A Case of Justice Unfulfilled in Reconstruction Vienna

Introduction: An Incident in Vienna, Virginia, January 1867

On 24 January 1867, Orrin E. Hine, a Vienna-based official of the U.S. government’s Freedmen’s Bureau, informed his superior of an attack on a formerly enslaved black woman, who Hine identified as “Harriet Follin”:

“Captain, 

 I have to report the following outrage upon a freedwoman committed near this place to-day.

James Strother and Joseph Follin citizens of this vicinity, went to the house in which Harriet Follin (colored) lived, forcibly opened the door and attacked her, knocking her down with a club, and then proceeded to pitch her furniture out-of-doors, at the same threatening to take her life if she said a word.

These men are notorious rebels, and were (I am told) with ‘Moseby’ [sic] a portion of the time during the war.

I have brought the case to the attention of Justice J.B. Bowman who has promised to issue warrants against the parties. 

Very Respectfully,

Your Ob[edien]t Serv[an]t O.E. Hine”¹

This case of an assault-and-battery accusation in Reconstruction-era Vienna illustrates the difficulty that recently freed blacks encountered when they sought a fair hearing in Virginia’s legal system after the Civil War. The episode has added interest because some of the parties involved held names that are prominent in Vienna’s history.  

Orrin Eugene Hine

Before he received the complaint from Harriet Follin, Orrin Hine had been on the job at the Freedmen’s Bureau for 80 days undertaking a number of actions and dealing with a variety of issues.¹⁰ As a start, he established a record-keeping system for his office, a basic bureaucratic task neglected by his predecessors. He looked into cross-race complaints. In November 1866 alone Hine investigated twenty such complaints, fifteen by blacks against whites and five by whites against blacks.¹¹ In addition, with free labor replacing slavery, the Freedmen’s Bureau had a role in helping formerly enslaved laborers participate in the work force.¹² As Hine started on the job in late 1866, annual labor contracts were reaching their year-end conclusion, and a number of black workmen reported to him that their white employers were failing to meet their payment obligations.¹³ 

“Education probably represented [the Freedmen’s Bureau] greatest success in the postwar South….,” according to historian Foner, “…and the encouragement and oversight of schools for blacks occupied a significant portion of local agents’ time.”¹⁴ The Bureau’s local agent for the Vienna area, Orrin Hine, was no exception. For instance, he requested lumber from his superior in Alexandria to build new schools for blacks, including in Vienna —and to repair a vandalized school near Lewinsville and rebuild the school at Frying Pan Church. The latter facility had been destroyed by arson, Hine reported.^15161718 He advocated to establish a school for black citizens at Langley, an area Hine described as “the worst reb[e]l locality in the county” and subject to outrages committed against blacks by a white “gang of ruffians.”¹⁹²⁰

The resistance that Hine was encountering to the Bureau’s efforts to promote the education and economic well-being of formerly enslaved blacks prompted a sober assessment from him after just a month on the job:

—“Notwithstanding a large number of northern people live in this Co[unty] the general sentiment is bitterly rebel, and consequently antagonistic to the education and prosperity of the freedmen–and the proximity to Washington is all that prevents more frequent and open outrages than now occurs.“²¹

The institution of slavery was destructive for institutions that competed with it, for instance family and marriage. Thus the Freedmen’s Bureau worked to repair some of the damage. For instance, Hine sought to reunite a local black widower with the man’s young children, who were stranded in South Carolina.²² In addition, he worked on a tasking from the bureau to determine within his zone of responsibility “the names and places of residences of all freed people living together as man and wife without having evidence of lawful marriage.”²³ 

And finally, there was the violence. Hine reported that in November 1866, “there were five unprovoked and violent outrages committed by whites upon freedmen….” The response to these on the part of the local justice system was sobering to Hine. “Up to this time I have been unable to get the civil authorities to take action in any case,” he wrote in mid-December, “notwithstanding warrants for the arrest of several of the guilty parties have been in the hands of the proper officers for three weeks.”²⁴ This was the context under which Hine was operating when he received the complaint from Harriet Follin in January 1867.

Harriet Follin aka Harriet Brown and Harriet Bell

Harriet Follin, as Orrin Hine initially referred to her, was Harriet Brown at the time; both before and later she was Harriet Bell. Harriet Brown was born circa 1829, judging from an 1841 inventory of the property of John Follin, who had enslaved Brown.²⁵ Her original owner may have been Nicholas Barker, judging from will documents highlighted by George Mason University historian Annabelle Spencer.²⁶ Ownership by Barker could explain how Harriet Brown ended up with John Follin: Nicholas Barker was the father of John Follin’s second wife, Mary. Regardless, John had given the enslaved Harriet to Mary “as house girl and her maid,” according to an early-20^th-century history of the Follin family.²⁷

With the onset of the Civil War in 1861, Harriet Brown apparently remained on the Follin property with Mary Follin. “When the Federal forces were camped around the old home, [Harriet Brown] was the only one of a large number [of enslaved people] who refused freedom rather than desert her mistress,” claims the Follin family history.³⁰ Union forces controlled the area before the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect in 1863, so Brown presumably was still enslaved at that point; the Proclamation was scoped only to areas still in rebellion.³¹³² She probably was freed the following year, however, when the Unionist Restored Government of Virginia abolished slavery via the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1864.³³ 

Meanwhile, circa 1850, when she was still enslaved, Harriet was apparently in a relationship with a man with the last name of Bell or post-slavery had the last name of Bell. The Follin family history is explicit that the enslaved woman associated with Mary Follin was eventually known as Harriet Bell.³⁴ Census records after 1870 show a “Harriet Bell” of the right age in the area of the former Follin property, taking up from the “Harriet Brown” in the 1870 census.³⁵³⁶³⁷ A marriage record probably for her oldest child, Frank Bell, born in 1850, lists the mother as “H. Bell” and the father as “S. Bell.”³⁸ This is the only lead I’ve been able to find for the husband carrying the Bell name. In summary, Harriet appears to have used the “Bell” last name both before and after she used “Brown.”

