TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page
ILLUSTRATIONS[iv]
PREFACE[v]
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS[vi]
INTRODUCTION[1]
HISTORICAL NOTES
I.Gentleman Freeholders: The Moss Family (1770-1835)[3]
II.Orchard and Dairy: Fountain Beattie (1878-1917)[19]
III.The End of the Farming Era: Michael Straight (1942-1969)[31]
ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION: THE MANSION HOUSE[36]
ASSOCIATED BUILDINGS
I.The Tobey House[51]
II.The Barn[55]
III.The Log Cabin[57]
IV.The Spring House[59]
APPENDIXES
A.Fairfax County Historic Landmarks Survey Form[63]
B.Summary of Ownership[64]
C.Will of John Moss, 1809[66]
D.Inventory of Personal Estate of William Moss, April 15, 1835[68]
E.Affidavit of Thomas Love and Alfred Moss, October 29, 1839[74]
F.Inventory of Personal Estate of Thomas Moss, December 2, 1839[76]
G.“A Visit From Mr. Polevoy,” The New Republic, July 16, 1956[77]
LIST OF SOURCE MATERIALS[81]

iv

ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure Page
1John Warner Survey Map, 1740[4]
2John Halley Survey Map, 1840[12]
3R. R. Farr Survey, 1874[12]
4Hopkins’ Atlas Map, 1879[20]
5Fountain Beattie and Annie Hathaway Beattie, c. 1885[22]
The Mosby and the Beatties, c. 1890[22]
The Old Stone Spring House, c. 1885[22]
The Lane to Green Spring Farm, c. 1885[22]
6John Singleton Mosby[24]
Reunion at Manassas[24]
7Front View of Green Spring Farm, 1936[30]
Side View of Green Spring Farm, 1936[30]
8Berry Survey Map, 1941[30]
10Floor Plans, Mansion House[38]
14Three Views of the Tobey House, c. 1960[50]
15Floor Plans of the Tobey House[52]
19Spring House Floor Plans[58]
20Fairfax County Property Map, 1969[62]

v

PREFACE

In the beginning was the land. It drew human life to our rich area of Fairfax County, and sustained us for centuries before we became so self-conscious about it as to make household language of words such as ecology and bio-degradable waste. This is where we are at, however, and thus it is thoroughly appropriate that the publication of historical research reports in this format, a new program for Fairfax County, should commence with a study of the Green Spring Farm. There is no better site for an example, probably, to illustrate the early patterns of life on the agricultural land of Fairfax County as well as to follow the changes and pressures that have come about through war, depression, boom, and technological change down to the present. Anyone familiar with the history of this parcel of land, the Green Spring Farm, will be familiar with a great deal of the history of Fairfax County—told not so much in terms of its famous and powerful people as in terms of those who drew sustenance directly from the land.