Note 134 — Chapter XLI

The following is a true copy of Washington's will:—

In the name of God, amen. I, George Washington, of Mount Vernon, a citizen of the United States, and lately President of the same, do make, ordain, and declare this instrument, which is written with my own hand, and every page thereof subscribed with my name, to be my last Will and Testament, revoking all others.

Imprimis.—All my debts, of which there are but few, and none of magnitude, are to be punctually and speedily paid; and the legacies, hereinafter bequeathed, are to be discharged as soon as circumstances will permit, and in the manner directed.

Item.—To my dearly beloved wife, Martha Washington, I give and bequeath the use, profit, and benefit of my whole estate, real and personal, for the term of her natural life, except such parts thereof as are specially disposed of hereafter. My improved lot in the town of Alexandria, situated on Pitt and Cameron streets, I give to her and her heirs for ever; as I also do my household and kitchen furniture of every sort and kind, with the liquors and groceries which may be on hand at the time of my decease, to be used and disposed of as she may think proper.

Item.—Upon the decease of my wife, it is my will and desire that all the slaves whom I hold in my own right shall receive their freedom. To emancipate them during her life would, though earnestly wished by me, be attended with such insuperable difficulties, on account of their intermixture by marriage with the dower-negroes, as to excite the most painful sensations, if not disagreeable consequences, to the latter, while both descriptions are in the occupancy of the same proprietor; it not being in my power, under the tenure by which the dower-negroes are held, to manumit them.[137] And whereas, among those who will receive freedom according to this devise, there may be some who, from old age or bodily infirmities, and others who, on account of their infancy, will be unable to support themselves, it is my will and desire that all, who come under the first and second description, shall be comfortably clothed and fed by my heirs while they live; and that such of the latter description as have no parents living, or, if living, are unable or unwilling to provide for them, shall be bound by the court until they shall arrive at the age of twenty-five years; and, in cases where no record can be produced, whereby their ages can be ascertained, the judgment of the court, upon its own view of the subject, shall be adequate and final. The negroes thus bound are (by their masters or mistresses) to be taught to read and write, and to be brought up to some useful occupation, agreeably to the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, providing for the support of orphan and other poor children. And I do hereby expressly forbid the sale or transportation out of the said Commonwealth, of any slave I may die possessed of, under any pretence whatsoever. And I do, moreover, most pointedly and most solemnly enjoin it upon my executors hereafter named, or the survivors of them, to see that this clause respecting slaves, and every part thereof, be religiously fulfilled at the epoch at which it is directed to take place, without evasion, neglect, or delay, after the crops which may then be on the ground are harvested, particularly as it respects the aged and infirm; seeing that a regular and permanent fund be established for their support, as long as there are subjects requiring it; not trusting to the uncertain provision to be made by individuals. And to my mulatto man, William, calling himself William Lee, I give immediate freedom, or, if he should prefer it (on account of the accidents which have befallen him, and which have rendered him incapable of walking, or of any active employment), to remain in the situation he now is, it shall be optional in him to do so; in either case, however, I allow him an annuity of thirty dollars, during his natural life, which shall be independent of the victuals and clothes he has been accustomed to receive, if he chooses the last alternative; but in full with his freedom, if he prefers the first; and this I give him, as a testimony of my sense of his attachment to me, and for his faithful services during the Revolutionary War.

Item.—To the trustees (governors, or by whatsoever other name they may be designated) of the Academy in the town of Alexandria, I give and bequeath, in trust, four thousand dollars, or, in other words, twenty of the shares which I hold in the Bank of Alexandria, toward the support of a free school, established at, and annexed to, the said Academy, for the purpose of educating such orphan children, or the children of such other poor and indigent persons, as are unable to accomplish it with their own means, and who, in the judgment of the trustees of the said seminary, are best entitled to the benefit of this donation. The aforesaid twenty shares I give and bequeath in perpetuity; the dividends only of which are to be drawn for and applied, by the said trustees for the time being, for the uses above mentioned; the stock to remain entire and untouched, unless indications of failure of the said bank should be so apparent, or a discontinuance thereof, should render a removal of this fund necessary. In either of these cases, the amount of the stock here devised is to be vested in some other bank, or public institution, whereby the interest may with regularity and certainty be drawn and applied as above. And to prevent misconception, my meaning is, and is hereby declared to be, that these twenty shares are in lieu of, and not in addition to, the thousand pounds given by a missive letter some years ago, in consequence whereof an annuity of fifty pounds has since been paid toward the support of this institution.

