received his compensation in small fees charged for
performing small acts, but in a growing county this produced a
substantial income. His chief functions involved issuing licenses,
warrants, writs, and orders connected with litigation. He also took
inventories, recorded legal instruments, and kept vital statistics.
Frequently, the clerk was the only officer of the court who was in any
way learned in the law, and thus his advice on the law was regularly
sought by the court. As the information he gave frequently was
seasoned with experience, he became sought after for advice on many
issues and problems which reached beyond the technical terms of the
law, and his importance in the county's government was substantial.

William Moss served as Clerk of the County Court for 32 years, until
1833. In 1831, he was appointed Clerk of the Circuit Court, when that
body was created by the General Assembly, and he served in that
position until 1835, the year of his death. At this time, William
Moss's brother, Thomas, who had served as a Delegate from Fairfax
County to the Virginia General Assembly in 1828, was appointed to fill
the vacancy left by William's death. When Thomas Moss died in 1839,
his son, Alfred, was appointed Clerk but served in that office only
one month. Later, however, Alfred Moss moved from Alexandria to
Providence [Fairfax] where in 1852 he was again appointed Clerk of the
Circuit Court. He served in this capacity until 1861, at which time
Civil War activities in the area disrupted the normal conduct of
county business.[20] It was at this time that Alfred Moss removed
George Washington's holographic will from Fairfax Courthouse to take
it to Richmond for safekeeping for the duration of the war. Because
there was considerable risk in getting it to Richmond, Alfred's wife,
Martha Gunnell Moss, hid it for a time in her daughter's home,
"Evergreen," in Fauquier County. Alfred Moss was captured and sent to
Capitol Prison, and when he was released by exchange, he took the will
to a safe place. Shortly after the war, the Fairfax County Court sent
a private citizen, O. W. Hunt, to Richmond where he found the
Washington will, some other papers, and the County Seal, which he
returned to the Fairfax Courthouse where they may be seen during
regular hours of business.[21]

AGRICULTURE IN COLONIAL VIRGINIA. The lands which were assembled by
John Moss to comprise his farm were quite different from the virgin
forest land th