Recorded settlement of the land near the future site of Leesburg began in earnest in 1728 when several men obtained land grants from The Right Honorable Thomas Lord Fairfax, proprietor of the Northern Neck.[1] The Proprietary, originally granted in 1649 by Charles II to seven of his fathers’ loyal supporters, consisted of all of the land north of the Rappahannock River and south of the Potomac River. These initial land grants were for relatively small tracts of land, averaging about 165 acres each, a size typically farmed by a single family.

High-acreage land grants for nearby tracts were issued to wealthy, well-connected gentlemen shortly thereafter. These larger tracts were likely initially planted with tobacco and farmed by slave labor, though were, to a degree, subdivided into tenant farms in the mid-to-late eighteenth century.[2] Frances Awbrey, who obtained many large land grants in the Northern Neck Proprietary, was issued a grant in 1730 for 4,054 acres on land where the town of Leesburg would be established twenty-seven years later.[3] Landon Carter obtained a grant in 1731 for 2,693 acres east of the future site of Leesburg.[4]

The following graphic depicts the locations of land grants in the area surrounding the future site of Leesburg. Only portions of the color-coded grants are shown.

Neither the Carolina Road (now approximately Route 15), nor the Shenandoah Road (now approximately Route 7) were mentioned in the early grants or surveys of land surrounding the future site of Leesburg. Thomas Scharf, a historian in Western Maryland in the 19^th century, settled on 1740 as the date for the inception of the Carolina Road.[5]  It has been suggested that the Shenandoah Road may have been a path used by Europeans as early as 1699, though it likely didn’t become a road until after a tobacco warehouse  was established on Hunting Creek in 1732.[6] The road was certainly in existence by 1754, when Capt. John Dalrymple left for England and updated the 1751 Joshua Fry and Peter Jefferson map. Nicholas Minor’s name was written on the map near the future site of Leesburg. Minor may have been operating an ordinary (tavern) in the area, though this is under debate by historians.

As the French increased their efforts in the Ohio Valley to gain control from the British of the North American continent between Canada and Louisiana, Virginia Governor Dinwiddie appointed George Washington, a major in the Virginia militia, to deliver a message to the French at Fort Le Boeuf demanding they relinquish large areas of land. In the autumn of 1753, Washington traveled to the fort through western Fairfax County , land that would become Loudoun County when the county was formed in 1757. In early April 1754, Washington again traveled from Alexandria with part of a regiment of Virginia frontiersmen to the northwest. After reaching Great Meadows, he learned of a party of French soldiers nearby. Washington successfully fought a skirmish with the French, after which he retreated to Great Meadows and built Fort Necessity . On July 3, 1754, a large force of French and Indians attacked Fort Necessity , resulting in Washington ’s surrender and subsequent march back to Virginia .

Following Washington’s defeat, the French inspired Indian attacks throughout the frontier, terrorizing settlers, many of whom fled eastward over the Blue Ridge into the Piedmont counties.

Fear of attack continued until the British gained control of Fort Duquesne in November 1758. The victory, which coincided with the capture of other forts, motivated many Indians to desert the French cause.

Nicholas Minor, living during the conflict near present day Leesburg, became a captain in the Fairfax militia in 1753. The Town of Leesburg was formed in 1758 prior to the calming of fear of Indian attacks. Local legend maintains that a fort was constructed by the militia at the Leesburg site for protection of area inhabitants.[7] Though not discounting the possibility of a fort, a review of local deeds, George Washington’s letters, and period maps was conducted; however, there was no indication discovered in these written records of a fort in area.

In 1741, John Awbrey, son of Francis Awbrey, was devised about 326 acres of land in his father’s will. John Awbrey had already been living on the land at the time. Three years later, at John Awbrey’s death, the land was sold by Mary Awbrey, his widow, to pay his debts.[8] John Carlyle, an Alexandria merchant, became the purchaser in 1745.[9] His title to the land was confirmed in May 1757 when a new deed was recorded between Carlyle and Mary Awbrey’s new husband, John Mills.[10]

Just prior to the formation of the town of Leesburg(h), Carlyle sold the land to his cousin-in-law, Nicholas Minor, Jr.[11] The town of Leesburg, originally known as George Town, was laid out in a gridiron plan of one-half acre lots about the time that Loudoun County was formed in 1757.

In November 1757, representing the Inhabitants of George Town, Nicholas Minor petitioned the Loudoun County Court to open the roads leading from Alexandria and Noland’s Ferry (north of Leesburg on the Potomac River) so that the roads passed through the town.[12]

The first lot was sold in February 1758. In addition to the lots within the town, Minor sold irregularly-shaped lots surrounding the town south of Market Street. The town was likely formally created by the Virginia General Assembly circa October 1758.[13]

The land surrounding the town north of Market Street, comprising 258 ½ acres, was sold to John Patterson in 1767.[14] John Patterson gave one-half interest in the parcel to his brother and business partner, Fleming Patterson. They carried on the business of trade and merchandising in Leesburg under the firm of John and Fleming Patterson Merchant. In the course of operating their business, they became considerably indebted to Henry McCabe. After John Fleming’s death, the Loudoun County Court, in a chancery case in November 1771, ordered the real estate to be sold to pay debts. Henry McCabe was the highest bidder.[15]