Title: [January 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

Jany. 1st. Fox huntg. in my own Neck with Mr. Robt. Alexander and Mr. Colvill—catchd nothing. Captn. Posey with us.

   Although John Posey joined in the chase today and on other occasions during the next few months, he was now, in GW’s opinion, a man “reduced to the last Shifts,” for he was being destroyed financially by enormous debts that he had acquired over the past several years (GW to Posey, 24 Sept. 1767, DLC:GW). GW was one of Posey’s principal creditors, holding mortgages on his lands and slaves for a total of £820 Virginia currency conveyed since 1763. With interest accumulating at the rate of £41 a year and miscellaneous charges against him, Posey now owed GW nearly £1,000 (General Ledger AGeneral Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers., folio 168, 256). But Posey was strongly opposed to selling his property to clear his books and had begged GW several times to lend him more money in order to avoid that end. GW had agreed not to press Posey for repayment of his previous loans and was willing to act as his security for a £200 sterling loan from George Mason, but he refused to advance Posey any more cash (GW to Posey, 24 June and 24 Sept. 1767, DLC:GW).

2. Surveying some Lines of my Mt. Vernon Tract of Land.

   The Mount Vernon tract was the original Washington family land on Little Hunting Creek, being part of a grant for 5,000 acres between Little Hunting and Dogue creeks that the proprietors of the Northern Neck had made 1 Mar. 1674 to Col. Nicholas Spencer (d. 1689) of Albany, Westmoreland County, and GW’s great-grandfather, Lt. Col. John Washington (1632–1677) of Bridges Creek, Westmoreland County (Northern Neck Deeds and Grants, Book 5, 207–8, Vi Microfilm). The Spencer-Washington grant was divided in 1690 between Colonel Spencer’s widow, Frances Mottram Spencer (died c.1727), and John Washington’s son Lawrence Washington (1659–1697/98). Mrs. Spencer chose the western half of the grant which bordered on Dogue Creek, or Epsewasson Creek as the Indians had called it, and Lawrence Washington took the eastern half on Little Hunting Creek (survey and division by George Brent, 18 Sept. and 23 Dec. 1690, ViMtvL). The Little Hunting Creek tract was inherited by Lawrence’s daughter Mildred Washington (1696–c.1745), who, after her marriage to Roger Gregory of King and Queen County, sold it for £180 to her brother Augustine Washington, GW’s father (deed of Roger and Mildred Gregory to Augustine Washington, 19 Oct. 1726, ViMtvL).

   From Augustine the tract passed to GW’s half brother Lawrence, who during the 1740s named it Mount Vernon (will of Augustine Washington, 11 April 1743, DLC:GW). After Lawrence’s death in 1752, his widow Ann and her second husband, George Lee (1714–1761) of Westmoreland County, rented the tract and 18 slaves to GW for her lifetime at the rate of 15,000

pounds of tobacco or £93 15s. Virginia currency a year, and upon Ann’s death in 1761, it became GW’s outright by virtue of a provision in Lawrence’s will (deed of George and Ann Lee to GW, 17 Dec. 1754, ketchum Richard M. Ketchum. The World of George Washington. New York, 1974., 25; General Ledger AGeneral Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers., folio 47; will of Lawrence Washington, 20 June 1752, ViMtvL). Although the tract was originally supposed to contain about 2,500 acres, it now contained only about 2,126 acres because of a change in the northern boundary that had been made about 1741 (survey by R. O. Brooke, c.1741, callahanCharles H. Callahan. Washington: The Man and the Mason. Washington, D.C., 1913., facing p. 3; GW’s quitrent lists 1760–73, DLC:GW). GW had purchased several additional tracts adjoining this original Mount Vernon land.

3. At Home with Doctr. Rumney.

   Dr. William Rumney (d. 1783), who was born and trained in England, served as a surgeon with the British army in the French and Indian War and settled in Alexandria in 1763.

4. Rid to Muddy hole, D. Run, & Mill Plantns.

5. Went into the Neck.

6. Rid to Doeg Run and the Mill before Dinner. Mr. B. Fairfax and Mr. Robt. Alexander here.

7. Fox hunting with the above two Gentn. and Captn. Posey. Started but catchd nothing.

8. Hunting again in the same Compy. Started a Fox and run him 4 hours. Took the Hounds off at Night.

9. At Home with Mr. B. Fairfax.

10. At Home alone.

11. Running some Lines between me and Mr. Willm. Triplet.

   Triplett’s land bordered on part of GW’s Dogue Run farm (see main entry for 17 Mar. 1770).

12. Attempted to go into the Neck on the Ice but it wd. not bear. In the Evening Mr. Chs. Dick Mr. Muse & my Brother Charles came here.

   Charles Dick (b. 1715), of Caroline and Spotsylvania counties, supplied GW’s troops in 1754–55 as a Virginia commissary for the British forces. By 1768 Dick’s mercantile business was centered in Fredericksburg. George Muse of Caroline County, married Elizabeth Battaile (d. 1786) in 1749 and had a son, Battaile Muse (1751–1803), who also appears in the diaries.

13. At Home with them—Col. Fairfax, Lady, &[ca.]

14. Ditto—Do. Colo. Fx. & famy. went home in the Evening.

15. At Home with the above Gentlemen and Shooting together.

16. At home all day at Cards—it snowing.

   GW lost 3s. 6d. in playing cards with his friends (General Ledger AGeneral Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers., folio 269).

17. At Home with Mr. Dick &ca.

18. Went to Court & sold Colo. Colvils Ld. Returnd again at Night.

   As an executor for Thomas Colvill’s estate, GW signed an advertisement in Rind’s Virginia Gazette (24 Dec. 1767) announcing that “upwards of six hundred acres of valuable land . . . will be sold to the highest bidder, at the court-house of Fairfax county, on the 3d Monday in next month (being court day).” The high bidder was Benjamin Moody.

   GW today recorded losing 11s. 3d. at cards (General Ledger AGeneral Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers., folio 269).

19. Went to Belvoir with Mr. Dick, my Bror. &ca.

20. Returnd from Do. by the Mill Doeg Run and Muddy hole.

21. Surveyd the Water courses of my Mt. Vernon Tract of Land—taking advant. of the Ice.

   The freezing over of the Potomac River and Little Hunting Creek enabled GW to survey their shorelines on this day more easily than he usually could, “the ice permitting him to work from the water at will, which greatly simplified the calculating” (Fitzpatrick, DiariesJohn C. Fitzpatrick, ed. The Diaries of George Washington, 1748–1799. 4 vols. Boston and New York, 1925., 1:247 n.1).

22. Fox hunting with Captn. Posey, started but catchd nothing.

23. Rid to Muddy hole & directed paths to be cut for Fox hunting.

24. Rid up to Toulston in order to Fox hunt it.

   toulston: Towlston Grange on Difficult Run, home of Bryan Fairfax.

25. Confind by Rain with Mr. Fairfax & Mr. Alexander.

26. Went out with the Hounds but started no Fox. Some of the Hounds run of upon a Deer.

27. Went out again—started a Fox abt. 10. Run him till 3 and lost him.

28. Returnd Home. Found Mr. Tomi Elsey there.

   Thomasin (many spellings) Ellzey (Elzey) was a vestryman of Truro Parish from the 1765 election to the dissolution of the Virginia vestries in 1785. He was a son of Lewis Ellzey (d. 1786) and Mary Thomasin Ellzey (d. 1791). Thomasin married Alice, daughter of Col. Thomas Blackburn (d. 1807) and Christian Scott Blackburn, of Rippon Lodge.

29. Went to Belvoir with Mrs. W——n &ca. after Dinnr. Left Mr. Ellzey at home.

30. Dined at Belvoir and returnd in the Afternoon. Borrowd a hound from Mr. Whiting—as I did 2 from Mr. Alexr. the 28th.

   GW was connected with the Whiting family of Gloucester County through his Uncle John Washington (1692–1746), who had married Catherine Whiting (1694–1734), daughter of Henry and Elizabeth Whiting of Gloucester County. The Mr. Whiting who loaned GW the dog today may be Catherine’s nephew Francis Whiting (d. 1775), who was born in Gloucester County and moved to the Shenandoah Valley later in his life. Francis’s older brother Beverley Whiting (c.1707–1755), burgess of Gloucester County, may have been the Beverley Whiting who was one of GW’s godfathers (Va. Mag., 32:130; General Ledger AGeneral Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers., folio 126; freemanDouglas Southall Freeman. George Washington: A Biography. 7 vols. New York, 1948–57., 1:47n).

31. At Home alone all day.


Title: [Diary entry: 4 January 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

4. Foggy & Warm. Mid day clear. Frost still in the Earth. Calm.


Title: [Diary entry: 6 January 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

6. Warm, clear, & pleasant, in the Morng. Wind high from No. Wt. & cool afterwards.


Title: [Diary entry: 8 January 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

8. Clear, frost, & still.


Title: [Diary entry: 10 January 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

10. Weather clear. Wind Southwardly, yet raw and Cold. Hard frost.


Title: [Diary entry: 11 January 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

11. Clear with the Wind at West. Evening very cold & Wind Northwardly. Severe Frost. River froze across.


Title: [Diary entry: 12 January 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

12. Wind at No. West and exceeding cold and frosty.


Title: [Diary entry: 13 January 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

 13. More moderate, and yet very cold, with a little Snow in the Morng. and Eveng. clear.


Title: [Diary entry: 14 January 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

14. Clear and pleast. Wind at South River still froze.


Title: [Diary entry: 15 January 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

15. Clear and pleasant. Wind Southwardly. Thawd a good deal.


Title: [Diary entry: 16 January 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

16. Constant Snow the whole day from the Northward.


Title: [Diary entry: 17 January 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

17. Clear and pleasant. Wind So. West and West. Hard frost.


Title: [Diary entry: 18 January 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

18. Still & cloudy. Very like to Snow but broke away abt. Sun Set. Cold.


Title: [Diary entry: 19 January 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

19. Clear and pleast. Morning. Afternoon Raw & cold.


Title: [Diary entry: 20 January 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

20. Clear, still, & warm. Thawd a great deal.


Title: [Diary entry: 21 January 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

21. Very warm and Still. Snow dissolving fast.


Title: [Diary entry: 23 January 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

23. No Frost last Night. Warm, & clear in the forenoon. Cloudy with some Rain in the Afternoon—afterwards clear again. Ice broke in the River.


Title: [Diary entry: 24 January 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

24. Lowering Morning, but very fine & Warm till 7 in the Afternoon, when the Wind shifted to No. East from So.


Title: [Diary entry: 26 January 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

26. Wind at No. West. Cloudy & cold, with Spits of Snow.


Title: [Diary entry: 27 January 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

27. Cold—cloudy—& still morng. Clear & pleast. afterwards. Wind Southwardly.


Title: [Diary entry: 28 January 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

28. Wind at No. West & very cold.


Title: [Diary entry: 29 January 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

29. Do. at Do. & Do. River froze up again last Night.


Title: [Diary entry: 30 January 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

30. Very hard frost last Night. Morng. cold but more moderate afterwards. Wind gettg. Southwardly.


Title: [Diary entry: 31 January 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

31. Lowering. Wind Southwardly & moderate. Ice breaking and dispersing.


Title: Remarks of the Weather [January 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

Jany. 1st. Ground exceedg. hard froze, but this day calm & moderate.

