Title: [Diary entry: 18 March 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Tuesday Mar. 18th. Cool in the morning, Wind at No. West, but afterwards Shifting to South grew more moderate and Melted the Snow much. Went to Court partly on my own private Business and partly on Cliftons Affair but the Commissioners not meeting nothing

was done in regard to the Latter. Much discourse happend between him and I con⟨cer⟩ning his ungenerous treatment of me. The whole turning to little Acct. tis not worth reciting here the result of which was that for £50 more than Mr. Mason offerd him he undertook if possible to disengage himself from that Gentleman & to let me have his Land. I did not think Myself restraind by any Rules of Honour, Conscience or &ca. from makeg. him this offer as his Lands were first engagd to me by the most Solemn assurances that any Man coud give. Mr. Johnston not being in Town I coud not get Mr. Darrel’s Deeds to me acknowledgd. Killd the Beeves that came from Frederick.


Title: [Diary entry: 22 March 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

 Saturday March 22d. Cold southerly Wind and Cloudy, with Rain from 10 O’clock till Night. Doctr. Laurie came here. Agreed with George Taylor for 3 Sows and Pigs—at 45/.


Title: [Diary entry: 23 March 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Sunday Mar. 23d. Southerly Wind and Warm. Miss Fairfax & Miss Dent came here.


Title: [Diary entry: 24 March 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Monday Mar. 24th. Began repairing my Mill Dam—with hands from all my Quarters Carpenters Included. In digging Earth for this purpose great Quantities of Marle or Fullers Earth appeard. In the Evening, in a Bed that had been prepard with a mixture of Dung on Saturday last, I sowed Clo⟨ver,⟩ Lucerne, & Rye Grass Seeds in the Garden, to try their Goodness—doing it in the following Order. At the end next the Corner are two Rows of Clover Seed—in the 3d., 4, 5 & 6th. Rye Grass the last Row thinest Sowd 7th. & 8th. Barley (to see if it woud come up) the last also thinnest Sown—9, 10, 11, 12th. Lucerne—first a few seeds at every 4 Inches distance the next thicker & so on to the last wch. was very thick. Carried the Sows I bot. of George Taylor to my Mill by Water.


Title: [Diary entry: 25 March 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Tuesday Mar. 25th. Set one Plow to Work on the Field below the Garden. All hands being employd on the Dam again the Water was Stopd. and the Work in a fair way of receiving a finish by tomorrow Night. The Wind was Southerly—the Day Changeable. Mrs. Possey, & some young woman whose name was unknown to any Body in this family, dind here.


Title: [Diary entry: 26 March 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Wednesday Mar. 26. One Plow at Work today also. Miss Dent & Miss Fairfax returnd home. My Dam was entirely compleated by Evening. Spent the greatest part of the day in making a new plow of my own Invention. Wind at No. West & very boisterous.


Title: [Diary entry: 27 March 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Thursday Mar. 27. Southerly Wind, day warm and very fine. Sat my Plow to work and found She Answerd very well in the

Field in the lower Pasture wch. I this day began Plowing with the large Bay Mare & Rankin. Mulatto Jack conting. to Plow the Field below the Garden. Agreed to give Mr. William Triplet £18 to build the two houses in the Front of my House (plastering them also) and running Walls for Pallisades to them from the Great house & from the Great House to the Wash House and Kitchen also.


Title: [Diary entry: 28 March 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Friday Mar. 28. According to appointment, Colo. F⟨airfa⟩x & Mr. Green met here upon Clifton’s Affair, he being present as was Mr. Thompson Mason (as Council for him). Mr. Digges and Mr. Addison were also here and after examining all the Papers and Accts. on both sides, and stating them in the manner wch. seemd most equitable to Us, the debt due from Mr. Clifton according to that Settlement amounted to £ that is to say—to Mr. Carroll £[243 13s.1d.] to Mr. Tasker pr. Mr. Digges [£304 15s.3d.] to Do. pr. Mr. Addison [£364 19s.]. We also agreed to report several things which appeard necessary, as well, in behalf of Mr. Clifton as the other party. The Gentlemen from Maryland, Mr. Mason & Clifton left this; but Colo. Fairfax and Mr. Green stayd the Night. Abt. Noon Mulatto Jack finishd plowing the Field below the Garden and went into the lower Pasture to work. Sun shone Warm but the Wind blew strong from South.


Title: [Diary entry: 29 March 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Saturday Mar. 29th. About noon sat one Plow into the Fallow Ground below the Hill, & about an hour before Sunset the other.  Fresh and variable Wind chiefly from South. Carried out about  Tumbril Load of Dung from the Stable upon the Clover Field.


Title: [March 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Saturday Mar. 1–1760. Finishd Bottling 91 dozn. Cyder.
The wind for the first part was at No. West & very cold, but shifting Easterly & then to So. it grew something warmer but continued Cloudy.
The Ground being hard froze stopd my Plows this day also—and employd all hands in running the dividing fence of my Pastures.
Traversd the Fields in the Lower Pasture again & set a Course from the head of the drain that Runs into my Meadow  which leaves in the Tobo. House Field  and in the other .
Also found the contents of my Meadow to be  and that the Pocoson at Cotton patch measurd .
Note. The Ground cleard this year measures  and the fallow Ground is only . The Marsh and Pocoson at the Creek point contains .

   pocoson (pocosin): from an Algonquin Indian word meaning a tidal swamp in its last stages before turning into dry land. In the miry pocosin soil,

alternately covered and uncovered by water, would grow grass, shrubs, and pine trees.

Sunday Mar. 2. The Morning calm & Serene. About 10 Oclock the Wind freshned from the No. West, and died away by two. At 5 it came Southerly & blew again seeming unsettled.
Mr. Clifton came here to day, & under pretence of his Wife not consenting to acknowledge her Right of Dower wanted to disengage himself of the Bargain he had made with me for his Land on the 26th. past and by his Shuffling behaviour on the occasion convincd me of his being the trifling body represented.

Monday Mar. 3d. Bought 100 Bushels of Oats at 1/6. of Reuben Joyne.
Finishd plowing the Clover field but not the dividing Fence in the Pastures.
Wind for the most part was Southerly—sometimes blewing fresh & at other times quite calm but the day was cloudy & felt cold till towards Night.

Tuesday Mar. 4th. Rain without Intermission till Noon—thence at Intervals till Night, with strong So[uther]ly wind the whole time.
Plows Stopd—but the dividing fence finishd. Gave up the Horse Cart, & the Dun horse and Jack to R. Stephens.

Wednesday Mar. 5. High Wind from the West—the day clear & somewhat cold. Began plowing the field by the Garden for Lucern.
Put in the great bay mare (& horse) King. The latter coud not be prevaild upon to plow. The other did very well: but the Plows run very badly.
Finishd Plow Harness for my Chariot Horses.

   lucern: alfalfa or lucerne, Medicago sativa. Although this perennial legume is widely grown in Virginia today as a hay crop, GW tried unsuccessfully for at least 35 years to raise it. On 12 Sept. 1795 Thomas Jefferson wrote to GW that he was giving it up because, even with manuring, he had experienced less success with it than with chicory. He probably would have fared better by using more limestone, and much better had he had available the inoculating bacteria in use today for such nitrogen-fixing crops.

Thursday Mar. 6. Fitted a two Eyed Plow instead of a Duck Bill Plow and with much difficulty made my Chariot Wheel horses plow.

Surveyd Captn. Posseys 145 Acres of Woodland Ground which he bought of my Bror. Chs. & find some of the Courses and distances to vary from those in the Deeds and that 136 Acres only, are Included.
Also run the upper Courses of Frens Land and find some great Errors as may be seen by my Plot of it.
Wind Southerly & day fine.

   Charles Washington (1738–1799) was married in 1757 to Mildred Thornton, daughter of Col. Francis Thornton of Spotsylvania County, and was probably living in the Fredericksburg area at this time. Although GW was very interested in buying lands near Mount Vernon, he did not purchase the woodland tract from Posey, and it was sold 16–17 June 1760 to Daniel French for £217 10s. (Fairfax County Deeds, Book D-2, 730–36, Vi Microfilm).

   Henry Trenn (variously spelled Tren, Frenn, and Fren), who died in 1751, had owned a tract of about 300 acres on the west bank of Dogue Run, above the road from Gum Spring to Colchester. In 1750 he had sold 94 acres at the lower end of the tract to GW’s half brother Lawrence, and the remainder was inherited at his death by two of his orphaned children, Absolom and Diana (deed of Trenn to Lawrence Washington, 4 Feb. 1750, Fairfax County Deeds, Book C–1, 152–53, Vi Microfilm; will of Trenn, 3 Oct. 1751, Fairfax County Wills, Book A–1, 490–91, Vi Microfilm). Absolom had apparently died since his father’s death, and the tract was now solely owned by Diana, who was living in Maryland.

