Forerunner of the fabulous county fairs which were held for years at the county seat was the first fair held on October 16th and 17th, 1852, at the court house. It was sponsored by the Fairfax Agricultural Society. The officers of this organization were Richard M. C. Throckmorton, President; H. C. Williams, First Vice-President; W. W. Ball, Second Vice-President; Levi Burke, Third Vice-President; S. T. Stuart, Corresponding Secretary and F. D. Richardson, Recording Secretary and Treasurer.
Among the exhibitors who were awarded prizes were William Swink, Ruben Kelsey, Dr. W. P. Gunnell, Charles Kirby, Charles Sutton, James P. Machen, R. M. C. Throckmorton, Mrs. W. T. Rumsey, Mrs. E. V. Richardson, Mrs. Mildred Ratcliffe. Mr. Joseph Williams of "Ash Grove" exhibited corn of "enormous dimensions". The stalks measured 16 ft. 9 inches and the distance to the first ear was twelve feet six inches and to the second ear thirteen feet one inch.
It was also the custom at this time to send out notices of funerals. A typical notice was published in a local newspaper as follows:
"Yourself and family are respectfully invited to attend the Funeral of John R. Richardson from the Presbyterian Church to the Public Cemetery, this afternoon at 3:00 o'clock. Funeral services by Rev. John Leighton.
Palmyra, Friday, June 8, 1855"
By 1859 Providence had taken the name of "Fairfax" when Culpeper abandoned it, and being located in a border county was destined to be the scene of the very first skirmish of the Civil War.
Preceding this skirmish, the citizens of the Town of Fairfax had debated and appraised the act of seceding from the Union. When on April 17, 1861, the convention in Richmond adopted "The Ordinance of Secession" to repeal the ratification of the Constitution of the United States of America by the State of Virginia, and to resume all the rights and powers granted under said Constitution, the people in Fairfax came forth to vote.
In those days votes were taken orally and penned by the Clerk of the Court. One page of the voting on secession is still filed among the records of the Clerk of the Court of Fairfax County.
The picture below shows 21 out of 22 people in Fairfax voting in favor of secession. The one dissenter, (on this particular page), Henry T. Brooks, was later appointed Military Clerk of the Court of the County of Fairfax, when Union forces took over the Town.