Item.—Whereas, by a law of the Commonwealth of Virginia, enacted in the year 1785, the Legislature thereof was pleased, as an evidence of its approbation of the services I had rendered the public during the Revolution, and partly, I believe, in consideration of my having suggested the vast advantages which the community would derive from the extension of its inland navigation under legislative patronage, to present me with one hundred shares, of one hundred dollars each, in the incorporated Company, established for the purpose of extending the navigation of James River from the tide-water to the mountains; and also with fifty shares, of £100 sterling each, in the corporation of another Company, likewise established for the similar purpose of opening the navigation of the River Potomac from the tide-water to Fort Cumberland; the acceptance of which, although the offer was highly honorable and grateful to my feelings, was refused, as inconsistent with a principle which I had adopted, and had never departed from, viz., not to receive pecuniary compensation for any services I could render my country in its arduous struggle with Great Britain for its rights, and because I had evaded similar propositions from other States in the Union; adding to this refusal, however, an intimation that, if it should be the pleasure of the Legislature to permit me to appropriate the said shares to public uses, I would receive them on those terms with due sensibility; and this it having consented to, in flattering terms, as will appear by a subsequent law, and sundry resolutions, in the most ample and honorable manner;—I proceed after this recital, for the more correct understanding of the case, to declare; that, as it has always been a source of serious regret with me, to see the youth of these United States sent to foreign countries for the purpose of education, often before their minds were formed, or they had imbibed any adequate ideas of the happiness of their own; contracting too frequently, not only habits of dissipation and extravagance, but principles unfriendly to republican government, and to the true and genuine liberties of mankind, which thereafter are rarely overcome; for these reasons it has been my ardent wish to see a plan devised, on a liberal scale, which would have a tendency to spread systematic ideas through all parts of this rising empire, thereby to do away local attachments and State prejudices, as far as the nature of things would, or indeed ought to admit, from our national councils. Looking anxiously forward to the accomplishment of so desirable an object as this is (in my estimation), my mind has not been able to contemplate any plan more likely to effect the measure, than the establishment of a University in a central part of the United States, to which the youths of fortune and talents from all parts thereof may be sent for the completion of their education, in all the branches of polite literature, in arts and sciences, in acquiring knowledge in the principles of politics and good government, and, as a matter of infinite importance in my judgment, by associating with each other, and forming friendships in juvenile years, be enabled to free themselves in a proper degree from those local prejudices and habitual jealousies which have just been mentioned, and which, when carried to excess, are never-failing sources of disquietude to the public mind, and pregnant of mischievous consequences to this country. Under these impressions, so fully dilated—

Item.—I give and bequeath, in perpetuity, the fifty shares which I hold in the Potomac company (under the aforesaid acts of the Legislature of Virginia), toward the endowment of a University, to be established within the limits of the District of Columbia, under the auspices of the general government, if that government should incline to extend a fostering hand toward it; and, until such seminary is established, and the funds arising on these shares shall be required for its support, my further will and desire is, that the profit accruing therefrom shall, whenever the dividends are made, be laid out in purchasing stock in the Bank of Columbia, or some other bank, at the discretion of my executors, or by the Treasurer of the United States for the time being, under the direction of Congress, provided that honorable body should patronize the measure; and the dividends proceeding from the purchase of such stock are to be vested in more stock, and so on, until a sum adequate to the accomplishment of the object is obtained; of which I have not the smallest doubt before many years pass away, even if no aid or encouragement is given by the legislative authority, or from any other source.

Item.—The hundred shares, which I hold in the James River Company, I have given, and now confirm in perpetuity, to and for the use and benefit of Liberty Hall Academy, in the County of Rockbridge, in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Item.—I release, exonerate, and discharge the estate of my deceased brother, Samuel Washington, from the payment of the money which is due to me for the land I sold to Philip Pendleton (lying in the county of Berkeley), who assigned the same to him, the said Samuel, who by agreement was to pay me therefor. And whereas, by some contract (the purport of which was never communicated to me) between the said Samuel and his son, Thornton Washington, the latter became possessed of the aforesaid land, without any conveyance having passed from me, either to the said Pendleton, the said Samuel, or the said Thornton, and without any consideration having been made, by which neglect neither the legal nor equitable title has been alienated; it rests therefore with me to declare my intentions concerning the premises; and these are, to give and bequeath the said land to whomsoever the said Thornton Washington (who is also dead) devised the same, or to his heirs for ever, if he died intestate; exonerating the estate of the said Thornton, equally with that of the said Samuel, from payment of the purchase money, which, with interest, agreeably to the original contract with the said Pendleton, would amount to more than a thousand pounds. And whereas two other sons of my said deceased brother Samuel, namely, George Steptoe Washington and Lawrence Augustine Washington, were, by the decease of those to whose care they were committed, brought under my protection, and, in consequence, have occasioned advances on my part, for their education at college and other schools, for their board, clothing, and other incidental expenses, to the amount of near five thousand dollars, over and above the sums furnished by their estate, which sum it may be inconvenient for them or their father's estate to refund; I do for these reasons acquit them and the said estate from the payment thereof, my intention being, that all accounts between them and me, and their father's estate and me, shall stand balanced.