Friday Mar. 7th. Fine Morning, but Cloudy Afternoon, wind Southerly.
Put the Poll end Horses into the Plow in the Morng. and the Postilion & hand Horse in the Afternoon but the Ground being well sworded over & very heavy plowing I repented putting them in at all for fear it should give them a Habit of Stopping in the Chariot.

Saturday Mar. 8. No. Et. Wind & Rain—Plows stopd.
Gave Captn. Cawseys Skipper namely William Vicars—1 Tobo. Note and an Order on Hunting Creek Warehouses for 7 Hhds. of my Mountain Tobo.

   John Cawsey was captain of the Tyger, a 120–ton British-built ship which took a crew of nine and sailed in the Virginia tobacco trade for John Farrel & Co. of Bristol, Eng. William Vicars was probably Cawsey’s first mate. hunting creek warehouses: These tobacco warehouses at Alexandria had been established by the inspection acts of 1730 and 1732 (see entry for 25 Jan. 1760).

Sunday Mar. 9. No. Et. wind, and Snow by Intervals the whole day.

Monday Mar. 10th. No. W. wind and clear, but the Ground too Wet for Plowing.
Rode to my Plantation and the Mill, & there partly agreed with Jerry Mitchell to rebuild my Mill when She runs dry in the Summer.
Dispatchd Mulatto Jack to Frederick for some Mares from thence to Plow.
The Snow (which was not more than an Inch & half deep) was entirely dissolvd today.

   Jeremiah Mitchell, an independent artisan, contracted to do this repair work for 4s. 6d. a day. He put in 97 days in all, finishing the job by 1 Dec. 1760 (General Ledger AGeneral Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers., folio 102).

Tuesday Mar. 11th. Visited at Colo. Fairfax and was informd that Clifton had sold his Land to Mr. Thompsons Mason for 1200 £ Sterlg. which fully unravelled his Conduct on the 2d. and convincd me that he was nothing less than a thorough pacd Rascall—disregardful of any Engagements of Words or Oaths not bound by Penalties.
The day clear but something cold, Wind at No. West.

   George William Fairfax was one of GW’s fellow commissioners in the Clifton case. Thomson Mason (1733–1785),  a younger brother of George Mason of Gunston Hall, lived in St. Mary’s County, Md. Mason moved c.1764 to Stafford County, Va. and c.1771 to Raspberry Plain in Loudoun County. He

studied law in England at the Middle Temple and in 1760 was a burgess for Stafford County.

Wednesday Mar. 12. Returnd home, Mrs. Carlyle accompanying us, the day being exceeding fine. Wind at South.
Found William Lodwick here with one Beef from Frederick. He set of with two but lamd the other and left him at Ricd. Colemans at the Sugar Lands.

   Lodwick was apparently hired for this job only. In 1756 Richard Coleman (d. 1764) and his son James received a license to run an ordinary on the Leesburg Pike at Sugar Land Run.

Thursday Mar. 13th. Incessant Rain and No. Et. Wind.
Mr. Carlyle (who came here from Port Tobo. Court last Night) and Mrs. Carlyle were confind here all day.
Mulatto Jack returnd home with the Mares he was sent for, but so poor were they, and so much abusd had they been by my Rascally Overseer Hardwick that they were scarce able to go highlone, much less to assist in the business of the Plantations.

   Merchants or their agents regularly made rounds of county courts, which met monthly to transact business and legal cases. Port Tobacco was the seat of Charles County, Md.

   highlone: alone, without support.

Friday Mar. 14th. No. Et. Wind & rain witht. Intermission till after Noon. The Rain then abated, but clouds continued.
Mr. Carlyle & his Wife still remaind here. We talkd a good deal of a Scheme of setting up an Iron Work on Colo. Fairfax’s Land on Shannondoah. Mr. Chapman who was proposd as a partner being a perfect Judge of these matters was to go up and view the Conveniences and determine the Scheme.

   Colonel Fairfax’s land on the Shenandoah River included the east bank of the crossing for Vestal’s ferry. Carlyle and his brother-in-law George William Fairfax went ahead with the ironworks project. Nathaniel Chapman, who died later this year, had iron experience both with the Principio Company of Maryland and the Accokeek works in Stafford County. Chapman had also served as an executor for the estates of Augustine and Lawrence Washington, both of whom had had interests in ironworks.

Saturday Mar. 15. Snowd in the Morng. but afterwards clearing. Mr. Carlyle and his Wife returnd home.
Wm. Lodwick & the boy (Nat) who came down with him went up for the lame Beef they left upon the Road coming down.
The Vast quantity of Rain which had fallen in the last two

days had Swelld the Waters so high that dogue Run carried of the Tumbling Dam of my Mill and was near carrying of the House also.
Wind at No. Et. & fair from a settled Sky. Sent word to Mr. Clifton by my Negro Will that I shoud be glad to see him here in the Morning having something to propose to him.
The bad Weather this Week put a Total stop to plowing except a little on Wednesday with one Plow.

   GW’s dam was an earthwork with a tumbling bay, or spillway, in one portion. Excess water flowed over this outfall, normally preventing the water level behind the dam from rising too high. But on this occasion water came downstream faster than it could flow out the spillway, and the dam collapsed.

Sunday Mar. 16th. In the Morning early began Snowing with a Strong No. Et. Wind and continued without the least Intermission, or Remission till dark, & how long after I know not.

Monday Mar. 17th. The Snow this Morng. was much drifted, & many places of considerable depth. It kept Snowing by Intervals till Noon & appeard unsettled the whole day.
Went to my Mill and took a view of the Ruins the Fresh had causd. Determind however to repr. it with all expedition & accordingly set my Carpenters to making Wheel & Handbarrows.
Beef from Coleman’s was brought down.
Mr. Possey being here and talking of the Orphan Fren’s Land adjoining mine on Dogue Run, he undertook to purchase it for me of the said Orphan Diana, who lives at Nangemy in Maryland with one—Wright who I think he said Married her Aunt.
Mr. Possey thinks it may be bought for £50 or 60 pound & there shoud be 207 Acres of it.

   Posey finally purchased this land for GW in 1764, by which time Diana had married William Whiting. The Whitings received £75 in several installments for the property, which was then estimated to contain 200 acres (General Ledger AGeneral Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers., folio 168; GW’s list of quitrent lands for 1764, DLC:GW).

   Nanjemoy, according to an English traveler who saw it in 1774, was “a small Village of about five houses” lying west of Nanjemoy Creek in Charles County, Md. All the inhabitants were planters except two men who ran a store there (CRESSWELLLincoln MacVeagh, ed. The Journal of Nicholas Cresswell, 1774–1777. New York, 1924., 17).

Tuesday Mar. 18th. Cool in the morning, Wind at No. West, but afterwards Shifting to South grew more moderate and Melted the Snow much.
Went to Court partly on my own private Business and partly on Cliftons Affair but the Commissioners not meeting nothing

was done in regard to the Latter. Much discourse happend between him and I con⟨cer⟩ning his ungenerous treatment of me. The whole turning to little Acct. tis not worth reciting here the result of which was that for £50 more than Mr. Mason offerd him he undertook if possible to disengage himself from that Gentleman & to let me have his Land. I did not think Myself restraind by any Rules of Honour, Conscience or &ca. from makeg. him this offer as his Lands were first engagd to me by the most Solemn assurances that any Man coud give.
Mr. Johnston not being in Town I coud not get Mr. Darrel’s Deeds to me acknowledgd.
Killd the Beeves that came from Frederick.

   The following month this move by GW in the Clifton affair was criticized by the General Court sitting in chancery. GW was putting himself into a potentially awkward situation, for as a commissioner he was responsible for giving a disinterested report to the chancery court on how the Clifton case should be settled.

   GW dined today at Mrs. Chew’s tavern (General Ledger AGeneral Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers., folio 89).

Wednesday Mar. 19. Cold Southerly Wind & Lowring Weather till towds. Evening when the Clouds dispersing it became more moderate.
Peter (my Smith) and I after several efforts to make a plow after a new model—partly of my own contriving—was fiegn to give it out, at least for the present.
Snow but little dissolvd. Colo. Fairfax & Mrs. Fx. came here in the Evening.

Thursday Mar. 20th. Cold Northerly Wind. Colo. F[airfa]x and I set out to Alexa. by appointmt. to Settle & adjust (with the other Comrs.) Cliftons & Carrols accts. conformable to a decree of our Genl. Court but not being able to accomplish it then the 28th. was a further day appointed to meet and my house the place resolvd upon.

   The other commissioners were Rev. Charles Green and John West, Jr., now sheriff of Fairfax County. It was the common practice in such cases for the court to appoint four commissioners, any three of whom could act as a quorum.

