University of Virginia Library

ARTICLE LVII.

Northern Neck of Virginia.—Fairfax and Carter Families.

We enter now on that most interesting portion of Virginia called
the Northern Neck, which, beginning on the Chesapeake Bay, lies
between the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers, and crossing the
Blue Ridge, or passing through it, with the Potomac, at Harper's
Ferry, extends with that river to the heads thereof in the Alleghany
Mountains, and thence by a straight line crosses the North Mountain
and Blue Ridge, at the head-waters of the Rappahannock. By
common consent this is admitted to be the most fertile part of
Virginia, and to abound in many advantages, whether we consider
the rich supply of fish and oysters in the rivers and creeks of the
tide-water portion of it and the rapid growth of its forests and
improvable character of its soil, or the fertility of the lands of the
valley, so much of which is evidently alluvial.

There were settlements at an early period on the rich banks of
the Potomac and Rappahannock by families of note, who took possession
of those seats which originally belonged to warlike tribes
of Indians, which latter were forced to give way to the superior
prowess of the former. Of some of these families and their abodes
we shall have occasion to make mention in our progress along the
parishes lying upon the two rivers. It is not inconsistent with the
religious character and design of our work to begin with some
notice of that family to which the whole proprietorship of the
Northern Neck originally belonged, by a grant from the Crown,
especially as, both in England and in Virginia, so many of that
name have been attached to the Episcopal Church, and some of
whom have been bright ornaments of it.

In the corrupt and venal reign of Charles II., the whole State
of Virginia, except such parts as had been specially patented, was
made over for a time to Lord Culpepper. There was, of course, a
good pecuniary consideration given to the King for quitrents.
Lord Culpepper was not only the proprietary of the Colony, but
had the livings of all the parishes in his gift,—could bestow or
take away as he pleased. There was, however, too much of American
feeling, even at that early period, to submit to such a measure.

So heavy were the complaints, and so threatening the
opposition, that the King withdrew the grant of proprietorship for
the whole State, and restricted it with limitations to the Northern
Neck, as above described. By intermarriage between the families
of Culpepper and Fairfax, this part of the State came into possession
of Thomas Fairfax, whose mother was daughter of Lord Culpepper,
himself being the seventh Fairfax who had inherited the title of
Lord Cameron. He it was who lived and died in the forests of
old Frederick county, as we have stated in a former number, being
one of the earliest vestrymen of the parish, an active magistrate,
the patron of Washington, a friend of the poor, an eccentric but
most upright man.

The family of Fairfax is a very ancient and respectable one,
according to English history and family records. Within the last
few years, four octavo volumes of the Fairfax history and correspondence
have been published in England, a large portion of whose
contents were accidentally discovered in an old box, supposed to
contain tiles, in one of the old family seats. They had been secreted
there during Cromwell's rebellion, or soon after, for safekeeping,
and lest they should fall into the hands of those who would
make an ill use of them. Being in a box which, when opened,
presented only tiles to the eye, they were supposed to be lost for
the larger part of two centuries. Being furnished with a copy of
these volumes, and having looked over them for the purpose of
collecting any thing suitable to these pages, I present the following
brief notices.

The Fairfaxes were of true Saxon origin, going back to the times
of William the Conqueror. The name Fair-Fax meant Fair Hair.
In the early history of the family an interesting fact is stated in
old English verse,—viz.: that grandfather, son, and grandson, with
their wives and children, lived in the same house at Bradford,—a
village in England.

The above lines were written by the rector of Bradford, in 1647.

