For anyone visiting the Carlyle House right now, they can see an amazing exhibit outside the house. On display are bios for the 25 men from Fairfax County who signed the Fairfax Resolves in 1774.
As noted, these resolves were "the most detailed and most influential of all the Virginia Resolves."
I transcribed the bios and post them here.
July 18, 1774
George Washington, George Mason, John Carlyle, and 22 other gentleman from Fairfax County met at the Courthouse across the street from Carlyle’s home to sign the Fairfax Resolves. These resolutions written by Mason and Washington at Mount Vernon were both a statement of the colonies’ fundamental constitutional rights and a call for the colonies to come together to protest British anti-American actions. But who were these 25 men? What ties them to Alexandria, Fairfax County, and each other?
This exhibit will briefly explore the lives and motivations of the 25 men who signed the Fairfax Resolves on that summer day.
Robert Adam (1731-1789)
Robert Adam was born in Scotland and immigrated to the American colonies in the early 1750s. He settled in Alexandria, where he initiated several businesses, including a retail/wholesale store, tannery, flour mill, and travel brokerage. He was an officer in the Virginia militia, a master Mason, and did business with both George Washington and John Carlyle. In 1770, he signed the Virginia non-importation acts alongside John Carlyle, William Ramsay, and many others who would go on and sign the Fairfax Resolves four years later.
Charles Alexander (1737-1806)
Charles Alexander was the great-great grandson of John Alexander (1605-1677), for whom Alexandria is named. The Howson Patent for 6,000 acres included today’s National Airport, the oldest parts of Alexandria, Crystal City, the Pentagon, and Arlington Cemetery. Alexander served in the vestry of Fairfax Parish, was a Justice of the Peace in Alexandria, and was of Officer in the Virginia Militia. He owned the Preston plantation which was in the vicinity of current day Potomac Yard. He and fellow signer Philip Alexander were cousins.
Philip Alexander (1720-1790)
Philip Alexander, another member of the Alexander family, was an officer in the Virginia Militia, an attorney, and a trustee for the Potomac Company, along with George Washington. In addition to owning/managing rental property in Alexandria, he also owned Alexander’s Island in the Potomac where George Washington went fox hunting. This island was the subject of a border dispute between the District of Columbia and Virginia.
Charles Broadwater (1719-1806)
Charles Broadwater served on the vestry for Truro and then Fairfax Parish. He was elected as Fairfax County Sheriff in 1751 and 1755 before fighting in the French and Indian War. In the war he accompanied George Washington as an officer in the Virginia Militia and was promoted to the rank of Major. In 1774, Broadwater was one of the 25 men to become part of the Committee for Safety. From 1774 to 1776, Broadwater, alongside George Washington, attended four out of five Virginia conventions which passed various resolutions. He was elected from Fairfax County to the House of Burgesses in 1775. In 1776, Broadwater ran a military recruiting station at Falls Church and during his time in the Revolution rose to the rank of Colonel. Late in the Revolution, Broadwater served as a Justice of the Peace in the Fairfax County Court as well as the House of Delegates.
William Brown (c.1748-1792)
William Brown was born in Scotland to a prominent Maryland family. He became a doctor in 1770 and was active in resistance to the British before the war. He was a member of the Fairfax County Committee for Safety in 1774, after signing the Fairfax Resolves Fairfax Resolves. By 1775, Brown was a surgeon for the 2nd Virginia Regiment. He continued to rise in different positions until 1778 when he was appointed Physician and Director General of Hospital.
John Carlyle (1720-1780)
Born to a wealthy Scottish-English family, John Carlyle came to Virginia in 1739 as an apprentice and agent for businessman William Hicks. By the time of his marriage to Sarah Fairfax in 1747, Carlyle had become a prominent merchant and in 1749 was one of the founders and trustees of Alexandria. In 1753, Carlyle moved his family into the grand stone mansion he built on Fairfax Street across from the Market Square. In 1770, he signed the Virginia Nonimportation Acts alongside many others who would go on to sign the Fairfax Resolves. Carlyle undertook the contracts for building both Christ Church and the Old Presbyterian Meeting House and was also a Justice of the Peace. He was a member of the Fairfax Committee of Safety from 1774-1775. Carlyle’s dealing during the American Revolution are incomplete, as many of his records have not survived.
Martin Cockburn (1742-1820)
Martin Cockburn was born in Jamaica in August 1742. He visited Virginia around 1760 where he met Ann Bronaugh (a cousin of George Mason). He returned to Virginia three laters to marry her. The Cockburns settled in Truro Parish in Fairfax County in 1769 where their plantation Springfield was built near Colchester and adjacent to Gunston Hall. In 1770, he signed the Virginia Nonimportation Acts. In addition to signing the resolves in 1774, Cockburn served on the Truro Parish Vestry from 1770-1779 and was later Tax Commissioner for Fairfax County.
Townsend Dade, Jr. (1742-1822)
Reverend Townsend Dade Jr. was born in 1742 in Virginia. Townsend became an ordained rector of the Episcopal Church around 1766. In 1773 he became the first rector of Christ Church in Alexandria. The Reverend was an active participant in early Revolutionary events. He and his father signed the Resolutions of the Patriots of the Northern Neck of Virginia, drawn up by Richard Henry Lee to protest the Stamp Act. George Washington invited him to join the 25-man committee that led to the Fairfax Resolves.