Item.—The balance due to me from the estate of Bartholomew Dandridge, deceased (my wife's brother), and which amounted on the first day of October, 1795, to four hundred and twenty-five pounds (as will appear by an account rendered by his deceased son, John Dandridge, who was the acting executor of his father's will), I release and acquit from the payment thereof. And the negroes, then thirty-three in number, formerly belonging to the said estate, who were taken in execution, sold, and purchased in on my account, in the year (blank), and ever since have remained in the possession and to the use of Mary, widow of the said Bartholomew Dandridge, with their increase, it is my will and desire shall continue and be in her possession, without paying hire, or making compensation for the same for the time past, or to come, during her natural life; at the expiration of which, I direct that all of them who are forty years old and upward shall receive their freedom; and all under that age, and above sixteen, shall serve seven years and no longer; and all under sixteen years shall serve until they are twenty-five years of age, and then be free. And, to avoid disputes respecting the ages of any of these negroes, they are to be taken into the court of the county in which they reside, and the judgment thereof, in this relation, shall be final, and record thereof made, which may be adduced as evidence at any time thereafter, if disputes should arise concerning the same. And I further direct, that the heirs of the said Bartholomew Dandridge shall equally share the benefits arising from the services of the said negroes, according to the tenor of this devise, upon the decease of their mother.

Item.—If Charles Carter, who intermarried with my niece, Betty Lewis, is not sufficiently secured in the title to the lots he had of me in the town of Fredericksburg, it is my will and desire, that my executors shall make such conveyances of them as the law requires to render it perfect.

Item.—To my nephew, William Augustine Washington, and his heirs (if he should conceive them to be objects worth prosecuting), a lot in the town of Manchester (opposite to Richmond), No. 265, drawn on my sole account, and also the tenth of one or two hundred-acre lots, and two of three half-acre lots, in the city and vicinity of Richmond, drawn in partnership with nine others, all in the lottery of the deceased William Byrd, are given; as is also a lot which I purchased of John Hood, conveyed by William Willie and Samuel Gordon, trustees of the said John Hood, numbered 139, in the town of Edinburgh, in the County of Prince George, State of Virginia.

Item.—To my nephew, Bushrod Washington,[136] I give and bequeath all the papers in my possession, which relate to my civil and military administration of the affairs of this country. I leave to him also such of my private papers as are worth preserving; and at the decease of my wife, and before, if she is not inclined to retain them, I give and bequeath my library of books and pamphlets of every kind.

Item.—Having sold lands which I possessed in the State of Pennsylvania, and part of a tract held in equal right with George Clinton, late governor of New York, in the State of New York, my share of land and interest in the Great Dismal Swamp, and a tract of land which I owned in the County of Gloucester,—withholding the legal titles thereto, until the consideration money should be paid,—and having moreover leased and conditionally sold (as will appear by the tenor of the said leases) all my lands upon the Great Kenhawa, and a tract upon Difficult Run, in the County of Loudoun, it is my will and direction, that whensoever the contracts are fully and respectively complied with, according to the spirit, true intent, and meaning thereof, on the part of the purchasers, their heirs or assigns, that then, and in that case, conveyances are to be made, agreeably to the terms of the said contracts, and the money arising therefrom, when paid, to be vested in bank stock; the dividends whereof, as of that also which is already vested therein, are to inure to my said wife during her life; but the stock itself is to remain and be subject to the general distribution hereafter directed.