2. Moderate. Wind Southwardly. Thawing a little.

3. Rain, with the Wind at So. West. Gd. still hard froze, except the Top of it.

4. Foggy & Warm. Mid day clear. Frost still in the Earth. Calm.

5. Very thick & Foggy in the Morning. Wind afterwards at No. Et. and Rain all day the Wind shifting southwardly.

6. Warm, clear, & pleasant, in the Morng. Wind high from No. Wt. & cool afterwards.

7. Clear and frosty. Wind brisk from No. W.

8. Clear, frost, & still.

9. Cloudy, with Misty forenoon & constt. Rain afterwards. Wind Southwardly.

10. Weather clear. Wind Southwardly, yet raw and Cold. Hard frost.

11. Clear with the Wind at West. Evening very cold & Wind Northwardly. Severe Frost. River froze across.

12. Wind at No. West and exceeding cold and frosty.

13. More moderate, and yet very cold, with a little Snow in the Morng. and Eveng. clear.

14. Clear and pleast. Wind at South River still froze.

15. Clear and pleasant. Wind Southwardly. Thawd a good deal.

16. Constant Snow the whole day from the Northward.

17. Clear and pleasant. Wind So. West and West. Hard frost.

18. Still & cloudy. Very like to Snow but broke away abt. Sun Set. Cold.

19. Clear and pleast. Morning. Afternoon Raw & cold.

20. Clear, still, & warm. Thawd a great deal.

21. Very warm and Still. Snow dissolving fast.

22. Warm, still, and clear again. Snow almost gone.

23. No Frost last Night. Warm, & clear in the forenoon. Cloudy with some Rain in the Afternoon—afterwards clear again. Ice broke in the River.

24. Lowering Morning, but very fine & Warm till 7 in the Afternoon, when the Wind shifted to No. East from So.

25. Drizling & Raing. all day. Wind—No. Et.

26. Wind at No. West. Cloudy & cold, with Spits of Snow.

27. Cold—cloudy—& still morng. Clear & pleast. afterwards. Wind Southwardly.

28. Wind at No. West & very cold.

29. Do. at Do. & Do. River froze up again last Night.

30. Very hard frost last Night. Morng. cold but more moderate afterwards. Wind gettg. Southwardly.

31. Lowering. Wind Southwardly & moderate. Ice breaking and dispersing.


Title: [Diary entry: 6 January 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

6. Doeg Run People finishd grubbing the Swamp they were in and proceeded to another adjacent.


Title: [Diary entry: 12 January 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

12. Threshing Wheat at all Plantations Ground being too hard froze to Grub to any advantage.


Title: [Diary entry: 16 January 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

16. Finishd my Smiths Shop—that is the Carpenters work of it.


Title: [Diary entry: 18 January 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

18. Carpenters went to Saw Plank at Doeg Run for finishing the Barn there. Will put new girders into my Mill where they had Sunk.


Title: [Diary entry: 19 January 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

19. Mike, Tom, & Sam went abt. the Overseers House at Muddy hole.


Title: [Diary entry: 20 January 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

20. Plantations chiefly employd in getting out Wheat.


Title: [Diary entry: 22 January 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

22. Davy, George, Jupiter and Ned, finishd Sawing at Doeg Run & Joind Mike &ca. abt. Overseers House at Muddy hole.


Title: Observations [January 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

Jany. 1st. Neck People clearing a piece of ground which was begun the 23d. of Decr.
Doeg Run People working in the Swamp which they began to clear this Fall.
Muddy hole People (except two threshing) clearing the Skirt of woods within the fence 4 Men & 2 Women from Doeg Run assisting.
Mill People also clearing.

6. Doeg Run People finishd grubbing the Swamp they were in and proceeded to another adjacent.

12. Threshing Wheat at all Plantations Ground being too hard froze to Grub to any advantage.

16. Finishd my Smiths Shop—that is the Carpenters work of it.

18. Carpenters went to Saw Plank at Doeg Run for finishing the Barn there.
Will put new girders into my Mill where they had Sunk.

19. Mike, Tom, & Sam went abt. the Overseers House at Muddy hole.

20. Plantations chiefly employd in getting out Wheat.

22. Davy, George, Jupiter and Ned, finishd Sawing at Doeg Run & Joind Mike &ca. abt. Overseers House at Muddy hole.

   GW rented Davy, a carpenter, from Lund Washington for several years (General Ledger AGeneral Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers., folio 297).


Title: [Diary entry: 1 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

1st. Rid round into the Neck and directed the running of a Fence there.


Title: [Diary entry: 2 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

2. Rid to Muddy hole—Doeg Run & Mill.


Title: [Diary entry: 3 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

3. Fox hunting with Captn. Posey & Ld. Washington. Started but catchd nothg.


Title: [Diary entry: 4 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

4. Snowing all day—but not very fast—at home.


Title: [Diary entry: 7 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

7. At Home alone.


Title: [Diary entry: 10 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

10. Rid to Muddy hole, Doeg Run, and Mill, Mr. Alexander going in the Morng. as Mr. Magowan did to Williamsburg.


Title: [Diary entry: 11 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

11. Went into the Neck and returnd to Dinner.


Title: [Diary entry: 12 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

12. Fox hunting with Colo. Fairfax, Captn. McCarty, Mr. Chichester, Posey, Ellzey & Manley who dind here with Mrs. Fairfax & Miss Nicholas. Catchd two foxes.


Title: [Diary entry: 14 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

14. At home alone.


Title: [Diary entry: 15 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

15. Ditto—Ditto.


Title: [Diary entry: 16 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

16. Went up to Alexa. and returnd in the Eveng.


Title: [Diary entry: 18 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

18. Went a ducking between breakfast & dinner. In the Afternoon Mr. Thruston Mr. Alexander, & Mr. Carter from Gloster came in.


Title: [Diary entry: 19 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

19. After dinner the above Gentlemen went to Belvoier.


Title: [Diary entry: 20 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

20. Fox hunting with Captn. Posey. Catchd a Fox.


Title: [Diary entry: 21 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

21. At home all day. Mr. Wm. Gardner dind here. A Gentleman from York River came to buy Wheat.


Title: [Diary entry: 22 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

22. Rid to Muddy hole, Doeg Run and the Mill before Dinner and went out with my Gun after it.


Title: [Diary entry: 23 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

23. Fox hunting with Captn. Posey. Catchd a Fox we suppose, but being dark coud not find it.


Title: [Diary entry: 25 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

25. Doctr. Rumney went away. I went to the Creek but not cross it. Killd 2 Ducks—viz. a sprig tail and Teal.


Title: [Diary entry: 27 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

27. Went on the Road, clearing between Mt. Vernon, and the Mill. In the Evening Mr. Stedlar came.


Title: [Diary entry: 28 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

28. In the Afternoon went up to Mr. Robt. Alexanders in order to meet Mr. B. Fairfax & others a fox Huntg. None came this day but Captn. Posey.


Title: [Diary entry: 29 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

29. At Mr. Alexanders all day with his Phil & Captn. Posey—it raining.


Title: [February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

1st. Rid round into the Neck and directed the running of a Fence there.

2. Rid to Muddy hole—Doeg Run & Mill.

3. Fox hunting with Captn. Posey & Ld. Washington. Started but catchd nothg.

   Lund Washington (1737–1796), a distant cousin of GW, was the son of Townshend and Elizabeth Lund Washington, of the Chotank area, where GW spent part of his youth. Lund had managed the Ravensworth estates of Henry Fitzhugh (1723–1783) during the early 1760s, and in ca. Oct. 1764 GW hired him as manager for his Mount Vernon plantations.

4. Snowing all day—but not very fast—at home.

5. At home alone till Mr. Robt. Alexander came in the Evening.

6. Fox hunting with Mr. Alexander & Captn. Posey. Started but catchd nothing.

7. At Home alone.

8. Rid to Muddy hole—Doeg Run & Mill and in returng. met Mr. Alexander Mr. Stoddard and Captn. Posey, who had just catchd 2 foxes. Returnd w. them to Dinner.

   Stoddard is possibly a member of the Stoddert family of Prince George’s and Charles counties, Md. Thomas Stoddert, who served with the Maryland troops in the French and Indian War, was the father of Benjamin Stoddert (1751–1813) by his wife Sarah Marshall Stoddert, daughter of Thomas Marshall of Marshall Hall.

9. Went out Hunting again. Started a fox. Run him four hours & then lost him. Mr. Stoddard went home. Alexr. stayd.

10. Rid to Muddy hole, Doeg Run, and Mill, Mr. Alexander going in the Morng. as Mr. Magowan did to Williamsburg.

   Walter Magowan (d. 1786), an immigrant from Scotland, was hired by GW in the fall of 1761 to tutor the two Custis children at a wage of £35 a year. Magowan left the position in the late fall of 1767 and applied for the rectorship of Frederick Parish in Frederick County. The parish promised to hold the position open until Dec. 1768, and Magowan was now preparing to go to England for ordination. For this trip GW gave him a letter of introduction to Robert Cary & Co., dated 10 Mar. 1768 (DLC:GW).

11. Went into the Neck and returnd to Dinner.

12. Fox hunting with Colo. Fairfax, Captn. McCarty, Mr. Chichester, Posey, Ellzey & Manley who dind here with Mrs. Fairfax & Miss Nicholas. Catchd two foxes.

   Richard Chichester (c.1736–1796), son of Richard Chichester (d. 1743) and Ellen Ball Chichester of Lancaster County, was, through his mother, a distant relation of GW. He inherited his father’s plantation, Fairweathers,

and in 1759 married Ann Gordon (1743–1765) of Lancaster County. Shortly after Ann’s death he moved from Lancaster to Fauquier County and married Sarah McCarty (d. 1826), daughter of his cousin Capt. Daniel McCarty of Mount Air, here mentioned. In 1774 Chichester bought land on Accotink Creek in Fairfax County, near McCarty’s home and settled there with his family for the rest of his life (haydenHorace Edwin Hayden.  Virginia Genealogies. A Genealogy of the Glassell Family of Scotland and Virginia, also of the Families of Ball, Brown, Bryan, Conway, Daniel, Ewell, Holladay, Lewis, Littlepage, Moncure, Peyton, Robinson, Scott, Taylor, Wallace, and others, of Virginia and Maryland. 1891. Reprint. Baltimore, 1973., 106–7; deed of Richard Watts to Chichester, 6 Dec. 1774, Fairfax County Deeds, Book M–1, 28–32, Vi Microfilm).

   Harrison Manley (d. 1773), the son of John Manley (d. 1750) and Sarah Harrison Manley. Manley occasionally sold wheat to GW and used the services of GW’s mill, blacksmith shop, and weaving shop as part payment in return (General Ledger BGeneral Ledger B, 1772–1793. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers., folio 9).

   Two daughters of Wilson and Sarah Cary—Sarah and Elizabeth—married the brothers George William and Bryan Fairfax. A third daughter, Anne Cary (b. 1733), married Robert Carter Nicholas (1728–1780) of James City County and had four daughters, one of whom, probably either Sarah Nicholas (b. 1752) or Elizabeth Nicholas (1753–1810), is the Miss Nicholas who appears here.

13. Hunting in the same Company. Catchd 2 More foxes. None dind at Mt. Vernon.

   GW today lent Ellzey £10 (General Ledger AGeneral Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers., folio 269).

14. At home alone.

15. Ditto—Ditto.

16. Went up to Alexa. and returnd in the Eveng.

   While GW was in town today he received £75 cash as part payment for wheat sold to the Alexandria firm of John Carlyle & Robert Adam. This partnership, which was separate from the one Carlyle had with John Dalton (see entry for 17 April 1760), had been formed in 1764 to deal in wheat and flour and lasted until about 1770. During that period GW sold most of his wheat to the firm and regularly drew on his account with it for his cash needs (General Ledger AGeneral Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers., folio 180, 271, 280, 310, 326).

17. Rid to Muddy hole, Doeg Run, & the Mill. Returnd to Dinner and alone.

18. Went a ducking between breakfast & dinner. In the Afternoon Mr. Thruston Mr. Alexander, & Mr. Carter from Gloster came in.

