Drafting the Will of William Henry Fitzhugh, 1792-1830
https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/fitzhugh-william-henry-1792-1830/
Silas Burke was Attorney for William Henry Fitzhugh who owned 22,000 acres called, ‘Ravensworth,’ the largest landowner in Fairfax County at that time. William had 208 slaves working on the Ravensworth property. Silas performed the role of Attorney, Business Manager and Overseer for William, which included setting up records, account books and management of daily operations. At the same time, Silas was also a busy Attorney with numerous clients across Fairfax County performing a full array of legal services – and involved in numerous documented community projects.
As part of his counsel to William, they drafted William’s Will with the provision to release all of the slaves of Ravensworth by 1850 (11 years before start of The Civil War) - and to include a gift of money for each slave - to help with expenses after their release. Read Paragraph 3 of the attached Will which has been transcribed by ‘The Story of Ravensworth’ which can be viewed online by clicking here.
Silas and William included an additional provision in the Will to offer paid passage back to the ‘American Colony on the Coast of Africa where I (William) believe their happiness will be most permanently secured.’ Here is a direct quote from the provision that Silas and William drafted:
‘After the year 1850, I leave all my negroes unconditionally free, with the privilege of having the expenses of their removal to whatever places of residence they may select defrayed. And as an encouragement to them to emigrate to the American Colony on the Coast of Africa where I believe their happiness will be most permanently secured, I desire not only that the expenses of the emigration may be paid, but that the sum of Fifty dollars shall be paid to each one so emigrating on his or her arrival in Africa. And I desire that the charges on account of my negroes be paid out of the following funds especially set apart and vested in my Trustee for that purpose’
‘William Henry Fitzhugh was a philanthropist, author, orator, and a veteran of the War of 1812 who manumitted (freed) in his Will the men and women he enslaved. Fitzhugh was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates (1811–1816, 1828–1829) and the Senate of Virginia (1819–1822) and attended the Convention of 1829–1830. He was born in Stafford County in 1792, the youngest child and only son of Ann Randolph Fitzhugh and William Fitzhugh, a patriot and member of the Continental Congress. Fitzhugh attended the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University) and received a bachelor of arts degree in 1808. He inherited his father’s extensive land holdings in Virginia when William Fitzhugh died in 1809. Although a slave owner, Fitzhugh was a strong supporter of the American Colonization Society and served as its vice president in the 1820s. He married Anna Maria Goldsborough of Maryland in 1814 and the couple resided at the Ravensworth estate in Fairfax County. Fitzhugh died unexpectedly in 1830 at the age of 38, probably of an aneurysm. His Will stipulated that his enslaved workers were to be freed in 1850 and his widow honored his wishes.’ https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/fitzhugh-william-henry-1792-1830/