Friday Mar. 21st. Colo. Fairfax & Mrs. Fx. returnd home. The Wind being No. Easterly the Morng. and indeed the best half of the day was very Cold and Cloudy. The Wind towards Evening seemd to be getting So[uther]ly.
Brought 47 Bushels of Wheat from my Mill.

Saturday March 22d. Cold southerly Wind and Cloudy, with Rain from 10 O’clock till Night.
Doctr. Laurie came here. Agreed with George Taylor for 3 Sows and Pigs—at 45/.

   Taylor is a local small planter who apparently moved to Loudoun County later in 1760.

Sunday Mar. 23d. Southerly Wind and Warm. Miss Fairfax & Miss Dent came here.

   Hannah Fairfax was a younger sister of George William Fairfax. Miss Dent was possibly Elizabeth Dent (1727–1796) or one of her younger sisters, all daughters of Peter Dent (c.1694–1757), of Whitehaven, on Mattawoman Creek in the Piscataway region of Prince George’s County, Md. (NEWMANHarry Wright Newman. The Maryland Dents: A Genealogical History of the Descendants of Judge Thomas Dent and Captain John Dent Who Settled Early in the Province of Maryland. Richmond, Va., 1963., 36–39).

Monday Mar. 24th. Began repairing my Mill Dam—with hands from all my Quarters Carpenters Included.
In digging Earth for this purpose great Quantities of Marle or Fullers Earth appeard.
In the Evening, in a Bed that had been prepard with a mixture of Dung on Saturday last, I sowed Clo⟨ver,⟩ Lucerne, & Rye Grass Seeds in the Garden, to try their Goodness—doing it in the following Order. At the end next the Corner are two Rows of Clover Seed—in the 3d., 4, 5 & 6th. Rye Grass the last Row thinest Sowd 7th. & 8th. Barley (to see if it woud come up) the last also thinnest Sown—9, 10, 11, 12th. Lucerne—first a few seeds at every 4 Inches distance the next thicker & so on to the last wch. was very thick.
Carried the Sows I bot. of George Taylor to my Mill by Water.

   The carpenters were needed to work on the spillway, which was made of timber. In addition, the dam probably had a timber foundation and may have been further strengthened by vertical planking on its upstream or downstream sides or in its center (CRAIK [1]David Craik. The Practical American Millwright and Miller: Comprising the Elementary Principles of Mechanics, Mechanism, and Motive Power, Hydraulics, and Hydraulic Motors, Mill Dams, Saw-Mills, Grist-Mills, the Oat-Meal Mill, the Barley Mill, Wool Carding and Cloth Fulling and Dressing, Windmills, Steam Power, etc. Philadelphia, 1870., 167–70).

   clover seed: Trifolium pratense, red clover. Unless he specifies another clover by name, GW is referring to this species.

Tuesday Mar. 25th. Set one Plow to Work on the Field below the Garden.
All hands being employd on the Dam again the Water was Stopd. and the Work in a fair way of receiving a finish by tomorrow Night.
The Wind was Southerly—the Day Changeable.
Mrs. Possey, & some young woman whose name was unknown to any Body in this family, dind here.

Wednesday Mar. 26. One Plow at Work today also.
Miss Dent & Miss Fairfax returnd home.
My Dam was entirely compleated by Evening.
Spent the greatest part of the day in making a new plow of my own Invention.
Wind at No. West & very boisterous.

Thursday Mar. 27. Southerly Wind, day warm and very fine. Sat my Plow to work and found She Answerd very well in the

Field in the lower Pasture wch. I this day began Plowing with the large Bay Mare & Rankin. Mulatto Jack conting. to Plow the Field below the Garden.
Agreed to give Mr. William Triplet £18 to build the two houses in the Front of my House (plastering them also) and running Walls for Pallisades to them from the Great house & from the Great House to the Wash House and Kitchen also.

   William Triplett (d. 1803) of Truro Parish lived with his wife Sarah Peake Triplett at Round Hill about four miles northwest of Mount Vernon. He had participated in a recent remodeling of GW’s mansion house, doing brickwork on the foundation and chimneys and plastering the interior of the house. His bill for those jobs, which totaled £52 8s. 4d., had been discharged by GW on 26 Feb. 1760 (General Ledger AGeneral Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers., folio 72). GW had planned to have the two outbuildings mentioned here built earlier, but Triplett’s many engagements to work for other planters in the area had prevented him from undertaking the task until now (John Patterson to GW, 2 Sept. 1758, DLC:GW).

   Friday Mar. 28. According to appointment, Colo. F⟨airfa⟩x & Mr. Green met here upon Clifton’s Affair, he being present as was Mr. Thompson Mason (as Council for him). Mr. Digges and Mr. Addison were also here and after examining all the Papers and Accts. on both sides, and stating them in the manner wch. seemd most equitable to Us, the debt due from Mr. Clifton according to that Settlement amounted to £ that is to say—to Mr. Carroll £[243 13s.1d.] to Mr. Tasker pr. Mr. Digges [£304 15s.3d.] to Do. pr. Mr. Addison [£364 19s.].
We also agreed to report several things which appeard necessary, as well, in behalf of Mr. Clifton as the other party.
The Gentlemen from Maryland, Mr. Mason & Clifton left this; but Colo. Fairfax and Mr. Green stayd the Night.
Abt. Noon Mulatto Jack finishd plowing the Field below the Garden and went into the lower Pasture to work.
Sun shone Warm but the Wind blew strong from South.

   The Addison family of Maryland descended from John Addison, who emigrated from England in 1677. His son Thomas Addison (1679–1727) built the family home of Oxon Hill in Prince George’s County, Md., across the Potomac from Alexandria. By his second wife, Eleanor Smith Addison, Thomas had one daughter and four sons, one of whom was John Addison (1713–1764) of Oxon Hill, who appears here.

   The gross amounts filled in here are taken from the Virginia General Court decree of 12 April 1760 (NjWdHi). They are probably the amounts decided upon at this meeting but left blank by GW because interest and court costs were still to be figured into the final totals.

Saturday Mar. 29th. About noon sat one Plow into the Fallow Ground below the Hill, & about an hour before Sunset the other.

Fresh and variable Wind chiefly from South. Carried out about  Tumbril Load of Dung from the Stable upon the Clover Field.

Sunday Mar. 30th. Little Wind, but moist Weather. A misty Rain continuing at Short Intervals through the day.

Monday Mar. 31st. Strong So[uther]ly Wind in the first part of the day with light Showers but Abt. Noon the Wind got No[rther]ly.
Went to Belvoir (according to Appointment on the 28th. past) and drew up and Signd a Report of our Proceedings in Clifton’s affair to be sent with the Accts. to the Genl. Court.
Finishd plowing the Fallowd Ground abt. Sun Setting.
Mr. Walter Stuart who I met with at Belvoir gave me a Letter from Dr. Macleane and another from Bishop.
The Latter very desirous of returning but enlisted in the 44th. Regimt. the Former wrote to Colo. Byrd to ask his discharge of the Genl.
Wrote to Lieutt. Smith to try if possible to get me a Careful Man to Overlook my Carpenters. Wrote also to Harwick ordering down two Mares from thence & desiring him to engage me a Ditcher. Inclosd a Letter from my Brother Jno. to his Overseer Farrell Littleton and directed him what to do if the Small pox shd. come amongst them.

   report: The report included a recommendation that all sales by Clifton be set aside in favor of an auction. See entry for 28 Mar.

   Dr. Lauchlin MacLeane (d. 1778), of England, served with units of the British army and practiced medicine in Philadelphia 1755–61. MacLeane, Steuart, Bishop, Byrd, and GW had all served together in the Forbes expedition against Fort Duquesne in 1758. GW knew that MacLeane was now in Philadelphia and may have written to Bishop in care of the doctor (see entry for 25 Jan. 1760). The 44th Regiment was brought from Ireland for Braddock’s campaign and may have been Bishop’s old unit. Col. William Byrd III (1729–1777), of Westover, had succeeded GW as commander of the Virginia Regiment, now stationed at Winchester. Bishop did not appear at Mount Vernon until Sept. 1761, when he resumed his service which continued to his death 33 years later.

   Lt. Charles Smith, who was given command of Fort Loudoun at Winchester in 1758, had been recommended to that post by GW as an officer both “diligent” and “exceedingly industrious” (GW to John Blair, 28 May 1758, DLC:GW). Having lost an arm in the service, Smith received a life pension from the House of Burgesses on the recommendation of a committee which included GW (JHBH. R. McIlwaine and John Pendleton Kennedy, eds. Journals of the House of Burgesses of Virginia. 13 vols. Richmond, 1905–15., 1761–65, 179, 185).

   ditcher: a man who was employed to build and repair drainage ditches, along field boundaries and elsewhere. The customary boundaries delineating

GW’s fields consisted of two parallel ditches with a row of dense hedge along the center ridge. They served the dual purpose of draining wet lands and making it more difficult for livestock to pass through the hedge.

