In 1650, Colonel Moore Fauntleroy, an emigrant from southern England, was granted a patent for 5, 350 acres on both sides of Farnham Creek and the first court for Lancaster County was held at his home there the next year. Because of the great distances to travel to court, in 1656, the Virginia Assembly at the requestof Colonel Fauntleroy, divided Lancaster and designated the upper portion as (Old)Rappahannock County. The acquisitive Fauntleroy patented as well as purchased from the Rappahannock Indians, thousands more acres on both sides of the Rappahannock.