   Charles Mynn Thruston (1738–1812), originally of Gloucester County, raised a body of volunteers in 1758 and joined William Byrd’s Virginia Regiment as a lieutenant (writingsJohn C. Fitzpatrick, ed. The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources, 1745–1799. 39 vols. Washington, D.C., 1931–44., 3:2; hamilton [1]Stanislaus Murray Hamilton, ed. Letters to Washington and Accompanying Papers. 5 vols. Boston and New York, 1898–1902., 2:292). In 1760 he married Mary Buckner, daughter of Col. Samuel Buckner of Gloucester County; she bore him three sons and died in 1765. In the fall of 1764 Thruston, having

been chosen minister of Petsworth Parish, Gloucester County, went to England to take orders, and was licensed for Virginia in Aug. 1765 (petsworthC. G. Chamberlayne, ed. The Vestry Book of Petsworth Parish, Gloucester County, Virginia, 1677–1793. Richmond, 1933., 323–24; goodwinEdward Lewis Goodwin. The Colonial Church in Virginia: With Biographical Sketches of the First Six Bishops of the Diocese of Virginia, And Other Historical Papers, together with Brief Biographical Sketches of the Colonial Clergy of Virginia. Milwaukee, 1927., 312). The Alexander family of Gloucester County had been headed by David Alexander (d. 1750), who emigrated to Virginia from England. This Mr. Alexander may have been David’s son Morgan Alexander (b. 1746), who, like Thruston, was now looking for land, in either Loudoun or Frederick County, where he could settle. There were several Carter families in Gloucester County at this time.

19. After dinner the above Gentlemen went to Belvoier.

20. Fox hunting with Captn. Posey. Catchd a Fox.

21. At home all day. Mr. Wm. Gardner dind here. A Gentleman from York River came to buy Wheat.

22. Rid to Muddy hole, Doeg Run and the Mill before Dinner and went out with my Gun after it.

23. Fox hunting with Captn. Posey. Catchd a Fox we suppose, but being dark coud not find it.

   On this day, while ordering a butt of Madeira wine from a dealer in the Madeira Islands, GW asked for some cuttings of the grape. As if suspecting that the request would run counter to the policy of the vintners, he wrote, “but if in requiring this last Article there be any sort of Impropriety I beg that no notice may be taken of it” (GW to Scott, Pringle, Cheape & Co., 23 Feb. 1768, DLC:GW).

24. Went a ducking between breakfast & dinner & killd 2 Mallards & 5 bald faces. Found Doctr. Rumney here at Dinner who staid all Night. Mr. Magowan returnd.

   Rumney had come to see GW’s stepdaughter, Martha Parke Custis, who was known as Patsy (Patcy) to her family and friends. Now 11 or 12 years old, Patsy had suffered from epilepsy at least since the age of 6, and with the beginning of her adolescence, the malady showed no signs of abating (receipt from James Carter, 12 April 1762, ViHi: Custis Papers). On this occasion Rumney prescribed 12 powders of unidentified composition, “a vial of Nervous Drops,” and a package of valerian, a drug that was thought to be useful in controlling epileptic spasms (receipt from William Rumney, 18 Feb. 1769, ViHi: Custis Papers; hooperRobert Hooper. Lexicon-Medicum; or Medical Dictionary; Containing an Explanation of the Terms in Anatomy, Botany, Chemistry, Materia Medica, Midwifery, Mineralogy, Pharmacy, Physiology, Practice of Physic, Surgery, and the Various Branches of Natural Philosophy Connected with Medicine. New York, 1826., 981). But these medicines, and the many others that would be tried in the future, could not relieve Patsy’s condition. She was beyond the help of eighteenth-century physicians, and much to the dismay of her family, epileptic attacks would plague her at frequent intervals until one caused her death in June 1773.

25. Doctr. Rumney went away. I went to the Creek but not cross it. Killd 2 Ducks—viz. a sprig tail and Teal.

26. Laid of a Road from Mt. Vernon to the Lain by Mr. Manleys.

27. Went on the Road, clearing between Mt. Vernon, and the Mill. In the Evening Mr. Stedlar came.

   In 1765 GW hired John Stadler, a local music teacher, for the purpose of “teaching Mrs. Washington & two Childn Musick” (General Ledger AGeneral Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers., folio 231). During the next six years Stadler frequently visited Mount Vernon to give lessons, mostly to the children. Patsy was learning to play the spinet, and her brother, John Parke Custis, the fiddle (GW to Robert Cary & Co., 12 Oct. 1761 and >20 July 1767, DLC:GW).

28. In the Afternoon went up to Mr. Robt. Alexanders in order to meet Mr. B. Fairfax & others a fox Huntg. None came this day but Captn. Posey.

   Robert Alexander lived just north of Four Mile Run. He had inherited the house and 904 acres of land from his father, Gerard Alexander (will of Gerard Alexander, 9 Aug. 1760, Fairfax County Wills, Book B–1, 327–29, Vi Microfilm).

29. At Mr. Alexanders all day with his Phil & Captn. Posey—it raining.

   phil: probably Robert Alexander’s younger brother Philip Alexander (d. 1790), whose home was just north of Alexandria.


Title: [Diary entry: 1 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

Feby. 1st. Mild, Still, & Warm.


Title: [Diary entry: 3 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

3. Clear, & somewhat cool in the Morning. Cloudy afterwards.


Title: [Diary entry: 5 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

5. Raining more or less till the Afternoon when it ceasd & became foggy & remaind Cloudy.


Title: [Diary entry: 6 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

6. Cloudy & dull Morng. Clear Afterwds.


Title: [Diary entry: 7 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

7. Gloomy Morning. Cloudy afternoon—and rainy Evening and Night.


Title: [Diary entry: 8 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

8. Calm and Misty Morning & dull day.


Title: [Diary entry: 9 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

9. Clear—calm—& warm Morning. Windy afternoon—from the westward.


Title: [Diary entry: 11 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

11. Still and Lowering kind of a day wt. drops of Rain every now and then.


Title: [Diary entry: 13 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

 13. Cloudy Morning—but very pleasant Mid day & afternoon being clear with very little wind.


Title: [Diary entry: 14 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

14. Raining more or less till the Afternoon when turnd to a kind of Mist. Winds changeable.


Title: [Diary entry: 15 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

15. Heavy Morng. Rain abt. 8 Oclock & till 2 then Snow. Variable Winds.


Title: [Diary entry: 16 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

16. Clear and pleasant with little Wind and that variable.


Title: [Diary entry: 17 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

17. Very white Frost; Morning clear, & Still. Afternoon muddy with the Wind at So.


Title: [Diary entry: 18 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

18. Lowering day with drops of Rain every now and then. Afternoon Misty with the Wind at No. Et.


Title: [Diary entry: 19 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

19. Thick mist the whole day with very little wind.


Title: [Diary entry: 20 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

20. Foggy & Misty Morng. Cloudy all day. Wind Southwardly in the Afternoon.


Title: [Diary entry: 21 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

21. Quite warm—still—and tolerably clear.


Title: [Diary entry: 23 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

23. Rainy morning & Misty day, with but little wind.


Title: [Diary entry: 24 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

24. Clear, & cool. Wind brisk from the North West.


Title: [Diary entry: 25 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

25. Hard frost. Clear & cool, Wind at No. West in the Morning but calm & pleasant in the Afternoon.


Title: [Diary entry: 26 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

26. Dull morng. Wind at So. Wt. and cool. Clear Noon & Muddy Sky in the Afternn.


Title: [Diary entry: 27 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

27. Showery all day (misty Showers) & still.


Title: [Diary entry: 28 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

28. Misty Showers with intervening Sun. Wind Southwardly & fresh.


Title: [Diary entry: 29 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

29. Constant Rain from abt. 7 Oclock till three—then Snow with variable Wind from So. Wt. to No. Et. Westwardly.


Title: Remarks of the Weather [February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

Feby. 1st. Mild, Still, & Warm.

2. Lowering Morning—but Wind Westwardly & clear afterwards.

3. Clear, & somewhat cool in the Morning. Cloudy afterwards.

4. Snowing all day; but not very fast. Towards Night it turnd to hail and then to Rain. Very little Wind.

5. Raining more or less till the Afternoon when it ceasd & became foggy & remaind Cloudy.

6. Cloudy & dull Morng. Clear Afterwds.

7. Gloomy Morning. Cloudy afternoon—and rainy Evening and Night.

8. Calm and Misty Morning & dull day.

9. Clear—calm—& warm Morning. Windy afternoon—from the westward.

10. Clear & fine day. Little wind.

11. Still and Lowering kind of a day wt. drops of Rain every now and then.

12. Dull Morning, & lowering Day but no Rain & very little Wind.

13. Cloudy Morning—but very pleasant Mid day & afternoon being clear with very little wind.

14. Raining more or less till the Afternoon when turnd to a kind of Mist. Winds changeable.

15. Heavy Morng. Rain abt. 8 Oclock & till 2 then Snow. Variable Winds.

16. Clear and pleasant with little Wind and that variable.

17. Very white Frost; Morning clear, & Still. Afternoon muddy with the Wind at So.

18. Lowering day with drops of Rain every now and then. Afternoon Misty with the Wind at No. Et.

19. Thick mist the whole day with very little wind.

20. Foggy & Misty Morng. Cloudy all day. Wind Southwardly in the Afternoon.

21. Quite warm—still—and tolerably clear.

22. Warm and Cloudy—with Showers of Rain and some Thunder. Wind fresh from the So. West &ca.

23. Rainy morning & Misty day, with but little wind.

24. Clear, & cool. Wind brisk from the North West.

25. Hard frost. Clear & cool, Wind at No. West in the Morning but calm & pleasant in the Afternoon.

26. Dull morng. Wind at So. Wt. and cool. Clear Noon & Muddy Sky in the Afternn.

27. Showery all day (misty Showers) & still.

28. Misty Showers with intervening Sun. Wind Southwardly & fresh.

29. Constant Rain from abt. 7 Oclock till three—then Snow with variable Wind from So. Wt. to No. Et. Westwardly.


Title: [Diary entry: 1 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

Feby. 1st. Carpenters all (except Will) Went to Sawing Pailing for a Goose yard.


Title: [Diary entry: 13 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

13. Finishd the Goose Pen at Home. Also finishd clearing the Point of Woods between where Carney & Rollins & Crump livd in the Neck abt. 30 Acres.


Title: [Diary entry: 26 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

26. Began to deliver my Wheat to Mr. Kirk. Carpenters not having quite finishd the Overseers Ho[use] at Muddy hole for want of some Plank went abt. a Corn Ho. there. Much abt. this time a Hound Bitch Mopsey of Mr. R. Alexanders (now with me) was proud, & shut up chiefly with a black dog Taster who lind her several times as did Tipler once, that is known of. The little Bitch Cloe in the House was also proud at the same time—but whether lined or not cannot be known. See how long they go with Pup—and whether both the sametime—being very difft. in size.


Title: [Diary entry: 26–27 February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

 26 & 27. Transplanted trees of differt. kinds into the Lucern Patch.


Title: Observations [February 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

Feby. 1st. Carpenters all (except Will) Went to Sawing Pailing for a Goose yard.

13. Finishd the Goose Pen at Home. Also finishd clearing the Point of Woods between where Carney & Rollins & Crump livd in the Neck abt. 30 Acres.

   Richard Rollins and William Crump apparently moved out of Clifton’s Neck soon after GW purchased it in April 1760 (General Ledger AGeneral Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers., folio 74, 80). John Carney remained as a tenant, paying GW the standard annual rental of 730 pounds of tobacco until 1765, when GW bought out his lease (General Ledger AGeneral Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers., folio 82, 136, 218).

