Howson Hooe was a member of the Committee of Safety, Prince William County, 1774. He was a vestryman of Dettingen Parish in 1760 and sheriff of Prince William County in 1761. He was a justice in Prince William County in 1769. From his will, he had large holdings of land and owned slaves. He also had large herds of cattle and sheep.

His will mentions his wife and nine children. They are Henry Dade, Robert Howson, Howson, John, Dade, Anne, Frances, Elizabeth, and Mary.

Along with his brother, John, Howson, Jr. inherited part of Buckhall which his grandfather, Nathaniel Harris, left to his mother, Anne Harris Hooe. A deed executed by Howson, Sr., and Anne, recorded in Prince William County March 23, 1732, reads, ". . . .and John, their second son, and said Howson Hooe [Sr.], and Ann, his wife, being willing and minded to give said tract of 640 acres, be the same more or less, to their sons the said Howson and John in severalty, so as that 250 acres part of same may be deemed and taken for that quantity which he the said Howson [Jr.], the son and his heirs. . .may hereafter claim as heir at law to said mother Ann of, in and to the same now know ye that we the said Howson [Sr.] Hooe and Ann Frances, his wife, for and in consideration of the natural love and affection which we bear unto our sons the said Howson [Jr.] Hooe and John Hooe, and for their better maintenance, livelihood and preferment, have given, granted and confirmed, and by these presents do give unto the said Howson Hooe and John Hooe, their heirs and assigns, all that tract or parcel of land with the appurtenances known as Buckhall."

Howson, Jr., and John made a division of Buckhall and recorded it on August 1, 1763, at Manassas, Prince William County. Howson received 365 acres, the "Mayfield" portion, and John received 365 acres, which retained the name of "Buckhall." John and Ann later deeded part of their land to their son Bernard Hooe. This deed was recorded April 7, 1780. In 1809 Bernard built "Hazel Plain," the house sold in 1853 to Benjamin T. Chinn. As Chinn House, it was in the middle of the Manassas battlefield.

Mayfield is described as "a two-story structure of local sandstone. . .a square stone house built in the late 18th or the early 19th century. The stone walls were still standing in the late 1930s. All that is left today of Mayfield is a plaque. Just east of Mayfield stands a Confederate fort built to guard Manassas Junction in the spring of 1861. General Robert E. Lee came there in May, 1861. . .using both soldiers and slaves from local plantations, a series of redoubts (enclosed forts) and trenches were built. . .a number of views of the eastern earthworks of Manassas defenses were taken by Matthew Brady's cameraman in March, 1862. The main works appear to have been atop the rise east of this point, with other earthworks extending to the tracks (Descendants of Rice Hooe)."

A few hundred feet northeast of the house was the family cemetery (here called the Mayfield Cemetery to distinguish it from the Hooe Family Cemetery at Hazel Plain). Inscriptions from tombstones that were legible in the recent past were: Robert H. Hooe, 1772-1832; Mary Hooe, 1761-1802; Sarah Hooe, 1794-1795; Nellie N. Metz, 1877-1881; Mathias Hooe, 1799-1873; Virginia Hooe, 1805-1887; Susan C. Hooe; John Hooe, 1793-1873; Edmonia B. Hooe, 1850-1887; Maggie Wallace Hooe, 1857-1900; Hettie B. V. Trott, 1831-1872.