Black Lives Next Door in Fairfax

Lloyd Washington was an African-American farmer in the 19th Century. While there is not much info on his personal life, the story of his land both before his possession of it and after, is very full of information. In fact, Lloyd Washington's land was originally part of the Mount Vernon estate belonging to the first president of the United States, George Washington.

Throughout this exhibit, the limited documentation of Washington's life and land will be used to construct a short biographical entry as part of the Black Lives Next Door initiative at George Mason University, sponsored by the Center for Mason Legacies. The documentation and records concerning Washington were often challenging to find and piece together, but with the help of the archivists at the Fairfax County Circuit Court's Histroic Records Center and the online databases from the Virginia Room of the Fairfax County Public Library, the information collected was put through professionally offered strategies and identification.

The investigation into Lloyd Washington as a person and land owner began with a scanned version of Mount Vernon District 1894 tax records where Lloyd Washington was identified and the records of land ownership were traced through other aspects of the archives. While Washington’s time in the tax books is sparse and limited to only a short time frame, the records of his ownership and possession of land beyond what is documented in the tax records offers an interesting storyline of land ownership and documentation, especially as much of the documentation of African Americans is lost or not preserved properly.

While Lloyd Washington couldn't be found as a registered voter in the “colored” voter registration for the Gum Springs Precinct in the Mount Vernon Magisterial District, it is likely that this was because the voter register started after Washington's time as a voter. However, while digging through the older voting records, Washington did appear. SO it wasn’t necessarily that the voter registration was after Washington’s time, but that it was not in his precinct of registration.

This poll book was recorded on May 25th in 1871. It shows that Lloyd Washington is listened 25th in the list of electors. However, while this poll book is located in the Mount Vernon Township, it is not in the Gumsprings precinct like the original voter registration being looked through. Instead, this poll book is from the records of the election held at Accotink, only 4 miles from where Lloyd Washington’s estate is presumed to reside. 

While the poll book is not exactly the same as the voter registrations, it is actually a beneficial difference. This is because it allows for the distinction of Lloyd Washington’s difference from other African-American that are part of this research exhibit. As the poll book still derive from the voting records between 1854 and 1936, it also offers insight that Lloyd Washington is still a registered voter in the Mount Vernon District.  The fact that this specific record is from the 1870s allows for the opportunity to search of Lloyd Washington in the census records and other primary sources with dates beginning in the early 70s. Through this opportunity, the next few pages of this exhibit will dive into the Washington Family and the Washington Land.

1879 Map of Mount Vernon, https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3850m.gct00186/?sp=46&r=-0.076,-0.053,1.137,0.805,0, Library of CongressFairfax, Virginia

Lloyd Washington Poll Books, Fairfax County Courthouse Archives, Voting Records, 1854-1936, Box 3, Fairfax, Virginia

By Ava Marchetti