   GW’s brother John Augustine Washington (1736–1787), who lived at Bushfield in Westmoreland County, had inherited land in Frederick County which lay near GW’s Bullskin plantation.


Title: [Diary entry: 2 April 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Wednesday Apl. 2d. Got the above Ground ready for Sowing tomorrow. Begn. to Cross plow the first plowd Ground in the lower Pasture endeavouring to get it in Order for Sowg. Lucerne Seed In. A Drying Southerly Wind & Warm.


Title: [Diary entry: 3 April 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Thursday April 3d. Sowd 17½ Drills of Trefoil Seed in the ground adjoining the Garden, numbering from the side next the

Stable (or Work Shop) the residue of them viz. 4 was sowd with Lucerne Seed—both done with design to see how these Seeds answer in that Ground. Sowd my Fallow Field in Oats to day, and harrowed them in viz. 10½ Bushels. Got done about three Oclock. Cook Jack after laying of the Lands in this Field went to plowing in the 12 Acre Field where they were Yesterday as did the other plow abt. 5 oclock after Pointing. Got several Composts and laid them to dry in order to mix with the Earth brot. from the Field below to try their several Virtues. Wind blew very fresh from South. Clouds often appeard, and sometimes threatned the near approach of Rain but a clear setting Sun seemd denoted the Contrary.


Title: [Diary entry: 4 April 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Friday Apl. 4th. Sowd abt. one Bushl. of Barley in a piece of Ground near the Tobo. House in the 12 Acre Field. Harrowd, & crossd Harrowd the Ground in the sd. Field intended for Lucerne. Apprehending the Herrings were come Hauled the Sein but catchd only a few of them tho a good many of other sorts. Majr. Stewart and Doctr. Johnston came here in the Afternoon and at Night Mr. Richie attended by Mr. Ross solliciting Freight—promisd none.


Title: [Diary entry: 5 April 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Saturday Apl. 5th. Planted out 20 young Pine trees at the head of my Cherry Walk. Recd. my Goods from York. Hauld the Sein again catchd 2 or 3 White Fish more Herring than Yesterday & a great Number of Cats. Richie and Ross went away. Made another Plow the same as my former excepting that it has two Eyes and the other one. So[uther]ly Wind, but not so fresh as that wch. blew Yesterday. However, it blew up a little Rain abt. Dark with a good deal of Lightning & some Thunder.


Title: [Diary entry: 6 April 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Sunday April 6th. Wind at No. Et. and Cool. About 3 Oclock it began Raining and continued to do so (moderately) for about an hour when it cleard, the Wind shifting So[uther]ly. I just perceivd the Rye grass Seed wch. I sowd in the Garden to try its goodness was beginning to come up pretty thick; the Clovr., Lucerne, & Barley I discoverd above Ground, on the first Instant. Majr. Stewart & Doctr. Johnston set out for Winchesr.


Title: [Diary entry: 7 April 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Monday April 7th. Raind till 6 Oclock pretty hard and then cleard—Wind So[uther]ly and Cloudy all day. In the Evening Colo. Frog came here, and made me an offer of 2400 Acres of Land wch. he has in Culpeper for £400. This Ld. Lyes (according to his acct.) 46 Miles above The Falls of Rappahannock—is well Water’d Timberd & of a Fertile Soil—no Impr[ove]ments on it. I told him that I woud get Captn. Thomas

Fitzhugh to give me his Opinion of the Land when he went next to his Quarter not far from it—or I woud take it in my way from Fredk. when I next went up there as it lies he says only 8 Miles from the place where Josh. Nevil livd at the Pignut Ridge. One Captn. Kennelly lives within a Mile of the Land and is well acquainted with it. People kept Holliday.


Title: [Diary entry: 13 April 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Sunday April 13th. Fine clear still Morng. Abt. 10 Oclock the Wind (what little there was before being So.) came Easterly, blew fresh and Clouded. Towards Evening the Atmostphere was quite Overcast and threatned Instant Rain. My Negroes askd the lent of the Sein to day but caught little or no Fish. Note the Wind blew upon the shore to day.


Title: [Diary entry: 14 April 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Monday Apl. 14. Fine warm day, Wind So[uther]ly and clear till the Eveng. when it clouded. No Fish were to be catchd to day neither. Mixd my Composts in a box with ten Apartments in the following manner viz.—in No. 1 is three pecks of the Earth brought from below the Hill out of the 46 Acre Field without any mixture—in No.
2. is two pecks of the said Earth and one of Marle taken out of the said Field which Marle seemd a little Inclinable to Sand.

3. Has 2 Pecks of sd. Earth and 1 of Riverside Sand.
4. Has a Peck of Horse Dung.
5. Has Mud taken out of the Creek.
6. Has Cow Dung.
7. Marle from the Gullys on the Hill side wch. seemd to be purer than the other.
8. Sheep Dung.
9. Black Mould taken out of the Pocoson on the Creek side.
10. Clay got just below the Garden.
 All mixd with the same quantity & sort of Earth in the most effectual manner by reducing the whole to a tolerable degree of fineness & jubling them well together in a Cloth. In each of these divisions were planted three Grains of Wheat 3 of Oats & as many of Barley, all at equal distances in Rows & of equal depth (done by a Machine made for the purpose). The Wheat Rows are next the Numbered side, the Oats in the Middle, & the Barley on that side next the upper part of the Garden. Two or three hours after sowing in this manner, and about an hour before Sun set I waterd them all equally alike with Water that had been standing in a Tub abt. two hours exposd to the Sun. Began drawing Bricks burning Lime & Preparing for Mr. Triplet who is to be here on Wednesday to Work. Finishd Harrowing the Clover Field, and began reharrowing of it. Got a new harrow made of smaller, and closer Tinings for Harrowing in Grain—the other being more proper for preparing the Ground for sowing. Cook Jack’s plow was stopd he being employd in setting the Lime Kiln.


Title: [Diary entry: 15 April 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Tuesday April 15th. Sent Tom and Mike to Alexandria in my Boat for 20 or 25 Bushels of Oats. Went up myself there to Court after calling at Mr. Green’s & leaving Mrs. Washington there. Mr. Darrell not being there the Execution of his Deeds were again put of. Being informd that French, Triplet and others were about buying (in conjunction) a piece of Land of Simon Piarson lying not far from my Dogue Run Quarter I engagd him to give me the first offer of it so soon as he shoud determine upon selling it. About 3 Oclock fell a very heavy Shower of Rain attended with much Wind at So. wch. Instantaneously abt. an hour by Sun changd to No. West & blew for a few Minutes most violently but soon after fell calm. Good part of my New Fencing that was not Riderd was leveld.


Title: [Diary entry: 19 April 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Saturday Apl. 19th. Crossd at Mr. Possey’s Ferry and began my journey to Williamsburg about 9 Oclock. Abt. 11 I broke my

Chair and had to Walk to Port Tobo. where I was detaind the whole day getting my Chair mended—no Smith being with 6 Miles. Lodgd at Doctr. Halkerston’s.


Title: [Diary entry: 20 April 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Sunday Apl. 20th. Set out early, and crossd at Cedar point by 10; the day being very calm & fine, Dind and lodgd at my Brother’s. The Evening Cloudy with Rain. Wind tho little at So. West.


Title: [Diary entry: 21 April 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Monday Apl. 21st. Crossd at Southern’s and Tods Bridge and lodgd at Major Gaines’s.


Title: [Diary entry: 22 April 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Tuesday April 22d. Crossd Pamunky at Williams’s Ferry, and visited all the Plantations in New Kent. Found the Overseers

much behind hand in their Business. Went to Mrs. Dandridges and lodgd.


Title: [Diary entry: 23 April 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Wednesday Apl. 23d. Went to Colo. Bassetts and remaind there the whole day.


Title: [Diary entry: 24 April 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Thursday April 24th. Visited my Quarters at Claibornes and found their business in tolerable forwardness. Also went to my other Quarter at  where their was an insufficient quantity of Ground prepard—but all that coud be had—it was sd. Dind at Mr. Bassetts and went in the Evening to Williamsburg.


Title: [Diary entry: 27 April 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Sunday Apl. 27th. Went to Church. In the Afternoon some Rain, & a great deal of severe Lightning but not much Thunder.


Title: [Diary entry: 28 April 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Monday Apl. 28th. Let my House in Town to Colo. Moore, for Colo. Dandridge, who is to come into it in the Fall, and pay me 45 £ pr. Ann. In the meanwhile I am to paint it. In the Afternoon after collecting what Money I coud I left Town and reachd Colo. Bassetts. This day agreed with Mr. Jno. Driver of Nansemond for 25,000 shingles to be deliverd in October. They are to be 18 inch shingles and of the best sort. Desird him if he coud not cause them to be deliverd for 18/ a Thousd. not to send them but let me know of it as soon as possible.


