Charles II, King of England, granted to the ancestors of the late Lord Fairfax all the lands lying between the head waters of the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers in the Chesapeake Bay. This immense grant included the territory now comprising the counties of Lancaster, Northumberland, Richmond, Westmoreland, Stafford, King George, Prince William, Fairfax, Loudoun, Farquier, Culpeper, Madison, Page, Shenandoah, Hardy, Hampshire, Morgan, Berkeley, Jefferson and Frederick. It is said that the first grant to the ancestors of Fairfax was only intended to include the territory in the North Neck, east of the Blue Ridge; and after Fairfax discovered that the Potomac River headed in the Alleghany Mountains, he returned to England, and instituted his petition in the court of king's bench for extending his grant into the Alleghany Mountains, so to include the territory composing the present Counties of Page, Shenandoah, Hardy, Hampshire, Morgan, Berkeley, Jefferson and Frederick. A compromise took place between Fairfax and the crown; but previous to the institution of Fairfax's suit, several individuals had obtained grants for large bodies of land west of the Blue Ridge, from the Colonial government of Virginia. In the compromise it was expressly stipulated that the holders of lands, under what were then called the king's grants, were to be quited quitted: (adjective): released from obligation; abstracted from quitted. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/quitted (accessed: September 08, 2008
in their right of possession.
Joist Hite and his partners had obtained grants for a large body. Fairfax, under the pretext that Hite, &c., had not complied with the terms of their grants, took it upon himself to grant away large quantities of these lands to other individuals. This arbitrary and high-handed proceeding on the part of his Lordship, produced a lawsuit, which Hite and his partners instituted in the year 1736, and in the year 1785 it was decided. Hite and partners recovered a large amount of money for the rents and profits, and a considerable quantity of land.*
* In the year 1736, Fairfax entered a caveat against Hite, &c., alleging that the lands claimed by them were within the bounds of the Northern Neck, and consequently his property. This was the beginning of the controversy, and let to the suit instituted by Hite and partners against him. All the parties died before the suit was decided. Hite in 1731 purchased from John and Isaac Vanmeter their right or warrant for locating 40,000 acres; Hite and McKay obtained a warrant for locating 100,000 acres more
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