Fairfax family (Fairfax Co., VA)

Albert, Henry, and Orlando Fairfax were brothers who each attended the University of Virginia. They were sons of Thomas, 9th Lord Fairfax (1762-1846) and his third wife (m. 1801), Margaret Herbert (1783-1858). The father, as well as the sons, were born in Fairfax County. Randolph Fairfax was the son of Orlando Fairfax, and the grandson of Thomas, the 9th Lord.

• Albert Fairfax (15 Apr. 1802-9 May 1835) was the eldest son of Thomas, Lord Fairfax, and attended session 3 (1827) at UVa. He married on 8 Apr. 1828, Caroline Eliza Snowden, daughter of Richard Snowden, Esq., of Maryland. The couple had two sons, Charles Snowden Fairfax and John Contee Fairfax, MD. Albert died before his father, the 9th Lord, so in 1846, Charles became 10th Lord Fairfax. Charles died without issue, and John became the 11th Lord Fairfax in 1869.
• Henry Fairfax (4 May 1804-14 Aug. 1847), the second son of Thomas, Lord Fairfax, attended session 3 (1827) at UVa. Henry was a captain in the United States Volunteers (USV), and was killed in action in Monterey, Mexico in 1847. He married in 1827, Anna Caroline Herbert of Alexandria, VA. The couple had six children, Mary Isabel, Eugenia, Raymond, Albert, Herbert Carlyle, and Henry Malcolm Fairfax.
• Orlando Fairfax (24 Feb. 1806-11 Jan. 1882), the third son of Thomas, Lord Fairfax, attended sessions 1-3 (1825-1827) at UVa. He then studied at the University of Pennsylvania, earning an M.D. in 1829. Dr. Fairfax married his cousin, Mary Randolph Cary, daughter of William Jefferson Cary of Carysbrooke, VA, on 29 May 1829. The couple had four sons and three daughters, including Orlando, Randolph, Ethelbert, Thomas, Monimia, and Mary Edith. Dr. Fairfax practiced medicine in Richmond and Alexandria, VA, and served on the vestry of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church of Alexandria, VA. During the Civil War, he was a Surgeon in the Confederate States Army (CSA).
• Randolph Cary Fairfax (23 Nov. 1842-13 Dec. 1862) was the son of Dr. Orlando Fairfax (see above) and Mary Randolph Cary. He attended session 37 (1860-1861) at UVa, then on 31 Aug. 1861 enlisted in the CSA at Centreville, VA, as a private in Capt. Archibald Graham’s Company, Rockbridge 1st Light Artillery Regiment, Virginia. Randolph Fairfax was killed in action at Fredericksburg, VA.

References:

• Barringer, Paul B., James M. Garnett, and Rosewell Page, eds. University of Virginia: its history, influence, equipments, and characteristics. New York, Lewis Publishing Co., 1904. Accessed via books.google.com.
• Burke, Bernard. A genealogical and heraldic dictionary of the peerage and baronetage. 42nd ed. London, Harrison, 1880.
• Hayden, Horace Edwin. Virginia genealogies: a genealogy of the Glassell Family of Scotland and Virginia. Wilkes-Barre, PA, 1891. Accessed via books.google.com.
• Historical Data Systems, comp. American Civil War Soldiers [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999.
• Johnson, John Lipscomb. The University Memorial: biographical sketches of alumni of the University of Virginia who fell in the Confederate War. Baltimore, MD, Turbull Brothers, 1871. Accessed via books.google.com.
• Lundy, Darryl, The Peerage [website]. http://www.thepeerage.com/ (accessed 4/7/2011)
• Maxwell, W. J. comp. General alumni catalogue of the University of Pennsylvania, 1917. Philadelphia, PA, 1917. Accessed via books.google.com.
• Mosley, Charles, Burke’s Peerage and Baronetage, 107th edition. Wilmington, DE, 2003.
• National Park Service. U.S. Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007.
• University of Virginia Matriculation Books, 1825-1904, Accession #RG-14/4/2.041, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.