A memorial marker for Col. Fry, which highlights his career, plus photos of his plantation home and a portrait appearing in a family genealogy book, are viewable in the "Media" Section of this profile.

Frye, George W. ... Colonel Joshua Fry of Virginia and Some of his Descendant an Allied Families, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1966 [privately published genealogy source]

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Joshua Fry

Early Days

Colonel Joshua Fry was born in Somersetshire, England, around 1700. As a young man, he emigrated from England to Essex County Virginia. He started a boy’s grammar school attached to the College of William and Mary and later chaired the college’s Math Department. Like many young men of colonial Virginia, he made a fortune through his marriage (Slaughter, 16). In 1737, Fry wed Mary Micou Hill, the widow of a wealthy plantation owner from Spotsylvania County. He gained further political prominence serving as a member of the House of Burgesses, and as a justice of the peace for Essex County.

Early Albemarle

In 1743-44 Fry moved his family to the one of the westernmost reaches of Virginia settlement. He hoped to take advantage of unpatented lands, and surveying opportunities in the area (Frye, 5). When Albemarle County was founded the following year, Fry was named chief surveyor, responsible for finalizing claims on tracts of land throughout the county. Assisting Fry throughout his work was his close friend Peter Jefferson, father of one of Albemarle’s most famous residents, Thomas Jefferson. Their bonds of friendship tied them until death. Fry willed his surveying instruments to the elder Jefferson who was also the executor of his will (Slaughter, 35). Fry also acted as a justice of the peace, often making decisions on minor cases from his home, Viewmont, an 800 acre plantation bordering the Hardware river.

Loyal Land Company

Like many early settlers, Joshua Fry was an extensive land holder. He did little farming, but earned a living through surveying and selling the lands. Land deals and speculation tied the founders of Albemarle together. Fry, just like fellow Albemarle residents Peter Jefferson, Thomas Walker, and James Maury, was a partner in the Loyal Land Company, a group that collectively held the patent to some 800,000 acres of unsettled land in western Virginia. He later sold his share to Dr. Thomas Walker as payment for his surveying expedition where he discovered the Cumberland Gap. View their transaction, written on a small scrap of paper, however from reading the transcription of their deal, it is clear these men used proper, legalistic language.

Legacy to Western Exploration

The most lasting contribution Fry made to later generations was his maps, documenting with great accuracy, areas never charted before. While most major land owners were surveyors, Fry was especially ambitious. In 1738 he attempted to gain permission from the House of Burgesses to draw a map of all Virginia’s waterways. Though this venture failed, Fry was nonetheless valued for his cartographic skills, and the colony turned to Fry and Jefferson for later projects such as their extenstion of the North Carolina-Virgina Border, and the “Fry-Jefferson Map”, depicting Virginia and Maryland. Earlier maps often proved unreliable since they were based on a compilation of accounts from hunters or American Indians of a region. This map was unique for its time because it was compiled from actual surveying records, and would therefore be useful to following generations.

Fry was dedicated to opening up as much land as possible to English settlement. But as English settlers moved further west, they had to compete with the French for alliance with American Indians. In 1752, Fry was selected to represent Virginia for a treaty negotiation at Logstown, a city on the Ohio River not far from present day Pittsburgh. He negotiated with members of the Six Nations comprising the Iroquois to forgive past troubles with early English travelers, and allow the British to build a fort, which would protect later settlers and traders to the West, and abate any threat from the French (Frye, 29).

Final Days

Joshua Fry was also known as a capable soldier and leader (Slaughter, 21). Fry had commanded Albemarle’s militia since its founding in1745, and nine years later at the start of the Seven Year’s War, Fry was named head of the Virginia Regiment. En route to Fort Monongahela, Fry fell from his horse and died from his injuries. His sudden death, left the young George Washington in command for the duration of the war.