At the beginning of the Reformation, one of the Fairfaxes was
so staunch a Catholic that he disinherited his eldest son for taking
part in the sacking of Rome by the Protestants. The following

extract from his will shows the character of his creed:—"First, I
will and bequeath my soul to our Lord Jesus Christ, and to Lady
Mary, his blessed mother." He leaves money to the poor, and
also to fourteen poor persons with which to buy black gowns and
torches for attendance at his funeral. In a few generations, however,
after this, we find Romanism supplanted by as staunch a
Protestantism. Thomas Fairfax, the first who had a peerage, and
for which, besides many civil and military services, he had to pay
fifteen hundred pounds to King James I. in his pecuniary difficulties,
was a Protestant, and sympathized with Cromwell in his
contest with Charles I. His son Ferdinand distinguished himself
in Cromwell's army; and his grandson Thomas was the celebrated
Lord Fairfax, one of the leaders in the rebel army.

The first Thomas, who purchased the title, had a brother named
Edward, who signalized himself by translating "Tasso's Jerusalem
Delivered" into a smooth English, before unknown. In a work on
Demonology, he thus declares his religious belief and ecclesiastical
position:—"I am, in religion, neither a fanatic Puritan nor superstitious
Papist, but so settled in conscience, that I have the sure
ground of God's word for all I believe, and the commendable
ordinances of our English Church to approve all I practise."

The will of Ferdinando Fairfax, father of the great General in
Cromwell's army, differs much from that of his Romish ancestor.
Instead of commending his soul to Lady Mary, in conjunction with
her son, his will runs thus:—"First, I commend my soul to their
infinite Majesties, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost,—the
same God who hath with his manifold blessings been gracious to
me in this world, and whose goodness, in his great mercy, I hope
to enjoy in heaven. Next, I give my body to be buried, without
much pomp or ceremony, in what place it shall please God to call
me out of this sinful world; but, if with convenience it may be, I
desire to be interred in the parish of Bolton Percy, near the body
of my dear wife." A sensible and pious will, worthy of imitation.

This parish of Bolton Percy was one in which his brother, the
Rev. Henry Fairfax, ministered. He appears to have been a truly
pious man, and his wife to have been an helpmeet to him. Some
interesting letters, written before and after their marriage, show
them to have been well formed by nature and grace for the position
which they chose in preference to all others. While the country
was full of confusion and bloodshed, and his father, brother, and
nephew were so actively engaged in revolutionary scenes, he
quietly performed his duties as a parish minister, molesting none,

and being unmolested by any. He had two sons: one of them,
Bryan, was a scholar and author; another, Henry, was the fourth
Lord Fairfax, inheriting the title from the great General, who had
no son. His son, who was the grandson of the humble curate
of Bolton Percy, was also inheritor of the title, and married the
daughter of Lord Culpepper. Their son Thomas was the emigrant
to America. At his death, his brother Robert, in England, inherited
the title, who, dying without issue, bequeathed his estate
to the Rev. Denny Martin, a relative of the family, who assumed
the name of Fairfax. The title, however, descended to the Rev.
Bryan Fairfax, minister of the Episcopal Church of Alexandria,
who was the son of William Fairfax, of Belvoir, the friend of
Washington, and manager of the estates of Lord Fairfax after the
death of Robert Carter, alias King Carter, of Lancaster.

Before proceeding further with our brief notice of the Fairfax
family in Virginia, I must add a word as to the celebrated General
in Cromwell's army. Marrying into a Presbyterian family, and
espousing a cause much patronized by that denomination, he inclined,
for a time at least, to that persuasion. He appears to have
been an upright and conscientious man. The language of his letters
sometimes savours not a little of that which marked the communications
of Cromwell; but his sincerity was never questioned,
—which cannot be said of Cromwell, notwithstanding all the praises
heaped upon him of late years. His great General (Fairfax) could
not bring himself to pursue the ill-counselled, obstinate, and tyrannical
Charles to the scaffold, but retired into private life until the
time came to put an end to the troubles of the Commonwealth by
the restoration of monarchy, in which he took an active part. He
had an only child,—a daughter, who married the profligate Duke
of Buckingham and led a suffering life. Her relative, Bryan
Fairfax, the author, in writing of her, says, "She was an example
of virtue and piety in a vicious age and debauched court;" adding,
"David tells us, `Men of high degree are a lie, (they promise and
never perform,) and men of low degree are vanity,' (that is, have
nothing to give.)"

