Use Restrictions

Public Domain. There are no known restrictions.

Access Restrictions

There are no access restrictions.

Alternative Form Available

This document was digitized and is available to view here.

Preferred Citation

Land indenture from Denny Fairfax to Alexander White, C0358, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.

Acquisition Information

The donor is unknown.

Processing Information

Processing completed by Amanda Brent in June 2019. EAD markup completed by Amanda Brent in June 2019. This collection used to be a part of the Virginia historical documents collection, C0034.

Historical Information

The 18th century was a lively time in Fairfax County, VA history. After being under the control of many different entities, in 1690 the area became controlled by the Fairfax family. Thomas, sixth Lord Fairfax left the land in the charge of his cousin, William Fairfax. In 1742, the area ceased to be part of Prince William County and officially became Fairfax County.

Scope and Content

Land indenture from Denny Fairfax nee Martin to Alexander White, written and signed December 4, 1790. This partially-printed document, signed by Denny Fairfax - nephew of Lord Thomas Fairfax - and his attorney, Thomas Bryan Martin (and other witnesses), leases 100 acres in Hardy County, Virginia (now West Virginia) to Alexander White.

When Lord Thomas Fairfax died childless in 1781, his vast holdings in the Virginias were devised to his nephew, who later took the Fairfax name. Since Lord Thomas Fairfax was a loyalist, Virginia confiscated the Fairfax holdings, negating Denny Fairfax's leases. Court fights ensued and the Supreme Court finally ruled in the Fairfax family's favor, with Justice Joseph Story writing the opinion, Martin vs. Hunter's Lessee, in 1816. This was Story's most important opinion, establishing the Federal court's authority over the state courts.

Arrangement

This is a single item collection.

Related Material

The Special Collections Research Center also holds many other collections on historic Virginia, including the Randolph H. Lytton Historical Virginia collection.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Fairfax (Va.)
• Fairfax County (Va.)
• Fairfax County (Va.) -- History
• Fairfax, Denny Martin, 1725?-1800
• Fairfax, Thomas Fairfax, Lord, 1693-1781