Item.—To the Earl of Buchan I recommit the “Box made of the Oak that sheltered the great Sir William Wallace, after the battle of Falkirk,” presented to me by his Lordship, in terms too flattering for me to repeat, with a request “to pass it, on the event of my decease, to the man in my country, who should appear to merit it best, upon the same conditions that have induced him to send it to me.” Whether easy or not to select the man, who might comport with his Lordship's opinion in this respect, is not for me to say; but, conceiving that no disposition of this valuable curiosity can be more eligible than the recommitment of it to his own cabinet, agreeably to the original design of the Goldsmiths' Company of Edinburgh, who presented it to him, and, at his request, consented that it should be transferred to me, I do give and bequeath the same to his Lordship; and, in case of his decease, to his heir, with my grateful thanks for the distinguished honor of presenting it to me, and more especially for the favorable sentiments with which he accompanied it.

Item.—To my brother, Charles Washington, I give and bequeath the gold-headed cane left me by Dr. Franklin in his will. I add nothing to it, because of the ample provision I have made for his issue. To the acquaintances and friends of my juvenile years, Lawrence Washington and Robert Washington, of Chotanck, I give my other two gold-headed canes, having my arms engraved on them; and to each, as they will be useful where they live, I leave one of the spyglasses, which constituted part of my equipage during the late war. To my compatriot in arms, and old and intimate friend, Dr. Craik, I give my bureau (or, as the cabinet-makers call it, tambour secretary) and the circular chair, an appendage of my study. To Dr. David Stuart I give my large shaving and dressing table, and my telescope. To the Reverend, now Bryan, Lord Fairfax, I give a Bible, in three large folio volumes, with notes, presented to me by the Right Reverend Thomas Wilson, Bishop of Sodor and Man. To General de Lafayette I give a pair of finely-wrought steel pistols, taken from the enemy in the revolutionary war. To my sisters-in-law, Hannah Washington and Mildred Washington, to my friends, Eleanor Stuart, Hannah Washington, of Fairfield, and Elizabeth Washington, of Hayfield, I give each a mourning ring, of the value of one hundred dollars. These bequests are not made for the intrinsic value of them, but as mementoes of my esteem and regard. To Tobias Lear I give the use of the farm, which he now holds in virtue of a lease from me to him and his deceased wife (for and during their natural lives), free from rent during his life; at the expiration of which, it is to be disposed of as is hereinafter directed. To Sally B. Haynie (a distant relation of mine) I give and bequeath three hundred dollars. To Sarah Green, daughter of the deceased Thomas Bishop, and to Ann Walker, daughter of John Alton, also deceased, I give each one hundred dollars, in consideration of the attachment of their fathers to me; each of whom having lived nearly forty years in my family. To each of my nephews, William Augustine Washington, George Lewis, George Steptoe Washington, Bushrod Washington, and Samuel Washington, I give one of the swords, or couteaux, of which I may die possessed; and they are to choose in the order they are named. These swords are accompanied with an injunction not to unsheathe them for the purpose of shedding blood, except it be for self-defence, or in defence of their country and its rights: and, in the latter case, to keep them unsheathed, and prefer falling with them in their hands to the relinquishment thereof.

And now, having gone through these specific devises, with explanations for the more correct understanding of the meaning and design of them, I proceed to the distribution of the more important parts of my estate, in manner following;

First.—To my nephew, Bushrod Washington, and his heirs (partly in consideration of an intimation to his deceased father, while we were bachelors, and he had kindly undertaken to superintend my estate during my military services in the former war between Great Britain and France, that, if I should fall therein, Mount Vernon, then less extensive in domain than at present, should become his property), I give and bequeath all that part thereof, which is comprehended within the following limits, viz. Beginning at the ford of Dogue Run, near my Mill, and extending along the road, and bounded thereby, as it now goes, and ever has gone, since my recollection of it, to the ford of Little Hunting Creek, at the Gum Spring, until it comes to a knoll opposite to an old road, which formerly passed through the lower field of Muddy-Hole Farm; at which, on the north side of the said road, are three red or Spanish oaks, marked as a corner, and a stone placed; thence by a line of trees, to be marked rectangular, to the back line or outer boundary of the tract between Thompson Mason and myself: thence with that line easterly (now double ditching, with a post-and-rail fence thereon) to the run of Little Hunting Creek; thence with that run, which is the boundary between the lands of the late Humphrey Peake and me, to the tide water of the said creek; thence by that water to Potomac River; thence with the river to the mouth of Dogue Creek; and thence with the said Dogue Creek to the place of beginning at the aforesaid ford; containing upwards of four thousand acres, be the same more or less, together with the mansion-house, and all other buildings and improvements thereon.