Before leaving the English connections of this family, it may not
be without interest to mention, that there appears to have been an
intimate friendship between the Herberts and Fairfaxes in the
mother-country, which may have laid the foundation of that which
was established between some of them in this. The same may be
said in relation to the many matrimonial connections between the
Fairfaxes and Carys of Virginia. I meet with a notice of one

occurring in England, which may have led to those in America.
Coming back to Virginia, with my notices of this family, I take
pleasure in recording the proofs of genuine piety in the Rev. Bryan
Fairfax. On going to England to receive the title, and perhaps
some property with it, he met with much trouble, delay, and mortification.
The Earl of Buchan, General Washington's friend, addressed
a letter of religious sympathy and condolence to him, to
which he thus responds:—"I have the happiness to say with the
Psalmist, in respect of God's dealings toward me, `I know that of
very faithfulness thou hast caused me to be troubled.' " I have
also seen and published a sermon of his, in which the evangelical
plan of salvation is most distinctly and happily set forth. He also
married into the Cary family,—his marriage being one of five occurring
between the families in the course of a few years. Mr.
William Fairfax, of Belvoir, near Mount Vernon, the father of the
Rev. Bryan Fairfax, had married one of the same. One of his
daughters was married to General Washington's elder brother
Lawrence, the owner of Mount Vernon, by which means it came to
pass that there was such an intimacy between the General and the
Fairfax family, and that matrimonial connections between the
Washington and Fairfax families have been so multiplied.

I have thus unavoidably been led, in tracing the history of this
family, to speak of titles and great possessions, which are now all
gone and were of little worth while had.

Let me now address a few admonitory words to those who still
bear the name, or in whose veins the blood of their ancestors continues
to flow, and many of whom are still to be found in our State
and land. I have adduced some interesting proofs of the Protestant,
evangelical piety in a number of your ancestors. Show your
estimate of a respectable ancestry, by faithfully copying their
excellencies. Say not that you have Abraham for your father, said
our Lord, for God is able to raise up children unto Abraham out
of the stones of the earth. He bids them to do the works of Abraham
in order to receive his favour. Your ancestry may, and will
be, only a shame to you, except you copy what is worthy of imitation
in their character and conduct. I especially ask your attention
to one fact in the preceding account. In a few generations,
as I have stated, three of your ancestors have chosen the sacred
ministry as their profession, in preference to the army, the navy,
or any other pursuit. Doubtless many others of their wide-spread
relations have done the same. I counsel you, as you would regain
far more than lost titles and lands, that you covet from the Lord in

behalf of your sons the highest of all honours,—the privilege of
seeking lost souls, and turning sinners to righteousness: then will
they shine, not on the page of earthly history, but as "stars in the
kingdom of God forever."

SKETCH OF THE CARTER FAMILY.

This may with propriety follow that of the Fairfaxes, as Mr.
Robert Carter—called King Carter—was for a long time the agent
and representative of the Culpepper and Fairfax families, and as his
representatives have been so numerous and respectable in the
Northern Neck.