18. Rais’d Overseers House at Muddy hole.
Finishd Threshing & cleaning my Wheat at Doeg Run Plantn.  Bushl.

23. Stopd clearing the Field on the Ck. in the Neck, and began upon those pieces of Woods in the other field by Mr. Sheridines.

   John Sheridine of Charles County, Md., had rented land in Clifton’s Neck from William Clifton in 1741. After GW bought the land in 1760, Sheridine continued to rent until GW bought out the remainder of the lease in 1773. Sheridine’s son, John Sheridine (d. 1768), seems to have lived on the land until his death. After this, his widow Barberry (Barbara?) remained there for several years (deed of Sheridine to GW, 9 Aug. 1773, MWA; General Ledger AGeneral Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers., folio 75, 134, 227, 351; General Ledger BGeneral Ledger B, 1772–1793. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers., folio 39).

26. Began to deliver my Wheat to Mr. Kirk.
Carpenters not having quite finishd the Overseers Ho[use] at Muddy hole for want of some Plank went abt. a Corn Ho. there.
Much abt. this time a Hound Bitch Mopsey of Mr. R. Alexanders (now with me) was proud, & shut up chiefly with a black dog Taster who lind her several times as did Tipler once, that is known of. The little Bitch Cloe in the House was also proud at the same time—but whether lined or not cannot be known. See how long they go with Pup—and whether both the sametime—being very difft. in size.

   James Kirk, an immigrant from England, established himself as a wheat merchant and also invested heavily in western lands. He kept a store and office in Alexandria and maintained a country residence across the Potomac in Maryland (General Ledger AGeneral Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers., folio 270–71; cresswellLincoln MacVeagh, ed. The Journal of Nicholas Cresswell, 1774–1777. New York, 1924., 4, 27, 52). GW’s wheat is today being loaded on a ship owned by Kirk for Carlyle & Adam, the purchasers.

26 & 27. Transplanted trees of differt. kinds into the Lucern Patch.


Title: [Diary entry: 1 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

Mar. 1st. Went a fox hunting with the two Alexrs. and Posey. Was during the chase (in which nothing was catchd) joind by Mr. Fairfax, Jno. Alexander & Muir.


Title: [Diary entry: 4 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

4. At Home, worse with the above complaints. Sent for Doctr. Rumney, who came in the Afternn.


Title: [Diary entry: 5 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

5. Very bad the Doctr. staying with me.


Title: [Diary entry: 7 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

7. Rather better. Doctr. went home after breakfast. Mr. Ramsay staid to Dinner.


Title: [Diary entry: 8 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

8. Mending fast. Colo. Thos. Moore calld here on his way from Alexa. Home, but made no stay. Colo. Fairfax, & Mr. Gilbt. Campbell (Comptroller) Dined here.


Title: [Diary entry: 9 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

9. Still mending. At home alone.


Title: [Diary entry: 10 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

10. Mending still. Rid out. Mr. Peake & Auge. Darrel dind here.


Title: [Diary entry: 11 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

11. At home alone all day.


Title: [Diary entry: 12 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

12. Rid to the new Road—Mill, Doeg Run & Muddy hole Plantns. & found Doctr. Rumney upon my return, who dind & stayd all Night.


Title: [Diary entry: 13 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

13. At Home alone all day.


Title: [Diary entry: 14 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

14. With the people working upon the New Road between breakfast and Dinner.


Title: [Diary entry: 15 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

15. At home alone all day.


Title: [Diary entry: 16 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

16. Hunting with Captn. Posey & L[un]d W. Started and catchd a fox in abt. three hours.


Title: [Diary entry: 17 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

17. Rid into the Neck—to Muddy hole and upon the New Road. When I came home found Colo. Carlyle & his Wife & Children there.


Title: [Diary entry: 18 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

 18. Went with Colo. Carlyle & our Families to Belvoir. Myself & Mrs. W—n returnd leaving the others there. Found Mr. Stedlar at Mt. Vernon.


Title: [Diary entry: 20 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

20. At home all day. Mr. Stedlar still here. In the Afternoon Mr. Carlyle & Family returnd from Belvoir.


Title: [Diary entry: 22 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

22. Rid to the Mill, Doeg Run and Muddy hole Plantation.


Title: [Diary entry: 23 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

23. Rid out to see, & examine whether a Road coud not be discovd. & opend from Posey’s ferry back of Muddy hole Plantn. thereby avoidg. the Gumspring, which I think may be done to advantage.


Title: [Diary entry: 24 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

24. Rid out again with Mr. Peake on the above Acct. and observd that a good Road might be had along H[untin]g C[ree]k upon Colo. Masons Land.


Title: [Diary entry: 25 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

25. Went into the Neck. Grafted some Cherries & began to manure the ground for my Grapevines.


Title: [Diary entry: 26 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

26. Went Fox huntg.—but started nothing. Mr. Lawe. Washington came here & Miss Ramsay in the Afternoon.


Title: [Diary entry: 27 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

27. At home. Lawe. Washington went away.


Title: [Diary entry: 30 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

30. Rid to Muddy hole—Doeg Run & Mill Plantation’s.


Title: [Diary entry: 31 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

31. Went into the Neck. At my return found Doctr. Rumney & Mr. Wm. Crawford at the House. Dr. Rumney went away in the Afternoon.


Title: [March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

Mar. 1st. Went a fox hunting with the two Alexrs. and Posey. Was during the chase (in which nothing was catchd) joind by Mr. Fairfax, Jno. Alexander & Muir.

   John Alexander (1735–1775), of King George and Stafford counties, was in this period the eldest of three brothers in the “Philip” branch of the Alexander family. John, who had inherited a portion of the 1669 Howsing Patent from his father, Philip Alexander (1704–1753), was a burgess from Stafford County 1765–75. He married Lucy Thornton (d. 1781). John Muir (c.1731–1791), of Dumfries, Scot., settled as a merchant in Alexandria; in 1758 he was chosen a town trustee.

2. Hunting again, & catchd a fox with a bobd Tail & cut Ears, after 7 hours chase in wch. most of the Dogs were worsted.

3. Returnd home much disorderd by a Lax, Griping and violent straining.

4. At Home, worse with the above complaints. Sent for Doctr. Rumney, who came in the Afternn.

5. Very bad the Doctr. staying with me.

6. Something better—Doctr. still here—& Mr. Ramsay came down to see me.

7. Rather better. Doctr. went home after breakfast. Mr. Ramsay staid to Dinner.

8. Mending fast. Colo. Thos. Moore calld here on his way from Alexa. Home, but made no stay. Colo. Fairfax, & Mr. Gilbt. Campbell (Comptroller) Dined here.

   Moore, who was heavily indebted to the estate of the late Speaker of the House of Burgesses, John Robinson (d. 1766) of King and Queen County, was now trying to renew his bond to GW for his debt to the Custis estate, which GW had been carrying, with interest, for eight years (General Ledger AGeneral Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers., folio 204; see main entry for 4 Nov. 1768).

   Gilbert Campbell, of Westmoreland County, was comptroller of the South Potomac Naval District. He was a signer of the Westmoreland County association to prevent the execution of the Stamp Act in the colony, 27 Feb. 1766, and was still serving as comptroller in 1776.

9. Still mending. At home alone.

10. Mending still. Rid out. Mr. Peake & Auge. Darrel dind here.

   Humphrey Peake (1733–1785), who inherited Willow Spring from his father, William Peake (d. 1761), was a neighbor and fox-hunting companion of GW and a frequent visitor to Mount Vernon.

   Augustus Darrell (d. 1777) of Fairfax County, a son of Sampson Darrell, married about 1771 Sarah McCarty Johnston, widow of George Johnston of Belvale and sister of Daniel McCarty of Mount Air (General Ledger AGeneral Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers., folio 300).

11. At home alone all day.

12. Rid to the new Road—Mill, Doeg Run & Muddy hole Plantns. & found Doctr. Rumney upon my return, who dind & stayd all Night.

   During this visit Rumney treated Patsy Custis with valerian and powders and applied some type of plaster (receipt from William Rumney, 18 Feb. 1769, ViHi: Custis Papers). GW today paid him £5 in cash (General Ledger AGeneral Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers., folio 269).

13. At Home alone all day.

14. With the people working upon the New Road between breakfast and Dinner.

15. At home alone all day.

16. Hunting with Captn. Posey & L[un]d W. Started and catchd a fox in abt. three hours.

17. Rid into the Neck—to Muddy hole and upon the New Road. When I came home found Colo. Carlyle & his Wife & Children there.

   Col. John Carlyle’s first wife, Sarah Fairfax Carlyle, bore him two children: Sarah, who appears in the diaries as “Sally,” and Anne (1761–1778), who appears as “Nancy.” After the death of Sarah Fairfax Carlyle in 1761, Colonel Carlyle married Sybil West, daughter of Hugh West (1705-1754) and Sybil Harrison West (d. 1787). They had one child, George William Carlyle (d. 1781).

18. Went with Colo. Carlyle & our Families to Belvoir. Myself & Mrs. W—n returnd leaving the others there. Found Mr. Stedlar at Mt. Vernon.

19. At home all day. Mr. Stedlar here.

20. At home all day. Mr. Stedlar still here. In the Afternoon Mr. Carlyle & Family returnd from Belvoir.

21. Went to Court. Colo. Carlyle & Family also went up. Mr. Stedlar stay’d—& Sally Carlyle.

22. Rid to the Mill, Doeg Run and Muddy hole Plantation.

23. Rid out to see, & examine whether a Road coud not be discovd. & opend from Posey’s ferry back of Muddy hole Plantn. thereby avoidg. the Gumspring, which I think may be done to advantage.

24. Rid out again with Mr. Peake on the above Acct. and observd that a good Road might be had along H[untin]g C[ree]k upon Colo. Masons Land.

25. Went into the Neck. Grafted some Cherries & began to manure the ground for my Grapevines.

26. Went Fox huntg.—but started nothing. Mr. Lawe. Washington came here & Miss Ramsay in the Afternoon.

   mr. lawe. washington: probably Lawrence Washington (1728–c.1809), usually called “of Chotank,” the son of John and Mary Massey Washington and first cousin to Lund Washington. His home was on a bluff of the Potomac River near Chotank Creek. This Lawrence was one of the two Chotank cousins remembered in GW’s will as “acquaintances and friends of my Juvenile years” (writingsJohn C. Fitzpatrick, ed. The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources, 1745–1799. 39 vols. Washington, D.C., 1931–44., 37:286; eubankH. Ragland Eubank. Touring Historyland: The Authentic Guide Book of Historic Northern Neck of Virginia, the Land of George Washington and Robert E. Lee. Colonial Beach, Va., 1934., 18–20). Lund Washington also had a brother named Lawrence (1740–1799), who may be the one referred to here.

   William Ramsay (1716–1785) and his wife Ann McCarty Ramsay (c.1730–1785) had two sons and five daughters. “Miss Ramsay” is probably the eldest daughter, Elizabeth, who appears in the diaries variously as “Betsy,” “Betcy,” and “Betty.”

27. At home. Lawe. Washington went away.

28. At home.

29. Fox hunting—with Jacky Custis & Ld. Washington. Catchd a fox after 3 hrs. chase.

   jacky: GW’s stepson, John Parke Custis. He was described by GW in May of this year as “a boy of good genius, about 14 yrs. of age, untainted in his Morals, & of innocent Manners. Two yrs. and upwards he has been reading of Virgil, and was (at the time Mr. Magowan left him) entered upon the Greek Testament” (GW to Jonathan Boucher, 30 May 1768, PHi: Dreer Collection).

30. Rid to Muddy hole—Doeg Run & Mill Plantation’s.

31. Went into the Neck. At my return found Doctr. Rumney & Mr. Wm. Crawford at the House. Dr. Rumney went away in the Afternoon.