By early 1867, Harriet had married Marlow Brown, judging from documents written by Orrin Hine in association with the Follin/Strother incident.⁴² As Hine’s work on the incident progressed, he referred in documents to “Harriet Brown alias Harriet Follin (freedwoman),” identifying her with a name outside the Follin context.⁴³ In a document that Hine drafted in February, he was explicit about the relationship. “This agreement made and extended into this 18^th day of Feb. 1867 between Marlow Brown and Harriet Brown his wife otherwise called Harriet Follin [author’s emphasis] ….”⁴⁴ Marlow and Harriet Brown remained married until Marlow’s death in the 1890s, judging from property and court records, although Marlow’s will and census records suggest they may have been estranged.⁴⁵

Perhaps the death of Mary Follin in December, 1863 set in a motion a series of events that led to the assault-and-battery of some three years later.⁴⁷ With Mary Follin no longer present, some of the Follin heirs may have eventually found Harriet Brown dispensable. Meanwhile, it was around the time of Mary Follin’s death that Harriet Brown began her residence at the dwelling that featured in the incident of January 1867, judging from one of Hine’s reports. In February 1867, Hine referred to the location of the incident as the house which Harriet Follin “has peaceably occupied for nearly three years.”⁴⁸ I do not know if the dwelling in question was the Follin house itself or an outbuilding on the Follin tract.

Hine’s Investigation Uncovers More Details

Whereas the complete circumstances that led to the 1867 incident are unclear to us almost 160 years later, Hine’s follow-up reports in February and March flesh out some additional details. These include the involvement of another party, in turn providing insight into the motive for the violence and clarity on which offenses were perpetrated by whom. 

–George M. Cannon had accompanied Joseph Follin and James Strother to the house on 24 January, according to Hine.⁴⁹ Cannon and members of his family had household furniture to put into the dwelling. Harriet Brown, however, “refused to let them put the things into the house, upon which Strother who was inside the house took her forcibly from the door and [Joseph] Follin…came in and struck her with a stick, knocking her down on the bed near which she was standing. They then pitched a portion of her furniture out of doors and put Cannon’s in the house.” Cannon’s family was moved into the house after the incident.⁵⁰ In other words, Joseph Follin and James Strother were forcing Harriet Brown from the residence to make room for George Cannon and his family. Joseph Follin and James Strother were charged with assault and battery; George Cannon was served with a writ of forcible entry and detainer.⁵¹

Initial progress with the case was not as fast as Hine expected. He had arranged for the various parties as well as witnesses to appear in court in mid-February 1867. He then learned that was premature, because the matter had to first go before the grand jury. The grand jury would not meet until March.⁵² Meanwhile, Hine’s superior had directed him to work in conjunction with the commonwealth’s attorney, George Tucker.⁵³  

Nonetheless, there was progress of a sort. George Cannon corroborated Harriet Brown’s account, according to Orrin Hine.⁵⁵ Hine arranged a settlement between Cannon and Brown. “The forcible entry and detainer case was settled by the accused George M. Cannon paying all cost and leaving the premises,” Hine informed his superior in mid-February. “After this piece was conceded Cannon purchased … Harriet’s right (which was a doubtful one) to the possession of the place in dispute[,] paying her $25 in cash, she agreeing to give him possession at the end of thirty days.” Hine “believ[ed] it to be the best arrangement the woman could make,” almost certainly because Brown doesn’t appear to have had title to the property.⁵⁶ Hine was enthusiastic about this modest win.  “I consider the result of this case a complete triumph of law in favor of the colored people—the entire community, and an example that will do much to protect the rights of freedmen against outrage and violence.”⁵⁷

–Hine’s reference to a “doubtful” right to the property on Brown’s part is intriguing. It is clear from the County’s property records that she did not have a recorded deed. Could she have had an unrecorded document from Mary Follin? Or perhaps a late-life pledge from Mary? Something that would seem to convey a right to Brown, lack legal standing, but through the fact of its existence help to sway Cannon to make a payment and allow some time for Brown to find somewhere else to live.

George Marion Cannon

At the time of the Vienna incident, George Cannon may have been in the process of relocating from Prince William County, where he was born.⁵⁸ Cannon was about 30 years old, and married to Mary E. Kidwell, with whom he had three children so far, judging from census records.⁵⁹ Sometime between 1860 and 1870 he moved to Vienna and switched occupations from miller to wheelwright, judging from census records.⁶⁰⁶¹ Property records indicate that Cannon’s first ownership of land in Fairfax County wasn’t until two years after the incident with Brown.⁶² Thus from wherever he was moving in 1867 to occupy the dwelling occupied by Harriet Brown, it was not a Fairfax County property under his ownership. 

Joseph Nathaniel Follin 

Joseph Follin almost certainly supported the Confederacy during the war, but he does not appear to have served in the Confederate military, despite what Orrin Hine had heard. In the 1870s, Follin testified to a federal commission that was adjudicating a claim by a loyalist neighbor for property damage during the war. When the commissioner asked Follin, “What were you during the war: a union man or a secessionist?,” Follin tried to dodge. “I was at home,” he answered. But the questioner persisted: “What were your sentiments?” At which point Follin gave up. “Well, to come to the point, I voted for secession,” he answered, referring to the Virginia referendum in May 1861 on whether to secede from the Union or remain.⁶⁸ 