The first of the family, so far as is known, settled in Upper
Norfolk, now Nansemond county, and was a member of the House
of Burgesses in 1649. In the year 1654, we find him a Burgess
from Lancaster county, and Commander-in-chief of the forces sent
against the Rappahannock Indians. He continued to be a member
of the House of Burgesses for some years. Both himself and his
eldest son John appear on the vestry-book as members of the
vestry in the year 1666, the father having been acting in that
capacity before,—how long not known. The father, who died in
1669, had previously built, by contract, the first church standing
on the spot where Christ Church now is, and the vestry received it
at the hands of his son John, in six months after the father's death.
The name of John Carter, 1702, is still to be seen on an old dialpost
of cedar, which was taken out of the ground, near the church-door,
some years since, and placed under the pulpit in the present
Christ Church. The first John Carter had three wives,—1st, Jane,
the daughter of Morgan Glyn, by whom he had George and Eleanor;
2d, Ann, the daughter of Cleave Carter, probably of England;
3d, Sarah, the daughter of Gabriel Ludlowe, by whom he had
Sarah. All these died before him, and he was buried with them,
near the chancel, in the church which he built, and the tombstone
from which we take the above covers them all, being still in the
same position in the present church. He had also a son named
Charles, of whom nothing is known. His son Robert was by his
last wife, Sarah Ludlowe. The eldest son, John, married,—1st,
Elizabeth Wormley, and 2d, a Miss Loyd, and had issue. Of this
branch we have no account, and must confine ourselves to that of
Robert, alias King Carter. He married twice:—first, a Miss Armistead;
next, a widow Willis, daughter of Thomas Landon, of
England. He had ten children by the two wives. Those of whom

we have information were John, Elizabeth, Judith, Ann, Robert of
Nomini, Charles, Landon of Sabine Hall, Mary, Lucy, and George.
The eldest son, John, married Miss Hill, and was Secretary of State
to the Colony, having to pay one thousand five hundred pounds
sterling for the office. His daughter Elizabeth married, first Mr.
Nathaniel Burwell, of Gloucester, and then Dr. George Nicholas,
of Williamsburg. His daughter Judith married the first Mann
Page, of Gloucester, and lived with him at Rosewell. His daughter
Ann married Benjamin Harrison, of Berkeley. His son Robert
married a Miss Bladen. His son Charles married first a Miss
Walker, then a Miss Byrd, sister of Mr. Byrd, of Westover, lastly
a Miss Taliafero. His son Landon, of Sabine Hall, married first
Elizabeth, daughter of Mr. Wormley, of Rosegill, then Maria, a
sister of Mr. Byrd, of Westover, then a Miss Beale. His youngest
child, Lucy, married Henry Fitzhugh, of King George county.
Thus we have disposed of the sons and daughters of Mr. Carter,
of Corotoman, and their marriages. To attempt to do the same
even with his grandchildren, much more with their descendants,
would not merely exceed the bounds prescribed to such genealogies
in these notices, but would require a small volume. Suffice it to
say, that, besides intermarriages one with another, the family of
Carter may be found intermingled, not only with those already
mentioned, but with those of Moore, Lee, Berkeley, Champe, Skipwith,
Braxton, Nelson, Waller, Randolph, Brown, Clayborne,
Tasker, Churchill, Chiswell, Minor, Brooke, Thornton, Baylor,
Grymes, Peck, Mitchell, Harris; and should we attempt to bring
down the list to present times, it would contain others almost without
limit. Out of the number of descendants, of whom both
Church and State might well be proud, it would be invidious to
select. So far as we have been able to judge by observation and
learn by report, we may be permitted to say that there has been
much of the amiable and the pious in the family, sometimes mixed
with a portion of eccentricity in individuals of it. In Councillor
Carter, of Nomini, the grandson of King Carter, this peculiarity
was found in a large measure. Early in life his disposition was
marked by a tendency to wit and humour. Afterward he was the
grave Councillor, and always the generous philanthropist. At a
later day he became scrupulous as to the holding of slaves, and
manumitted great numbers. The subject of religion then engrossed
his thoughts. Abandoning the religion of his fathers, he adopted
the creed of the Baptists, and patronized their young preachers,
having a chapel in his own house at Nomini. After a time he embraced
the theory of Swedenborg, and at length died an unhappy
death-dreading Papist. All the while he was a most benevolent
and amiable man. I might mention many others, of both sexes,
with whom I have had personal and intimate acquaintance, who
have been beautiful specimens of piety, without the versatility and
inconsistency of Mr. Carter, of Nomini. I was not acquainted
with Mr. Charles Carter, of Shirley, though it has been my happiness
to know many of his descendants and to love them for their
work's sake. I find his name on the list of those few devoted
friends of the Church who after the Revolution met together in
Convention at Richmond, to rescue the things that remained
and were ready to perish. I have, however, in the following letter,
a better proof of his love to the Church and its ministers than any
mere attendance on Conventions could furnish. It was addressed
to his old friend and pastor, the Rev. Mr. Currie, of Lancaster, who
was the faithful minister of Christ Church parish for fifty years.
Anticipating his own death as well as that of Mr. Currie, as
events which might occur before that of Mrs. Currie, he thus generously
provides for her support during her remaining days. She
did survive her husband a number of years, and doubtless enjoyed
the bounty of Mr. Carter.

