Some of the land owned by the Long Marsh Lindsey family in old
Frederick Co., Virginia was involved in the protracted
Hite-Fairfax lawsuit that began in 1736 and lasted nearly
fifty years. The disputed land in the area involved
thousands of acres that
had been granted to Jost Hite, who sold it to early settlers
as the terms of the grant required. Lord Fairfax
believed that the land that had been granted to Hite actually belonged to him, so he
entered a caveat to have the land returned to him. Hite
responded by filing a lawsuit against Fairfax.
The Lindsey's didn't actually buy any land from
Jost Hite, but they did buy land from Nathaniel Daugherty, who
had previously purchased the land that he sold to the
Lindsey's from Jost Hite. This land became part of the
lawsuit. A timeline of events involving the disputed
Lindsey tracts is presented below. References follow the
timeline.
1734: November 6 - Robert Brooks surveyed
860 acres on the Long Marsh for Jost Hite.
1735: November 13 - Jost Hite sold the 860
acre tract to Nathaniel Daugherty.
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Location of the 860 acre tract |
1737: Nathaniel Daugherty sold 250 acres of
the 860 acre tract to Isaac LaRue.
1743: Articles of Agreement between
Nathaniel Daugherty and Isaac LaRue were recorded regarding
the 1737 sale. Thomas and Edmund Lindsey were witnesses
to the agreement.
1743: Nathaniel Daugherty agreed to sell 300
acres each to Edmund Lindsey (b. 1697) and Thomas
Lindsey (b. ca. 1720), from the 860 acre tract.
1748: Nathaniel Daugherty, who had moved to
North Carolina, appointed John Lindsey (b. ca. 1700) to be his
attorney to sell the remaining land in the 860 acre tract.
1751: John Lindsey had the land resurveyed.
He received a Northern Neck grant for the land, and then he
amended the grant to increase the amount of land to 750 acres.
John Lindsey then sold some of the land to Thomas Lindsey and
to Edmund Lindsey (per the 1743 agreement they had with
Daugherty).
1760: Edmund Lindsey Sr. sold 26 acres of
his portion of the 860 acre tract to Edmund Lindsey Jr.
1769: Thomas Lindsey willed his portion of
the 860 acre tract to his sons John, Thomas, and Abraham.
1770: March 2 - Edmund Lindsey Sr. sold
Jacob Lindsey 162 acres of his portion of the tract.
Edmund Sr. also sold 11 more acres of his portion of the tract
to Edmund Lindsey Jr.
1770: Hite Fairfax lawsuit - Jacob Lindsey
and Edmund Lindsey Jr. deposed that they held land "within the
said survey under a purchase made by Edmond Lindsey Sen. from
the said (Nathaniel) Daugherty & Conveyances from the said
Edmund to themselves."
1771: October 10 - Hite Fairfax lawsuit:
Edmund Lindsey Jr., Jacob Lindsey, John Lindsey, Thomas
Lindsey, and Abraham Lindsey were among a group of people who
were ordered to offer up the bonds they had for the land they
owned for cancellation. Isaac LaRue and Warner Washington, who
each owned part of the original 860 acre tract, were also
among the group of people named in the court order. (The
lawsuit was appealed by the Hite heirs, and the Lindsey's did
not lose the land.)
1786: An appeal to the lawsuit which had
been made by the Hite heirs in 1782, was decided in favor of
the Hites.
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References
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1734: Pioneers of Old Frederick County, Virginia, by
Cecil O'Dell.
Marceline, Mo: Walsworth Publishing Co., 1995.
Page 213.
1735: O'Dell, Page 213. The map shown is
from page 211.
1737: O'Dell, Page 214.
1743: O'Dell, Page 214, for date of
agreement between Daugherty and LaRue. Witnesses to
agreement: Abstracts of Wills, Inventories, and
Administrative Accounts of Frederick County, Virginia,
compiled by J. Estelle Stewart King. Self published in
Scottsdale, AZ, 1961. Page 101.
1743:
The Thorndale Letters: Lindsey's of Long Marsh, Lower
Shenandoah Valley, 1733-1770, by William Thorndale.
Manuscript available on microfilm from the Family History
Library (#928098). Page 2 of Letter 1.
1748: O'Dell, Page 214.
1751: O'Dell, Page 214. Maps shown are
from Thorndale, Letter One, Page 2 and Letter Three, Page 5.
1760: Thorndale, Letter Three, Page 7.
1769: Thorndale, Letter Three, Page 7.
1770: March 2 - Thorndale, Letter Three,
Page 7. Map shown is from the same page.
1770: Hite Fairfax lawsuit -
"Jacob Lindsey, Sr.
Identified", by Yvonne J. Hardy.
Alabama Genealogical
Society, Inc. Magazine. Vol.31, Fall/Winter 1999. Page 36.
1771: October 10 - O'Dell, Page 21.
1786: Hardy, Page 36 for date
of appeal. King, Page 99 for outcome.
More about the Hite-Fairfax lawsuit can be
found at the Handley Regional Library
website.
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