Although Follin clearly was a supporter of the Confederacy, I can find no record that he was a member of Mosby’s outfit or any other unit of the Confederate army. However, two of his sons fought with Mosby, according to Dan Johnson, a historian of Mosby’s operations in the Difficult Run valley.⁶⁹ Johnson makes a case for the area around Vienna being a hotbed of Mosby sympathizers and facilitators. Perhaps, then, Orrin Hine’s impression of Joseph Follin as a Mosby man is a reflection of such support and of the role of Mosby’s sons.  (See, for instance, Johnson’s “The Guerilla War in Suburban Virginia,” in particular the section on “The Murder of John D Read”).⁷⁰

James W. Strother

Unlike Joseph Follin, James Strother served under Mosby, according to various Confederate and U.S. records. Among these is a document noting that in April 1865, J.W. Strother of “Co[mpany] F. of Moseby’s Batt[alion]” received a parole from the Union Army’s provost marshal. The provost marshal describes Strother as 48 years old, 5’ 10”, with a fair complexion, light hair, and blue eyes. The document is annotated with “Fairfax Co.,” pointing us toward our James Strother rather than another Confederate veteran of Virginia who also had that name.⁷¹ In addition, Strother’s wife and neighbors testified in the 1870s that he had served in the rebel army, according to the records of the U.S. government’s Southern Claim Commission.  

James Strother was married to Joseph Follin’s sister, Letitia Follin Strother. Before the war he was a school teacher, and after the war he was a farmer, according to U.S. census records.⁷²⁷³ The family lived on Letitia’s property, adjoining Joseph’s tract. Like Joseph Follin, Strother had a son who fought in the war. In Strother’s case, however, the son fought for the Union, according to his wife’s testimony. Letitia herself was pro-Union.⁷⁴ Thus the Strothers were emblematic of the divisions that the Civil War brought to some local families. (At the conclusion of Letitia Strother’s testimony, the claims commissioner summarizes the family situation with a question: “So your son was fighting against his father?” “Yes, sir,” Letitia replies).⁷⁵

Outcome

Within weeks of Orrin Hine’s mid-February settlement between Harriet Brown and George Cannon, the situation turned for the worse for Hine and Brown. On 23 February 1867, the Freemen’s Bureau directed Hine’s superior to inform Hine that he would be let go from his position in March. “[I]nform him that this is… to reduce expenses and not from any dissatisfaction with the performance of his duty…,” the Bureau explained.⁷⁹ As Hine’s replacement was a junior U.S. Army officer, it presumably was less costly for the government to use one of its already-commissioned Army officers to fill the position than to retain a civilian like Hine. Hine’s supervisor emphasized his regret to Hine and “that he highly appreciate[d] the energy and ability you have shown in the discharge of your duties and the deep interest manifested by you in the general welfare and protection of the freed people in your district.”⁸⁰  

Hine responded professionally. “I regret that it has been deemed advisable to make this change, for I am confident that I can render more efficient aid to the real interests of the Freedmen than a stranger, yet I shall cheerfully turn over the records of the office (which are in perfect order) to my successor and render him all the aid is my power as Asst. Supt.”⁸¹ The Freedmen’s Bureau appears to have delayed Hine’s termination to the end of the month at least in part so he could see the case to the grand jury on 18^th March. ⁸² 

And then the prosecution of Follin and Strother in the Fairfax County court system died at the grand jury.  On 18 March, Hine reported “that I presented the case of Joseph Follin and James Strother….to the Grand jury of this county to day, and that this grand jury refused to find a true bill against said Follin and Strother notwithstanding there was positive testimony such crime was committed.”⁸³  

Hine viewed the development as a case of selective injustice. “In a precisely similar case but in which the offence was committed by colored men against a white man, this same grand jury reported a true bill,” Hine wrote to his superior. “It is impossible to obtain justice or punish crime before such tribunals when the victims are freedmen….”⁸⁴ A few days later, Hine added that Harriet Brown “informs me that she swore to the facts before the grand jury precisely as she stated them to me…. This statement is fully corroborated by Cannon notwithstanding he is partially interested with the others in defending Strother and Follin.” Hine explained in his report that because of grand jury procedures, he himself could not observe the testimony.⁸⁵

The Post-Hine Trial

After Orrin Hine left his position, the Freedmen’s Bureau did not give up on getting the case to trial. By mid-1867, the Bureau had apparently arranged for the case to be brought before another grand jury. Harriet Brown was scheduled to testify before this grand jury in July, but she failed to appear, according to Hine’s replacement. Her son had suffered a severe injury in a railroad mishap, requiring Brown’s constant care. The testimony was rescheduled for the court’s next term.⁸⁶

Postscript: Harriet Bell Acquires Former Follin Property

A decade after the incident, Harriet Bell (as she referred to herself by this time) finally was able to acquire property on the former Follin tract. Before this was possible, the Follin family had to resolve the ownership of the 338 acres that formerly belonged to John and Mary Follin. The process for resolution was underway by September 1866, when the Follin family’s administrator of the estate was making preparations go to court, judging from the files of the subsequent suit. Partitioning the land for the heirs to own was not practical, given how many heirs there were. With his two wives, John Follin had more than two dozen children, most of whom were still alive in 1866, while most of those who had already died themselves left children who became heirs. Thus in the October term of the Fairfax County Circuit Court, the estate’s administrator petitioned the court to sell the land and divide the proceeds among the Follin heirs.⁸⁹ 

–It is interesting that the timing of this activity in September and October of 1866 preceded the assault on Harriet Brown by just a few months. Perhaps Follin family members such as Joseph Follin were paying renewed attention to their parents’ land with the onset of the court case that would determine the tract’s disposition. Letting George Cannon and his family live at a dwelling on the property might have been a means to extract some value from the land before it was partitioned, assuming Follin and Strother intended to charge rent.  

