[1] Double dating of the year, as is done here, was an old custom observed between January 1st and the 25th of March. For all other portions of the year a single date was used. Although January 1st had been generally accepted as the beginning of the historical year in Christian countries, yet March 25th was held by some as the beginning of the civil or legal year. The Gregorian chronology or new style had not, at the time this journal was written, been adopted by England, and, indeed, was not until September 2nd, 1752.

[2] The party on this expedition set out from "Belvoir," the home and plantation of the Hon. William Fairfax, described by General Washington as "within full view of Mount Vernon, separated by water only, is one of the most beautiful seats on the river." (Letter to John Sinclair, 11 December, 1796.) It was founded by William Fairfax, cousin and agent to Lord Thomas Fairfax, and was his residence until his death in 1757. The estate then passed to his eldest son, George William Fairfax, also one of Lord Fairfax's agents, and was his residence until July, 1773, when, accompanied by his wife, he went to England to attend to some property he had inherited there. Washington, his friend and neighbor, consented to act as his agent during his absence, which, at the time, neither anticipated would be of long continuance.

"Law's delay" and business interests making it important for Mr. Fairfax to remain in England, he directed Washington to dispose of his stock, farm fixtures and household effects at public sale. After due advertisement, this was done August 15, 1774. A second sale at "Belvoir" took place December 5, 1774.

The following bill of household effects bought at this first sale at Belvoir by George Washington has been preserved among his private papers and was in the possession of one of his inheritors, Lawrence Washington, in January 1891. The bill in the auctioneer's handwriting was folded and endorsed in Washington's known hand:—"Articles bought by G^o Washington at Col^o Fairfax's Sale 15 August 1774."

"Inventory of House Furnishings bought by Col^o George Washington at Col^o Fairfax's Sale at Belvoir 15 August 1774.

The following admirable description of the estate is taken from an advertisement in the Pennsylvania Gazette of Philadelphia, October 19, 1774:

"To be rented from year to year, or for a term of years,—Belvoir, the beautiful seat of the Honorable Geo. W. Fairfax, Esq., upon the Potomac river, in Fairfax county, about 14 miles below Alexandria.

"The mansion is of brick, two stories high, with four convenient rooms, and a large passage on the lower floor; five rooms and a large passage on the second; servants' hall and cellar below; convenient to it are offices, stables and coach-house; adjacent is a large and well furnished garden stored with a great variety of fruits, all in good order.

"Appertaining to the tract on which these houses stand and which contains near 2,000 acres (surrounded in a manner by navigable water), are several valuable fisheries and a good deal of clear land in different parts which may be let all together or separately as shall be found most convenient.

"The terms may be known of Colonel Washington who lives near the premises, or of me in Berkeley county.

"Francis Willis, Junior."

The estate was leased to the Rev. Andrew Morton for a term of seven years. Unfortunately the mansion was destroyed by fire only a few years later. The owner's long absence, and the fact that there was no house to invite a careful tenant, together with the excitement and derangement of business incident to the war for independence, caused the estate rapidly to depreciate in value. Early in 1775 Washington relinquished the agency of George W. Fairfax's business in America, as his time was fully taken up in directing the momentous affairs of the Revolution.

[3] George William Fairfax, eldest son of the Hon. William Fairfax, of "Belvoir," Va., was born in Nassau, New Providence, West Indies, in 1724. His father having been appointed to the custom house in Salem, Massachusetts, he was taken to that town and resided there until 1734, about which time his father accepted the agency of Lord Fairfax's lands in Virginia, and removed to that province. For a time he resided in Westmoreland county, Va., but after a couple of years he settled upon and developed the "Belvoir" estate on the Potomac river. George William Fairfax was educated in England, and coming to his majority settled at "Belvoir," and married Sarah, daughter of Col. Wilson Cary, of Hampton, Va., who some writers, on rather apocryphal testimony, endeavor to show was an object of Washington's ardent devotion when a mere youth. The same compliment has also been claimed for her sister Mary, who married Edward Ambler, and for other belles of that period in Virginia, as well as in some of the other colonies. George W. Fairfax, after his marriage, resided part of the time at "Belvoir," and part at "Greenway Court," as agent of Lord Fairfax, in the vicinity of which he owned and cultivated lands. On his father's death in 1757 he inherited "Belvoir," where he continued to reside until the summer of 1773, when, accompanied by his wife, he went to England to look after some property he had inherited there. The proprietors of "Belvoir" and "Mount Vernon" and their families were always on the most friendly terms, as the letters extant of each attest, and Washington's diaries fully confirm. Mr. Fairfax favored the early protests by the colonies and petitions to the king in the interests of the colonies, but opposed measures looking to forcible resistance. Washington consented to act as his agent while he was absent, presuming his stay in England would be of short duration. But a complication of matters detained him abroad so that he instructed his agent to sell off his stock at "Belvoir" and lease the property. A sale was accordingly held on the estate in August, 1774, which continued two days. A second and further sale was held in December the same year. The property was leased in 1774 for seven years, but shortly after this the mansion house was burned down and never rebuilt. During the Revolutionary war some of Mr. Fairfax's property in Fairfax county was escheated to the state. His loss of income from America led him to limit his expense, he therefore removed from Yorkshire to Bath and lived in a modest way, dividing generously, from his limited means, with the American prisoners of war held in England. He had no children. A friendly correspondence was kept up between him and Washington to the close of his life. He was urged to return to America, but his mansion at "Belvoir" having been destroyed by fire he kept putting it off and never returned. He left "Belvoir" and some other landed property to Ferdinand, son of his half-brother, Rev. Bryan Fairfax, and died at Bath in England, April 3, 1787, and was buried in Wirthlington church. His will appointed George Washington as one of his executors. His wife survived him until 1812. Her remains were placed by the side of her husband's.

