to have a
quorum- one must have some legal knowledge
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Powers, Responsibilities -Make county
ordinances -Determine taxes -Business
Marriage licenses
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The County Court could Grant Monopolies
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Powers, responsibilities of County Court
-Grant passports -Hear appeals from decisions of
individual J.P.s
-Determine prices at inns and taverns
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Hear cases NOT involving loss of life or limb
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There was a gaol, barely strong enough to hold
thos who had no particular desire to
escape. -Russell Gott
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Interior of Fauquier Gaol Today
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Punishments not involving loss of life or limb
could include the pillory, cutting off ears,
slitting the tongue (for gossips) and branding.
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Gentlemen-felons were sometimes sentenced to
cold branding which left no mark to destroy
their honor.
Crimes involving the loss of life or limb would
be sent to Williamsburg to be decided on Court
Days in May or October.
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Powers, responsibilities of County Court
To Maintain Roads
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Powers, responsibilities of County Court
-Set conditions for those prisoners to be sent
to the General Court -Recommended Sheriff, Clerk
and Militia Officers to the Governor
Sheriff and Clerk recd 10 of the money they
handled
Clerk Issued licenses, recorded deeds, wills,
mortgages, court decisions
Made arrests, served summonses, collected taxes
set election date
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4 of the J.P.s will be selected to be MILITIA
OFFICERS
All able-bodied men between 16 and 45 are members
of the Virginia Militia
Monthly drills are held, with each man providing
his own musket
Militia officers are responsible for the defense
of the county, conducting the drills, maintenance
of the magazine
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Fauquier County elected two representatives to
annual meetings of the HOUSE OF BURGESSES
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Candidates stood for rather than ran for
office
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Voting Qualifications
-White, male, over 21 -Property
qualifications -100 acres of uncleared
land -25 acres of cleared land with a house -A
town lot with a house
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Wealth is comparative!
The Hollow
16.5 x 24.5 feet two rooms up (6.5 ft ceilings)
two rooms down Thomas Marshall moved here with
wife and 6 children 5 more will be born
here Marshall is Sheriff, a Burgess and County
Surveyor one of the wealthier men in the county!
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Responsibilities of the House of Burgesses
By 1700, the tradition developed that all methods
of raising taxes would originate in the House of
Burgesses The House of Burgesses is the lower
chamber of a bicameral legislature
Not how much just how
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The upper chamber of the colonial legislature is
THE GOVERNORS COUNCIL
12 Virginians appointed by the Crown for life
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Members of the Governors Council wear two
hats 1. They are the upper house of the
colonial legislature 2. With the Governor, they
act as the General Court of Virginia hearing
cases on appeal from the county and all cases
involving loss of life or limb.
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The Royal Governor of Virginia
Powers Veto legislation Chief Justice Power of
Pardon Commander of militia and navy Appointed
Vestry, J.P.s Called for elections of
House Could dissolve Burgesses
Appointed by the Crown
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THE CROWN
By the mid 1700s references to the Crown
actually refer to the British Parliament which
has taken over executive functions. Colonial
affairs are handled by the BOARD OF TRADE
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Generalizations Concerning Colonial Government

• UNDEMOCRATIC
• Franchise limited to property owners

-Eastern Counties over-represented -Men of
property could vote in more than one county
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B. PLUTOCRATIC
-Property requirements to stand for
office -JPs, Burgesses and Councilors were not
paid only the wealthy could afford to take the
time necessary to govern
- By custom, must be able to treat constituents
and prospective voters
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C. NO SEPARATION OF POWERS NOR OF CHURCH AND
STATE
-On both a county and colony level the same
persons who made the laws and hired the sheriff
also acted as judges
-To be in the vestry, a JP, the militia and a
member of the House of Burgesses simultaneously
was not unusual
-The Anglican Church was tax-supported in Virginia
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D. NEPOTISM AND FAVORITISM CREATED OLIGARCHIES
The same Fauquier County family held the Clerks
job for the first 46 years
From 1680 to 1780 a third of the total number of
Councilors came from just nine families
e.g. James Madisons father was a JP, vestryman
and militia officer. Washingtons father,
grandfather and great grandfather were JPs his
father was a vestryman and his brother a Burgess
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E. FAULTY MECHANICS OF VOTING
VIVA VOCE oral voting nothing secret!
Only one polling place in the county
Sheriff picked when the election day wasand when
to close the polls
Uncontrolled use of liquor at the polls
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2 gallons of hard cider 28 gallons of rum 46
gallons of beer 50 gallons of rum punch
George Washingtons Campaign Expenses 1757
For 391 voters!
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F. LACK OF MEDIA
Thank God! There are no free schools or press
in Virginia! Lord Berkeley
- The press is virtually non-existent in the 17th
Century. Even in the mid 18th Century, there are
only three newspapers
- The press is barred from governmental meetings
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With all these problems Virginia and Fauquier
County are
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Self-Governing before the Revolution!