John Dalton (1702-1777)
John Dalton was a founder and trustee of the town of Alexandria. In addition to being a merchant he was a vestryman of Old Christ Church. In 1770, he signed the Nonimportation Acts. He was a Virginia Trustee for John Ballendine’s project for clearing Potomac Navigation in 1774, served on the Fairfax County Committee of Safety from 1774-1775, and was on the Committee for the Defense of the Potomac with George Mason in 1776.
George Gilpin (1740-1813)
George Gilpin was a native of Maryland who settled in Alexandria before the American Revolution. A wheat merchant, he was inspector of flour in Alexandria by March 1775. In 1770, he signed the Virginia Nonimportation Acts. Gilpin became a member of the Fairfax Committee of Safety after signing the Resolves. During the Revolution, he was a Colonel of the Fairfax Count Militia. He was one of the Directors of the Potomac Company and served as a Vestryman for Fairfax Parish for many years. After the Revolution Gilpin was still very much involved in politics as a Democrat Republican. He was elected Sheriff of Fairfax County in 1786. Gilpin also served as Director of the Bank of Alexandria alongside John Carlyle’s son-in-law William Herbert.
Henry Gunnell (1705-1792)
Henry Gunnell was born in Virginia and was involved in all aspects of life in the Fairfax area beginning in 1741. In 1749, Gunnell is recorded as an Inspector for the Falls Warehouse. In 1768, Gunnell became a Justice of Fairfax County and four years later he was elected Sheriff of the County. In 1770, he signed the Virginia Nonimportation Acts. As with many of the signers, he was involved in the Fairfax County Militia, starting off as a Captain and was later promoted to Major. After the Revolution, Gunnell continued to be involved in Fairfax politics, including petitions to move the Fairfax County courthouse in 1789 and 1790.
Robert Hanson Harrison (1745-1790)
Robert Hanson Harrison was a native of Charles County, Maryland. He moved to Alexandria around 1765 and became a lawyer. In 1770, he signed the Virginia Nonimportation Acts. During the Revolution, he joined the 3rd Virginia Regiment as a Captain. In 1775, Harrison began serving as George Washington’s Private Secretary and Aide-de-Camp with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Harrison declined Washington’s appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court to take the less stressful position of Chief Justice of the Maryland General Court.
William Hartshorne (1742-1816)
Born in 1742, William Hartshorne was a Pennsylvania Quaker who worked in Antigua as a shipping merchant. The Hartshorne family moved to Alexandria in February 1774, where he continued to work as a merchant. After signing the Fairfax Resolves in July 1774, Hartshorne became a member of the Fairfax County Committee of Safety. Following the Revolution, Hartshorne became Treasurer of the Potomac Company, as well as a Director of the Bank of Alexandria.
James Kirk (?-1786)
James Kirk settled in Alexandria around 1762 and became a prominent citizen and merchant. In 1770, he signed the Virginia Nonimportation Acts. He served with Washington, Mason, Carlyle, and others on the Fairfax Committee of Safety in 1774-1775. Kirk was also on the Alexandria Committee of Correspondence in 1774 and the following year was on the Fairfax Committee of Correspondence. Kirk was elected Alexandria Mayor in 1785.
Thomas Lewis (17??-17??)
Thomas Lewis served with Washington, Mason, Carlyle, and others on the Fairfax Committee of Safety in 1774-1775. However, his exact identity is uncertain because several men named Thomas Lewis lived in Fairfax County, Northern and Western Virginia, and Prince Georges County Maryland. In the years before the Fairfax Resolves, one such Thomas Lewis was a member of the Vestry of Truro Parish of the Anglican Church in Fairfax from 1733-1744. A Fairfax court case was listed against Thomas Lewis in 1749 “for not keeping the road in repair between Ravensworth and the Ox Road.” In May 1773, a Thomas Lewis “petitioned for or built” a mill on Wolf Trap Run in Fairfax.
George Mason (1725-1792)
George Mason was a plantation owner and along with George Washington and others was a principal drafter of the Fairfax Resolves. He served with Washington, Carlyle, and others on the Fairfax Committee of Safety in 1774-1775. During the same years, Mason was on the Fairfax County Committee of Correspondence. Mason was a “leading proponent of both limiting government tyranny and protecting citizens’ rights.” As the primary author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the Virginia Constitution, Mason had a profound influence on his own state and the constitutions of the other states. Thomas Jefferson paid homage to Mason by incorporating both ideas and language from the Virginia Declaration of Rights into the Declaration of Independence. He was a leader in the Constitutional Convention and subsequent ratification debates. Famously, Mason did not sign the U.S. Constitution in 1787 because it did not include a Bill of Rights (added in 1791).
