Tax Documentation for the Fords
Molly Pitts
This document further confirms that the children of West Ford (William, Jane, Daniel and Julia) got an equal distribution of land in Gum Springs/Mount Vernon. Each receiving 52 ¾ acres of land, this is the earliest document that was retrieved from the Fairfax Archives. The land that was given to West Ford by George Washington’s cousin was substantial, but not abnormally large for most families. To reiterate, West Ford was incredibly successful at making connections with both black and white people, so he was very fortunate to have been given all that land and be able to give equal sections to all of his children.
Where a bump in the road occurs is trying to obtain a land deed stating the transfer of land from William Ford to John Ford. However, the earliest tax record that states John Ford is the owner of 14 out of the 52 ¾ acres William Ford obtained is from 1888. This again is the earliest record of John obtaining the entirety of the land, as multiple documents will state later that he gave away his portion of land to his children. Again, due to the lack of information, this is the earliest document I could find regarding John B. Ford. There were no birth records recovered in the Fairfax Archives and no census data showing when John. B. was born. The census records do have his age present by 1900, but this tax record from 1888 was the first we hear of John B.
In this document, we have the final record of John Ford on paper. Within the archives, it was stated that because the Ford family is so large and had an incredible amount of overlap with the families in the area, there is too much grey area in the information to ignore. Here is a Land Tax Record from 1920, John B. is not here, but John D. is. The amount of land is correct, the sibling information is correct, but the parental information isn’t.
In terms of online information, the census from ancestry has a record of John. B in Land Tax Records from 1920 as well. This document was given before in the exhibition, and it’s a great example of how John B.’s children moved out of the state.
Tax records in 1900 show that John B. and Charlotte had about 10 kids together, yet according to the 1920 tax records, only three remained in the area.