In June 1867 the court ordered a commissioner to sell the Follin tract.⁹⁰ In October, the county surveyor subdivided the tract into five parcels to improve the prospects for a sale.⁹¹ In 1870, Lewis Johnson bought Lot Number 1, a 64-acre parcel at the eastern end of the Follin tract.⁹² And in November 1876, Harriet Bell bought 10 ½ acres from Lewis and Amelia Johnson for $210, according to Fairfax County property records.⁹³ When she died in 1910, she was still living on the property, judging from the Follin family history.⁹⁴

Appendix: Finding the Harriet Bell Property

To determine the location of Harriet Bell’s 10.5-acre lot required some digging. This appendix wades into the details.

From the deed for Bell’s 1876 purchase we know that the lot was somewhere within Lot 1 of the Follin partition.¹⁰¹ We don’t know where in Lot 1, however, because the deed’s description of the boundaries lacks reference points that tie to features of today. The deed refers to a survey from 1876 that subdivided the original Lewis Johnson Lot 1, but a plat is not included in the surviving deed.¹⁰² Subsequent transactions that refer to the same plat similarly do not provide a copy. Bell’s will, written in 1907, devises land to her five surviving children and a grandson but doesn’t tell us where the land is other than “the settlement of Wolf Trap.”¹⁰³

The Rosetta Stone for finding Harriet Bell’s lot is a 1942 deed from a special commissioner of the Circuit Court of Fairfax County to William M. and Mary M. Odom. The Odom deed explicitly links the transaction in 1942 to the Harriet Bell property, and even as it recycles the boundary description from the 1876 deed, it provides a foundation for finding later transactions that better define the borders than the description from 60 years earlier.¹⁰⁴

–For instance, by tracing the progression of deeds involving the Odoms through the late 1960’s, we find a sewer easement from the mid-’60s that has a helpful plat (below).¹⁰⁵ This plat shows: the boundaries of the residual Odom property–and thus former Bell property– as of 1965; boundaries of some then-neighboring parcels that other deeds reveal were originally part of the Bell property acquired by the Odoms in 1942;¹⁰⁶ and the location of the property in relation to Wolf Trap Run, a branch of the run, and Wolftrap Road, all of which are features of the landscape today.

–A plat for a 1971 deed is useful because it shows two lots on the north side of Judy Witt Lane that 1) through the chain of title, we know were once part of Harriet Bell’s lot; and 2) are lots that continue to exist in in their 1971 shape, based on a comparison to today’s property lines.¹⁰⁸ The outlying boundaries on these two lots show us the eastern and western boundaries of the Bell lot at its southern extremity. By extending the existing boundaries northward on a map of today towards boundaries with the same angle extending south from Wolf Trap Road, we can recreate the full boundaries of the original Bell lot. This is particularly helpful because in this area, the process of subdividing over the years–for Fairfax County’s nearby drainage project in the late 1970s and for the Silentree development– was sometimes accompanied by recombinations of smaller lots from different larger tracts. This had the effect of erasing the map vestiges of earlier boundaries.¹⁰⁹

On this Fairfax County property map from 1973 we can how the former Harriet Bell tract (enclosed in red) by that time was organized as eight lots. The two lots enclosed in blue, 73 and 71A, largely retain the same shapes and borders today, as you can see in the figure below, which shows property lines in 2025. Lots 18A, 24, 23, and 18 correspond to the lots in the plat of the sewer easement (see above).

