Collection open for research
Physical characteristics and conditions affect use of this material. Photocopying not permitted.
Land Grant-Lord Fairfax to Richard Brown, 1741 (OM 009), Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA.
Loudoun County Historical Society, Loudoun County, VA
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2004.0001
Formerly catalogued as NUCMC 66
This land grant was issued in 1741 by Thomas, 6th Lord Fairfax, Baron of Cameron (1693-1781) to Richard Brown (d. 1745), descendent of Quaker minister William Brown. The grant was one of five that Richard Brown had received in Virginia's Northern Neck; at the time of his death, he owned a total of 2, 774 acres in Loudoun County. Furthermore, his extensive plantation included a house, malthouse, mill, millhouse, saw, sawmill, brewhouse, outhouses of all sorts, and sundry accessories.
The 634-acre tract of land that the grant indicates is located in Central Loudoun. It is adjoined by a 600-acre tract on the south fork of Catoctin Creek, which was also controlled by Richard Brown, but held in the name of his father-in-law, Edward Norton. Brown's son, Henry, continued to release tracts of land on the Catoctin Creek to both Edmund Sands and Edward Norton after his death, as was directed in his last will and testament.
The 634-acre tract in the vicinity of Catoctin Creek was granted to Richard Brown by Lord Fairfax in 1741. The land was confirmed to him by a patent from the Proprietor's Office that was registered in Libra E, folio 378. The grant is in overall good condition but has some stains.
The land grant begins by identifying the proprietor of the Northern Neck of Virginia: Lord Fairfax, Baron of Cameron in Scotland. It then declares that Richard Brown, previously of Pennsylvania, will be given a tract of land near the Catoctin Creek. The land had been surveyed by Amos Janney, and some of the resulting measurements include 176 poles to a Red Oak, 112 poles to a Spanish Oak, 140 poles to Amos Janney's neighboring property, 404 poles to two White and Spanish Oak trees, 462 poles to George Atwood's neighboring property, and 54 poles bordering Catoctin Creek. The grant also provides for a third part of all lead, copper, coal, and iron mines in the vicinity. The conditions of the land grant include a required rent of 1 shilling to be paid yearly on the feast of Saint Michael. If the rent was not paid within a period of two years, Lord Fairfax and his attorneys reserved the right to confiscate it.
The land grant is the only item in this collection.
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