[Mrs. Oerding is a Fitzhugh descendant. She has recently returned home to Oregon after a trip East to meet one of the latest Fitzhugh descendants. She writes that she, "... spent a wonderful Sunday in King George Co. attending Church at St. Paul's and using the Fitzhugh 1720 silver for communion, visiting the cemetery at Eagle's Nest and even getting to see some of the interior of the house that is now owned by Jon Yagla who is very interested in Fitzhugh history and also is very gracious to Fitzhughs! There were fourteen of us together that day!" Charleen is a member of the Fitzhugh Society and is happy to provide additional information on the Fitzhughs. Her email address is hotomy@hevanet.com]

William of Chatham Fitzhugh ( 1741-1809) was the great grandson of William (the Immigrant) Fitzhugh who came to VA in about 1671 and owned 54,000 acres of Virginia when he died in 1701. William of Chatham inherited most of the land. He and his wife, Anne Maria Randolph (1747-1805), built Chatham on property across the Rappahannock from Fredericksburg between 1768 and 1771. It still stands today as the National Park Service Headquarters for the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. They lived a lavish life there that included experimental farming and horse racing. After the Revolutionary War as the economy floundered he sold Chatham and 1,288 acres to Major Churchill Jones for $20,000.

About 1799 William Fitzhugh bought the house in Alexandria which has become known as "The Boyhood Home of Robert E. Lee". The house was built in 1795 by John Potts, Jr. By the time that it was rented to the Lee family, William Fitzhugh had been dead for about 3 years. It then belonged to William Henry Fitzhugh, his only son. William of Chatham had built another mansion (Ravensworth) in 1796 where North Springfield, VA is now located. This was his country home with the Alexandria one being his town house. Ravensworth existed till about 1925 when it mysteriously burned one night.

Mary Lee Fitzhugh (daughter of William of Chatham Fitzhugh and sister of William Henry Fitzhugh) was married in 1804 in the parlor of the Alexandria house to George Washington Parke Custis, grandson of Martha Dandridge Custis Washington and adopted grandson of George Washington. In 1831 their daughter, Mary Anna Randolph Custis, married Robert E. Lee at the Arlington mansion of GWP and Mary Lee (Fitzhugh) Custis.

Note: Portraits of the Fitzhugh's may be seen in the Portrait Gallery.