arket.

As far as the Indian situation and forts were concerned, Lord
Culpeper suggested that a small band of volunteer light horsemen be
hired to range the woods of the heads of the rivers to protect the
frontiersmen against surprise attack by the Indians. His suggestion
was accepted by the Assembly and the "Rangers" were organized.

They were comprised of one lieutenant, eleven soldiers, and two
Indians. They were supplied with horses and other necessities to
range and scout the areas they served.

Lord Culpeper then proceeded to return to England where he was
relieved as governor and his commission was turned over to Lord
Howard of Effingham. It is rather ironic that neither Lord Culpeper
nor Lord Fairfax, who inherited his estate and for whom the County
and Town were named, cared particularly for Virginia. Lord Culpeper
came under duress and returned as soon as possible to England. Lord
Fairfax came, according to tradition, only after he had been
disappointed in love in England and because his holdings demanded
his attention. The people struggled on, however, and gradually the
wealthy land owners began to move northward to occupy the tracts of
land upon which their grandfathers had speculated.

[Illustration]

III. THE GENTRY AND THE CONVICTS

George Mason II had moved to Pohick in 1690 but his home was
considered such an outpost that runaway slaves were returned there
by Indians. In 1746 the fourth George Mason moved to his property on
Dogue Neck and built Gunston Hall in 1758. By 1734 Captain Augustine
Washington moved his family to his plantation on Little Hunting
Creek. His home was destroyed by fire and he moved back to the north
bank of the Rappahannock in 1739. In the spring of 1741 William
Fairfax built Belvoir. After his daughter married Lawrence
Washington in 1743, the original part of Mt. Vernon was finished.

Along with the gentry's influx into the county, however, there was
also the influx of convicts. Heretofore this land had, as stated,
been occupied mostly by indentured slaves. When these indentures
achieved their freedom and became land-holders in their own right,
they found they too needed help for harvesting the fields. England,
recognizing this need and being anxious to rid herself of an
undesirable element, began to export convicts to America. Benjamin
Franklin called this "the most cruel insult that perhaps was ever
offered by one people to another".

Robert Carter, in his fi