Black Lives Next Door in Fairfax

These pages pertain to an individual that has been forgotten by history by an unspoken culling of record keeping and lack of general recorded history available today. Honors students at George Mason University’s ‘Mason’s Legacies’ Course intend to contribute to the Black Lives Next Door model and document the lives of individuals ignored and forgotten by history. Keeping the memory of them alive through the documentation compiled here; to tell their story when the writers of history have neglected to do so.

This assignment began with a name and a single instance of Land Tax Records in 1894’s Land Tax records for Mount Vernon District of Fairfax.[6] Andrew Jackson was the name given. This first, simple task was to find Andrew and relevant information to begin the search for his history.

Armed with the information obtained from the Land Tax Records for 1894, the research for Andrew Jackson continued at the Circuit Court’s Historic Records Center in Fairfax. The search stretched to first and final land tax records, deeds, school census records, death records, etc. The information on these pages was built off of research done from this point on and henceforth. Several hours consisted of going backward and forward every few years to find the earliest and latest occurrence of these documents, as well as the use of website resources provided by the Virginia Room.

The Andrew Jackson legacy began in the betterment of Black communities and ended in somber silence. The Jackson family and land’s contribution to history is visible in the coming pages.

Bibliography

[1] Andrew Jackson Colored Facilities Deed 1867, Fairfax County Courthouse. Fairfax, Virginia

[2] Andrew Jackson Death Record, Fairfax County Courthouse. Fairfax, Virginia

[3] Andrew Jackson Grantee Deed 1875, Fairfax County Courthouse. Fairfax, Virginia

[4] Andrew Jackson Property Grantor Deed 1919, Fairfax County Courthouse. Fairfax, Virginia

[5] Andrew Jackson Mount Vernon Tax Record 1885, Fairfax County Courthouse. Fairfax, Virginia

[6] Andrew Jackson Mount Vernon Tax Record 1894, Fairfax County Courthouse. Fairfax, Virginia

[7] Andrew Jackson Mount Vernon Tax Record 1915, Fairfax County Courthouse. Fairfax, Virginia

[8] Andrew Jackson School Census 1890, Historic Records Center, Fairfax County Courthouse. Fairfax, Virginia

[9] Hopkins, Griffith Morgan, Jr. "Atlas of fifteen miles around Washington, including the county of Montgomery, Maryland", Fairfax County Courthouse. Fairfax, Virginia, 1879. https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3850m.gct00186/?sp=46&r=0.212,0.291,0.472,0.219,0

[10] N.a. "1880 United States Federal Census for Andrew Jackson". Ancestry. 1997-2023. https://www.ancestryheritagequest.com/imageviewer/collections/6742/images/4244615-00295?usePUB=true&_phsrc=xfs4&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=12073824

[11] N.a. "1900 United States Federal Census for Andrew Jackson". Ancestry. 1997-2023. https://www.ancestryheritagequest.com/imageviewer/collections/7602/images/4117876_00721?usePUB=true&_phsrc=hCT4&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=71532099

[12] N.a. "1910 United States Federal Census for Andrew Jackson". Ancestry. 1997-2023. https://www.ancestryheritagequest.com/imageviewer/collections/7884/images/4455042_00297?usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true&pId=29170633

[13] N.a. "Google Maps Dogue Creek Virginia." Google Maps. 2023. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Dogue+Creek/@38.7030295,-77.1525951,13.75z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x89b7ac0d99d6f335:0xe42f5cafe48eeec2!8m2!3d38.7318806!4d-77.1325075!16zL20vMGdkeF9o?entry=ttu

By Caleb Hughston