In 1673 King Charles II of England granted all proprietary rights to the territory between the Rappahannock and the Potomac Rivers to Lords Arlington and Cooper. It became known as “the Northern Neck.”
Near the end of the seventeenth century, Virginia colonists on the Northern Neck began to move inland from the tidal rivers and streams of the coastal region. Indeed, they ventured over the rolling hills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, searching for open areas upon which to grow tobacco.
Until then, the quitrent rolls suggest that the colonists had relatively small farms. Of course, quitrent rolls do not exist for the Northern Neck. However, the deeds reflect that most families had 500 or fewer acres of land.
The Fall Line 1702-1712
Robert Carter, the local agent for the Northern Neck proprietors in England, was very interested in acquiring real estate. As a result, the most substantial surge of settlement occurred in Richmond County, along the Rappahannock River, in 1704.
This was when Andrew Jackson acquired 908 acres at the falls of the Rappahannock on Gravelly Run, and Alexander Swan purchased 1200 acres adjoining Jackson’s tract.
Hancock Lee was the first landowner to acquire a large tract of land a significant distance from the above Fall Line. On January 5, 1704, he purchased 1,353 acres on Horsepen Run, five miles above the falls.
Soon after, Thomas Walter and Edward Mountjoy surveyed 931 acres on the river, ten miles above the falls.
James Innis, acting for Robert Carter, patented 2,331 acres on Gravelly Run and 11,158 acres on the head branches of Deep Run, which flowed into the river ten miles above the falls.
By July of 1704, settlement reached Great Run, thirty miles above the falls of the Rappahannock River, when Jackson bought 1,238 acres at the mouth of the run.
Despite the early speculators, others came. In 1706, Captain William Ball purchased 1,093 acres on Richland Run, below Deep Run.
While Richmond County expanded its growth, those who settled in Stafford County occupied the lower Occoquan and Doeges Neck regions.
This is just the beginning of the story of settlements above the fall line. The counties to research for ancestors above the fall line: Stafford, Westmoreland, Northumberland, King George, Richmond, and Lancaster.
Genealogy Hints: Where to search for ancestors in the Northern Neck of Virginia:
- The Collection of The Northern Neck of Virginia Historical Society, published annually. This vast collection is available in most genealogical libraries.
- In Georgia, the Cobb County Library in Marietta, Georgia, features the entire group.
Sources: Settlement Patterns in the Northern Neck of Virginia 1700-1730 by Michael J. Puglish; Virginia, the Old Dominion, p. 139 (1949)