   On the following day Rumney charged twelve “Nervous Powders” and ingredients for a medicinal brew to Patsy Custis’s account (receipt from William Rumney, 18 Feb. 1769, ViHi: Custis Papers).


Title: [Diary entry: 1 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

Mar. 1st. Cool & clear. Wind fresh from the No. West. Ground froze.


Title: [Diary entry: 3 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

3. Lowering with some sprinkles of Rain.


Title: [Diary entry: 6 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

6. Ground & snow hard froze. Clear, Wind Northwardly.


Title: [Diary entry: 7 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

7. Clear & cool, wind still Northwardly.


Title: [Diary entry: 8 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

8. Frosty Morning—but clear & pleast. day. Wind Southwardly.


Title: [Diary entry: 9 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

9. No frost. Clear & pleast. forenoon & Mid day—but hazy afternoon. Wind fresh from South.


Title: [Diary entry: 10 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

10. Lowering Morning. Rainy, & Windy afternoon from the So[uth]ward.


Title: [Diary entry: 13 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

13. Wind at No. West and Cool—with a lowering Sun—& sometimes Cloudy.


Title: [Diary entry: 14 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

14. Wind Southwardly till the Afternn. then Northwardly with first Rain then Snow, being cloudy & raw all day.


Title: [Diary entry: 15 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

15. Snow abt. half an Inch thick. Morng. cold & clear. Wind at No. West till the Afternoon, then North with a thick Muddy Sky. Ground froze.


Title: [Diary entry: 16 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

16. Ground froze. Morning thick and threatening—but clear afterwards with the Wind Southwardly.


Title: [Diary entry: 17 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

17. Morning frozen and cold, wind Raw from the Northward. Afterwards something warmer but still cold & clear.


Title: [Diary entry: 18 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

18. Hard frost. Clear and cool. Wind at Northwest.


Title: [Diary entry: 21 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

21. Moderately warm. Wind Southwestwardly & sometimes lowering but clear Aftn.


Title: [Diary entry: 22 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

22. Calm, clear, & pleasant. Snow melting fast.


Title: [Diary entry: 25 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

25. Clear. Morning Cool, & wind at No. West. Evening Mild & calm. Ground froze.


Title: [Diary entry: 27 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

27. Cloudy & lowering till abt. 3 Oclock then Snowing more or less till Night when it raind a good deal but little Wd.


Title: [Diary entry: 29 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

29. Raw, cold, & cloudy forenoon. Clear & more moderate Afternoon, Wind being pretty fresh from No. Wt. all day.


Title: [Diary entry: 30 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

30. Calm, clear & pleast. Morng. Afternoon also clear, but more cool—Wind being brisk from southward.


Title: [Diary entry: 31 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

31. Grey Morng. Clear Afterwards & raw. Wind fresh from the Southward.


Title: [Diary entry: 3 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

Mar. 3d. Deliverd a Load of 508 Bushels of Muddy hole Wheat to Mr. Kirks Ship and my Schooner returnd.


Title: [Diary entry: 5 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

5. Deliverd another Load of 517½ Bushls. of the Neck Wheat to the above ship and returnd the same day. Finishd cutting down Corn Stocks at all my Plantations.


Title: [Diary entry: 12 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

 12. Large parts of my Wheat Field at Doeg Run—the same I believe at the Mill—were found to be exceedingly Injurd by the Frost (and I apprehend by the last frost abt. the 7 & 8th. Instt.). Upon examining the Wheat which appeard to be so much hurt, I found the Roots for the most part were entirely out of the ground. Some indeed had a small fibre or so left in, & here perhaps a green blade might be found in a bunch, but where the Root was quite Out the whole bunch seemd perishd & Perishing. Note. Watch the Progress of this Wheat, & see if there be any possibility of its taking Root again (as it lyes thick on the gd.). Near a stake in the 18 Inch Cut and abt. 100 yds. from the Barracks is a spot of an Acre or so of this kind. Observe this place—being poor gd. also. Carpenters returnd from the Road abt. Muddy hole Corn House.


Title: [Diary entry: 15 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

15. Deliverd the last load of my Wheat to Mr. Kirks Ship which makes 1921 Bushls. delivd. him in all. Reckg. in 15 Bushls. to be deliv’d him by Mr. Digges.


Title: [Diary entry: 16 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

16. Began to list Corn Ground at Muddy hole. Recd. my Goods from Mr. Cary by Captn. Johnston. Sent my Vessel abt. 4 Oclock in the Afternoon to Mr. Kirk agreeable to his Letter.


Title: [Diary entry: 18 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

18. Began to lay of my Corn ground in the Neck.


Title: [Diary entry: 19 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

19. Sent Chaunter (a Hound Bitch) up to Toulston; to go to Mr. Fairfax’s Dog Forester—or Rockwood—She appearg. to be going Proud. Forrester not beg. at Home she went to Rockwood.


Title: [Diary entry: 25 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

25. Observ’d a Lamb in my Pasture being the first fallen from Ewes put to my Ram the .


Title: [Diary entry: 26 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

 26. My Vessel returnd from Mr. Kirks employ abt. sundown—being 10 days gone.


Title: [Diary entry: 29 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

29. Began to Cork & pay the bottom of my schooner.


Title: [Diary entry: 31 March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

31. Finishd Corking my Vessel & weeding out my Lucern.


Title: Observations [March 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

Mar. 3d. Deliverd a Load of 508 Bushels of Muddy hole Wheat to Mr. Kirks Ship and my Schooner returnd.

5. Deliverd another Load of 517½ Bushls. of the Neck Wheat to the above ship and returnd the same day.
Finishd cutting down Corn Stocks at all my Plantations.

12. Large parts of my Wheat Field at Doeg Run—the same I believe at the Mill—were found to be exceedingly Injurd by the Frost (and I apprehend by the last frost abt. the 7 & 8th. Instt.). Upon examining the Wheat which appeard to be so much hurt, I found the Roots for the most part were entirely out of the ground. Some indeed had a small fibre or so left in, & here perhaps a green blade might be found in a bunch, but where the Root was quite Out the whole bunch seemd perishd & Perishing.
Note. Watch the Progress of this Wheat, & see if there be any possibility of its taking Root again (as it lyes thick on the gd.). Near a stake in the 18 Inch Cut and abt. 100 yds. from the Barracks is a spot of an Acre or so of this kind. Observe this place—being poor gd. also.
Carpenters returnd from the Road abt. Muddy hole Corn House.

15. Deliverd the last load of my Wheat to Mr. Kirks Ship which makes 1921 Bushls. delivd. him in all. Reckg. in 15 Bushls. to be deliv’d him by Mr. Digges.

   GW had previously lent 15 bushels of wheat to William Digges of Warburton, the equivalent of which was now earmarked for delivery by Digges to Kirk as part of GW’s total delivery (General Ledger AGeneral Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers., folio 156). The total included 475 bushels delivered 11 Mar. but not mentioned in the diary (General Ledger AGeneral Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers., folio 271).

16. Began to list Corn Ground at Muddy hole.
Recd. my Goods from Mr. Cary by Captn. Johnston.
Sent my Vessel abt. 4 Oclock in the Afternoon to Mr. Kirk agreeable to his Letter.

   John Johnstoun (died c.1773), captain of the Lord Cambden, was delivering GW’s major spring shipment of supplies from England; the shipment comprised a great variety of goods collected from 39 different London shops, including a set of surveyor’s instruments for John Parke Custis and some harpsichord music for Patsy. These were all gathered together and shipped by Robert Cary & Co., which was the major London merchant house for the Custis estates and was subsequently retained by GW after his marriage to Martha Dandridge Custis.

18. Began to lay of my Corn ground in the Neck.

19. Sent Chaunter (a Hound Bitch) up to Toulston; to go to Mr. Fairfax’s Dog Forester—or Rockwood—She appearg. to be going Proud. Forrester not beg. at Home she went to Rockwood.

25. Observ’d a Lamb in my Pasture being the first fallen from Ewes put to my Ram the .

26. My Vessel returnd from Mr. Kirks employ abt. sundown—being 10 days gone.

29. Began to Cork & pay the bottom of my schooner.

30. Finishd my Fencing & began to Enlist my Corn Ground at the Mill.
Looked again at the Wheat at Doeg Run (particularly abt. the Stake near the Barracks) and found no alteration for the better—it appearing to have no root in the Ground.

31. Finishd Corking my Vessel & weeding out my Lucern.

Memms.

If Ewes & Lambs are restraind from Wheat Fields, & no green food sowd to support them in the Spring—contrive that no more fall after this year till the last of March.


Title: [Diary entry: 1 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

April 1st. At home with Mr. Crawford.


Title: [Diary entry: 2 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

2. Rid to Muddy hole—Doeg Run & the Mill. Mr. Crawford went to Alexandria.


Title: [Diary entry: 3 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

3. Went to Pohick Church & returnd to Dinner. Mr. Crawford returnd in the Afternoon.


Title: [Diary entry: 5 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

5. At home with Mr. Crawford. Mr. Campbell came here & dined, Mrs. Washington, Miss B. Ramsey & Patcy Custis went to Belvoir & returnd.


Title: [Diary entry: 6 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

6. Mr. Crawford set of home, and we (together w. Miss Betcy Ramsay) went up to Alexa. to a Ball.


Title: [Diary entry: 7 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

7. We returnd from Alexandria thro Snow.


Title: [Diary entry: 8 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

8. At home alone. Except with Price the Bricklayer who has been here since Tuesday.


Title: [Diary entry: 9 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

9. Fox hunting with the two Triplets Mr. Peake & Mr. Manley. Started, but catchd nothing.


Title: [Diary entry: 12 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

12. Payne and Alexander went away after Breakfast. And Miss Tracy Digges & her sister Betty came in the Aftern. Rid to Muddy hole Doeg R. & Mill.


Title: [Diary entry: 13 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

13. At home. The Miss Digges here. In the Afternoon Mr. Chichester came.


Title: [Diary entry: 16 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

16. At home alone. In the Evening went into the Neck.


Title: [Diary entry: 17 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

17. Went to a Church & returnd to Dinner.


Title: [Diary entry: 20 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

20. At home alone all day.


Title: [Diary entry: 21 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

21. Rode to Muddy hole Doeg Run and Mill Plantns.—at the first & last of wch. just began to check Corn Gd. Mr. Stedlar came here.


Title: [Diary entry: 23 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

23. At home all day again. Mr. Stedlar still here.


Title: [Diary entry: 24 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

24. Mr. & Mrs. Peake & their daughter dined here as also did Mr. Stedlar.


Title: [Diary entry: 27 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

27. Reachd Fredericksburg.


Title: [Diary entry: 29 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

29. Proceeded on our Journey and reached Hubbards Ordy. in Comy. with Colo. Lewis & Mr. Dick.


Title: [Diary entry: 30 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

30. Breakfasted at Todds Bridge—dind at Claibornes & came to Colo. Bassetts.


Title: [April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

April 1st. At home with Mr. Crawford.

   William Crawford’s visit was not purely social. By the fall of 1767 GW had concluded that because the Pennsylvania-Maryland boundary line (Mason and Dixon’s Line) would soon be completed, and because western expansion (temporarily barred by the Royal Proclamation of Oct. 1763) would soon be at least partially opened up by a treaty with the Indians, the time was ripe for acquiring some parcels of choice land in western Pennsylvania and the Ohio Valley. GW wrote to Crawford (17 Sept. 1767, DLC:GW), who had settled the year before at Stewart’s Crossing on the Youghiogheny River (butterfield [1]C. W. Butterfield, ed. The Washington-Crawford Letters. Being the Correspondence between George Washington and William Crawford, from 1767 to 1781, Concerning Western Lands. Cincinnati, 1877., vii), and proposed a partnership for taking up land. Crawford quickly replied that he would “heartly imbrass your Offer upon the Terms you proposed,” and went on to sketch out the prospects, necessary procedures, and possible problems that the two land hunters might encounter (29 Sept. 1767, DLC:GW). Crawford’s appearance at Mount Vernon, allowing land discussions which were spread over a six-day period, was GW’s first opportunity to confer personally with his man in the field.

