Clermont was an 18th-century

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

in Fairfax County (now

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, United States. Clermont is best known as the home of John Mason (April 4, 1766 – March 19, 1849), an early American merchant and planter and a son of

George Mason George Mason (October 7, 1792) was an American planter, politician, Founding Father, and delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, where he was one of three delegates who refused to sign the Constitution. His wr ...

, a

Founding Father of the United States The Founding Fathers of the United States, often simply referred to as the Founding Fathers or the Founders, were a group of late-18th-century American Revolution, American revolutionary leaders who United Colonies, united the Thirteen Colon ...

. Clermont is also known for being the birthplace of Fitzhugh Lee (November 9, 1835 – April 18, 1905), nephew of

Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a general officers in the Confederate States Army, Confederate general during the American Civil War, who was appointed the General in Chief of the Armies of the Confederate ...

, grandson of John Mason,

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

Governor of Virginia The governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia is the head of government of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. The Governor (United States), governor is head of the Government_of_Virginia#Executive_branch, executive branch ...

, diplomat, and

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

general in the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

History

Clermont Plantation was built by Benjamin Dulaney in the late 18th century. Dulaney, a friend of

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

, used the estate as his summer residence. Clermont was large in size with two

parlor A parlour (or parlor) is a reception room or public space. In medieval Christian Europe, the "outer parlour" was the room where the monks or nuns conducted business with those outside the monastery and the "inner parlour" was used for necessary ...

s, eleven

bedroom A bedroom or bedchamber is a room situated within a residential or accommodation unit characterized by its usage for sleeping. A typical Western world, western bedroom contains as bedroom furniture one or two beds, a clothes closet, and bedsid ...

s, and multiple outbuildings. Dulaney's family members were

loyalists Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...

during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

and many of them lost their possessions and property. Dulaney's property was spared, probably due to his friendship with Washington, but Dulaney attempted to sell Clermont to Washington, Washington refused. Dulaney married Washington's goddaughter, daughter of Daniel French of Rose Hill. After Dulaney, Clermont hosted a succession of tenants and owners. Between 1803 and 1804, Clermont was the residence of Reverend Thomas Davis,

Vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

of Christ Church in Alexandria. Davis tried unsuccessfully to establish a school for young men at Clermont. Reverend Davis is best known for officiating at Washington's burial service. General John Mason was the next resident of Clermont. Mason had two other homes, one in Georgetown and a summer residence on Analostan Island. After suffering financial setbacks, Mason was forced to give up his island residence, and in 1833, he and his family relocated to the Virginia countryside at Clermont. After Mason's death, the Alexandria Gazette ran an advertisement for the sale of Clermont on 28 May 1849. The advertisement read as follows:

FOR SALE -- This estate is distant about four miles from Alexandria, and one mile south of the Little Turnpike Road, leading to the Town, comprising about 320 acres of land. The arable land, of which about 160 acres is level bottom on Cameron Run, is in a state of high fertility, having been well drained, and the whole with about 40 acres of upland, judiciously cultivated and improved, by Clover and Plaister, with the free use of lime and other manure. It is divided into seven fields, one a large meadow of timothy, with one or more fine springs in each. The residue of the tract, exclusive of the lawns, orchards, and gardens, is in young wood. The Mansion and its appurtenances are of the most ample and commodious description, beautifully situated on a gentle eminence, and overlooking the Town of Alexandria and the lowlands of the estate. The dwelling house on the first floor contains two parlors, besides large library, and an office, with eleven chambers above stairs, and in the buildings appurtenant to it, besides an ample kitchen, laundry, and housekeeper's room, a dairy, bath-house, smoke house, ample accommodations for servants, ice house, the houses of farm servants, blacksmith's shop, a kiln of brick for burning lime, with ample barns, stabling, and other houses for stock and farm purposes, orchards of choice fruit, ornamental grounds and walks -- the whole in good order and well preserved by its late proprietor.

Clermont was purchased by Commodore French Forrest, head of the

Washington Navy Yard The Washington Navy Yard (WNY) is a ceremonial and administrative center for the United States Navy, located in the federal national capital city of Washington, D.C. (federal District of Columbia). It is the oldest shore establishment / base of ...

. Forrest was the son of Major Joseph Forrest and his wife Elizabeth French Dulaney, daughter of Clermont's original owner. During the

, Forrest resigned his commission with the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

and offered his services to Virginia. Forrest never again set foot on Clermont. Forrest assumed command of the

Norfolk Naval Shipyard The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, often called the Norfolk Navy Yard and abbreviated as NNSY, is a U.S. Navy facility in Portsmouth, Virginia, for building, remodeling and repairing the Navy's ships. It is the oldest and largest industrial facility ...

where he supervised the construction of the CSS Virginia. During the war, Clermont was confiscated by the Union Army and used as

small pox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living Cell (biology), cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and pla ...

hospital. The

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word ''manse'' originally defined a property l ...

was subsequently burned to prevent the further spread of the disease.

Notable people

* Fitzhugh Lee (1835–1905), son of Sydney Smith Lee and his wife Anna Maria Mason, was born at Clermont on 19 November 1835

External links

Virginia Historical Highway Marker: https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=161

References

{{Virginia Masons Mason family residences Lee family residences Houses in Fairfax County, Virginia Plantations in Virginia Georgian architecture in Virginia Houses in Alexandria, Virginia Houses completed in the 18th century Burned houses in the United States