Title: [Diary entry: 29 April 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Tuesday Apl. 29th. Reachd Port Royal by Sunset.


Title: [Diary entry: 30 April 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Wednesday 30th. Came to Hoes Ferry by 10 Oclock but the wind blew too fresh to cross: detained there all Night.


Title: [April 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Tuesday April 1–1760. Crossd plowd the Fallow Field to day wch. contains 3.2.38 wch. shews that 2 Acres a day in Level ground already broke up may easily be accomplishd.
Doctor Laurie came here.
The Wind at No. West. Weather clear, somewhat Cool and drying.
Moon at its first rising remarkably red.
Recd. a Letter from Mr. Digges, Inclosing a Packet for Messrs. Nichos. & Withe wch. he desird I woud send under Cover to some Friend of mine in Williamsburg as it was to go by Clifton suspecting that Gentleman woud not deal fairly by it.
Began to prepare a Small piece of Ground of abt.  Yards Square at the lower Corner of my Garden to put Trefoil in—a little Seed given me by Colo. F[airfa]x Yesterday.

   The next day GW wrote a covering letter to accompany the packet. In the letter, addressed to Benjamin Waller, of the General Court, GW recited his differences with Clifton and Thomson Mason and argued strongly for his own position, which was that the court should “confirm the Opinion of the Commissioners” (2 April 1760, ViMtvL). Of the two interested parties named Digges, this reference is probably to William, since Ignatius, as an agent for Charles Carroll of Annapolis, consistently refused to cooperate in the Clifton proceedings (GW to Carroll, 31 July 1791, DLC:GW). In 1760 Robert Carter Nicholas (1728–1780), a burgess for York County, and George Wythe (1726–1806), the burgess for the College of William and Mary, were already recognized as having two of Virginia’s most talented legal minds.

   contains 3.2.38: He means 3 acres, 2 roods, 38 perches. A rood is 40 square rods or ¼ acre; a perch is 1 square rod or 1/160 acre.

   trefoil: Trifolium procumbens, hop clover, or hop trefoil. GW is probably referring to this plant when he mentions yellow clover and yellow trefoil.

Wednesday Apl. 2d. Got the above Ground ready for Sowing tomorrow. Begn. to Cross plow the first plowd Ground in the lower Pasture endeavouring to get it in Order for Sowg. Lucerne Seed In.
A Drying Southerly Wind & Warm.

Thursday April 3d. Sowd 17½ Drills of Trefoil Seed in the ground adjoining the Garden, numbering from the side next the

Stable (or Work Shop) the residue of them viz. 4 was sowd with Lucerne Seed—both done with design to see how these Seeds answer in that Ground.
Sowd my Fallow Field in Oats to day, and harrowed them in viz. 10½ Bushels. Got done about three Oclock.
Cook Jack after laying of the Lands in this Field went to plowing in the 12 Acre Field where they were Yesterday as did the other plow abt. 5 oclock after Pointing.
Got several Composts and laid them to dry in order to mix with the Earth brot. from the Field below to try their several Virtues.
Wind blew very fresh from South. Clouds often appeard, and sometimes threatned the near approach of Rain but a clear setting Sun seemd denoted the Contrary.

   sowd . . . oats to day: Avena sativa, the “common oat” in GW’s papers. GW did far less experimenting with varieties of oats than with wheat or field peas, perhaps because there was less selection in process among English and American growers. While president, he wrote to manager James Anderson, 29 Jan. 1797, that he was obtaining several bushels of an oat from beyond the Alleghenies “of a quality, it is said, inferior to none in the world” (DLC:GW). See entry for 8 Mar. 1787 for a note on the Poland oat.

Friday Apl. 4th. Sowd abt. one Bushl. of Barley in a piece of Ground near the Tobo. House in the 12 Acre Field.
Harrowd, & crossd Harrowd the Ground in the sd. Field intended for Lucerne.
Apprehending the Herrings were come Hauled the Sein but catchd only a few of them tho a good many of other sorts. Majr. Stewart and Doctr. Johnston came here in the Afternoon and at Night Mr. Richie attended by Mr. Ross solliciting Freight—promisd none.

   bushl. of barley: Hordeum vulgare, barley. Here GW is sowing spring barley, but his common practice is to use the winter variety (see entry for 2 Sept. 1763). “I tried it [spring barley] two or three years unsuccessfully” (GW to William Pearce, 23 Mar. 1794, NBLiHi). Elsewhere he mentions summer barley, Minorca barley, and English barley. For naked barley, see entry for 3 May 1788, and for bere barley, see entry for 10 April 1787.

   Herring came up the rivers of tidewater Virginia and Maryland every spring to spawn near the falls (VOYAGE“Narrative of a Voyage to Maryland, 1705–1706.” American Historical Review 12 (1906–7): 327–40., 335). On 15 Mar. 1760 Cary & Co. of London sent GW an invoice listing two new fish seines which were described as being “35 fathoms long each, each 20 feet deep all through, made of the best 3 thd. laid twine, small Inch Meshes, hung loose on the lines & well fixd with Leads & Corks” (DLC:GW). Those seines, however, probably did not arrive in time to be of much use to GW during this fishing season.

   Robert Stewart entered the Virginia Regiment in 1754. He was soon made captain and was with GW at Braddock’s Defeat, becoming

      one of GW’s favorite officers. In the fall of 1758 he became brigade major of the Virginia troops on GW’s recommendation, and in 1760 he was still in the service, stationed at Winchester. Dr. Johnston is probably Robert Johnston (Johnson), originally of James City County, who served as the surgeon in both GW’s and Col. William Byrd’s Virginia Regiments; he may have been attending the Virginia troops in Winchester at this time. Johnston, who voted for GW in the lively 1758 burgesses’ election in Frederick County, died in Frederick County in 1769 (CROZIER [1]William Armstrong Crozier, ed. Virginia Colonial Militia, 1651–1776. Baltimore, 1954., 40; election poll for Frederick County, 24 July 1758, DLC:GW).

   Archibald Ritchie (d. 1784) was a Scottish merchant in Hobbs Hole (Tappahannock, on the Rappahannock River, Essex County). Hector Ross, a merchant at Colchester, Fairfax County, bought tobacco and Indian corn from GW, and his establishment, in turn, served as a local store of convenience for clothing and minor necessities for GW’s white servants, his tenants, and his slaves.

Saturday Apl. 5th. Planted out 20 young Pine trees at the head of my Cherry Walk.
Recd. my Goods from York.
Hauld the Sein again catchd 2 or 3 White Fish more Herring than Yesterday & a great Number of Cats.
Richie and Ross went away.
Made another Plow the same as my former excepting that it has two Eyes and the other one.
So[uther]ly Wind, but not so fresh as that wch. blew Yesterday. However, it blew up a little Rain abt. Dark with a good deal of Lightning & some Thunder.

   white fish: shad. These fish usually ran in large numbers during April and May. cats: (VOYAGE“Narrative of a Voyage to Maryland, 1705–1706.” American Historical Review 12 (1906–7): 327–40., 335).

Sunday April 6th. Wind at No. Et. and Cool. About 3 Oclock it began Raining and continued to do so (moderately) for about an hour when it cleard, the Wind shifting So[uther]ly.
I just perceivd the Rye grass Seed wch. I sowd in the Garden to try its goodness was beginning to come up pretty thick; the Clovr., Lucerne, & Barley I discoverd above Ground, on the first Instant.
Majr. Stewart & Doctr. Johnston set out for Winchesr.

Monday April 7th. Raind till 6 Oclock pretty hard and then cleard—Wind So[uther]ly and Cloudy all day.
In the Evening Colo. Frog came here, and made me an offer of 2400 Acres of Land wch. he has in Culpeper for £400. This Ld. Lyes (according to his acct.) 46 Miles above The Falls of Rappahannock—is well Water’d Timberd & of a Fertile Soil—no Impr[ove]ments on it. I told him that I woud get Captn. Thomas

Fitzhugh to give me his Opinion of the Land when he went next to his Quarter not far from it—or I woud take it in my way from Fredk. when I next went up there as it lies he says only 8 Miles from the place where Josh. Nevil livd at the Pignut Ridge.
One Captn. Kennelly lives within a Mile of the Land and is well acquainted with it.
People kept Holliday.

   Col. John Frogg was living in Fauquier County but held land across Hedgman’s River in Culpeper County. The falls were just above Fredericksburg. Capt. Thomas Fitzhugh (1725–1768) lived at Boscobel in King George (now Stafford) County. Many of the military ranks held by men appearing in the diaries are in the colonial militia, in which the highest rank was that of colonel; Fitzhugh was a captain in the militia. Joseph Neville (many spellings) lived in the vicinity of the Neville’s ordinary shown on the 1755 edition of the Fry-Jefferson Map. Joseph and his brother, George, both operated ordinaries in the area. KENNELLY: probably James Kennerley, of Culpeper County, whose land was close to John Frogg’s (PRICHARDA. M. Prichard, comp. Abstracts from the County Court Minute Book of Culpeper County, Virginia, 1763–1764. Dayton, Va., 1930., 31).

   holliday: Easter Monday.