[4] George Neville, Esq., was among the earliest planters to settle in the western part of Prince William county, Va. As early as, or before 1730, he selected a large body of desirable land lying on the main road by way of Ashby's Gap from Fredericksburg to Winchester. Here his residence was beautifully situated on high, healthy and productive land near the head springs of Bull Run, a tributary of the Occoquan river, and 34 miles from Fredericksburg, the head of tide water on the Rappahannock river. Squire Neville, the proprietor of this fine estate, as he was usually called, was a man of steady and industrious habits, possessed a fine constitution, gentle in his manners, and cultured in his tastes, enterprising and thrifty, with a genius for overcoming such difficulties as always beset the path of the pioneer in a new country. As the lands to the west of him, and particularly those in the Shenandoah valley beyond the Blue Ridge, began to attract settlers the travel on the road past his house became considerable, and as a matter of accommodation to the public he opened an ordinary and kept a store for general merchandizing. Neville's Ordinary was a land mark, and is to be found on Fry and Jefferson's Map of Virginia, as well as on Governor Pownall's and other early maps of Virginia. In 1750 Washington surveyed for Mr. Neville 400 acres of land. By marriage George Neville was related to the Fairfax family of Virginia. His wife, Ann Burroughs, was a cousin to Lord Thomas Fairfax of "Greenway Court," the proprietor of the Northern Neck of Virginia. Squire Neville and his wife were blessed with a numerous family of healthy sons and daughters, who inherited the sturdy virtues of their parents, and who founded families for themselves, and whose descendants are to be found throughout the southern and western states. Joseph Neville, son of George, was a prosperous planter in the western part of Prince William county, Va., in 1760. (See Washington's Diary.) He served as a colonel in the Revolution, was one of the commissioners for running the boundary line between Pennsylvania and Virginia, and was a member of Congress 1793-5; died in Hardy county, Va., 1819. John Neville, another son, was colonel of the 4th Virginia regiment in the Revolution, and brigadier-general in the Pennsylvania militia at the close of the war. He was born in Virginia 26 July, 1731. From his youth he had a fondness for military affairs and served in the Braddock expedition, and also in the Dunmore Indian war. He and his brothers were early and life-long friends of General Washington, the acquaintance beginning when they were youths. At an early date John Neville took up considerable tracts of land in Frederick and Augusta counties, Va. He resided for some years in the Shenandoah valley, being at one time sheriff of Frederick county. He also acquired large tracts of land on Chartier's creek in Pennsylvania, and had built himself a house preparatory to taking up his residence there, when the Revolutionary war began, in which he took an active and honorable part. This event postponed, for some years, his removal with his family to Pennsylvania. On the 24th August, 1754, he was united in marriage to Winifred Oldham, by whom he had two children, a son and a daughter, Presley and Amelia. Presley Neville married Nancy, daughter of General Daniel Morgan, and they became the progenitors of the large and influential family of Nevilles of Pittsburg, Pa. Colonel Presley Neville, as he was called, served in the Revolution for three years on the staff of General Lafayette. Amelia Neville married Major Isaac Craig of the Revolution, and they became the founders of the well known and esteemed family of Craigs of Pittsburg.—Eagle's Pennsylvania Genealogies.

[5] Prince William county, Va., formed in 1730 from Stafford and King George counties, embraced territory extending from the Potomac river on the east to the summit of the Blue Ridge on the west; it was divided from Loudoun county by the Occoquan and Bull Run streams. Prior to 1822 the county seat was at Dumfries, but at that date it was removed to Brentville.

[6] James Genn, a licensed surveyor in Virginia, much employed by Lord Fairfax, and frequently mentioned by Washington, and whose name often appears signed to surveys in which the latter was engaged, as the surveyor or director, is doubtless the person to whom reference is here made.

[7] Blue Ridge—the most easterly of the mountain ranges of the United States. The name properly restricted however, applies especially to that portion of the Appalachian range south of the Potomac river. In some parts of Pennsylvania it is known as Kittatinny and at some places in Maryland as South Mountain. It attains its greatest altitude in Virginia at the Peaks of Otter, which are about 4,000 feet above sea level.

