The Jackson Family Land
Charles Brown and his wife Eliza Brown, a couple from Westchester, New York, gave land to Andrew Jackson two separate times.
In 1867, Andrew Jackson was given 1-2 acres of land for the purpose of African american ffacilities to be constructed. A church and a cemetery for colored people were requested in the deed. [1]
On October 12th, 1875, the same New York couple gave Andrew Jackson nearly 7 acres of land that included part of a farm owned by the Browns. [3]
The following image is the deed from 1875, which provided a majority of the Jackson land, persisting until the land was sold. [3]
This image shows the first recorded tax record (1885) for the land and describes it as held in fee. As of this time, the land is only documented as 2 acres. It later became 10 acres in the land tax records. [5]
This image is the last documented Tax Record under Andrew’s name (1915). Despite his death in 1913, Andrew’s name was still used for the tax records. [7]
These summed 10 acres of land would become the Jackson family’s property for decades. Numerous tax records hold details of the land, including that it was, as previously stated, roughly 10 acres of land located “near Woodlawn” in the Mount Vernon District of Fairfax County. The property is stated in several descriptions to be 15 or 16 miles from the courthouse. [5, 6, 7]
Where Did It Go?
Following Andrew Jackson’s passing, his family sold the land to the United States Government for a price of $1,500 dollars. It is surmised that the land was bought for Fort Belvoir, eventually becoming training institution for the United States Military. This land exists today, however, the inclusion of the United States Government in the transferring of property means that no further public information likely exists about where this land is or its history until now. [4]
As a comparison of where the land might have been, here are two images of a historical map [9] and its modern [13] equivalent.
by Caleb Hughston