Black Lives Next Door in Fairfax

Because of the limitations with recording black lives within the county, Eliza A. Ford’s complete story is seemingly lost in history. In the end, there are plenty more avenues of research within Ford’s life that can be explored.

            Information is numerous on the Ford family in Fairfax County, but Eliza specifically has been absent in the documented oral histories of Fairfax. Within this bibliographic entry using the information and documentation found concerning Eliza Ford, many questions have been left unanswered.

            For example, since there were no buildings on the property, as stated within the land tax records, what was this property primarily used for?  It is important to note, although, that the land tax record only considers whether there is a building that is being taxed on the property. We don’t know how diligent people taking these records were in recording the buildings on the property. Because of this uncertainty, we cannot for confidently state that there were no buildings on the property when it was owned by Eliza Ford.

Other questions that could lead to further research and inquiry include: In the 1880s, how common was it for a married woman to have property in her own name? And what was Eliza and Peter’s familial relationship to the well-known Ford family in Fairfax?

As determined through documents from the Fairfax County Circuit Court Historical Records Center as well as information from the book titled Fairfax County, Virginia: A History, Eliza A. Ford married into the famous Ford family. The Ford family was a prominent black family in Fairfax County. Before the Civil War, West Ford, an ancestor of Eliza's husband Peter was a black landowner. West Ford was a slave belonging to George Washington, whom he received land from once Washington passed away. To further the research into the relationship between Peter Ford and West Ford, it might be interesting to see the exact familial connection as well as looking into the land that Peter Ford owned. The familial connection left me with the final question: was Eliza A. Ford a black female landowner in the mid-1800s because she had married into such a prominent family?