Innisfail |
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It is not clear who named the farm Innisfail. Innisfail was
an ancient name for Ireland, and at least one resident was born in Ireland,
but it is not clear when the name was first applied. One of the earliest
records of the land that would become Innisfail was the land grant to David
Waugh of September 24, 1710. Sometime prior to 1733 he transferred the land
to Captain Henry Conyers. Captain Conyers later split the land between his
daughters giving half to his daughter Ann Holland (named after her mother Ann
Patterson) and Òthe remaining 300 acres more or lessÓ to his daughter
Theodosia. As it turns out it, it was significantly more. When TheodosiaÕs
husband James DeNeale had a survey done on May 10, 1770, it was determined
that there were an additional 252 acres. James had these additional acres
added to the existing grant of 300 acres bring the total to 552 acres. |
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The house itself appears to
have been built sometime in the late 18th Century. The most
commonly cited date given for it is 1771. George DeNeale a county clerk of
Fairfax/Alexandria was said to have built it. However given that George was
born in 1766, it seems highly unlikely, no matter how precocious he might
have been, that he built the house when he was 5. In actuality his father
James DeNeale most likely built the house. Since George DeNeale became the
county clerk, it appears that George was confused with several people having
similar names due to the large number of legal documents that he signed. In
point of fact it looks like when his brother Hugh inherited the property,
George signed it in his official capacity, greatly confusing latter
generations. An excellent reference to for some if the above can be found at http://www.paynedaniel.com/TylersQtr.htm |
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The
Register of Overwharton Parish, Stafford Co., Virginia 1723-1758 and Sundry
Historical and Genealogical Notes, compiled and published by George Harrison
Sanford King, Fellow, American Society of Genealogists, Fredericksburg,
Virginia, dated 1961, contains these entries: From The Register of
Overwharton Parish: É "Married: CONYERS, Theodosia and James
ODUNEAL, October 19, 1755." |
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Additional research found an
O'DENEALE/DENEALE/DENEAL family in Stafford County, Virginia during the same
time period as the O'DANIEL family. "BEGINNING AT A WHITE OAK TREE
by Beth Mitchell 1977, page 278, number 54, indicates that Theodosia
inherited 300 acres of land on Popeshead Creek from her father, "married
James DENEAL. DENEAL, or DENEALE, found surplus of 252 acres and
received a Northern Neck grant for 552 acres (NN I:210)". (This
grant basically combined Theodosia's 300 acres with the surplus found by
James. It was bounded by land of Edward PAYNE, Lewis ELLSEY, Thomas
FORD, William KINCHELOE, and Joseph POLLARD.) |
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Given that a Ford did own the
property to the south and east of Innisfail, and Edward Payne lived to the
West, this explanation would make the most sense. Since James Deneal received
his land grant, in 1772 this also fits with the house being built around
1771. |
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In the ÒDeneales of VirginiaÓ
which can be found in the Virginiana collection of the Fairfax county
library, it states that James in his will gave the property to his son Hugh: |
I give to my Hugh DeNeale Two
negroes, Charles and John, my horse and my saddle, seven hundred dollars in
cash, also three hundred acres of land to be laid off from the Lakes of the
Popes head and Piny branches on the south side of Popes Head run. |
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This appears to be the grant
that the original 300 acres and it is unclear what happened to the other 252
acres from the grant of 1772. It is strange though that he says the south of
Popes Head Run, since the 552 acres are north of it. It was rumored that he may have lost
the property at one point in a card game, but because the 300 acres were not
his to bet, since they were TheodosiaÕs, the bet was voided. |
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It is possible that some of the
acreage went to William Deneale. According to http://genforum.genealogy.com/deneal/messages/14.html |
Elizabeth was the
daughter of William Scott DeNeale (b. ABT 1739 d. Sept. 6, 1814 at Popeshead
creek, Fairfax Co. Va. and Sybil West (b. Oct. 21, 1762 Prince George Co.
Md., d. May 17, 1812 at Popeshead creek, Fairfax Co. Va. Popeshead creek Va.
is where William and Sybil owned property and lived and where Elizabeth was
born. |
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Since the DeNealeÕs regularly
name their kids after themselves or their relatives, it is very difficult to
tell when ownerships changed hands, or which one of the families is being
discussed. |
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It is clear though that
sometime around 1852, Lt. Robert Clarendon Iones/Ions USN (originally Jones)
bought the estate. Robert and his wife Hannah Nevins Ions both have
tombstones several hundred yards from the house, near a foundation for
another house that is believed to have burned down sometime in early 1900Õs.
Since Hannah was born in Ireland it is possible that she is the one who named
Innisfail after her beloved Ireland. |
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No information beyond the basic dates of their lives
has been found for the original Iones. In interviews of residents done for
the Historic American Buildings Survey from the 1960Õs their son Robert N
Ions was purported to be one of the countries first licensed mail pilots. He
certainly had an interest in flying. |
Robert N. Ions stated in
depositions in regard to the Christmas aileron patent (No. 1,095,548) that
prior to 1 March 1908 on Ion's farm near Fairfax Station, Virginia, they had
constructed a plane which Christmas flew in the presence of Ions and other
witnesses. |
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Robert N. Ions continued to
live in the house in the early 1900s and was an active member of the
Democratic Executive Committee. He wrote several letters to the editor of the
Fairfax Herald and contributed to the effort to repeal Prohibition. Some
people say that he supplied the local area with moonshine and a large cache
of bottles can still be found near the barn. |
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A third Iones generation also
lived in the house. Estelle deWilloughby (Willoughby) Ions (the e in Iones seems
to have disappeared) was born in 1881. In ÒFairfax Station: All Aboard!Ó Willoughtby
is described as a free spirit who made her mark on American culture as a
pianist, painter, designer, composer, and writer. She also achieved fame as
the designer of the Òhostess gownÓ after she moved to New York City. It
appears Willoughby became somewhat estranged from the family. It is believed
that this may have been because she was also the ÒcompanionÓ of Adele Clark
for a time and worked in the WomenÕs movement. Willoughby has works in the
National Gallery of Art from the work she did for the Index of American
Design. Richard Doud conducted an interview with Willoughby Ions for the
Archives of American Art New Deal and the Arts Project on Mar. 11, 1964,
which can be found at the Smithsonian. |
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Paul W. Gordon and Harriet R.
Gordon bought the house in 1935 and removed a partition on the first floor to
make one large living room out of what had been two rooms. Over the next
several years somewhat interrupted by World War II they renovated the house.
In 1941 they added an addition on to the existing structure to replace the
small lean-to like one that had can be seen in the picture above from 1936. At the same time the GordonÕs
added hot water radiators and limited electricity to the existing structure.
The original section of the house does not have any running water. |
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In the late 1960Õs a developer
purchased the house with 130 acres. In 1973 the KorperÕs purchased the house with
10 acres. The remainder of the land was turned into a development called
Oakbrook. In order to accommodate a new road, the driveway was moved 50 feet
west. The road into the development is called Innisvale Drive. Reportedly the
developer was superstitious and did not want the word fail to be in the name
of the road and therefore changed the name. |
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In the early 1980Õs one of the
outbuildings was struck by lightning, caught fire and completely destroyed. Around
1994 the log cabin adjacent to the house collapsed and was also completely
destroyed. All that remains of the log cabin is the foundation. Remnants of
an outhouse and several old farm implements can be found around the property.
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A great deal of additional
information on the property and its history can be found in the Innisfail
file in the Virginiana collection of the Fairfax County library. |
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A good photo of the house will
have to wait until springtime, but for now the following photo (showing
primarily the newer section) will
have to do: |
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