Lee Massey (1732-1814)
Lee Massey was originally an Alexandria lawyer, handling matters for the Washington and Mason families among others. In 1766, Massey changed careers and was ordained an Anglican minister. He became Rector of Truro Parish in Fairfax in 1767, leading the congregation at what is now Pohick Church south of Alexandria. He served with Washington, Carlyle, Mason, and others on the Fairfax Committee of Safety in 1774-1775. Massey “stepped down” from his rectorship in 1777, then studied medicine and apparently practiced at no charge. Massey corresponded with George Washington into the 1780s and likely knew John Carlyle from his time as a lawyer.
Edward Payne (1726-1806)
Edward Payne was a plantation owner and builder in Fairfax County. E. Payne’s brother was William Payne, Jr (“W. Payne”). He was a vestryman of Truro Parish of the Anglican Church in Fairfax. Edward Payne was “the collector of the parish levy for Truro Parish.” In 1766, E. Payne built a new church in Fairfax known as Payne’s Church. Payne also served with Washington, Carlyle, Mason, and others on the Fairfax Committee of Safety in 1774-1775.
William Payne (1724-1782)
William Payne was known as William Payne Jr. and was Edward Payne’s brother. Like Edward W., Payne was a vestryman of Truro Parish. He owned a grist mill near Accotink Creek in Fairfax. In 1761, William Payne was Sheriff of Fairfax County and also served as a Fairfax Justice. He was on the Fairfax Committee of Safety in 1774-1775.
Thomas Pollard (1741-1818)
Thomas Pollard signed the Fairfax Resolves in July 1774 and later raised a company in the Virginia Militia during the Revolution. He served as both the Clerk and Sheriff of Fairfax County in 1782 and was a Vestryman of Pohick Church from 1774-1784.
William Ramsay (1716-1785)
William Ramsay was a merchant, founding Trustee of Alexandria, and served in multiple civic roles in Alexandria, Including “Census Taker, Postmaster, Colonel of the Militia Regiment, Adjuster of Weights and Seals, Gentleman Justice, and as Alexandria’s first Mayor. In 1770 he signed the Virginia Nonimportation Acts. Ramsay was a member of the 1774-1775 Fairfax Committee of Safety and the Committees of Correspondence for Alexandria and Fairfax. When Ramsay died in 1785, George Washington attended the funeral and “walked in a procession as a free mason - Mr. Ramsay in his life time being one & now buried with the ceremony & honors due to (text ends).
William Rumney (b.? - d. 1783)
Dr. William Rumney was a born and trained in England. He served as a surgeon with the British Army in the French and Indian War and settled in Alexandria in 1763. Rumney was a member of the 1774-1775 Fairfax Committee of Safety and the 1774 Alexandria Committee of Correspondence. During the Revolution, Rumney was a Colonel and Surgeon in the Continental Army. George Washington wrote to Rumney’s father after Rumney’s death in 1783 and described him as “an amiable man & a worthy citizen of this country.”
Thomas Triplett (1732-1780)
Thomas Triplett and his brother William were neighbors and fox hunting companions of George Washington. Triplett rented a small plantation from George Mason. Triplett served on the Fairfax Committee of Safety in 1774-1775. He was a Captain in the Continental Army and resigned his commission in 1778 due to illness. The Fairfax Revolutionary War Memorial commemorates Triplett.
George Washington (1732-1799)
George Washington was born in 1732 in Popes Creek (Westmoreland County) Virginia. He moved to Ferry Farm near Fredericksburg in 1738. His career began at the age of 16 when he joined a survey party organized by his neighbor and friend George William Fairfax of Belvoir. He went on to help survey counties and towns throughout Virginia, including the town of Alexandria. In October 1753, Lieutenant Governor Dinwiddie ordered Washington on a mission into the Ohio Country to confront the French. In 1754, Washington’s attack on a small French force at Jumonville and his later surrender to French forces at the Battle of Fort Necessity helped spark the French and Indian War. The next year, Washington would accompany Major General Edward Braddock on his ill-fated march on Fort Duquesne.
After the French and Indian War, Washington stayed active in colonial politics as a leader of Fairfax County and was a member alongside George Mason of the Virginia House of Burgesses. Washington opposed the Intolerable Acts that the British Parliament passed in response to the Boston Tea Party of 1773. He was Chairman of the 1774-1775 Fairfax Committee of Safety. Washington worked closely with Mason on the Fairfax Resolves, which were written at his Mount Vernon home. Less than a year later after adoption of the Resolves, Washington was named General and Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army.
John West (1710-1777)
Prominent citizen John West signed the Virginia Nonimportation Acts in 1770 and went on to add his name to the Fairfax Resolves four years later. Or did he? The Colonial Historical Records from the era are conflicted as there were two well-known, related men named John West. Here are life highlights from two men: The elder, Militia man Colonel West or his nephew Militia Captain John West? A leading local historian has stated that in 1774 both men helped draft the Fairfax County Resolves. Colonel West was a member of the House of Burgesses, serving at intervals from 1765 to 1764. He also was a Vestryman for Truro and Fairfax Parishes and was a Fairfax County Sheriff. Captain West is credited as a member of the Committee of Safety and was the brother of John Carlyle’s second wife. Like his uncle, the younger West was a Sheriff of Fairfax County and served in the House of Burgesses. Both men died in 1777, the younger being the first person to perish.
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