Sources

1. Genealogical and historical notes on Culpeper county, Virginia (Google eBook). Philip Slaughter, R.T. Green, 1900.

https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Fry_Joshua_ca_1700-May_31_1754

Joshua Fry was a surveyor, soldier, and politician who is best known as the creator, along with Peter Jefferson, of the Fry-Jefferson map of Virginia. Born in England, Fry came to Virginia in or about 1726 and secured a teaching position at the College of William and Mary. After his marriage in 1736, he served Essex County as justice of the peace, sheriff, and coroner. In 1745 Fry became a resident of the newly formed Albemarle County, which he represented as a court justice, first lieutenant of the county, and a member of the House of Burgesses (1745–1754). In 1751 Fry, long a surveyor, helped create the Fry-Jefferson map, considered the definitive map of eighteenth-century Virginia. Following the map's completion, Fry was appointed a commissioner of the Treaty of Logstown (1752) between Virginia, the Ohio Company, and representatives of the Six Nations of the Iroquois. In 1754 Lieutenant Governor Robert Dinwiddie commissioned Fry colonel of the Virginia Regiment. Fry died on May 31, 1754, after falling from his horse while leading his troops into the Ohio territory.

Fry was born in Crewkerne, Somerset, England, the son of Joseph Fry, in or about 1700. He attended Wadham College, Oxford University, and moved to Virginia about 1726. Fry secured a teaching position at the College of William and Mary, where he served as the master of the grammar school in 1729, and then, by 1732, as the professor of natural philosophy and mathematics. He also served James City County as a justice of the peace. In the mid-1730s Fry resigned his teaching position (some scholars place this event in 1737) and moved to Essex County, where he served as a justice of the peace, sheriff, and coroner. There, he married Mary Micou Hill, a widow through whom Fry acquired a house, land, and several slaves. Fry and his wife had five children.

In 1738 Fry, Robert Brooke, and William Mayo presented to the House of Burgesses a plan to survey and create an official map of the Virginia colony. They made their proposal late in the session, and the House postponed deliberation from session to session until September 1744, when, finally, it rejected the plan. By this time, Fry was living along the Hardware River in Goochland County. When Albemarle County was formed from Goochland in 1745, his property was located in the newly formed county. He was commissioned to survey the Albemarle–Goochland county boundary line. Fry also served as a justice in the Albemarle County and Chancery Courts, was appointed first lieutenant of the county, and was elected to represent Albemarle County in the House of Burgesses, serving on several of its committees from 1745 until his death in 1754.

It was in Albemarle County that Fry likely met Peter Jefferson, his collaborator on the Fry-Jefferson map. Fry and Jefferson first worked together in 1746, when Lieutenant Governor William Gooch appointed them to establish the Fairfax Line, the western boundary of the lands belonging to Thomas Fairfax, sixth baron Fairfax. In 1749, they collaborated again to determine the Virginia–North Carolina dividing line, which was to be extended ninety miles, to Steep Rock Creek on the east of Stone Mountain, to accommodate the continued westward movement of land speculators and settlers into the rugged backcountry. Fry and Jefferson represented Virginia and worked with their North Carolina counterparts to survey the boundary line's extension.

In 1750, the British were concerned about the evident failure of the Treaty of Utrecht, signed by the British and the French to resolve Queen Anne's War (1702–1713). The treaty had determined the boundaries of French and British claims to lands in North America, but was not specific enough to prevent territorial disputes between the two countries. As a result, the British and French had different interpretations of their mutual boundary. The Ohio Company and the Loyal Land Company, of which Joshua Fry was a member, owned huge tracts of land in areas west of the Allegheny Mountains, and many of these holdings encroached on territory the French claimed as theirs. After George Montague Dunk, earl of Halifax and president of the Board of Trade, asked the British colonies in 1750 for more information about activities on the frontier, Lewis Burwell, acting governor of Virginia, commissioned Fry and Jefferson to prepare a map of the colony.

In compiling the map, Fry and Jefferson relied on their own surveys and experiences to supplement existing published maps, manuscript maps, and field notes. Fry also composed a report on the Virginia backcountry called "An Account of the Bounds of the Colony of Virginia of its back Settlements of the lands toward the Mountains and Lakes." The report relies on four published sources, with Fry's own comments interspersed. Fry also included a handwritten copy of "A Brief Account of the Travels of John Peter Salley," which documents John Howard's 1742 expedition along the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. In 1751 Fry and Jefferson delivered their draft to Burwell, who then forwarded it to the Board of Trade. A Map of the Inhabited Part of Virginia containing the whole Province of Maryland, with Part of Pensilvania, New Jersey and North Carolina was officially presented to the commissioners in March 1752.

