> Date:    Mon, 2 Dec 2002 05:34:10 -0800
> From:    Scott Simpson <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: lease + agreement to build a house
>
> In 1806, my ancestor rented a certain lot in Fredericksburg for a
> term
> of seven years, at $25 per year, and agreed, in the same document,
> to
> build a house on the lot.  After the seven-year term, the house was
> to
> be valued by two disinterested persons, and the lessor was to pay
> my
> ancestor the value of the house

For the life of me, I can't find the published article in what I refer to
as my "files", but if memory serves me, Scott, I will bet this property
has to do with Roger Dixon's failed attempt to populate Fredericksburg
and turn it into a teeming metropolis.  He "networked" so to speak, and
got relatives and friends to buy into it, which after much arm-twisting
they did, (buy the lots) but few built on those lots as they were quite
happy living in other counties in Virginia.  Roger died in 1771,
indebted, and much monkeybusiness followed.

This was not a bad plan however though Roger overextended himself and a
lot of people had investments to recoup when the town didn't develop
around him as he had envisioned.  My guess is the agreement in question
was one of the more inventive ways Fredericksburg was finally developed.

Perhaps if you search the Dixon family papers, you'll find a reprint
quicker than I'll ever get around to cleaning my room.

Cynthia in Wales, Wisconsin


..

________________________________________________________________
Sign Up for Juno Platinum Internet Access Today
Only $9.95 per month!
Visit www.juno.com

To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at
http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html