Greg Weaver, July 2025

Endnotes

1. Letter from O.E. Hine to Captain S.P. Lee, 24 January 1867. “Virginia, United States records,” images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DCP7-W2R?view=explore : Jul 14, 2025), image 643 of 1204; United States. National Archives and Records Administration. Image Group Number: 004150376. ↩︎
2. Ibid. ↩︎
3. An Act to establish a Bureau for the Relief of Freedmen and Refugees, 3 March 1865, Freedmen and Southern Society Project, History Department of the University of Maryland https://www.freedmen.umd.edu/fbact.htm ↩︎
4. Foner, Eric. Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877. Perennial, 2002, New York, p.68. ↩︎
5. “Major Orin [sic] E. Hine Dead,” Alexandria Gazette, 20 September 1899, p.3 ↩︎
6. “Warned to Leave,” Louisville Courier-Journal, 1 March 1861, p.3. Accessed via Newspapers.com, https://www.newspapers.com/image/1128256250/. ↩︎
7. Act to establish a Bureau, Freedmen and Southern Society Project. ↩︎
8. New York State Archives; Albany, New York; Civil War Muster Roll Abstracts of New York State Volunteers, United States Sharpshooters, and United States Colored Troops [ca. 1861-1900]; Box #: 622, accessed via the Ancestry.com website. https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/search/collections/1965/records/24331 ↩︎
9. CWP 28.3, PHOTOGRAPH OF MAJOR ORRIN E. HINE IN UNIFORM, LEANING ON PEDESTAL WITH COLUMN, 50TH REGIMENT, NEW YORK STATE VOLUNTEER ENGINEERS, MOLLUS-Mass Civil War Photograph Collection, Volume 28, U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center, https://emuweb.usahec.org/alma/multimedia/1529482/20182005PHBT1036361188F000000064988I006.pdf ↩︎
10. O.E. Hine to Captain S.P. Lee, 10 December 1866, “Virginia, Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1967,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DT2Q-8SC?cc=1596147&wc=9LMG-K6X%3A1078514302%2C1078514102 : 26 January 2022), Fairfax Courthouse (Fairfax County, assistant subassistant commissioner) > Roll 75, Letters sent, Aug 1865-Oct 1868 > image 80 of 146; citing NARA microfilm publication M1913 (College Park, Maryland: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). ↩︎
11. Ibid. ↩︎
12. Foner, p.142 and pp.155-158. ↩︎
13. O.E. Hine to Captain S.P. Lee, 1 January 1867. “Virginia, Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1967,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DT2Q-7K3?cc=1596147&wc=9LMG-K6X%3A1078514302%2C1078514102 : 25 June 2014), Fairfax Courthouse (Fairfax County, assistant subassistant commissioner) > Roll 75, Letters sent, Aug 1865-Oct 1868 > image 81 of 146; citing NARA microfilm publication M1913 (College Park, Maryland: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). ↩︎
14. Foner, p.144. ↩︎
15. O.E. Hine to CPT S.P. Lee, 5 February 1867, “Virginia, Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1967,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DT2Q-85T?cc=1596147&wc=9LMG-K6X%3A1078514302%2C1078514102 : 25 June 2014), Fairfax Courthouse (Fairfax County, assistant subassistant commissioner) > Roll 75, Letters sent, Aug 1865-Oct 1868 > image 87 of 146; citing NARA microfilm publication M1913 (College Park, Maryland: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). ↩︎
16. O.E. Hine to CPT S.P. Lee, 26 February 1867, “Virginia, Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1967,” database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DT2Q-WLS?cc=1596147&wc=9LMG-K6X%3A1078514302%2C1078514102 : 25 June 2014), Fairfax Courthouse (Fairfax County, assistant subassistant commissioner) > Roll 75, Letters sent, Aug 1865-Oct 1868 > image 88 of 146; citing NARA microfilm publication M1913 (College Park, Maryland: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). ↩︎
17. O.E. Hine to CPT S.P. Lee, 1 December 1866, “Virginia, Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1967,” database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DT2Q-HF7?cc=1596147&wc=9LMG-K6X%3A1078514302%2C1078514102 : 25 June 2014), Fairfax Courthouse (Fairfax County, assistant subassistant commissioner) > Roll 75, Letters sent, Aug 1865-Oct 1868 > image 74 of 146; citing NARA microfilm publication M1913 (College Park, Maryland: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). ↩︎
18. O.E. Hine to CPT S.P. Lee, 1 January 1867, “Virginia, Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1967,” database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DT2Q-DJD?cc=1596147&wc=9LMG-K6X%3A1078514302%2C1078514102 : 25 June 2014), Fairfax Courthouse (Fairfax County, assistant subassistant commissioner) > Roll 75, Letters sent, Aug 1865-Oct 1868 > image 82 of 146; citing NARA microfilm publication M1913 (College Park, Maryland: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). ↩︎
19. O.E. Hine to CPT S.P. Lee, 28 November 1866, “Virginia, Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1967,” database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DT2Q-4HT?cc=1596147&wc=9LMG-K6X%3A1078514302%2C1078514102 : 25 June 2014), Fairfax Courthouse (Fairfax County, assistant subassistant commissioner) > Roll 75, Letters sent, Aug 1865-Oct 1868 > images 72 & 73 of 146; citing NARA microfilm publication M1913 (College Park, Maryland: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). ↩︎
20. O.E. Hine to CPT S.P. Lee, 1 December 1866, “Virginia, Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1967,” database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DT2Q-HF7?cc=1596147&wc=9LMG-K6X%3A1078514302%2C1078514102 : 25 June 2014), Fairfax Courthouse (Fairfax County, assistant subassistant commissioner) > Roll 75, Letters sent, Aug 1865-Oct 1868 > image 74 of 146; citing NARA microfilm publication M1913 (College Park, Maryland: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). ↩︎
21. O.E. Hine to CPT S.P. Lee, 18 December 1866. “Virginia, Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1967,” database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DT2Q-7K3?cc=1596147&wc=9LMG-K6X%3A1078514302%2C1078514102 : 25 June 2014), Fairfax Courthouse (Fairfax County, assistant subassistant commissioner) > Roll 75, Letters sent, Aug 1865-Oct 1868 > image 81 of 146; citing NARA microfilm publication M1913 (College Park, Maryland: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). ↩︎
