Frederick Foote, Sr.

Formerly enslaved, Frederick Foote, Sr. purchased about 39 acres from the Minor family following the Civil War. Born circa 1815 on the historic Ravensworth Farm near Burke, Virginia. He earned the $500 to buy selling wood, working on the C&O canal and serving as a guide for Union forces during the Battle of Bull Run. A respected black businessman in the community, Foote served Falls Church, Virginia for ten or more years, first as town sergeant from 1876 to 1880 and then as a town councilman from 1880 to 1889. Foote's land, originally known as Fort Buffalo, was freed for development only after Foote's descendants convinced a court to invalidate his last will and testament, which had forbidden them to allow his 39 acres to leave the family, in 1956. The land became Seven Corners, one of the region's first suburban malls, and a little country orchard transformed overnight into the large Seven Corners Shopping Center.

The following appeared in the May 28, 1953 issue of Jet Magazine: A Cleveland man, declared legally dead in 1938, was acknowledged by Washington DC relatives and became heir to a part of a $750,000 estate. He is Joseph Foote, 63, long lost son of the late Frederick Foote, Sr., who was formerly enslaved who left his children land worth $750,000. Joseph Foote left Washington in 1912 because of marital troubles. In 1938, his wife obtained a court order declaring him legally dead. His whereabouts remained unknown until he read the newspaper stories about the sale of the property ----- 33 acres of land near Washington to a real estate firm for $750,000.

Source: Historic Falls Church By Cathy Taylor