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the Proprietor or an heir.
This system went merrily along until just after the Revolution. Fairfax passed away two months after the British surrender at Yorktown. The Commonwealth of Virginia moved quickly to sell Fairfax land to the leaseholders. Of course, this did not sit well with the Fairfax heirs. Matters were further complicated by the fact that much land in the Northern Neck Proprietary had been patented and/or sold several times over with conflicting ownership claims. Some land in what is now Rappahannock was granted to members of the Colonial Army for service in the Revolution (more of this in a future article). And in the manner that transcends all time, real estate speculators got into the fray big time.
Among the prominent names playing a role what is now Rappahannock County and its environs were James Barbour (of Barboursville, now a ruins north of Charlottesville), James and John Marshall (the latter to be the famous Supreme Court Chief Justice) and “Lighthorse” Harry Lee (father of Robert E.). The Marshalls had been in area real estate for a long time (Mt. Marshall, which dominates a chunk of Rappahannock’s western skyline, was named for Thomas, James and John’s father). Barbour inherited his thirst for land
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