22. O.E. Hine to CPT S.P. Lee, 24 December 1866, “Virginia, Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1967,” database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DT2Q-D1J?cc=1596147&wc=9LMG-K6X%3A1078514302%2C1078514102 : 25 June 2014), Fairfax Courthouse (Fairfax County, assistant subassistant commissioner) > Roll 75, Letters sent, Aug 1865-Oct 1868 > image 77 of 146; citing NARA microfilm publication M1913 (College Park, Maryland: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). ↩︎
23. O.E. Hine to CPT S.P. Lee, 5 December 1866, “Virginia, Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1967,” database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DT2Q-ZMW?cc=1596147&wc=9LMG-K6X%3A1078514302%2C1078514102 : 25 June 2014), Fairfax Courthouse (Fairfax County, assistant subassistant commissioner) > Roll 75, Letters sent, Aug 1865-Oct 1868 > image 75 of 146; citing NARA microfilm publication M1913 (College Park, Maryland: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). ↩︎
24. O.E. Hine to CPT S.P. Lee, 10 December 1866, “Virginia, Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1967,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DT2Q-8SC?cc=1596147&wc=9LMG-K6X%3A1078514302%2C1078514102 : 26 January 2022), Fairfax Courthouse (Fairfax County, assistant subassistant commissioner) > Roll 75, Letters sent, Aug 1865-Oct 1868 > image 80 of 146; citing NARA microfilm publication M1913 (College Park, Maryland: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). ↩︎
25. Fairfax County Will T1:397. ↩︎
26. Spencer, Annabelle. “Finding Sarah Ann,” “Family Tree” section; Center for Mason Legacies project on Geographies of Inequity, circa 2023. ↩︎
27. Edmonston, Gabriel.  A Genealogical History of the Follin Family in America. G. Edmonston, Washington, DC, 1911; p 129. ↩︎
28. Stuntz, Connie Pendleton; and Stuntz, Mayo Sturdevant. “This Was Vienna, Virginia: Facts and Photos.” 1987; 2015 reprint of First Edition, Historic Vienna, Inc.; pp 61-62 ↩︎
29. Mitchell, Beth. “Fairfax County in 1860: Property Owners,” Fairfax County History Commission. Mitchell presented her data on the 1981 edition of the Real Property Identification Map of Fairfax County, so some features on the map do not match features of today. ↩︎
30. Edmonston, p.129. ↩︎
31. “The Civil War in Fairfax County, Virginia.” Fairfax County History Commission. Revised October, 2024. ↩︎
32. “The Emancipation Proclamation,” Online Exhibits, National Archives. ↩︎
33. “Remaking Virginia: Transformation Through Emancipation,” “The End of Slavery” section, Library of Virginia.
    ↩︎
34. Edmonston, p.129. ↩︎
35. Year: 1880; Census Place: Providence, Fairfax, Virginia; Roll: 1364; Page: 374d; Enumeration District: 038 ↩︎
36. Year: 1900; Census Place: Providence, Fairfax, Virginia; Roll: 1707; Enumeration District: 0022. See the partially obscured name at line 100. ↩︎
37. Year: 1870; Census Place: Providence, Fairfax, Virginia; Roll: M593_1645; Page: 372B. The 1870 census is helpful in avoiding the potential confusion that results from people with similar names living in the same area. It shows in sequence three households, one headed by Marlow Brown, the second by our Harriet Brown–we know by virtue of the listed age and children–and the third by Mack Brown. In the 1880 census, Mack Brown is in a household with a Harriet Brown, but she is a good deal younger than our Harriet, who is recorded on the same page as Harriet Bell. ↩︎
38. Ancestry.com. Virginia, U.S., Select Marriages, 1785-1940 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2014. ↩︎
39. Edmonston, p.129. ↩︎
40. Stuntz and Stuntz, p.60. ↩︎
41. Edmonston, p.129. ↩︎
42. Documents of the era sometimes refer to Marlow Brown as Milo. See Fairfax County Deed I5:285, which places this Milo Brown property next to Harriet Bell, underscoring that this must be our man of interest, and S5:649. ↩︎
43. O.E. Hine to CPT S.P. Lee, 18 March 1867. “Virginia, Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1967,” database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DT2Q-8GL?cc=1596147&wc=9LMG-K6X%3A1078514302%2C1078514102 : 25 June 2014), Fairfax Courthouse (Fairfax County, assistant subassistant commissioner) > Roll 75, Letters sent, Aug 1865-Oct 1868 > image 91 of 146; citing NARA microfilm publication M1913 (College Park, Maryland: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). On the same image, see also Hine’s letter to Lee on 13 March. ↩︎
44. Enclosure in O.E Hine letter to CPT S.P. Lee, 18 February 1867. “Virginia, United States records,” images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DCP7-W82?view=explore : Jul 19, 2025), image 717 of 1204; United States. National Archives and Records Administration. Image Group Number: 004150376 ↩︎
45. Fairfax County Deed W5:225. Recorded in 1896 and pertaining to an 1895 order from the county court, this deed identifies “Harriet Bell alias Brown” as the widow of Milo [aka Marlow] Brown. This is not a casual reference, because the order directs the assignment to Harriet of property that had belonged to Marlow at his death. Meanwhile, Fairfax County Deed S5:649 from 1894, and the chancery case the prompted it (1894-021, Chancery Records Index, Library of Virginia), refer to “any right of dower that Harriet Bell may have therein, as widow of the said Milo Brown deceased.” The files of the chancery case are explicit: “Milo Brown left a widow one Harriet Bell, who is entitled to dower….” Marlow’s will, F2:467 drawn up in 1892, had left his property to a daughter, however; the 1870 census suggests that Marlow and Harriet headed separate but adjacent households; and Marlow is not present in Harriet’s household in the 1880 census. Year: 1880; Census Place: Providence, Fairfax, Virginia; Roll: 1364; Page: 374d; Enumeration District: 038; Year: 1870; Census Place: Providence, Fairfax, Virginia; Roll: M593_1645; Page: 372B. ↩︎
46. Fairfax County Deed W5:225. ↩︎
47. Edmonston, p. 34. ↩︎
48. O.E. Hine to CPT S.P. Lee, 2 February 1867, “Virginia, Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1967,” database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DT2Q-WW8?cc=1596147&wc=9LMG-K6X%3A1078514302%2C1078514102 : 25 June 2014), Fairfax Courthouse (Fairfax County, assistant subassistant commissioner) > Roll 75, Letters sent, Aug 1865-Oct 1868 > image 86 of 146; citing NARA microfilm publication M1913 (College Park, Maryland: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). ↩︎
