F. Johnston, Memorials of Old Virginia Clerks (Lynchburg: J. P. Bell, 1880), p. 172.
Alexandria Gazette, October 4, 1839. The obituary notice for Thomas Moss states that he died on October 2 after a long illness, having been a Justice of the Peace for many years, and also having served as a member of the State Legislature and as county court clerk.
The Archives of the Virginia House of Delegates show that Thomas Moss was a Delegate from Fairfax County for the 1828-1829 biennium. (Honorable George Rich, January 2, 1970; personal communication.)
K. M. Willis, “Old Fairfax Homes Give Up A Secret,” American Motorist, May 1932, p. 16; Johnston, Clerks, p. 174.
M. Herndon, Tobacco in Colonial Virginia (Williamsburg: Virginia 350th Celebration Corp., 1957), pp. 7-8, indicates that tobacco was introduced into Northern Virginia by the settlers who moved into the Rappahannock and Potomac areas around 1650. By the end of the seventeenth century, Herndon states, tobacco farming dominated the lowlands all along the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers below the fall line.
F. Harrison, Landmarks of Old Prince William (Berryville: Chesapeake Book Co., 1964), pp. 148-150. Also to be noted is the fact that settlement above the fall line was not permitted prior to 1722 because of treaty provisions with the Iroquois. By the Treaty of Albany in 1722, the Iroquois withdrew west of the Blue Ridge.
Herndon, Tobacco, pp. 14-16, cites introduction of plant bedding practices, use of animal-drawn plows instead of hand hoes, and improved methods of curing tobacco as responsible for increasing the yield of the tobacco farm.