Second.—In consideration of the consanguinity between them and my wife, being as nearly related to her as to myself, as on account of the affection I had for, and the obligation I was under to, their father when living, who from his youth had attached himself to my person, and followed my fortunes through the vicissitudes of the late Revolution, afterwards devoting his time to the superintendence of my private concerns for many years, whilst my public employments rendered it impracticable for me to do it myself, thereby affording me essential services, and always performing them in a manner the most filial and respectful; for these reasons, I say, I give and bequeath to George Fayette Washington and Lawrence Augustine Washington, and their heirs, my estate east of Little Hunting Creek, lying on the River Potomac, including the farm of three hundred and sixty acres, leased to Tobias Lear, as noticed before, and containing in the whole, by deed, two thousand and twenty-seven acres, be it more or less; which said estate it is my will and desire should be equitably and advantageously divided between them, according to quantity, quality, and other circumstances, when the youngest shall have arrived at the age of twenty-one years, by three judicious and disinterested men; one to be chosen by each of the brothers, and the third by these two. In the mean time, if the termination of my wife's interest therein should have ceased, the profits arising therefrom are to be applied for their joint uses and benefit.

Third.—And whereas it has always been my intention, since my expectation of having issue has ceased, to consider the grandchildren of my wife in the same light as I do my own relations, and to act a friendly part by them; more especially by the two whom we have raised from their earliest infancy, namely, Eleanor Parke Custis and George Washington Parke Custis; and whereas the former of these hath lately intermarried with Lawrence Lewis, a son of my deceased sister, Betty Lewis, by which union the inducement to provide for them both has been increased; wherefore I give and bequeath to the said Lawrence Lewis, and Eleanor Parke Lewis, his wife, and their heirs, the residue of my Mount Vernon estate, not already devised to my nephew, Bushrod Washington, comprehended within the following description, viz. All the land north of the road leading from the ford of Dogue Run to the Gum Spring, as described in the devise of the other part of the tract to Bushrod Washington, until it comes to the stone and three red or Spanish oaks on the knoll; thence with the rectangular line to the back line (between Mr. Mason and me); thence with that line westerly along the new double ditch to Dogue Run, by the tumbling dam of my Mill; thence with the said run to the ford aforementioned. To which I add all the land I possess west of the said Dogue Run and Dogue Creek, bounded easterly and southerly thereby; together with the mill, distillery, and all other houses and improvements on the premises, making together about two thousand acres, be it more or less.

Fourth.—Actuated by the principle already mentioned, I give and bequeath to George Washington Parke Custis, the grandson of my wife, and my ward, and to his heirs, the tract I hold on Four Mile Run, in the vicinity of Alexandria, containing one thousand two hundred acres, more or less, and my entire square, No. 21, in the city of Washington.

Fifth.—All the rest and residue of my estate real and personal, not disposed of in manner aforesaid, in whatsoever consisting, wheresoever lying, and whensoever found (a schedule of which, as far as is recollected, with a reasonable estimate of its value, is hereunto annexed), I desire may be sold by my executors, at such times, in such manner, and on such credits (if an equal, valid, and satisfactory distribution of the specific property cannot be made without), as in their judgment shall be most conducive to the interest of the parties concerned; and the moneys arising therefrom to be divided into twenty-three equal parts, and applied as follows, viz. To William Augustine Washington, Elizabeth Spotswood, Jane Thornton, and the heirs of Ann Ashton, sons and daughters of my deceased brother, Augustine Washington, I give and bequeath four parts; that is, one part to each of them. To Fielding Lewis, George Lewis, Robert Lewis, Howell Lewis, and Betty Carter, sons and daughters of my deceased sister, Betty Lewis, I give and bequeath five other parts; one to each of them. To George Steptoe Washington, Lawrence Augustine Washington, Harriot Parks, and the heirs of Thornton Washington, sons and daughters of my deceased brother Samuel Washington, I give and bequeath other four parts; one to each of them. To Corbin Washington, and the heirs of Jane Washington, son and daughter of my deceased brother, John Augustine Washington, I give and bequeath two parts; one to each of them. To Samuel Washington, Frances Ball, and Mildred Hammond, son and daughters of my brother Charles Washington, I give and bequeath three parts; one part to each of them. And to George Fayette Washington, Charles Augustine Washington, and Maria Washington, sons and daughter of my deceased nephew, George Augustine Washington, I give one other part; that is, to each a third of that part. To Elizabeth Parke Law, Martha Parke Peter, and Eleanor Parke Lewis, I give and bequeath three other parts; that is, a part to each of them. And to my nephews, Bushrod Washington and Lawrence Lewis, and to my ward, the grandson of my wife, I give and bequeath one other part; that is, a third thereof to each of them. And, if it should so happen, that any of the persons whose names are here enumerated (unknown to me) should now be dead, or should die before me, that in either of these cases, the heirs of such deceased person shall, notwithstanding, derive all the benefits of the bequest, in the same manner as if he or she was actually living at the time. And, by way of advice, I recommend it to my executors not to be precipitate in disposing of the landed property (herein directed to be sold), if from temporary causes the sale thereof should be dull; experience having fully evinced, that the price of land, especially above the falls of the river and on the western waters, has been progressively rising, and cannot be long checked in its increasing value. And I particularly recommend it to such of the legatees (under this clause of my will), as can make it convenient, to take each a share of my stock in the Potomac Company, in preference to the amount of what it might sell for; being thoroughly convinced myself, that no uses to which the money can be applied, will be so productive as the tolls arising from this navigation when in full operation (and thus, from the nature of things, it must be, ere long), and more especially if that of the Shenandoah is added thereto.

