Chatham Manor the Custis slaves as executor after his in-laws' deaths. The plantation included an orchard, mill, and a race track where Fitzhugh's horses vied with those of other planters for prize money. Fizhugh named the mansion after the British parliamentarian William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, who championed many of the opinions held by American colonists prior to the Revolutionary War. Flanking the main house were dozens of supporting structures: slave quarters, a dairy, ice house, barns, stables. Down on the river were fish traps. Fitzhugh sold the Chatham plantation to Major Churchill Jones, who had served under Col. William Washington
Earl of Bellomont died without surviving male issue in 1766. The late Earl was succeeded in the barony of Coote by his first cousin once removed, Charles Coote, who became the fifth Baron. Charles was the son of Charles Coote (1695–1750), Member of Parliament for County Cavan, son of the Honourable Thomas Coote, a Justice of the Court of King's Bench (Ireland), younger son of the first Baron. On 4 September 1767 the earldom of Bellomont was created for the third time when Charles was made Earl of Bellomont (although the title was probably erroneously spelled "Bell"a"mont" in the letters patent). On 18