2. Rid to Muddy hole—Doeg Run & the Mill. Mr. Crawford went to Alexandria.

3. Went to Pohick Church & returnd to Dinner. Mr. Crawford returnd in the Afternoon.

4. Fox hunting with Messrs. Chichester, the Triplets, Manley, Posey, Peake & Adams. Never started a Fox—but did a Deer.

   Abednego Adams (1721–1809), originally of Charles County, Md., married Mary Peake, a sister of Humphrey Peake. They appear to have settled for a time on land in the fork of Little Hunting Creek which Adams’s wife inherited from her father in 1761.

5. At home with Mr. Crawford. Mr. Campbell came here & dined, Mrs. Washington, Miss B. Ramsey & Patcy Custis went to Belvoir & returnd.

   As an agent for the Alexandria partnership of Carlyle & Adam, Matthew Campbell (d. 1782) had come to Mount Vernon to pay GW £121 11s. 9½d. for wheat purchased from him during the past six months (General Ledger AGeneral Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers., folio 271).

6. Mr. Crawford set of home, and we (together w. Miss Betcy Ramsay) went up to Alexa. to a Ball.

   GW had given Crawford £20 on the previous day (General Ledger AGeneral Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers., folio 269).

7. We returnd from Alexandria thro Snow.

8. At home alone. Except with Price the Bricklayer who has been here since Tuesday.

   In 1767 Thomas Price was asked by the Truro vestry to inspect the work at the still unfinished Falls Church building, around which the town of Falls Church later developed (Truro Vestry Book, 116, DLC). Several years later GW bought “a Bricklayer named Isaac Web” from Thomas Price for £30 Maryland currency (General Ledger BGeneral Ledger B, 1772–1793. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers., folio 106).

9. Fox hunting with the two Triplets Mr. Peake & Mr. Manley. Started, but catchd nothing.

10. At home alone.

11. Planting out Grape Vines according to M[e]m[orandum]. Mrs. Posey dined here and Mr. Alexander & Mr. Edwd. Payne Supd. & lodgd.

   Edward Payne served with GW as a vestryman of Truro Parish 1765–74. When Payne contracted with the parish in 1766 to build a chapel of ease (later called Payne’s Church) for the parishioners in the northwest corner of the parish, GW was appointed to the building committee (slaughter [1]Philip Slaughter. The History of Truro Parish in Virginia. Edited by Edward L. Goodwin. Philadelphia, 1908., 22, 50).

12. Payne and Alexander went away after Breakfast. And Miss Tracy Digges & her sister Betty came in the Aftern. Rid to Muddy hole Doeg R. & Mill.

   Theresa Digges (b. 1744) and Elizabeth Digges (1743–1845) were the two eldest daughters of William and Ann Digges of Warburton Manor.

13. At home. The Miss Digges here. In the Afternoon Mr. Chichester came.

14. Fox hunting with Mr. Chichester Captn. Posey Messrs. Triplet Peake & Adams. Startd but catchd nothing. Posey & Adams dind here as did Mr. Digges.

15. At home. Mr. Digges & his daughters went away after breakfast.

16. At home alone. In the Evening went into the Neck.

17. Went to a Church & returnd to Dinner.

18. Went to Court and returnd in the Evening.

19. Measurd the Field designd for Corn at the Mill, and Doeg Run this year.

20. At home alone all day.

21. Rode to Muddy hole Doeg Run and Mill Plantns.—at the first & last of wch. just began to check Corn Gd. Mr. Stedlar came here.

22. At home all day. Mr. Stedlar here.

23. At home all day again. Mr. Stedlar still here.

24. Mr. & Mrs. Peake & their daughter dined here as also did Mr. Stedlar.

   Humphrey Peake of Willow Spring married Mary Stonestreet, daughter of Butler Stonestreet (d. 1755) of Prince George’s County, Md. The Stonestreet home, Exeter, was on Piscataway Creek, which emptied into the Potomac almost directly across from Mount Vernon. Of the two daughters of Humphrey and Mary Peake, this is probably the elder, Ann Peake (d. 1827), often referred to in the diaries as “Nancy.”

25. Went to Muddy hole, Doeg Run & Mill before Dinner, & into the Neck afterwards.

26. Set of for Williamsburg with Mrs. Washington, Jacky & Patcy Custis & Billy Bassett. Lodgd. at Mr. Lawsons.

   GW may have originally planned to combine this visit to Eltham and Williamsburg with attendance at a session of the House of Burgesses which, although scheduled to open on 1 May, had met from 31 Mar. to 16 April (JHBH. R. McIlwaine and John Pendleton Kennedy, eds. Journals of the House of Burgesses of Virginia. 13 vols. Richmond, 1905–15., 1766–69, 138, 140, 175–77). Billy is William Bassett (1760–1774), eldest son of Mrs. Washington’s sister Anna Maria Dandridge Bassett and Col. Burwell Bassett of Eltham. The Washingtons probably stayed at the home of Thomas Lawson, who ran John Tayloe’s ironworks on Neabsco Creek, Prince William County, from which GW bought some bar iron in 1761 (ViHi: Tayloe Papers; Lawson to GW, 28 June 1761, ICHi).

27. Reachd Fredericksburg.

28. Stayed there all day at Colo. Lewis.

29. Proceeded on our Journey and reached Hubbards Ordy. in Comy. with Colo. Lewis & Mr. Dick.

   Benjamin Hubbard, who died about 1780, was one of a group of Quakers who moved from Pennsylvania to settle in Caroline County in the 1730s. Hubbard later embraced the established church and served as a Caroline County justice 1754–60. Hubbard’s ordinary, located about 37 miles southeast of Fredericksburg in lower Drysdale Parish, was his base of operations for an extensive mercantile business in the Mattaponi River valley from 1756 to 1780. GW had stayed at Hubbard’s as early as 1759, when he and his new bride apparently made a trip from the White House to Fredericksburg, possibly to visit the mother of the bridegroom (General Ledger AGeneral Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers., folio 52, 55; campbell [1]Thomas Elliott Campbell. Colonial Caroline: A History of Caroline County, Virginia. Richmond, 1954., 175–76, 347, 392, 412).

30. Breakfasted at Todds Bridge—dind at Claibornes & came to Colo. Bassetts.

   From Todd’s Bridge on the Mattaponi River, GW’s party followed his regular route through King William County to a fork in the road just beyond King William Court House. Although on previous trips GW chose the south fork, which crossed the Pamunkey River at Williams’ ferry near the White House, the party now took the east fork, remaining on the main road to arrive at Sweet Hall, the home of Thomas Claiborne, which lay on the Pamunkey River opposite New Kent County. About nine miles beyond Sweet Hall was Col. Burwell Bassett’s home, Eltham, which he inherited as the eldest surviving son of his father, William Bassett (1709–c.1743).

   GW today paid a Dr. Lee, possibly Arthur Lee, £2 3s. 9d. for Patsy Custis (General Ledger AGeneral Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers., folio 269; see main entry for 6 July 1768).


Title: [Diary entry: 1 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

April 1st. Ground a little froze. Day very cold, with flying Clouds & Wind high from No. Wt.


Title: [Diary entry: 2 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

 2. Ground hard froze. Morning very keen & sharp, wind being at No. Wt. Afterwards more moderate winds varying—with Clouds.


Title: [Diary entry: 3 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

3. Wind fresh from the Westward & very cold with Snow at times & Clouds.


Title: [Diary entry: 4 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

4. Ground very hard froze (as it was yesterday). Day clear. Morning calm—but Wind from the Southward afterwards & Cold.


Title: [Diary entry: 5 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

5. Ground very hard froze. Wind high from No. West. Very cold & Clear.


Title: [Diary entry: 6 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

6. Ground hard froze. Morng. Calm—clear & pleast. Afternoon Muddy & cold. Wind at So. West. Abt. 10 Oclock at Night it began Snowg.


Title: [Diary entry: 7 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

7. Snowed all Night, and all this day without Intermission from the No. and No. East. Ground coverd six or 8 Inches.


Title: [Diary entry: 9 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

9. Clear & cool in the Morng. Wind at No. Wt. & ground hard froze. Still & Pleast. in the Aftern.


Title: [Diary entry: 10 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

10. White frost, & ground a little crusted over. Moderate but lowering. Wind at So. Et.


Title: [Diary entry: 11 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

11. Clear—calm, and springing.


Title: [Diary entry: 13 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

13. Clear and rather Cool. Wind fresh from S.W. to N.W.


Title: [Diary entry: 14 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

14. Lowering day. In the Afternoon a little Rain—with the Wind at So. Et.


Title: [Diary entry: 16 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

16. Lowering most of the day, with the Wind Southwardly & cool till the afternoon when it was still, clear & warm.


Title: [Diary entry: 18 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

18. Clear & Cool. Wind Northwardly.


Title: [Diary entry: 21 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

21. Cool—Cloudy & Raing. more or less all day. Wind at East.


Title: [Diary entry: 22 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

22. Constant Rain all last Night, and all this day, with the Wind at East.


Title: [Diary entry: 23 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

23. Constant Rain again all last night & all this day. Wind still at No. Et.


Title: [Diary entry: 24 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

24. Raining in the Night and till after Sunrise. Wind at No. West & cloudy, that is flyg. clouds, in the Morng. but clear still & warm in the Afternoon.


Title: [Diary entry: 26 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

26. Warm, still, & very smoky. In the Evening the Wind very fresh from the Southward.


Title: [Diary entry: 27 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

27. Clear and Cool, wind fresh from the No. West.


Title: [Diary entry: 28 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

28. Clear, & rather Cool, wind variable and in the Evening at No. Wt.


Title: [Diary entry: 30 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

30. Clear and warm with but little Wind till Night when it blew very fresh from the Southward.


Title: Remarks—of the—Weather [April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

April 1st. Ground a little froze. Day very cold, with flying Clouds & Wind high from No. Wt.

2. Ground hard froze. Morning very keen & sharp, wind being at No. Wt. Afterwards more moderate winds varying—with Clouds.

3. Wind fresh from the Westward & very cold with Snow at times & Clouds.

4. Ground very hard froze (as it was yesterday). Day clear. Morning calm—but Wind from the Southward afterwards & Cold.

5. Ground very hard froze. Wind high from No. West. Very cold & Clear.

6. Ground hard froze. Morng. Calm—clear & pleast. Afternoon Muddy & cold. Wind at So. West. Abt. 10 Oclock at Night it began Snowg.

7. Snowed all Night, and all this day without Intermission from the No. and No. East. Ground coverd six or 8 Inches.

8. Clear and cold. Wind fresh from the No. West. Snow melting fast notwithstandg.

9. Clear & cool in the Morng. Wind at No. Wt. & ground hard froze. Still & Pleast. in the Aftern.

10. White frost, & ground a little crusted over. Moderate but lowering. Wind at So. Et.

11. Clear—calm, and springing.

12. Clear—Warm & still till abt. three Oclock. Then fresh Wind from E.S.E.

13. Clear and rather Cool. Wind fresh from S.W. to N.W.

14. Lowering day. In the Afternoon a little Rain—with the Wind at So. Et.

15. Now and then slow Rain. Very cloudy till abt. 4 Oclock when it cleard—but little Wind, and that abt. So. Et.

16. Lowering most of the day, with the Wind Southwardly & cool till the afternoon when it was still, clear & warm.

17. Clear & cool wind at No. West.
Note—the horns of this Moon (wch. changd yesterday) were directly up as the last.

18. Clear & Cool. Wind Northwardly.

19. Rather Cool for the Season. Wind variable. & in the Evening low.

20. Clear and Cool. Wind brisk from the East.

21. Cool—Cloudy & Raing. more or less all day. Wind at East.

22. Constant Rain all last Night, and all this day, with the Wind at East.

23. Constant Rain again all last night & all this day. Wind still at No. Et.

24. Raining in the Night and till after Sunrise. Wind at No. West & cloudy, that is flyg. clouds, in the Morng. but clear still & warm in the Afternoon.

