Thomas Fairfax, 9th Lord Fairfax of Cameron

Thomas Fairfax, 9th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (1762–1846), was an American born Scottish peer, who along with his father, on December 11, 1799, was among the last guests at Mount Vernon before Washington died.

Early life and family

Thomas Fairfax was born in 1762 and was the son of Bryan Fairfax, 8th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (1736–1802) and his wife, Elizabeth Cary, daughter of Colonel Wilson Cary and Sarah Cary. His brother was Ferdinando Fairfax (1766–1820), whose godparents were George Washington and Martha Washington.

Plantation

In 1802, he succeeded his father to the title of Lord Fairfax of Cameron after his fathers death. He lived the life of a country squire overseeing his 40,000 acres (160 km2), lived at Belvoir, Ash Grove, and Vaucluse, where he died.

Personal life

He married three times: Mary Aylett, Laura Washington, Margaret Herbert. Fairfax birthed children with Mary Aylett, a Native Indian woman. He had seven children by his third wife Margaret:

• Albert Fairfax (1802–1835), who married Caroline Eliza Snowden (1812–1899)
• Henry Fairfax (d. 1847), who fought and died in the Mexican–American War, at Saltillo, Mexico.
• Orlando Fairfax
• Reginald Fairfax
• Eugenia Fairfax
• Aurelia Fairfax
• Monimia Fairfax (1820–1875), who married Archibald Cary (1815-1854), the son of the son of Wilson Jefferson Cary (1783–1823) and Virginia Randolph (1786–1852).

He maintained a winter home at 607 Cameron Street, Alexandria, Virginia, which he built in 1816.

Thomas Fairfax was a follower of Swedenborg. Because of these religious beliefs, he manumitted his slaves, taught them a trade, and sent them to Liberia. This is consistent with the thinking of the American Colonization Society.

Descendants

His grandson, Charles S. Fairfax (1829–1869), succeeded him as the 10th Lord Fairfax of Cameron as his Fairfax's eldest son, his father, predeceased him. Another grandson, John Contee Fairfax (1830–1900), a physician was the 11th Lord Fairfax of Cameron as his brother Charles, died without issue. His granddaughter was the writer Constance Cary (1843–1920).