Tuesday April 8th. What time it began Raining in the Night I cant say, but at day break it was pouring very hard, and continued so, till 7 oclock when a Messenger came to inform me that my Mill was in great danger of blowing. I immediately hurried off all hands with Shovels &ca. to her assistance and got there myself just time enough to give her a reprieve for this time by Wheeling dirt into the place which the Water had Washd.
While I was here a very heavy Thunder Shower came on which lasted upwards of an hour.
Here also, I tried what time the Mill requird to grind a Bushel of Corn and to my Surprize found She was within 5 Minutes of an hour about. This old Anthony attributed to the low head of Water (but Whether it was so or not I cant say—her Works all decayd and out of Order wch. I rather take to be the cause).
This Bushel of Corn when Ground measurd near a Peck more Meal.
No. Et. Wind and Cloudy all day. Towards Night it dripd of Rain.

   The mill was probably a small, one- or two-story wooden structure with an overshot or breast wheel and a single set of grinding stones. GW’s assessment of the mill’s machinery must have been correct, but Anthony recognized an equally important problem. The head of water was not high enough to generate much force when the water fell on the wheel, and without more power, better machinery could not be used to its full capacity. Some work was done on the millrace by Hosea Bazell during the late summer, but any improvement made in the head of water was probably minimal (General Ledger AGeneral Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers., folio

102). Jerry Mitchell apparently confined his efforts this year to rebuilding the mill’s internal works.

   The slave carpenter Anthony was in his middle fifties when he was brought to Mount Vernon in 1759 as part of Martha Custis’s dower. GW made him his miller but the next year reassigned him to the crew of carpenters, where by 1762 he had become head slave carpenter. After 1763 Anthony disappears from GW’s tithable lists.

Wednesday Apl. 9th. Wind at No. Et. Very Cloudy and sometimes Misty.
The Heavy Rains that had fallen in this few days past had made the Ground too wet for Plowing; I therefore set about the Fence which Incloses my Clover Field.
Doctr. Laurie came here. I may add Drunk.
Observd the Trefoil wch. I sowd on the 3d. Inst. to be coming up, but in a Scattg. manner. The Lucerne wch. was sewd at the same time and in the same manner appeard much better; & forwarder.

Thursday Apl. 10th. Mrs. Washington was blooded by Doctr. Laurie who stayd all Night.
This Morning my Plows began to Work in the Clover Field, but a hard Shower of Rain from No. Et. (where the Wind hung all day) abt. 11 Oclock, stopd them for the Remainder of the day. I therefore Employd the hands in making two or three hauls of the Sein, & found that the Herrings were come.
Val Crawford brought 4 Hhds. of my Mountain Tobo. to the Warehouses in Alexa. two in my own Waggon and with a Plow such as they use mostly in Frederick came here in the Night.
He informd me of my worthy Overseer Hardwicks lying since the 17th. Ulto. in Winchester of a Broken Leg.

   Valentine Crawford (d. 1777) lived near GW’s Bullskin plantation in Frederick County and was regularly hired to bring down GW’s mountain tobacco from those quarters. Valentine was the brother of Col. William Crawford (1732–1782) and half brother to John, Hugh, Richard, and Marcus Stephenson, sons of Richard and Onora (née Grimes) Crawford Stephenson, all of whom appear in the diaries.

Friday Apl. 11th. Set one Plow to Work again in the Morning the other about 10 Oclock in the Clover Field.
Tryd the new Plow brot. Yesterday, found she did good Work and run very true but heavy—rather too much so for two Horses, especially while the Gd. was moist.
Abt. 11 Oclock set the People to Hauling the Sein and by Night

and in the Night Catchd and dressd  Barrels of Herring and 60 White Fish.
Observd that the Flood tide was infinitely the best for these Fish.
The Wind came fresh from So. Et. the day Cool. Cloudy till Noon, but very clear promising settled Weather afterwards.

   After cleaning, the catch was packed with salt into barrels and stored for use on the plantation, fish being a staple of the slaves’ diet (MIDDLETON [2]Arthur Pierce Middleton. Tobacco Coast: A Maritime History of the Chesapeake Bay in the Colonial Era. Newport News, Va., 1953., 202–5).

Saturday April 12th. Hard No. West the whole day, very clear and Cool.
Hauld the Sein but without Success. Some said it was owing to the wind setting of the Shore, which seems in some Measure confirmd by the quantity we catchd Yesterday when the Wind blew on upon it.
About 11 Oclock finishd plowing the Clover Field. Abt. 1 Mullatto Jack began harrowing it with the wide Toothd Harrow and got half over the Field by Night. Cook Jack went to Plowing in the 12 Acre Field.
Perceivd my Barley and Oats to be coming up very thick and well.
Engag’d 150 Bushels of Oats of an Eastern shore Man & got 40 of them Landd. before I found they were damagd.

   GW paid £2 16s. for 39½ bushels of the oats (General Ledger AGeneral Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers., folio 89).

Sunday April 13th. Fine clear still Morng. Abt. 10 Oclock the Wind (what little there was before being So.) came Easterly, blew fresh and Clouded. Towards Evening the Atmostphere was quite Overcast and threatned Instant Rain.
My Negroes askd the lent of the Sein to day but caught little or no Fish. Note the Wind blew upon the shore to day.

Monday Apl. 14. Fine warm day, Wind So[uther]ly and clear till the Eveng. when it clouded.
No Fish were to be catchd to day neither.
Mixd my Composts in a box with ten Apartments in the following manner viz.—in No. 1 is three pecks of the Earth brought from below the Hill out of the 46 Acre Field without any mixture—in No.

2. is two pecks of the said Earth and one of Marle taken out of the said Field which Marle seemd a little Inclinable to Sand.

3. Has 2 Pecks of sd. Earth and 1 of Riverside Sand.
4. Has a Peck of Horse Dung.
5. Has Mud taken out of the Creek.
6. Has Cow Dung.
7. Marle from the Gullys on the Hill side wch. seemd to be purer than the other.
8. Sheep Dung.
9. Black Mould taken out of the Pocoson on the Creek side.
10. Clay got just below the Garden.

All mixd with the same quantity & sort of Earth in the most effectual manner by reducing the whole to a tolerable degree of fineness & jubling them well together in a Cloth.
In each of these divisions were planted three Grains of Wheat 3 of Oats & as many of Barley, all at equal distances in Rows & of equal depth (done by a Machine made for the purpose).
The Wheat Rows are next the Numbered side, the Oats in the Middle, & the Barley on that side next the upper part of the Garden.
Two or three hours after sowing in this manner, and about an hour before Sun set I waterd them all equally alike with Water that had been standing in a Tub abt. two hours exposd to the Sun.
Began drawing Bricks burning Lime & Preparing for Mr. Triplet who is to be here on Wednesday to Work.
Finishd Harrowing the Clover Field, and began reharrowing of it. Got a new harrow made of smaller, and closer Tinings for Harrowing in Grain—the other being more proper for preparing the Ground for sowing.
Cook Jack’s plow was stopd he being employd in setting the Lime Kiln.

   grains of wheat: Triticum aestivum, wheat, was second to tobacco as a cash crop during GW’s early farming years and his prime cash crop after he reduced his tobacco plantings in later years. When he speaks of “wheat” he means the common English red winter wheat, but during his lifetime he tried at least a dozen different kinds and experimented (as above) with various modes of culture. A common method of cropping was to sow wheat between corn rows after the corn had been topped in late summer. GW’s diaries and papers show him trying early wheat, summer wheat, red-straw wheat, lamas wheat, double-headed wheat, yellow-bearded wheat, and Russian wheat sent him by British agriculturist Arthur Young. White wheat became his favorite variety but during the Revolution, when his farms were neglected, his seed became so mixed that it lost its original characteristics. Much of his experimentation with wheat after that time involved finding an ideal white variety. He sent a sack of early white wheat to Sir John Sinclair 10 July 1798, saying it had been developed in America about seven years earlier and

was a white, full, and heavy grain. Possibly this is the strain which Thomas Jefferson sent home from Georgetown, Md., in 1790, reporting that Washington had assured him it was the best he had ever seen. It was a white wheat widely used in Maryland with a small, plump grain, weighing 62 to 64 pounds per bushel (BETTS [2]Edwin Morris Betts, ed. Thomas Jefferson’s Garden Book, 1766–1824: With Relevant Extracts from His Other Writings. Philadelphia, 1944., 153–54).