Although Mr. Currie was a man who, judging from a sermon of
his in my possession, put his trust in God for his fatherless children
and widow when taken from them, yet it must have been truly

comforting to know that this provision was made for them by a
generous friend. The sermon is on the text, (Matthew vi. 34,)
"Take no thought for to-morrow, for the morrow shall take thought
for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."
It is a very sensible and pious discourse on the subject treated of,
showing, among other things, the impropriety of all uneasy thoughts
about our earthly condition, and is in some respects a "conscio ad
clerum" one to poor clergymen. I find on the cover of it these
words:—

In relation to the above act of generosity, on the part of Mr.
Carter, to the widow and children of a worthy clergyman, though
there be few who can follow his example in affording them the use of
a farm of five hundred acres, yet there are many who can contribute
something to their comfort; and the thought that there are many
who will do it must be a great solace to the heart of a dying minister
when taking leave of his fatherless ones and widow. It is thus
that God fulfils his promise when he bids them leave their fatherless
ones to him, and let their widows trust in him. And let me,
in connection with this case, recommend to the pious charity of the
living and dying members of our communion the two societies now
established in our diocese,—the Society of the Widows and Orphans
of Deceased Clergymen, and that for Disabled, Superannuated
Poor Clergymen. They are both of them worthy of patronage.

Another instance of the charitable disposition of Mr. Carter is
worthy of being mentioned and imitated.

Solomon in one of his Proverbs says, "He that withholdeth corn,
the people shall curse him; but blessing shall be upon the head of
him that selleth it." Here is an allusion to some covetous and
hard-hearted persons, who, in a time of scarcity and suffering
among the poor, hold up their corn for some high price and will
not sell it. I have been told that, in a year of this kind, Mr. Carter
sent a vessel full of corn down James River, disposing of it among
the poor at a very reduced price, thus showing not only his charity,
but his judgment in the disbursement of it. Let the rich throughout
our land go and do likewise with all manner of goods which
God hath given them in abundance, and of which others stand in
need.

A few remarks concerning him who was called King Carter

seem to be called for, before we close our notice of this family.
From the fact that such a title was bestowed on him, the idea has
become prevalent in Virginia that he was not only of princely possessions,
having numerous tenants and servants, and a splendid palace
for his residence, but that, as a consequence of this, he was authoritative,
lordly, and arbitrary in his bearing and conduct, moving
as a king in the Colony. He ruled over the Colony for more than
a year, until the arrival of Governor Gooch. I have in my possession
copies of two of his letters during this period, concerning
a suspected clergyman who was desirous of getting the parish of
Wycomico, in Northumberland. They were addressed to Captain
Charles Lee and Mr. Thomas Berry, churchwardens of the parish.
They breathe a Christian spirit of moderation and yet of decision.
There is nothing of a dictatorial temper about them, but only a
desire to do his duty, in the absence of a Governor, and in reference
to one when he should arrive. It is very certain that Mr.
Carter and his family were very popular throughout the State.
His daughters were married to the first men in Virginia, and his
sons to the first ladies in Virginia. At his death a long Latin
inscription, written by some ripe scholar, was placed on his tomb,
in which the greatest virtues are assigned to him, and a sincere
piety. The epitaph will be found in our next article, on Christ
Church, Lancaster county.