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THOMAS, LORD FAIRFAX, 1779, Land Grant Signed

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Lord Fairfax Signed Land Grant, 1779

THOMAS, LORD FAIRFAX, Colonial Virginia County Lieutenant and Justice of the Peace.
Manuscript Document Signed “Fairfax” in brown ink on fine-laid paper, laid down onto poster board, being a February 17, 1779 Land Grant, Frederick County, Virginia, 12” x 15.5”, Choice Fine. Lord Fairfax, “Proprietor of the Northern Neck of Virginia”, grants to Zachariah Millar of Berkeley County a certain Tract of waste and ungranted Land...Two Hundred and Sixty Three Acres, together with all Rights, Profits and Benefits to the same belonging or in any wise appertaining...”
In 1746 at the age of 53, Thomas, Lord Fairfax, established his primary residence, Greenway Court Manor, in the Shenandoah Valley, Northern Virginia. From there he managed his vast, feudal Northern Neck holdings--close to one million acres--until his death in 1781. In this document, he leases land which required the leaseholder to pay a fee (quitrent) annually on St. Michaelmas Day, the 29th of September.

Fairfax pens a nice, large signature in the lower right corner--a distinctive, shaky scrawl, probably due to his advanced age. Sheet is worn, with wrinkles and a tear along the folds, but the signature is unaffected. The cardstock backing has tape remnants on the back, where it has been torn, and a small paper label at the top reads “Accession 3775”. Still, the manuscript is crisp and legible. Remnants of a paper and wax seal at upper left corner. With proper matting and framing, this item could be a most attractive display piece!

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