25. Still, clear, warm, & pleasant.

26. Warm, still, & very smoky. In the Evening the Wind very fresh from the Southward.

27. Clear and Cool, wind fresh from the No. West.

28. Clear, & rather Cool, wind variable and in the Evening at No. Wt.

29. Lowering all day & sometimes sprinkling of Rain. Wind southwardly & pretty fresh.

30. Clear and warm with but little Wind till Night when it blew very fresh from the Southward.


Title: [Diary entry: 2 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

April 2d. Sewed a patch of Flax in the Neck. Also sewed a patch at Doeg Run by the last yrs. Turneps.


Title: [Diary entry: 6 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

 6. Sewed part of the Ground at home (the Cowpens) in Flax.


Title: [Diary entry: 11 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

11. Planted out Grape Cuttings accordg. to Memm.


Title: [Diary entry: 12 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

12. Sewed remainder of Flax Ground at Home. Also sewed Flax Seed at Muddy hole. White fish began to Run. Catching 60 or 70 at a Haul with some Her[rin]g.


Title: [Diary entry: 14 April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

14. Sowed Flax at Doeg Run at the head of the Meadow. Began plowing at Doeg for Corn—that is to list. Ditto Carpenters went to getting Staves for Cyder Casks.


Title: Observations [April 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

April 2d. Sewed a patch of Flax in the Neck.
Also sewed a patch at Doeg Run by the last yrs. Turneps.

6. Sewed part of the Ground at home (the Cowpens) in Flax.

7. Carpenters finishd the Corn Ho. at Muddy hole. And went to trimmg. fish Barrls.

11. Planted out Grape Cuttings accordg. to Memm.

12. Sewed remainder of Flax Ground at Home.
Also sewed Flax Seed at Muddy hole.
White fish began to Run. Catching 60 or 70 at a Haul with some Her[rin]g.

14. Sowed Flax at Doeg Run at the head of the Meadow.
Began plowing at Doeg for Corn—that is to list.
Ditto Carpenters went to getting Staves for Cyder Casks.

18. Began fishing for Herrings with Carpenter’s &ca.

21. Began to cross gd. at Muddy hole & the Mill—having Run only a single furrow for a list.

23. The great abundance of Rain which fell within this 48 hours carrd. away my Dam by the Miss Wades & broke the back Dam by the Mill.

   The land north of GW’s mill plantation was now jointly owned by three daughters of Zephaniah and Valinda Wade, Mrs. Wade having apparently died sometime within the previous two years. The dam near the Wades’ property was about 300 yards up Dogue Run from the mill and had probably been built a short time before in an attempt to store more water for use in the mill during droughts. Nevertheless, the run regularly went dry in the summer. the back dam: the lower dam.


Title: [Diary entry: 1 May 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

May 1. Rid to a place calld Root’s to see a Meadow of Colo. Bassetts. Returnd to Dinr.


Title: [Diary entry: 2 May 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

2. Went to Williamsburg with Colo. Bassett, Colo. Lewis & Mr. Dick. Dind with Mrs. Dawson & went to the Play.


Title: [Diary entry: 3 May 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

3. Dined with the Speaker.


Title: [Diary entry: 4 May 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

4. Dined with Mrs. Dawson, & suppd at Charlton’s.


Title: [Diary entry: 5 May 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

5. Dined at Mrs. Campbells.


Title: [Diary entry: 6 May 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

6. Rid to the Plantations near Williamsburg & dined at Mr. Valentines.


Title: [Diary entry: 7 May 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

7. Came up to Colo. Bassetts to Dinner.


Title: [Diary entry: 8 May 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

8. Went to Church & returnd to Dinner.


Title: [Diary entry: 9 May 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

9. Went a Fox hunting and catched a Fox after 35 Minutes chace; returnd to Dinner & found the Attorney his Lady & daughter there.


Title: [Diary entry: 12 May 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

12. Went to New Kent Court with Colo. Bassett.


Title: [Diary entry: 13 May 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

13. Went after Sturgeon & a Gunning.


Title: [Diary entry: 14 May 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

14. Went to my Plantation in King William by Water, & dragd for Sturgeon & catchd one.


Title: [Diary entry: 15 May 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

15. Rid to see Colo. Bassetts Meadow at Root’s.


Title: [Diary entry: 16 May 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

16. Fishing for Sturgeon from Breakfast to Dinner but catchd none.


Title: [Diary entry: 19 May 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

19. Went a Shooting, & hair huntg. with the Hounds who started a Fox wch. we catched.


Title: [Diary entry: 20 May 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

20. Set of from Colo. Bassetts for Nomony. Crossd over to Claibornes—from thence by Frazers Ferry to Hobs hole dining at Webbs Ordinary.


Title: [Diary entry: 21 May 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

21. Reachd my Brothr. John’s who & his wife were up the Country. Crossd over to Mr. Booths.


Title: [Diary entry: 22 May 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

22. Went to Church (nomony) & returnd to Mr. Booths to Dinner who was also from home in Glousester. Mr. Smith the Parson dind with us.


Title: [Diary entry: 23 May 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

23. At Mr. Booths all day with Revd. Mr. Smith.


Title: [Diary entry: 24 May 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

24. Came up to Popes Creek & staid there all day.


Title: [Diary entry: 26 May 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

26. Remaind at my Brother Sams where my Brother Jno. came as also Mr. Lawe. Washington &ca. to Dinner.


Title: [Diary entry: 27 May 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

 27. Dined at Mr. J. Washingtons with the compy. at my Brs.


Title: [Diary entry: 28 May 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

28. Went to Boyds hole & returnd to my Brother’s to Dinr., where we found Colo. Lewis & my Br. Charles.


Title: [Diary entry: 31 May 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

31. Returnd home crossing at Hooes Ferry through Port Tobacco.


Title: [May 1768]
From: Washington, George
To:

May 1. Rid to a place calld Root’s to see a Meadow of Colo. Bassetts. Returnd to Dinr.

   root’s: land owned by the Rootes family of Virginia. The first Rootes to appear in Virginia records was Maj. Philip Rootes (d. 1756), who lived at Rosewall, in King and Queen County, across the Mattaponi River from West Point; he also owned land in New Kent County. Rootes married Mildred Reade, who bore him four sons: Philip, of Rosewall; Thomas

Reade, of Gloucester County; Col. George, who settled on the Virginia frontier; and John, who served in the 2d (William Byrd’s) Virginia Regiment.

2. Went to Williamsburg with Colo. Bassett, Colo. Lewis & Mr. Dick. Dind with Mrs. Dawson & went to the Play.

   Mrs. Dawson was born Elizabeth Churchill (c.1709–1779), daughter of Col. William and Elizabeth Churchill of Middlesex County. In 1729 she married Col. William Bassett (1709–c.1743) of Eltham, by whom she had at least five children, one of whom was Col. Burwell Bassett. After the death of her first husband, Elizabeth Churchill Bassett moved to the Bassett family town house in Williamsburg, two blocks south of the market square. In 1752 she married Rev. William Dawson, then commissary of the Church of England in Virginia, who died within a fortnight after the wedding. Although Mrs. Dawson continued to live in the Bassett town house, where GW dined on this date, she died at the Bassett country seat of Eltham.

   The play was given in Williamsburg’s second theater, built by local subscription in 1751 behind the Capitol on Waller Street. In 1768 a group of players—male and female—was formed by David Verling, their actor-manager, into the Virginia Company. After opening in Norfolk they moved to Williamsburg, where they opened their run on 31 March, coinciding with the meeting of the Burgesses. Which play GW saw is not known; the Virginia Company had a broad repertory, including Restoration comedy, eighteenth-century satire such as the popular Beggar’s Opera by John Gay, and many of the plays of William Shakespeare, who was being “rediscovered” by the eighteenth-century English theater (see rankinHugh F. Rankin. The Theater in Colonial America. Chapel Hill, N.C., 1960.).

3. Dined with the Speaker.

   the speaker: Peyton Randolph (c.1721–1775), son of Sir John and Susanna Beverly Randolph, was king’s attorney and burgess for Williamsburg. From Nov. 1766 until the Revolution, Randolph served as Speaker of the House of Burgesses.

4. Dined with Mrs. Dawson, & suppd at Charlton’s.

   Richard Charlton (d. 1779) had announced in June 1767 that he had opened “the Coffee-House” in Williamsburg “as a Tavern,” and GW had supped there on a visit to the city the previous fall (Va. Gaz., P&D, 25 June 1767; General Ledger AGeneral Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers., folio 262). The exact location of the coffeehouse is not known, but it was “nigh the Capitol” (Va. Gaz., R, 2 Feb. 1769). In 1775 Charlton was said to be living “in the back street,” probably present-day Francis Street (Va. Gaz., D, 7 Jan. 1775). In addition to being an innkeeper, Charlton was a barber and wigmaker, and he may have plied those trades at his tavern (Va. Gaz., P, 14 June 1776, and D&N, 11 Dec. 1779).

5. Dined at Mrs. Campbells.

   Christiana Campbell’s tavern was GW’s habitual lodging place in Williamsburg from 1761 to 1771. On this visit to the city, he paid Mrs. Campbell £2 10s. “for Board,” which included his lodgings as well as the daily breakfasts

   and other occasional meals that he ate at the tavern (General Ledger AGeneral Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers., folio 274). Mrs. Campbell (1722–1792) was playfully described by a young Scottish merchant in 1783 as “a little old Woman, about four feet high; & equally thick, a little turn up Pug nose, a mouth screw’d up to one side” (macaulay“Journal of Alexander Macaulay.” William and Mary Quarterly, 1st ser., 11 (1902–3): 180–91., 187–88). The daughter of a Williamsburg innkeeper named John Burdett (d. 1746), she had married Dr. Ebenezer Campbell, an apothecary in Blandford, and had lived there with him until his death about 1752 (jettDora C. Jett. Minor Sketches of Major Folk and Where They Sleep: The Old Masonic Burying Ground, Fredericksburg, Virginia. Richmond, 1928., 24–25). Returning to Williamsburg a short time later, she had by 1760 begun to operate her tavern on Duke of Gloucester Street in the second block from the Capitol (gibbsPatricia Ann Gibbs. “Taverns in Tidewater Virginia, 1700–1774.” Master’s thesis, College of William and Mary, 1968., 152–54). She was assisted in her business by her unmarried daughter Molly.

6. Rid to the Plantations near Williamsburg & dined at Mr. Valentines.

   Joseph Valentine (d. 1771), who was in charge of all the Custis estates when GW married Martha Dandridge Custis in 1759, stayed on as the “Common Steward” for both John Parke Custis’s inherited portion and GW’s dower portion of the Custis plantations (GW to Robert Cary, 24 Oct. 1760, CSmH).

7. Came up to Colo. Bassetts to Dinner.

8. Went to Church & returnd to Dinner.

   GW probably joined the Bassetts in worship at Warrenray Church, a few miles from Eltham. Warrenray was the upper church of Blisland Parish, serving the eastern part of New Kent County. Col. Burwell Bassett was for many years one of the most active vestrymen of the parish; in 1768 he was joined on the vestry by Bartholomew Dandridge, younger brother of Mrs. Bassett and Mrs. Washington (chamberlayneC. G. Chamberlayne, ed. The Vestry Book and Register of St. Peter’s Parish, New Kent and James City Counties, Virginia, 1684–1786. Richmond, 1937., 179).