49. O.E. Hine to CPT S.P. Lee, 2 February 1867, “Virginia, Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1967,” database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DT2Q-WW8?cc=1596147&wc=9LMG-K6X%3A1078514302%2C1078514102 : 25 June 2014), Fairfax Courthouse (Fairfax County, assistant subassistant commissioner) > Roll 75, Letters sent, Aug 1865-Oct 1868 > image 86 of 146; citing NARA microfilm publication M1913 (College Park, Maryland: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). ↩︎
50. O.E Hine to CPT S.P. Lee, 22 March 1867, “Virginia, Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1967,” database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DT2Q-3GW?cc=1596147&wc=9LMG-K6X%3A1078514302%2C1078514102 : 25 June 2014), Fairfax Courthouse (Fairfax County, assistant subassistant commissioner) > Roll 75, Letters sent, Aug 1865-Oct 1868 > image 92 of 146; citing NARA microfilm publication M1913 (College Park, Maryland: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). ↩︎
51. Ibid. ↩︎
52. O.E. Hine to CPT S.P. Lee, 18 February 1867. “Virginia, Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1967,” database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DT2Q-WLS?cc=1596147&wc=9LMG-K6X%3A1078514302%2C1078514102 : 25 June 2014), Fairfax Courthouse (Fairfax County, assistant subassistant commissioner) > Roll 75, Letters sent, Aug 1865-Oct 1868 > image 88 of 146; citing NARA microfilm publication M1913 (College Park, Maryland: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). ↩︎
53. O.E. Hine to CPT S.P. Lee, 12 February 1867. “Virginia, Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1967,” database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DT2Q-85T?cc=1596147&wc=9LMG-K6X%3A1078514302%2C1078514102 : 25 June 2014), Fairfax Courthouse (Fairfax County, assistant subassistant commissioner) > Roll 75, Letters sent, Aug 1865-Oct 1868 > image 87 of 146; citing NARA microfilm publication M1913 (College Park, Maryland: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). ↩︎
54. Folder 1867-042 (Commonwealth vs Joseph Follin and others for Assault), March Term 1867, from the Historic Records Center of the Circuit Court of Fairfax County. ↩︎
55. O.E Hine to CPT S.P. Lee, 22 March 1867, “Virginia, Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1967,” database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DT2Q-3GW?cc=1596147&wc=9LMG-K6X%3A1078514302%2C1078514102 : 25 June 2014), Fairfax Courthouse (Fairfax County, assistant subassistant commissioner) > Roll 75, Letters sent, Aug 1865-Oct 1868 > image 92 of 146; citing NARA microfilm publication M1913 (College Park, Maryland: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). ↩︎
56. Based on a review of Fairfax County property records. ↩︎
57. O.E. Hine to CPT S.P. Lee, 18 February 1867. “Virginia, Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1967,” database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DT2Q-WLS?cc=1596147&wc=9LMG-K6X%3A1078514302%2C1078514102 : 25 June 2014), Fairfax Courthouse (Fairfax County, assistant subassistant commissioner) > Roll 75, Letters sent, Aug 1865-Oct 1868 > image 88 of 146; citing NARA microfilm publication M1913 (College Park, Maryland: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.) ↩︎
58. Ancestry.com. Virginia, U.S., Select Marriages, 1785-1940 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2014. ↩︎
59. Year: 1870; Census Place: Providence, Fairfax, Virginia; Roll: M593_1645; Page: 363B
    ↩︎
60. The National Archives in Washington D.C.; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29; Series Number: M653; Residence Date: 1860; Home in 1860: Prince William, Virginia; Roll: M653_1373; Page: 530; Family History Library Film: 805373 ↩︎
61. Year: 1870; Census Place: Providence, Fairfax, Virginia; Roll: M593_1645; Page: 363B ↩︎
62. Fairfax County Deed K4:495. ↩︎
63. Edmonston, p.34. ↩︎
64. Fact-of marriage and name of wife. Ancestry.com. Geneanet Community Trees Index [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2022. ↩︎
65. Mitchell map, grids 28-4 and 38-2. ↩︎
66. Year: 1870; Census Place: Providence, Fairfax, Virginia; Roll: M593_1645; Page: 364B ↩︎
67. Edmonston, p. 116. ↩︎
68. Joseph Follin testimony regarding reimbursement claim by Josiah B. Bowman, “Virginia, United States records,” images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9RG-H9N3-4?view=explore : Jul 20, 2025), image 860 of 1046; United States. National Archives and Records Administration. Image Group Number: 101066568 ↩︎
69. Johnson, Dan. “The Guerrilla War in Suburban Virginia,” Old Bad Road website, 21 February 2025, https://oldbadroad.com/violence-at-vienna/. ↩︎
70. Johnson, Daniel. “The Murder of John D Read,” Old Bad Road website, 21 February 2025. ↩︎
71. Head Quarters Middle Military Division, Office Provost Marshal General, parole for J.W. Strother, 22 April 1865, Winchester VA. U.S. Civil War Service Records, accessed via Fold3.com ↩︎
72. The National Archives in Washington D.C.; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29; Series Number: M653; Residence Date: 1860; Home in 1860: Fairfax, Virginia; Roll: M653_1343; Page: 866; Family History Library Film: 805343 ↩︎
73. Year: 1870; Census Place: Providence, Fairfax, Virginia; Roll: M593_1645; Page: 364B ↩︎
74. Commissioners of Claims remarks on The Claim of Letitia Strother, No. 20.481. “Virginia, United States records,” images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9RY-X9GX-7?view=explore : Jul 20, 2025), image 253 of 901; United States. National Archives and Records Administration. Image Group Number: 101086183 ↩︎
75. Letitia Strother testimony to the Southern Claims Commission, 22 February 1879. “Virginia, United States records,” images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9RY-X9GC-X?view=explore : Jul 20, 2025), image 256 of 901; United States. National Archives and Records Administration. Image Group Number: 101086183 ↩︎
76. Fairfax County Deeds G4:552 and O3:56. ↩︎
77. Mitchell map, grids 28-4 and 38-2. ↩︎
78. Historical Imagery Viewer, Fairfax County, VA. Comparing and contrasting 1937, 1976, 1980, and 2025 images in grid 39-1 ↩︎
