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A Fauquier County Project

Started by James Burgess, a former coordinator
Who were the earliest families in Fauquier County, Virginia? Who were the first settlers in what was to be come Fauquier County, Virginia? This is a feeble attempt to identity the residents who may have lived in what would later become Fauquier County, Virginia. It is estimated that the population in Fauquier County in 1775 was 14,000.

Prince William County, Virginia was formed in 1731. Eighteen years later in 1759 Fauquier County, Virginia was formed. By 1759 citizens were so plentiful that Virginia legislators believed there were so many that a new county could be organized. How many people lived in Fauquier County, Virginia in 1759? Since these were the first settlers of Fauquier County, Virgnia, we must assume that they are our ancestors.

They must be our ancestors? Can you help identify them?
"Though the population of Fauquier was small in 1775, possibly fewer than 14,000 souls, there was not in all its 664 square miles one town or village of any importance. . . . . .1. No exact figure can be found for the population of Fauquier County in 1775, but interpolation of census records beginning in 1782 and continuing for the rest of the century indicates that there were about 13,500 living in the county at the beginning of the Revolution. Of these about 8,700 were white and the rest (4,800) slaves and a few freeblacks. . . . ." Fauquier County in the Revolution by T. Triplett Russell and John K. Gott. Willow Bend Books, 1998. page 1.

If there were 13,500 black there in 1775, a guess is that there might be no more than half living there when the county was organized in 1759. Can we then state that the population was 6,750 white citizens and 2,400 black citizens. I believe that this gives us a number that we can use in our thinking for a possible population living in Fauquier County, Virginia in 1759.

This list is not intended to provide information on all of the land grants of Fauquier County. This information came from Fauquier During the Proprietorship and land grants found in the Library of Virginia Land Patents page. This information is being provided strictly for Family Research in identifying early families who lived in Fauquier County, Virginia. It is acknowledged that some of these early recipients of land grants may never have lived on the land or settled in Fauquier County. These records do form a very important basis to begin identify the population of settlers who lived in that part of Prince William County, Virginia which would later become Fauquier County, Virginia.

Our goal here is to begin to develope a census, a record if you will of people who may have lived in Fauquier County, Virginia in 1759 when the county was formed. We can now begin a project that will help us determine the possible number of citizens who may have lived in Fauquier County, Virginia in 1759. Certainly we will never know the population as there were people coming and going. As always people were being born, people dieing, getting married, moving here and there.

This project was started by James Burgess a previous coordinator. If someone decides to take this on, make sure to include sources for the research, then contact the coordinator to submit it to the website or provide a link to your website.
Last Updated: April 2020