9. Went a Fox hunting and catched a Fox after 35 Minutes chace; returnd to Dinner & found the Attorney his Lady & daughter there.

   John Randolph (c.1728–1784), of Williamsburg, succeeded his older brother Peyton Randolph as attorney general of Virginia in 1766. John married Ariana Jennings (1730–1801) of Maryland, who bore him a son, Edmund, and two daughters, Susanna and Ariana. Like GW, John Randolph was an avid gardener, and he wrote a book on vegetable gardening (probably during the 1760s) which became the first gardening book published in the American colonies (see randolphJohn Randolph, Jr. A Treatise on Gardening By a Citizen of Virginia. Edited by M. F. Warner. Richmond, 1924.).

10. Rid to the Brick House & returnd to Dinner—after which went a dragging for Sturgeon.

   The phrase “the Brick House” referred originally (in the seventeenth century) to a particular house built of brick, indicating how unusual such a building was in the early years of the colony. The original house lay about three miles east of Eltham on the south side of the York River across from West Point; after 1738 it was also the location of the Brick House tobacco warehouse (heningWilliam Waller Hening, ed. The Statutes at Large; Being a Collection of All the Laws of Virginia, from the First Session of the Legislature, in the Year 1619. 13 vols. 1819–23. Reprint. Charlottesville, Va., 1969., 5:15). By the mid-eighteenth century the Brick House lent its name to its immediate surrounding neighborhood, which is the sense in which GW refers to it here. In that neighborhood lay land that had been in the Bassett family for many years, as well as one of the larger quarters of the Custis estate, which GW was managing for Jacky (chamberlayneC. G. Chamberlayne, ed. The Vestry Book and Register of St. Peter’s Parish, New Kent and James City Counties, Virginia, 1684–1786. Richmond, 1937., 335, 669–70; see also the Custis Papers in ViHi). In 1760 Burwell Bassett owned an ordinary at Brick House which was run by a Mr. Baker (harris [1]Malcolm Hart Harris. Old New Kent County. 2 vols. West Point, Va., 1977., 41).

11. Dined at the Glebe with Mr. Davis.

   Rev. Price Davies, of County Montgomery, Wales, who was born about 1732, received his B.A. from Christ Church, Oxford, in 1754. He later migrated to Virginia, married Elizabeth Perry of Gloucester County, and in 1763 became rector of Blisland Parish, New Kent County (goodwinEdward Lewis Goodwin. The Colonial Church in Virginia: With Biographical Sketches of the First Six Bishops of the Diocese of Virginia, And Other Historical Papers, together with Brief Biographical Sketches of the Colonial Clergy of Virginia. Milwaukee, 1927., 262).

12. Went to New Kent Court with Colo. Bassett.

13. Went after Sturgeon & a Gunning.

14. Went to my Plantation in King William by Water, & dragd for Sturgeon & catchd one.

   my plantation in king william: Claiborne’s (see entry for 24 April 1760).

15. Rid to see Colo. Bassetts Meadow at Root’s.

16. Fishing for Sturgeon from Breakfast to Dinner but catchd none.

17. Rid to the Brick House & returnd to Dinner.

18. Did the same & got my Chariot & Horses over to Claibornes.

19. Went a Shooting, & hair huntg. with the Hounds who started a Fox wch. we catched.

20. Set of from Colo. Bassetts for Nomony. Crossd over to Claibornes—from thence by Frazers Ferry to Hobs hole dining at Webbs Ordinary.

   Nomini was a Westmoreland County neighborhood clustered around Nomini Creek, which emptied into the Potomac River about 12 miles below GW’s birthplace at Pope’s Creek. From Claiborne’s ferry, GW’s party rode through King William County to cross the Mattaponi River at William Frazier’s (many spellings) ferry (heningWilliam Waller Hening, ed. The Statutes at Large; Being a Collection of All the Laws of Virginia, from the First Session of the Legislature, in the Year 1619. 13 vols. 1819–23. Reprint. Charlottesville, Va., 1969., 7:402). They then proceeded almost

due north through King and Queen County, crossing into Essex County where they stopped in the afternoon for dinner at Webb’s tavern (for the Webb family of Essex County, see webb [1]“The Webb Family.” Tyler’s Quarterly Historical and Genealogical Magazine 7 (1925–26): 191–98, 269–77; 8 (1926-27): 52-61., 270–77). After dinner they rode north to Hobbs Hole (now Tappahannock), a tobacco port on the south side of the Rappahannock River and the seat of Essex County, which was described by a visitor in 1774 as “a small Village, with only a few Stores, & Shops” (fithianHunter Dickinson Farish, ed. Journal & Letters of Philip Vickers Fithian, 1773–1774: A Plantation Tutor of the Old Dominion. Williamsburg, Va., 1943., 203). GW spent £2 1s. 6d. for overnight lodgings, ferriages, and other expenses there (General Ledger AGeneral Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers., folio 274).

21. Reachd my Brothr. John’s who & his wife were up the Country. Crossd over to Mr. Booths.

   Bushfield, where John Augustine Washington lived with his wife Hannah and their several children, was on the east bank of the Nomini near the mouth of the creek. “His House,” said young Philip Vickers Fithian who saw it in 1774, “has the most agreeable Situation, of any I have yet seen in Maryland Or Virginia” (fithianHunter Dickinson Farish, ed. Journal & Letters of Philip Vickers Fithian, 1773–1774: A Plantation Tutor of the Old Dominion. Williamsburg, Va., 1943., 89). “Brother John” had succeeded his father-in-law, John Bushrod, as master of the Bushfield plantation upon the

latter’s death in 1760, and although the plantation contained only about 1,200 acres, he was now one of the ten leading landowners in Westmoreland County (mvarAnnual Report of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association of the Union. Mount Vernon, Va., 1854–., 1964, 18–21).

   Col. William Booth lived almost directly across the Nomini from Bushfield at Nomini Plantation, which he, like John Augustine Washington, had taken over from his wife’s father, in this case Col. William Aylett, who died in 1744. Aylett had married twice and had no sons, but four daughters. Elizabeth, who was probably the oldest, married Booth, and her sister Anne married GW’s half brother Augustine Washington (eubankH. Ragland Eubank. Touring Historyland: The Authentic Guide Book of Historic Northern Neck of Virginia, the Land of George Washington and Robert E. Lee. Colonial Beach, Va., 1934., 47–49).

22. Went to Church (nomony) & returnd to Mr. Booths to Dinner who was also from home in Glousester. Mr. Smith the Parson dind with us.

   Nomini Church was on the east bank of Nomini Creek about 3½ miles upstream from William Booth’s home. Rev. Thomas Smith (1738–1789) was the rector of Cople Parish, which comprised the lower end of Westmoreland County, including both Nomini and Yeocomico churches. He had assumed that post soon after his graduation from Cambridge University in 1763 and retained it until his death 26 years later (eatonDavid W. Eaton. Historical Atlas of Westmoreland County, Virginia Patents: Showing how Lands were Patented from the Crown & Proprietors of the Northern Neck of Virginia . . .. Richmond, 1942., 22–23). A highly respected minister, Smith was a prosperous planter also; in 1782 he was credited with having 42 slaves, a total that made him the twentieth largest slaveholder in Westmoreland County at that time (Va. Mag., 10:234). His wife Mary Smith (1744–1791) was a daughter of John Smith of Northumberland County and was a distant relation of GW, her great-grandmother Mary Warner Smith having been a sister of GW’s grandmother Mildred Warner Washington (eubankH. Ragland Eubank. Touring Historyland: The Authentic Guide Book of Historic Northern Neck of Virginia, the Land of George Washington and Robert E. Lee. Colonial Beach, Va., 1934., 52).

23. At Mr. Booths all day with Revd. Mr. Smith.

24. Came up to Popes Creek & staid there all day.

   Pope’s Creek was an addition to the Bridges Creek plantation, the original seat of GW’s family in Virginia. In the 1720s GW’s father, Augustine, built a house on the site lying on the west side of Pope’s Creek about three-quarters of a mile from the Potomac River, and it was there that GW was born. On the death of GW’s father, the plantation was inherited by GW’s half brother Augustine Washington. It was now the home of Augustine’s widow, Anne Aylett Washington, and their four children, including their only son, William Augustine Washington (1757–1810), who inherited the plantation upon his mother’s death in 1773 and renamed it Wakefield. The present house, constructed in the 1930s, is a memorial house near the site of the original one (see freemanDouglas Southall Freeman. George Washington: A Biography. 7 vols. New York, 1948–57., 1:15–47).

25. Got up to my Brother Sams. to Dinner. Found Mrs. Jno. Washington & ca. there.

   GW lost 10s. playing cards today (General Ledger AGeneral Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers., folio 274).

26. Remaind at my Brother Sams where my Brother Jno. came as also Mr. Lawe. Washington &ca. to Dinner.

27. Dined at Mr. J. Washingtons with the compy. at my Brs.

   John Washington (1730–1782) of Hylton was, like GW, a great-grandson of John the Immigrant. He married Catherine Washington, a sister of Lawrence Washington of Chotank. His home, Hylton, was in the Chotank neighborhood.

28. Went to Boyds hole & returnd to my Brother’s to Dinr., where we found Colo. Lewis & my Br. Charles.

   At Boyd’s Hole on the Potomac River in Stafford (now King George) County was a small settlement of merchants clustered about one of the original tobacco warehouses established in 1730 (heningWilliam Waller Hening, ed. The Statutes at Large; Being a Collection of All the Laws of Virginia, from the First Session of the Legislature, in the Year 1619. 13 vols. 1819–23. Reprint. Charlottesville, Va., 1969., 4:268).

   It was probably on this date, while at Boyd’s Hole, that GW paid his share of a general levy on members of the Mississippi Company to the treasurer, William Lee (General Ledger AGeneral Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers., folio 274). During the first four years of its existence the company had been making such a small impression in England that many contemporaries and most early authorities did not even know it had existed before 1767 (carter [1]Clarence Edwin Carter. Great Britain and the Illinois Country: 1763–1774. Washington, D.C., 1910., 109 n.19). By Mar. 1767 the executive committee had decided that the time was ripe for another attempt at pressing their memorial. During the company meeting at Stafford Court House 16 Dec. 1767, which GW attended, a quota of £13 11s. sterling was approved for “employing an agent to proceed immediately to Britain, there to solicit the Company’s Grant, as fully, speedily, and effectually as the nature of the Business will admit.” GW recorded this payment as £16 18s. 9d. Virginia currency (carter [2]Clarence E. Carter, “Documents Relating to the Mississippi Land Company, 1763–1769.” American Historical Review 16 (1910–11): 311–19., 16:316–19; General Ledger AGeneral Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers., folio 169).

29. Went to St. Paul’s Church & Dined at my Brothers.

   Few churches in eighteenth-century Virginia had official names. Rather, a church tended to take a name from its location in the parish (the “upper” or the “lower” church), from its builder (Payne’s Church), from a nearby geographical location (Nomini Church, Pohick Church) or simply from the name of its parish. Thus GW here refers to attending the church of St. Paul’s Parish in Stafford County, which was the one closest to the home of his brother Samuel, a vestryman for St. Paul’s Parish until 1770. By a change in county boundaries in 1776 this parish and its church became part of King George County (meade [1][William] Meade. Old Churches, Ministers and Families of Virginia. 2 vols. Philadelphia, 1857., 2:192, 187–88).

30. Went fishing & dined under Mr. L. Washingtons Shore.

   GW today lost £1 8s. 9d. at cards (General Ledger AGeneral Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers., folio 274).

31. Returnd home crossing at Hooes Ferry through Port Tobacco.