[8] Capt. Ashby resided on the Shenandoah river above Burwell's island and the great bend of that stream, at which place he maintained a ferry and kept a house of entertainment. It was on the natural line by which travel came from the tide-water region of Virginia, through a gap in the Blue Ridge and across the Shenandoah valley to the country beyond. Being a man of great courage and usefulness, he was deservedly popular among the early settlers, and his name was given not only to his ordinary but also to the gap and to the ferry. There was, too, a Fort Ashby on Patterson creek, near the town of Frankfort. There are numerous families bearing the name of Ashby throughout the southern and western states, who are probably descendants of this famous pioneer. General Turner W. Ashby, an officer of distinction in the Confederate army, is presumably of this family. The name still attaches to the gap in the mountains, but it has been superseded at the old ferry.

[9] Shenandoah river—this is the largest tributary of the Potomac. The name is of Indian origin, and in the aboriginal language is said to signify "the daughter of the stars." Kercheval, in his History of the Valley of Virginia, says the name was first written Gerando, then Sherandoch, and now we have Shenandoah. The river has its head in Augusta county near the divide where the head-waters of the James river take their rise. The Shenandoah flows for about 170 miles through a broad valley over a limestone bed between the North mountain on the one side and the Blue Ridge on the other, to the Potomac river at Harper's Ferry. This valley was the theater of many important military operations during the late war. The name of Sherando is perpetuated in the name of a post-office in Augusta county on the head-waters of the Shenandoah.

[10] Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord and Baron of Cameron, born in England in 1691, died at his residence "Greenway Court," Frederick county, Virginia, on the 12th of December, 1781. His remains were interred within the Episcopal church of Winchester, Va. His residence and other improvements were familiarly called "Quarters" and "Hunting Lodge," chiefly because he had in contemplation the erection of a commodious mansion. Lord Fairfax was the son of Thomas, 5th Lord Fairfax and his wife Catherine, daughter of Lord Culpeper, once governor of Virginia. He was educated at Oxford and afterward held a commission in the British army. He was a fine scholar, and is said to have been a contributor to The Spectator. He succeeded to his father's title and to his mother's extensive landed estate known as the "Northern Neck of Virginia," lying between the Potomac and Rappahannock rivers and estimated at 5,700,000 acres. For some years after coming into possession of this property it was left in the hands of agents. He finally employed his cousin, the Hon. William Fairfax, son of Henry and Anne (Harrison) Fairfax, as his agent in the management of his lands. About 1739 Lord Fairfax first visited his estate in America. For a year he devoted himself to becoming thoroughly acquainted with his possessions and then returned to England. Four years later, in 1745, he returned to this country and for a time made his home at "Belvoir," the seat of his relative and agent.

A branch office for the sale of lands in the valley of Virginia, had been opened in Frederick county in 1742. The main office and records, however, were not removed from "Belvoir" until 1761.

Lord Fairfax built for himself a stone lodge with quarters for his servants, reserving around it a manor of 10,000 acres which he called "Greenway Court." The lodge was about twelve miles south-east of Winchester, at which place he purposed to build a castle, but this was never erected. His lodge was, however, sufficiently spacious for him to live in comfortably, and exercise a generous hospitality. He possessed a good library and was frequently visited by men of note whom he entertained in an elegant manner. He was fond of the chase and took an active interest in the management of his estate, as well as in the affairs of the colony, as his letters fully prove. He identified himself with the people as far as was practicable, and was deservedly popular. He served as lieutenant of Frederick county in the militia organizations; presided as one of the judges in the county courts at Winchester, and was an overseer of the public roads.

He met at "Belvoir," George Washington, when a youth, and, pleased with his energy and talents, employed him to survey lands beyond the Blue Ridge, which were to be sold. This was Washington's first remunerated employment. The acquaintance thus begun, ripened into a friendship that was cherished by both through life.

Although a frank loyalist, his age and prudence in refraining from all participation in the Revolutionary struggle, protected him from being interfered with either by the government or by his neighbors. He died at the age of ninety-three, before peace was restored. His barony and its prerogatives, according to English law, descended, in the absence of a son, to his eldest brother, Robert, who thus became 7th Lord Fairfax. The latter died in Leeds Castle, England, 1791, without a son. The baronial title then fell to the Rev. Bryan Fairfax, of "Towlston Hall," Fairfax county, Va., who died 7 August, 1802. The great landed estates with their entails were, however, in effect confiscated by the success of the Revolution. The Legislature of Virginia in 1785 passed an act in relation to the "Northern Neck" to the following effect. "And be it further enacted, that the land holders within the said district of the Northern Neck shall be for ever hereafter exhonorated and discharged from composition and quit rents, any laws, customs or usage, to the contrary notwithstanding." Revised Code of the Laws of Virginia, vol. 1, p. 351, 2, 3. "Greenway Court" was devised by his lordship to his nephew, Rev. Denny Martin, residing in England, on condition of his obtaining the consent of Parliament to change his name to Fairfax. This was done, and he was afterward known as "Denny, Lord Fairfax." Like his uncle, he left no children and therefore bequeathed the estate to two maiden sisters in England. The legatees of the Fairfax estate sold their interest to Chief Justice John Marshall, Raleigh Colston, Esq. and General Henry Lee. They divided it up and sold it out in small farms, and quieted the titles. It is believed that no part of this vast body of Fairfax land is now held by any member of the family.—Sparks, Drake and others.