Fry's reputation and knowledge of the Virginia frontier led Lieutenant Governor Robert Dinwiddie to appoint Fry as one of the commissioners for the Treaty of Logstown (1752). The treaty served multiple purposes, one of which was to strengthen the relationship between the English colonists and the American Indians. Representatives of the Six Nations of the Iroquois promised to recognize English land claims southeast of the Ohio River; however, the terms of the treaty were contingent upon the approval of the Iroquois council fire at Onondaga.

In 1754, at the beginning of the French and Indian War (1754–1763), Dinwiddie commissioned Fry colonel and head of the Virginia Regiment. Headed for the Ohio River Valley, Fry marched his troops to Wills Creek in present-day Cumberland, Maryland. During the journey he fell from his horse and suffered severe injuries. He died on May 31, 1754, and was replaced as head of the Virginia Regiment by his second-in-command, George Washington.

Time Line

ca. 1700 - Joshua Fry is born at Crewkerne, Somerset, England. He is the son of Joseph Fry.

ca. 1726 - Having graduated from Wadham College at Oxford University, Joshua Fry moves to Virginia.

1729 - Joshua Fry becomes master of the grammar school at the College of William and Mary.

1732 - Joshua Fry is professor of natural philosophy and mathematics at the College of William and Mary.

ca. 1736 - Joshua Fry marries Mary Micou Hill, a widow from Essex County. They will have five children. Through the marriage Fry acquires a house, land, and several slaves.

1738 - Land surveyors Joshua Fry and Robert Brooke unsuccessfully petition the House of Burgesses to create a new and better map of the Virginia colony.

September 1744 - The House of Burgesses rejects for the last time the petition by surveyors Joshua Fry and Robert Brooke to create a better, more detailed map of Virginia.

1745 - Albemarle County is formed from Goochland County.

1745 - Joshua Fry, who lives along the Hardware River, becomes a resident of Albemarle County. He is elected to the House of Burgesses from Albemarle County, and becomes a justice.

1745 - Joshua Fry is commissioned to survey the Albemarle–Goochland county boundary.

1746 - Joshua Fry is appointed to serve as commissioner for the Crown to determine the Fairfax Line.

1749 - Joshua Fry and Peter Jefferson survey the Virginia–North Carolina boundary line, which has been extended ninety miles to Steep Rock Creek.

January 15, 1750 - Prompted by territorial disputes with the French, the Board of Trade requests a map of Virginia.

1751 - Lewis Burwell, acting governor of Virginia, appoints well-known land surveyors Joshua Fry and Peter Jefferson to create a map of the colony for the Board of Trade.

August 1751 - Acting Governor Lewis Burwell forwards the map of Virginia drafted by Joshua Fry and Peter Jefferson, along with a brief account of the travels of Augusta County resident John Peter Salley, to the Board of Trade in London.

March 1752 - The Fry-Jefferson map is presented to the commissioners of the Board of Trade and Plantations in London.

1752 - Lieutenant Governor Robert Dinwiddie appoints Joshua Fry, Lunsford Lomax, and James Patton to serve as commissioners of the Treaty of Logstown, signed with the Six Nations of the Iroquois in recognition of British land claims southeast of the Ohio River.

Summer 1753 - Thomas Jefferys, a publisher, engraver, and geographer to the Prince of Wales, publishes the first edition of the Fry-Jefferson map of Virginia, entitled A Map of the Inhabited Part of Virginia containing the whole Province of Maryland, with Part of Pensilvania, New Jersey and North Carolina.

1754 - Lieutenant Governor Robert Dinwiddie appoints Joshua Fry colonel and head of the Virginia regiment.

May 31, 1754 - After suffering severe injuries in a fall from his horse, Joshua Fry dies at Wills Creek, in present-day Cumberland, Maryland, having marched his troops there. His second-in-command, George Washington, replaces him as colonel of the regiment.