"open and actual rebellion". It promised a reward of 2000 lbs. of tobacco for information and promised to pardon the "squealer".

Finally, in December, Thomas, Lord Culpeper, departed from London and the arms of his mistress. He was briefed by the Privy Council before he left and as soon as he arrived in Virginia declared the offense to be treason. He had several planters executed as examples and granted amnesty to almost every plant cutter who would take the oath of loyalty to the king. There were approximately twenty men from this general area who took the oath.

In the meantime economic conditions improved for the colonists. The English began dumping their surplus tobacco upon the continent of Europe and the diminished colonial supply found a quick market.

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.

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 first term as proprietary agent, made numerous grants to the Irish and Hugenots and they took a substantial number of these convicts who were gin fiends, beggars, murderers and arsonists. These cheaper servants after serving seven years became parasitic wanderers, creating hotbeds of undisciplined passion wherever they went.

They received credit for burning many warehouses, private homes, public buildings, churches and finally the Capitol itself in Williamsburg. Arson became epidemic in the Northern Neck.

All legislative efforts to abort this infiltration by convicts were stopped by the "greedy planter" who loved the cheapness of this labor and the practice of importation survived the Revolution.

Consequently, this area was comprised of gentry, indentures, convicts and slaves. Yet the homes of the former two were similar in many ways. Their houses were made of wood; their roofs were made of oak shingles. The walls were made of clapboard sealed on the inside with mortar made of oyster shell lime which gave the room a look of antiquated whiteness. Some houses were constructed of bricks made by the colonists themselves. Most houses consisted of only two rooms and several closets on the ground floor with two prophets chambers above. They built separate houses for the kitchen, for Christian servants, for Negro slaves, and several for curing tobacco. Each household gave the appearance of a small village. There were no stables. Cattle and horses were allowed to run in the woods.

Merchandise was supplied by traveling salesmen from England who took their loaded ships from creek to creek.

Due to the fact that most people lived on widely separated plantations there were very few schools. Sometimes a house was erected on one of the old fields which had outlived its usefulness and there the children of the plantation owner along with those of relatives and neighbors would attend school under the supervision of a tutor hired by the main family. These were called "Old Field Schools". They were made of logs held together by wooden pins. The roof was shingled with hand-hewn wood shingles and a large field stone fireplace was used to heat the room. There were few books available and the tiresome methods of teaching were heavily interspersed with strict discipline. School began at eight o'clock in the morning and a recess was taken at eleven. It opened again at one o'clock and closed at four o'clock in the afternoon.

Public school systems did not make their appearance until 1857. As a rule, the parish halls of the various churches were used to house the students.

The children of the poor learned from their parents the art of working in the fields. The wealthier families sent their eldest son to England to be educated and other sons were educated at the College of William and Mary which had been established in 1693.

Recreation was found in the form of wrestling, playing with quarter staff, cock fighting, and pursuing wild horses. Beverly gives us a lively description of the latter: "There is yet another kind of sport which the young people take great delight in and that is the Hunting of wild Horses which they pursue sometimes with Dogs and sometimes without. You must know that they have many Horses foaled in the Woods of the Uplands that never were in hand and are as shy as any Savage creature. These having no mark upon them belong to him that first takes them. However, the Captor commonly purchases these Horses very dear by spoiling better in the pursuit; in which case he has little to make him amends beside the pleasure of the Chace. And very often this is all he has for it, for the Wild Horses are so swift that tis difficult to catch them; and when they are taken tis odds but their Grease is melted, or else being old, they are so sullen that they can't be tamed." (Due to the capture of tame horses roaming the woods, the sport of capturing wild horses was eventually outlawed.)

IV. THE PUSH INWARD

At this time the northern and central parts of the County were sparsely settled due to the large tracts of land held by a few. King Carter, of course, had assigned most of the