243rd Anniversary of the Fairfax Resolves

Report by Fairfax Resolves Chapter President Jeff Thomas

Wreaths were presented by 13 DAR, SAR, and C.A.R. chapters and societies.

     On Saturday, July 22, a standing room only crowd packed the Historic Fairfax Courthouse to commemorate the 243rd Anniversary of the Fairfax Resolves. 13 SAR, DAR and CAR chapters and societies presented wreaths to commemorate the signing and signers of the Fairfax Resolves on July 18, 1774. The colors were presented by an SAR, DAR and CAR Color Guard led by Commander Vern Eubanks. Virginia Society President Mike Elston brought greetings and presented a wreath of behalf of the Virginia Society, SAR. Fairfax Mayor David Meyer read a proclamation declaring the event as Fairfax Resolves Day.
 
     George Mason, the primary author of the Fairfax Resolves, was the keynote speaker and spoke about the events leading up to the signing of the Fairfax Resolves. Several of the original signers, including Rev. Lee Massey, Rev. Townsend Dade, Jr., John Carlyle, Charles Broadwater and Robert Harrison, provided select readings from the Resolves, which the Fairfax County freeholders in attendance approved with a hearty “huzzah!” Raymond Dade, a descendant of signer Rev. Townsend Dade, Jr., participated in the program and the readings of the Resolves.
 
     Attendees also had an opportunity to visit the Fairfax Court’s Historic Records Center to view documents dating from the founding of Fairfax County in 1742, including documents signed by George Washington, George Mason and many of the other signers of the Fairfax Resolves.
 
     Wreaths were presented by the following SAR chapters: Virginia Society, Colonel Fielding Lewis, Colonel William Grayson, Fairfax Resolves, Fort Harrison, George Washington and Williamsburg; by the following DAR chapters: Elizabeth McIntosh Hammill, Fairfax County and Spotsylvania; and by the following CAR societies: Virginia Society, Colonel Alexander Spotswood and Colonel William Grayson.

Virginia SAR President Mike Elston

Fairfax Mayor, David Meyer, on the right, presents the Proclamation of Fairfax Resolves Day to Jeff Thomas, President of the Fairfax Resolves Chapter and the Master of Ceremonies for the event.

The Color Guard, led by chapter Color Guard Commander, Vern Eubanks, advances the colors.

Rev. Lee Massey of Pohick Church, a signer of the Fairfax Resolves, leads the invocation

Colonel George Mason, primary author of the Fairfax Resolves, speaks to the freeholders

Rev. Townsend Dade Jr., portrayed by descendant Raymond Dade, reads from the Fairfax Resolves with signers Robert Harrison, George Mason, Charles Broadwater, John Carlyle and Rev. Lee Massey (L-R) in the background