Letter from R. P. Tabb, Fairfax Camp, July 3, 1859
Name/Title
Letter from R. P. Tabb, Fairfax Camp, July 3, 1859
Entry/Object ID
ARC921
Scope and Content
Letter written July 3, 1859, by R. P. Tabb at Fairfax Camp to his friend Cris. In the letter, Tabb noted that he had gone to Fairfax Stone "to help run the line between Maryland and Virginia." Much of the letter is about life in the camp.
According to George E. Tabb, Tabb family genealogist, the letter was likely written by Robert Peyton Tabb (1839-1910), who was part of a group surveying the Mason Dixon line near the Fairfax Stone. (See photograph and other information on R. P. Tabb at https://www.tabbfamilyhistory.com/p2.htm#i71.)
According to JCM historian Doug Perks, a resurvey was done in 1859 to try to resolve a dispute between Virginia and Maryland about whether the North Branch or the South Branch of the Potomac was the western boundary of the line. In 1910, the U.S. Supreme Court settled the dispute and established the North Branch as the western boundary.