The family vault at Mount Vernon requiring repairs, and being improperly situated besides, I desire that a new one of brick, and upon a larger scale, may be built at the foot of what is commonly called the Vineyard Enclosure, on the ground which is marked out; in which my remains, with those of my deceased relations (now in the old vault), and such others of my family as may choose to be entombed there, may be deposited. And it is my express desire, that my corpse may be interred in a private manner, without parade or funeral oration.

Lastly, I constitute and appoint my dearly beloved wife, Martha Washington, my nephews, William Augustine Washington, Bushrod Washington, George Steptoe Washington, Samuel Washington, and Lawrence Lewis, and my ward, George Washington Parke Custis (when he shall have arrived at the age of twenty-one years), executrix and executors of this my will and testament; in the construction of which it will be readily perceived, that no professional character has been consulted, or has had any agency in the draft; and that, although it has occupied many of my leisure hours to digest, and to throw it into its present form, it may, notwithstanding, appear crude and incorrect; but, having endeavored to be plain and explicit in all the devises, even at the expense of prolixity, perhaps of tautology, I hope and trust that no disputes will arise concerning them. But if, contrary to expectation, the case should be otherwise, from the want of legal expressions, or the usual technical terms, or because too much or too little has been said on any of the devises to be consonant with law, my will and direction expressly is, that all disputes (if unhappily any should arise) shall be decided by three impartial and intelligent men, known for their probity and good understanding; two to be chosen by the disputants, each having the choice of one, and the third by those two; which three men, thus chosen, shall, unfettered by law or legal constructions, declare their sense of the testator's intention; and such decision is, to all intents and purposes, to be as binding on the parties as if it had been given in the Supreme Court of the United States.

In witness of all and of each of the things herein contained, I have set my hand and seal, this ninth day of July, in the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety,[135] and of the Independence of the United States the twenty-fourth.

George Washington.

SCHEDULE OF PROPERTY

Comprehended in the foregoing Will, which is directed to be sold; and some of it conditionally is sold; with descriptive and Explanatory Notes relative thereto.

IN VIRGINIA.

Price.

Acres. Dollars. Dollars.

Loudoun County, Difficult Run,3006,666a

Loudoun and Fauquier, Ashby's Bent,24811024,810}b

Chattin's Run,88587,080}

Berkeley, South Fork of Bullskin,1600

Head of Evan's M.,453

In Wormeley's Line,183

22362044,720c

Frederic, bought from Mercer,5712011,420d

Hampshire, on Potomac River, above B.,240153,600e

Gloucester, on North River,400about3,600f

Nansemond, near Suffolk, one third of 1119 acres,37382,984g

Great Dismal Swamp, my dividend thereof,about20,000h

Ohio River, Round Bottom,587

Little Kenhawa,2314

Sixteen miles lower down,2448

Opposite Big Bent,4395

97441097,440i

Great Kenhawa,

Near the mouth, west,10990

East side, above,7276

Mouth of Cole River,2000

Opposite thereto,2950

Burning Spring,125

3075

200,000k

MARYLAND.

Charles County60063,600l

Montgomery County,519126,228m

PENNSYLVANIA.

Great Meadows23461,404n

NEW YORK.

Mohawk River,about100066,000o

NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

On Little Miami,839

Ditto,977

Ditto,1235

3051515,255p

KENTUCKY.

Rough Creek,3000

Ditto, adjoining,2000

5000210,000q

LOTS.

CITY OF WASHINGTON.

