Bel Air Plantation

Bel Air Plantation. . This land was part of a 2960-acre tract granted to Henry Walker in 1677 which he called “Walker Town.” Major Charles Ewell (c. 1713–1747) acquired 800 acres in 1739 and built “Bel Air” in 1740. The house is believed to be built on the foundations of an early frontier fort. Ewell was a vestryman and churchwarden of Dettingen Parish and formed a partnership in 1744 to establish an iron works on the Occoquan. His son Col. Jesse Ewell (1743–1805) was a justice and militia commander for Prince William County. Notable guests at “Bel Air” included George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Rev. Mason Locke Weems (1759–1825), George Washington’s first biographer and originator of the cherry tree story, married Frances Ewell in 1795 and is buried here. At the time of Jesse Ewell’s death, 18 slaves were employed on this farm. In 1848 the house was bought by Chapman Lee, a native of Connecticut who farmed “Bel Air” without using slaves.