Tuesday April 15th. Sent Tom and Mike to Alexandria in my Boat for 20 or 25 Bushels of Oats.
Went up myself there to Court after calling at Mr. Green’s & leaving Mrs. Washington there.
Mr. Darrell not being there the Execution of his Deeds were again put of.
Being informd that French, Triplet and others were about buying (in conjunction) a piece of Land of Simon Piarson lying not far from my Dogue Run Quarter I engagd him to give me the first offer of it so soon as he shoud determine upon selling it.
About 3 Oclock fell a very heavy Shower of Rain attended with much Wind at So. wch. Instantaneously abt. an hour by Sun changd to No. West & blew for a few Minutes most violently but soon after fell calm.
Good part of my New Fencing that was not Riderd was leveld.

   Simon Pearson (c.1738–1797) owned 558 acres of land which lay on the main road from Alexandria to Colchester, northwest of the land on Dogue Run that GW had bought from Sampson Darrell in 1757. To sell his tract Pearson had to dock the entail on it, which he achieved in 1762, and on 14 Feb. 1763 GW bought 178 acres of Pearson’s land for £191 7s. (deed of Pearson to GW, DLC:GW). The remainder went to William Triplett and George Johnston.

   fencing . . . not riderd: In a rail fence, a rider is the top rail placed in a crotch of crossed stakes at the end of each panel, to lock all the rails in place and keep the fence firm.

Wednesday Apl. 16. My Boat which the Wind and Rain prevented from returning Yesterday came home this Morning the Wind being at North West and Fresh.
Mr. Triplet & his Brother came this day to Work. Abt. 10 Oclock they began, and got the Wall between the House and Dairy finishd.
Thinking the Ground Rather too wet for Sowing I set my Horses to Carting Rails, and both my Plows were stopd Cook Jack being employd abt. the Lime.
Finishd a Roller this day for Rolling my Grain.

Thursday April 17th. By 3 Oclock in the afternoon Mr. Triplet finishd the Wall between the Dairy and Kitchen. The Rain from that time prevented his Working.

Sowed my Clover Field with Oats, 24 Bushels. The upper part next the Peach Orchard was Harrowed in during the Rain but before it began to Clog much.
Also sowd 18 Rows of Lucerne in the 12 Acre Field below the Hill. The first 4 Rows were Sowd in Drils the others by a line stretchd and the Seed Raked In.
Richd. Stephens brot. down 9 Hogsheads of Tobo. to go to the Inspection at Hunting [Creek Warehouse] in a flat which I borrowd (or I rather suppose hird) from Messrs. Carlyle and Dalton—wch. Flat brot. down 4 Barrels of Corn—being part of Eight that I was to have had of William Garner at the rate of 9/. pr. Barl. to be paid in Pistoles or Dollars. It seems the other 4 Barrels I am to get from Garner’s House.
A Fresh Southerly Wind blew all day. Towards Noon it shifted more East and by 3 Oclock it began Raining and continued so to do witht. Intermission till we went to Bed & how long afterwards I know not.

   The Alexandria retail partnership of John Carlyle & John Dalton lasted from 1744 to Dalton’s death in 1777, an unusually long time in an age when most partnerships were entered into for one year at a time and few lasted more than a decade. GW carried this firm on his books from 1760 to 1769. William Gardner was a Truro vestryman from 1765 to 1776, when he apparently moved out of the parish. In 1766 and 1767 he served as a churchwarden with GW. flat: flatboat.

Friday April 18th. Righted up all my Fencing.
Planted other Pine Trees in the Fencd place at the Cornr. of the Garden the first being broke, and much hurt by Creatures.
Began Sowing my Clovr. and got 4 Acres sowd 14 lb. to the Acre. Harrowd it in with the fine toothd Harrow as light as I coud.
Tryd my Roller wch. find much too light.
Sowd 69 Rows more of Lucerne which makes 87 in all.
Got my Cloaths &ca. packd up for my Journey to Williamsburg tomorrow.
Mr. Barnes’s Davy brot. home my Negroe fellow Boson who Ran away on Monday last.

   Davy was one of Abraham Barnes’s slaves. In 1760 Boson was assigned to the Mount Vernon quarter called Williamson’s. GW today paid Davy 10s. for taking up Boson (General Ledger AGeneral Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers., folio 89). For colonial Virginia slaves who “ran away” from their masters, see MULLINGerald W. Mullin. Flight and Rebellion: Slave Resistance in Eighteenth-Century Virginia. New York, 1972..

Saturday Apl. 19th. Crossd at Mr. Possey’s Ferry and began my journey to Williamsburg about 9 Oclock. Abt. 11 I broke my

Chair and had to Walk to Port Tobo. where I was detaind the whole day getting my Chair mended—no Smith being with 6 Miles. Lodgd at Doctr. Halkerston’s.

   John Posey’s ferry crossed the Potomac River from the lower point of the Mount Vernon neck to Marshall Hall in Charles County, Md., home of Capt. Thomas Hanson Marshall (1731–1801) and his wife Rebecca Dent Marshall (c.1737–1770). By using Posey’s ferry, GW could cut across Charles County, past Port Tobacco, and recross the Potomac, entering Virginia in the Chotank area of King George County. In this way he saved himself from traveling the lower “Potomac Path” on the Virginia side of the Potomac, which crossed a number of swamps and small streams now swollen by a week of hard rains. Robert Halkerston had lived in Fredericksburg during GW’s youth, where he was a founding member of the Masonic Lodge in 1752 and was probably present at the 1753 lodge meetings in which the young GW was initiated, passed, and raised into Masonry.

Sunday Apl. 20th. Set out early, and crossd at Cedar point by 10; the day being very calm & fine, Dind and lodgd at my Brother’s. The Evening Cloudy with Rain. Wind tho little at So. West.

   The lower of the two Cedar Points in Maryland was about a 13–mile ride south from Port Tobacco. GW most likely used Hooe’s ferry, although several ferries crossed the Potomac from Cedar Point in 1760. His brother Samuel’s plantation in the Chotank area of Stafford County (now King George County) was originally one of their father’s quarters, inherited by Samuel when he came of age in 1755 (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., 6:513–16). There Samuel settled and built a “dwelling house with six rooms below and three above . . . situated on a hill, that opens a most agreeable prospect for some miles up and down the [Potomac] river” (Va. Gaz., R, 18 Aug. 1768, supp.). In the 1760s Samuel served as a justice of the peace for Stafford County and as a vestryman for St. Paul’s Parish.

Monday Apl. 21st. Crossd at Southern’s and Tods Bridge and lodgd at Major Gaines’s.

   After leaving his brother’s home GW rode about three miles below Leedstown to Southern’s (earlier Southings) ferry on the Rappahannock River, whose owner lived on the far side of the river in Essex County. In 1755 the ferryboat was manned by two Negroes (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., 3:22; “Narrative of George Fisher,”“Narrative of George Fisher. Commencing with a Voyage from London, May, 1750, for Yorktown in Virginia and Ending in August, 1755, on His Return from Philadelphia to Williamsburg.” William and Mary Quarterly, 1st ser., 17 (1908–9): 100–139, 147–76. 170). GW then rode southwest through Essex and King and Queen counties to arrive at Todd’s Bridge, where he crossed the Mattaponi River into King William County a short way upriver from Aylett’s Warehouse (later the village of Aylett, Va.). In 1760 William Todd, who lived on the King and Queen side of the bridge, also had a warehouse and an ordinary at this crossing (GRAY [1]Arthur P. Gray. “Washington’s Burgess Route.” Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 46 (1938): 299–315., 303). Maj. Harry Gaines (d. 1767), a local planter, was elected a burgess for King William County in 1758.

Tuesday April 22d. Crossd Pamunky at Williams’s Ferry, and visited all the Plantations in New Kent. Found the Overseers

much behind hand in their Business. Went to Mrs. Dandridges and lodgd.

   From Major Gaines’s, GW rode south through King William County to cross the Pamunkey River into New Kent County at Williams’s ferry. The crossing brought him very near the Custis plantations in the vicinity of the White House, which had been the home of Martha Dandridge Custis when GW met her. Mrs. Frances Jones Dandridge (1710–1785), widow of John Dandridge (1700–1756), was GW’s mother-in-law. She lived at Chestnut Grove in New Kent County, about midway along the Pamunkey River between the White House and the Bassett’s home, Eltham (GRAY [1]Arthur P. Gray. “Washington’s Burgess Route.” Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 46 (1938): 299–315., 304, 315).

Wednesday Apl. 23d. Went to Colo. Bassetts and remaind there the whole day.

   Burwell Bassett’s home, Eltham in New Kent County, was less than a mile up the Pamunkey River from West Point, where the Pamunkey joins the Mattaponi to form the York River.