Two near the Capitol, Square 634, cost 963 dollars, and with buildings,15,000r

Nos. 5, 12, 13, and 14, the last three water lots on the Eastern Branch, in Square 667, containing together 34,438 square feet, at 12 cents, 4,132s

ALEXANDRIA.

Corner of Pitt and Prince streets, half an acre, laid out into building lots, three or four of which are let on ground rent, at three dollars per foot,4,000 t

WINCHESTER.

A lot in the town, of half an acre, and another on the common, of about six acres, supposed,400u

BATH, OR WARM SPRINGS.

Two well-situated and handsome buildings, to the amount of £150,800 v

STOCK.

Dollars.

United States 6 per cent.3,746

Ditto, deferred,1,873

Ditto, 3 per cent.2,946

2,500

6,246w

Potomac Company, 24 shares, cost each £100 sterling,10,666x

James River Company, 5 shares, each cost 100 dollars,500y

Bank of Columbia, 170 shares, 40 dollars each,6,800}z

Bank of Alexandria,1,000}

Besides 20 shares in the free school,—5.

STOCK LIVING.

One covering horse, 5 carriage horses, 4 riding horses, 6 brood mares, 20 working horses and mares, 2 covering jacks and 3 young ones, 10 she-asses, 42 working mules, 15 younger ones, 329 head of horned cattle, 640 head of sheep, and a large stock of hogs, the precise number unknown. My manager has estimated this live stock at £7000; but I shall set it down, in order to make a round sum, at 15,653

Aggregate amount,$530,000

NOTES.

(a) This tract, for the size of it, is valuable, more for its situation than the quality of its soil; though that is good for farming, with a considerable proportion of ground that might very easily be improved into meadow. It lies on the great road from the city of Washington, Alexandria, and Georgetown, to Leesburgh and Winchester, at Difficult Bridge, nineteen miles from Alexandria, less from the city of Georgetown, and not more than three from Matildaville, at the Great Falls of Potomac. There is a valuable seat on the premises, and the whole is conditionally sold for the sum annexed in the schedule.

(b) What the selling prices of lands in the vicinity of these two tracts are, I know not; but, compared with those above the Ridge, and others below them, the value annexed will appear moderate; a less one would not obtain them from me.

(c) The surrounding land, not superior in soil, situation, or properties of any sort, sells currently at from twenty to thirty dollars an acre. The lowest price is affixed to these.

(d) The observations made in the last note apply equally to this tract; being in the vicinity of them, and of similar quality, although it lies in another county.

(e) This tract, though small, is extremely valuable. It lies on Potomac River, about twelve miles above the town of Bath, or Warm Springs, and is in the shape of a horseshoe; the river running almost around it. Two hundred acres of it are rich low grounds, with a great abundance of the largest and finest walnut trees; which, with the produce of the soil, might (by means of the improved navigation of the Potomac) be brought to a shipping port with more ease, and at a smaller expense, than that which is transported thirty miles only by land.

(f) This tract is of second-rate Gloucester low ground. It has no improvements thereon, but lies on navigable water, abounding in fish and oysters. It was received in payment of a debt (carrying interest), and valued in the year 1789, by an impartial gentleman, at £800. N. B. It has lately been sold, and there is due thereon a balance, equal to what is annexed in the schedule.

(g) These 373 acres are the third part of an undivided purchase made by the deceased Fielding Lewis, Thomas Walker, and myself, on full conviction that they would become valuable. The land lies on the road from Suffolk and Norfolk, touches (if I am not mistaken) some part of the navigable water of Nansemond River. The rich Dismal Swamp is capable of great improvement, and from its situation must become extremely valuable.

(h) This is an undivided interest, which I hold in the Great Dismal Swamp Company, containing about 4000 acres, with my part of the plantation and stock thereon, belonging to the Company in the said swamp.

(i) These several tracts of land are of the first quality, on the Ohio River, in the parts where they are situated; being almost, if not altogether, river bottoms. The smallest of these tracts is actually sold at ten dollars an acre, but the consideration therefor not received. The rest are equally valuable, and sold as high; especially that which lies just below the Little Kenhawa, and is opposite to a thick settlement on the west side of the river. The four tracts have an aggregate breadth upon the river of sixteen miles, and are bounded thereby for that distance.

(k) These tracts are situated on the Great Kenhawa River, and the first four are bounded thereby for more than forty miles. It is acknowledged by all who have seen them (and of the tract containing 10,990 acres, which I have been on myself, I can assert), that there is no richer or more valuable land in all that region. They are conditionally sold for the sum mentioned in the schedule, that is, 200,000 dollars; and, if the terms of that sale are not complied with, they will command considerably more. The tract, of which the 125 acres is a moiety, was taken up by General Andrew Lewis and myself, for and on account of a bituminous spring which it contains, of so inflammable a nature as to burn as freely as spirits, and is nearly as difficult to extinguish.