79. Letter from the Assistant Commissioner, District of Columbia William H. Rogers to CPT S.P. Lee, 23 February 1867. “Virginia, Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1967,” database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DCP7-4CC?cc=1596147&wc=9LMG-C6D%3A1078510502%2C1078510501 : 25 June 2014), Alexandria (superintendent) > Roll 43, Registered letters received, vol 1, 1-259, 1-142, Jul 1866-Mar 1867 > image 631 of 696; citing NARA microfilm publication M1913 (College Park, Maryland: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). ↩︎
80. Letter Office of the Superintendent For Alexandria, Fairfax, and Loudoun Counties to O.E. Hine, 25 February 1867. “Virginia, Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1967,” database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-6XSW-T7H?cc=1596147&wc=9LM5-FM9%3A1078510502%2C1078510901 : 25 June 2014), Alexandria (superintendent) > Roll 40, Letters sent, vol 1-2, Jul 1865-Jun 1867 > image 256 of 309; citing NARA microfilm publication M1913 (College Park, Maryland: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). ↩︎
81. O.E. Hine to CPT S.P. Lee, 1 March 1867. “Virginia, Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1967,” database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DT2Q-WC1?cc=1596147&wc=9LMG-K6X%3A1078514302%2C1078514102 : 25 June 2014), Fairfax Courthouse (Fairfax County, assistant subassistant commissioner) > Roll 75, Letters sent, Aug 1865-Oct 1868 > image 90 of 146; citing NARA microfilm publication M1913 (College Park, Maryland: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). ↩︎
82. Letter from O.E. Hine to 2LT William Shields, 31 March 1867. “Virginia, Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1967,” database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DT2Q-6QP?cc=1596147&wc=9LMG-K6X%3A1078514302%2C1078514102 : 25 June 2014), Fairfax Courthouse (Fairfax County, assistant subassistant commissioner) > Roll 75, Letters sent, Aug 1865-Oct 1868 > images 94 & 9of 146; citing NARA microfilm publication M1913 (College Park, Maryland: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). ↩︎
83. O.E. Hine to CPT S.P. Lee, 18 March 1867. “Virginia, Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1967,” database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DT2Q-8GL?cc=1596147&wc=9LMG-K6X%3A1078514302%2C1078514102 : 25 June 2014), Fairfax Courthouse (Fairfax County, assistant subassistant commissioner) > Roll 75, Letters sent, Aug 1865-Oct 1868 > images 91 & 92 of 146; citing NARA microfilm publication M1913 (College Park, Maryland: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). ↩︎
84. Ibid. ↩︎
85. O.E Hine to CPT S.P. Lee, 22 March 1867, “Virginia, Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1967,” database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DT2Q-3GW?cc=1596147&wc=9LMG-K6X%3A1078514302%2C1078514102 : 25 June 2014), Fairfax Courthouse (Fairfax County, assistant subassistant commissioner) > Roll 75, Letters sent, Aug 1865-Oct 1868 > image 92 of 146; citing NARA microfilm publication M1913 (College Park, Maryland: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). ↩︎
86. Letter from 2LT William Shields to CPT S.P. Lee, 13 July 1867. “Virginia, Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1967,” database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DT2Q-6S7?cc=1596147&wc=9LMG-K6X%3A1078514302%2C1078514102 : 25 June 2014), Fairfax Courthouse (Fairfax County, assistant subassistant commissioner) > Roll 75, Letters sent, Aug 1865-Oct 1868 > image 110 of 146; citing NARA microfilm publication M1913 (College Park, Maryland: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). ↩︎
87. “Letter from Fairfax County,” Alexandria Gazette, 26 November 1867, vol. 68 No. 275, p2. ↩︎
88. Ibid. ↩︎
89. Chancery Records Index (CRI), Library of Virginia, Fairfax County, Index Number 1871-022, James Follin v. Follin Heirs, p2 of 236 & p6 of 236, https://old.lva.virginia.gov/chancery/case_detail.asp?CFN=059-1871-022. ↩︎
90. CRI, Library of Virginia, Fairfax County, Index Number 1871-022, James Follin v. Follin Heirs, p9 of 236. ↩︎
91. CRI, Library of Virginia, Fairfax County, Index Number 1871-022, James Follin v. Follin Heirs, p41 of 236. ↩︎
92. Fairfax County Deed M4:3. ↩︎
93. Fairfax County Deed V4:180. ↩︎
94. Edmonston, p.129 ↩︎
95. CRI 1871-022, p.41 of 236. ↩︎
96. V4:180. ↩︎
97. Stuntz & Stuntz, p.60 ↩︎
98. Author’s photo, 6 July 2025, at Sons and Daughters Cemetery, Vienna, VA. ↩︎
99. Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/28929464/harriet-bell: accessed July 20, 2025), memorial page for Harriet Bell (unknown–1910), Find a Grave Memorial ID 28929464, citing Sons and Daughters Cemetery, Vienna, Fairfax County, Virginia, USA; Maintained by Kathleen Kimlin (contributor 47010849). ↩︎
100. The 1900 census records Harry and Lloyd Bell as sons of Julius and Bettie (Elizabeth) Bell. Julis Bell was a son of Harriet Bell’s. Year: 1900; Census Place: Providence, Fairfax, Virginia; Roll: 1707; Enumeration District: 0022 ↩︎
101. V4:180 ↩︎
102. Ibid. The deed describes the parcel as being Lot 4 in the subdivision made 10 February 1876 by J. Owens Berry, surveyor. ↩︎
103. Fairfax County Will 5:73. ↩︎
104. Fairfax County Deed U15:321. ↩︎
105. Fairfax County Deed 2589:326. ↩︎
106. E.g. Fairfax County Deeds 745:35, 1844:563 and 2306:398; the plat at 5049:60, which is part of Deed 5049-41. ↩︎
107. Fairfax County Deed 2589:326. ↩︎
108. Fairfax County Deed 3558:269 and the Fairfax County 2025 Property Map for Tax-Map Grid 39-3., the latter available at via the County’s Digital Map Viewer. ↩︎
109. See for instance: 1) Fairfax County Deed 4796:214 and compare the boundaries in the nearby area for the 1977 and 1978 property maps as represented in Tax-Map Grid 39-3 in the Digital Map Viewer; and 2) the parcels within the former Bell tract in the 1982 and 1983 property maps in the context of the Deed of Dedication for Silentree of Tysons, Section 3, 5871:1277. The plat in the latter is particularly helpful with its “Vicinity Map” inset on 5871:1288, which shows the boundaries of the new subdivision superimposed on the pre-subdivision county property map. ↩︎
110. Historical Imagery Viewer, Fairfax County; from a 1937 aerial photo. Within the image here are portions of grids 39-1 and 39-3. The former Harriet Bell tract extends off the graphic to both the north and south. ↩︎
111. Author’s photo, 12 July 2025. ↩︎