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BRITISH EMPIRE
BOARD OF TRADE
GOVERNOR
COLONY
GOVERNORS COUNCIL
HOUSE OF BURGESSES
COUNTY
MILITIA OFFICERS
JUSTICES OF THE PEACE
VESTRY
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VIRGINIA IN THE COLONIAL ERA
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In the tidewater death rates are very high.
Fecal pollutants washed into swamps and stagnant
pools.
HEAT AND HUMIDITY LED TO IDLENESS AS WELL AS A
QUICK TEMPER IN VIRGINIANS
DOMINANT FEATURE THE CHESAPEAKE BAY
Typhus, dysentery and malaria are common.
7 FROST FREE MONTHS
ENVIRONMENT
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EXTENDED FAMILY includes friends, neighbors,
servants, even political allies and business
acquaintances
PATRIARCHAL Males took charge
Households had more step-relations and wards,
fewer children in the primary unit and more
servants. This was because of higher death rates.
Individuals were stereotyped by traits that were
thought to be hereditary in their extended
families
Family Structure
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In the 17th Century more than 75 of children
lost at least one parent before the age of 16.
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VA (Cont.)
In 1775, 15 of the white male population owned
slaves in Fauquier.
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MARRIAGE
On average Males are 26 years old at the time of
their first marriage, women - 17.
Love was not thought to be a necessary
precondition
Marriage was a social condition everyone was
expected to achieve. However
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females are heavily outnumbered by males which
will result in 25 of men never marrying your
chances of marriage increased with your social
status
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In Virginia divorce did not exist only legal
separation which was rare. By 1681, there had
been no divorces and only one separation had been
allowed
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Parents had an active role in the marriage
decision
Children are so much the property of the
parents, that they cannot without a kind of
theft give themselves away English marriage
manual
However, children were rarely made to marry
against their will.
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The Virginia pattern developed within a culture
where marriage was regarded as
Something to be arranged between parents
Something that did not require love as a
precondition
Something that could not be dissolved
Something that joined husband and wife in a
patriarchal hierarchy
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SEX in VIRGINIA
A double standard exists
Women were expected to be feminine, refined,
delicate, gracious, modest, virtuous.
Women are expected to be faithful, but not men
At the same time they were expected to manage the
household, do farm work and field work
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Rate of prenuptial pregnancy in colonial Virginia
is high about 20
Adultery was forbidden but only the female was
punished. This reflects the thought that the
family bloodline was threatened by a wifes
adultery, but not by the husbands
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RELATIONS WITH SLAVES
our men live in one house with their wives and
their concubines, and the mulattos one sees in
every family exactly resemble the white children
and every lady tells you who is the father of
all the mulatto children in everybodys
household, but those in her own she seems to
think drop from the clouds -Mary Chesnuts Diary
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RAISING CHILDREN IN VIRGINIA
One third of all children die before they are two
years old
Children especially boys were encouraged to
develop strong and autonomous wills
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Socialization in Virginia prepared the child to
takes its proper place in society. While it was
forbidden in Massachusetts, Virginia children
were forced to learn to dance.
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Children were carefully instructed in formal
rules of right conduct all reinforcing the idea
of a deferential society
Washingtons Rules
Mock not, nor jest at anything of importance
break no jests that are sharp-biting, and, if you
deliver anything witty and pleasant, abstain from
laughing yourself.
Associate yourself with men of good quality, if
you esteem your own reputation.
Use no reproachable language against any one,
neither curse nor revile.
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Death in Virginia
Family cemeteries are common
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AS WAS A FEAR OF PREMATURE BURIAL!!
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Robert E. Lees mother was pronounced dead over a
year before Lees birth!
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SPORTS in VIRGINIA
The Virginians looked with contempt upon the town
games of Massachusetts
Any sport played with a ball cannot build
character. I advise the gun. While this gives
moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness,
enterprise and independence to the
mind -Jefferson
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Popular Virginia sports include hunting,
horseracing, foxhunting
Coursing, cockfighting, ganderpulling and
cockshailing
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WORK in VIRGINIA
Nature is very indulgent to us, and produces its
good things almost spontaneously. Plenty and a
warm sun make us lazy, hating motion and
exercise. -William Byrd II
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Even the reverse of Virginias Great Seal gives
evidence of this. Designed by Richard Henry Lee,
George Mason and George Wythe, the English
translation is God Has Granted Us This Leisure.
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Actually Virginians worked hard but tried to
give the impression of not working. While work
was not valued, wealth was not for its own sake
but to be used for display and consumed for
pleasure. Wealth was necessary for displaying
hospitality and a giving nature which was part
of the ideal of a gentleman.
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LAW ENFORCEMENT in VIRGINIA
An appointed sheriff empanelled juries, issued
writs, called elections, maintained the peace,
protected the church, administered punishment,
ran the jail
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The method of execution was a slow hanging.
Sometimes punishment did not end with death. The
worst criminals would be hung on display by the
roadside. In a process called corruption of
blood all family property was forfeited to the
Crown.
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The End