(l) I am but little acquainted with this land, although I have once been on it. It was received (many years since) in discharge of a debt to me from Daniel Jenifer Adams, at the value annexed thereto, and must be worth more. It is very level; lies near the river Potomac.

(m) This tract lies about thirty miles above the city of Washington, not far from Kittoctan. It is good farming land; and, by those who are well acquainted it, I am informed that it would sell at twelve or fifteen dollars per acre.

(n) This land is valuable on account of its local situation, and other properties. It affords an exceeding good stand on Braddock's Road from Fort Cumberland to Pittsburgh, and, besides a fertile soil, possesses a large quantity of natural meadow, fit for the scythe. It is distinguished by the appellation of the Great Meadows, where the first action with the French in 1754 was fought.

(o) This is the moiety of about 2000 acres, which remains unsold of 6071 acres on the Mohawk River (Montgomery County), in a patent granted to Daniel Coxe, in the township of Coxborough and Carolina, as will appear by deed from Marinus Willett and wife to George Clinton, late governor of New York, and myself. The latter sales have been at six dollars an acre, and what remains unsold will fetch that or more.

(p) The quality of these lands, and their situations, may be known by the surveyor's certificates, which are filed along with the patents. They lie in the vicinity of Cincinnati; one tract near the mouth of the Little Miami; another seven, and the third ten miles up the same. I have been informed, that they will command more than they are estimated at.

(q) For the description of these tracts in detail, see General Spotswood's letters, filed with the other papers relating to them. Besides the general good quality of the land, there is a valuable bank of iron ore thereon, which, when the settlement becomes more populous (and settlers are moving that way very fast), will be found very valuable, as the Rough Creek, a branch of Green River, affords ample water for furnaces and forges.

LOTS.

CITY OF WASHINGTON.

(r) The two lots near the Capitol, in square 634, cost me 963 dollars only. But in this price I was favored, on condition that I should build two brick houses, three stories high each. Without this reduction, the selling prices of those lots would have cost me about 1350 dollars. These lots, with the buildings thereon, when completed, will stand me in 15,000 dollars at least.

(s) Lots Nos. 5, 12, 13, and 14, on the Eastern Branch, are advantageously situated on the water; and, although many lots, much less convenient, have sold a great deal higher, I will rate these at 12 cents the square foot only.

ALEXANDRIA.

(t) For this lot, although unimproved, I have refused 3500 dollars. It has since been laid out into proper sized lots for building on; three or four of which are let on ground rent for ever, at three dollars a foot on the street, and this price is asked for both fronts on Pitt and Prince streets.

WINCHESTER.

(u) As neither the lot in the town or common have any improvements on them, it is not easy to fix a price; but, as both are well situated, it is presumed that the price annexed to them in the schedule is a reasonable valuation.

BATH.

(v) The lots in Bath (two adjoining) cost me, to the best of my recollection, between fifty and sixty pounds, twenty years ago; and the buildings thereon, one hundred and fifty pounds more. Whether property there has increased or decreased in its value, and in what condition the houses are, I am ignorant; but suppose they are not valued too high.

STOCK.

(w) These are the sums which are actually funded; and though no more in the aggregate than 7566 dollars, stand me in at least ten thousand pounds, Virginia money; being the amount of bonded and other debts due to me, and discharged during the war, when money had depreciated in that rate,— and was so settled by public authority.

(x) The value annexed to these shares is what they have actually cost me, and is the price affixed by law; and, although the present selling price is under par, my advice to the legatees (for whose benefit they are intended, especially those who can afford to lie out of the money) is, that each should take and hold one; there being a moral certainty of a great and increasing profit arising from them in the course of a few years.

(y) It is supposed that the shares in the James River Company must be productive. But of this I can give no decided opinion, for want of more accurate information.

(z) These are the nominal prices of the shares in the Banks of Alexandria and Columbia; the selling prices vary according to circumstances; but, as the stocks usually divide from eight to ten per cent. per annum, they must be worth the former, at least, so long as the banks are conceived to be secure, although from circumstances they may sometimes be below it.

The value of the live stock depends more upon the quality than quantity of the different species of it, and this again upon the demand, and judgment or fancy of purchasers.

George Washington.

Mount Vernon, July 9, 1799.