[4] When he reached legal age, Bailey Washington gained control of land near Aquia which he inherited from his father (in part because most of his elder brothers died young), and where he eventually moved after building a home he called "Windsor Forest" there in Overwharton Parish.
He expanded his landholdings to about 1200 acres by the time of the American Revolutionary War, operating his farms by using enslaved laborers.
[5] In 1803 he paid taxes for 25 enslaved adults and 3 slaves between 12 and 16 years old, plus 14 horses in 1803[6] In 1807 he paid taxes for 20 enslaved adults and 2 slaves between 12 and 16 years old, plus 10 horses[7] Bailey Washington served as one of the Stafford County justices of the peace (who also administered the county) from 1754 until at least 1779.
[11] Although one source found he gave the 500 acre Windsor Forest plantation to his son Bailey Washington Jr in 1784, the same source indicates his youngest daughter, Mary, who had married Dr. Valentine Peyton and lived at his "Tusculum" estate in Stafford County, inherited Windsor Forest.
[12] In 1846, Jefferson Spindle, who would become a Stafford County magistrate, purchased Windsor Forest from Charles Prosser Moncure, and operated a school for several years before the American Civil War.