A Union Spy of Color?

A Union Spy of Color?. . , Lucy Carter was a brave local woman with deep family roots., A multiracial family named Carter lived near here in the 19th century. Lucy Carter was a free woman of color, but because of manumission laws passed in the 1800s, she had to carry papers to prove her status. Free people who were not white and who were caught without permission papers could be punished with 15 lashes, imprisonment and enslavement. In 1864, Lieutenant George Hollister of the 16th Regiment New York Cavalry gave Lucy a special official status and papers that allowed her access to Civil War front lines. The papers given to Lucy were like those given to Harriet Tubman and cause historians to conclude Lucy was a Union spy., Lucy was descended from the Tauxenent (Dogue) Indian leader of Northern Virginia. The family's oral history says her ancestor, Keziah Hatton, burned down the first Fairfax County Courthouse in 1752 because it was built on her land. Indigenous people did not have deeds to the land they lived on. They believed the land belonged to the Creator, and those living on the land were its caretakers. Lucy's Powhatan ancestry may have given her the courage and bravery to spy for the Union Army., [Captions:] , The Boston Mills and Carter Families are intertwined and were recorded as "separate from both the white and black communities." Their inherited Tauxenent land holdings included Tysons., Top: Helen Boston (Tauxenent) in front of the family's barn in Fairfax County and in her later years., Bottom: Early photograph of Georgia Mills Boston (Pamunkey) and her in-laws, Mr. and Mrs. William Harvey Boston (Tauxenent), in front of the same barn., This 1862 map of the Falls Church area includes Freedom Hill and the Carter family property. It is significant that the Carter family was considered important enough to be noted on the map.