   Thursday April 24th. Visited my Quarters at Claibornes and found their business in tolerable forwardness. Also went to my other Quarter at  where their was an insufficient quantity of Ground prepard—but all that coud be had—it was sd.
Dind at Mr. Bassetts and went in the Evening to Williamsburg.

   claibornes: This Custis plantation lay in King William County on the neck of land the Pamunkey River forms just above Eltham. Containing an estimated 3,080 acres, nearly half of which were marsh, Claiborne’s was so named because Martha Washington’s first husband, Daniel Parke Custis, had purchased it 14–15 Dec. 1750 from the executors of William Claiborne (d. 1746) of Romancoke (survey by William Groveham 14–18 April 1789 and 25–29 Mar. 1791, Vi). When the Custis estate was apportioned among Martha and the two children, Claiborne’s was one of the plantations assigned to her by right of dower. As her second husband, GW was entitled to use the dower plantations as if they were his own, except that he could not sell them or encumber them “to the prejudice of her ultimate rights or those of her heirs,” for on her death the dower plantations were to go to John Parke Custis (FREEMANDouglas Southall Freeman. George Washington: A Biography. 7 vols. New York, 1948–57., 3:20). At this time 19 dower slaves worked at Claiborne’s, growing tobacco, wheat, and corn under the direction of the plantation’s overseer, John Roan (“Part of John Roan’s Crop—1759,” and “A List of Working Dower Negroes, where settld & under whose care, 1760,” DLC:GW; both lists are at the beginning of the 1760 Virginia Almanack in which GW kept his diary for this year).

Friday Apl. 25th. Waited upon the Govr.

   The governor of Virginia was an appointee of the king. Since, in the British imperial practice, the governorship was considered to be a source of revenue as well as an administrative responsibility, the governor often obtained the royal appointment of a lieutenant governor, who would live in Virginia as the colony’s chief executive officer, and with whom the governor would come

   to some agreement over the income and perquisites of the office. In 1760 the governor of Virginia was Sir Jeffrey Amherst, and the resident lieutenant governor was Francis Fauquier (1703–1768). Fauquier was commissioned lieutenant governor of Virginia 10 Feb. 1758, took the oaths of office in Williamsburg 5 June 1758, and died in office. He had thus been GW’s superior during part of the 1758 campaigns against the French. It was Lieutenant Governor Fauquier whom he visited on this date; he was following the common practice of Virginians in referring to him as simply the governor.

Saturday Apl. 26th. Visited all the Estates and my own Quarters about Williamsburg. Found these also in pretty good forwardness.
Receivd Letters from Winchester informing me that the Small Pox had got among my Quarter’s in Frederick; determind therefore to leave Town as soon as possible and proceed up to them.

   estates: John Parke Custis’s plantations in York County. He had also inherited the Custis lands in New Kent, Hanover, and Northampton counties as well as lots in Williamsburg and Jamestown (Custis to GW, 11 May 1778, ViHi; Va. Gaz., P, 16 Oct. 1778). my own quarters: Martha Washington’s dower plantations in York County—Bridge Quarter and the Ship Landing, both of which lay near the Capitol Landing on Queen’s Creek about two miles north of Williamsburg. Together they contained about 1,000 acres, of which “100 or more” were “firm hard marsh, supporting a numerous flock of cattle winter and summer,” and 10 to 12 were swamp (Va. Gaz., P&D, 2 April 1767). Tobacco and corn were grown on the higher ground by 19 dower slaves who worked there at this time. The dower property also included a gristmill, which adjoined the two York plantations, plus lots in Williamsburg

   and Jamestown (“A List of Working Dower Negroes, where settled, & under whose care, 1760,” DLC:GW, at the beginning of GW’s 1760 Virginia Almanack; GW to Custis, 12 Oct. 1778, DLC:GW).

Sunday Apl. 27th. Went to Church. In the Afternoon some Rain, & a great deal of severe Lightning but not much Thunder.

   church: probably Bruton Parish Church on Duke of Gloucester Street in Williamsburg.

Monday Apl. 28th. Let my House in Town to Colo. Moore, for Colo. Dandridge, who is to come into it in the Fall, and pay me 45 £ pr. Ann. In the meanwhile I am to paint it.
In the Afternoon after collecting what Money I coud I left Town and reachd Colo. Bassetts.
This day agreed with Mr. Jno. Driver of Nansemond for 25,000 shingles to be deliverd in October. They are to be 18 inch shingles and of the best sort. Desird him if he coud not cause them to be deliverd for 18/ a Thousd. not to send them but let me know of it as soon as possible.

   By “my House in Town,” GW refers to a Williamsburg house in Martha’s dower estate which was now under GW’s management.

   Colonel Moore is either Thomas Moore or his brother and near neighbor, Bernard Moore (d. 1775), of Chelsea, who was a burgess for King William County 1744–65 and again, 1769–71. Both were colonels and lived in the Custis-Dandridge-Bassett neighborhood along the Pamunkey River; both were heavily in debt to the Custis estate. Colonel Dandridge is Bartholomew Dandridge (1737–1785), a brother of Mrs. Washington.

   The money GW collected today was for burgesses’ wages and an old account from the colony of Virginia £60 4d. in all (General Ledger AGeneral Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers., folio 89).

   John Driver was a merchant in the port town of Suffolk, Va., on the Nansemond River. One of the major sources of roofing shingles for Virginians was the Dismal Swamp area just south of Suffolk in Nansemond County.

Tuesday Apl. 29th. Reachd Port Royal by Sunset.

   GW crossed the Pamunkey River at Thomas Dansie’s ferry and dined at Todd’s ordinary on his way to Port Royal (General Ledger AGeneral Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers., folio 89).

Wednesday 30th. Came to Hoes Ferry by 10 Oclock but the wind blew too fresh to cross: detained there all Night.

   Hooe’s ferry, running from Mathias Point in Virginia to lower Cedar Point in Maryland, was established in 1715 by Col. Rice Hooe (Hoe, Howe), grandson of Rice (Rhuys) Hooe, a seventeenth-century immigrant from Wales. At Colonel Hooe’s death (1726), the ferry was inherited and run by his son John (1704–1766), and following John’s death by John’s widow, Ann Alexander Hooe, and their son Gerard Hooe (1733–1786), who married

Sarah Barnes (1742–1815) and lived at the family home of Barnsfield in Mathias Neck, Stafford County (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., 4:93; Va. Gaz., R, 24 Mar. 1768; NICKLIN [1], 368).

   From Hooe’s ferry, GW probably retraced his steps home but entered no expense in his ledger for recrossing the Potomac to reach Mount Vernon.


Title: [Diary entry: 1 May 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Thursday May 1st. Got over early in the Morning and reachd home before Dinnertime and upon enquiry found that my Clover Field was finishd sowing & Rolling the Saturday I left home—as was the Sowing of my Lucerne: and that on the  they began sowing the last field of Oats & finishd it the 25th. That in box No. 6, two grains of Wheat appeard on the 20th.; one an Inch high—on the 22d. a grain of Wheat in No. 7 and 9 appeard—on the 23 after a good deal of Rain the Night before some Stalks appeard in Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5, & 8 but the Ground was so hard bakd by the drying Winds when I came home that it was difficult to say which Nos. lookd most thriving. However in

No.
1 there was nothing come up.

2.

2 Oats
1 barley

3.

1 Oat
2 barley

 4.

1 Oat
4

5.
1 Wheat
2 Oats

6.
1 Do.
3 Do.
1 Do.

7.
1 Do.
2 Do.
2 Do.

8.
1 Do.
1 Do.

9.
2 Do.
3 Do.
2 Do.

10.

1 Do.

 The two Grains in No. 8 were I think rather the strongest, but upon the whole No. 9 was the best.


Title: [Diary entry: 3 May 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Saturday May 3d. Wind got Southerly, but blew fresh and Cool. The Stallion coverd Ranken—and afterwards breaking out of his pasture Coverd the great bay Mare again.


Title: [Diary entry: 4 May 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

 Sunday May 4th. Warm and fine. Set out for Frederick to see my Negroes that lay Ill of the Small Pox. Took Church in my way to Colemans where I arrivd about Sun setting.


Title: [Diary entry: 5 May 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Monday May 5th. Reach’d Mr. Stephenson in Frederick abt. 4 Oclock just time enough to see Richd. Mounts Interrd. Here I was informd that Harry & Kit, the two first of my Negroes that took the Small Pox were Dead and Roger & Phillis the only two down with it were recovering from it. Lodgd at Mr. Stephenson.


Title: [Diary entry: 6 May 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Tuesday May 6. Visited my Brother’s Quarter, & just calld at my own in my way to Winchester where I spent the day & Evening with Colo. Byrd &ca. The Court was held to Day at Stephen’s Town but adjournd to Winchester to Morrow.


Title: [Diary entry: 7 May 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Wednesday May 7. After taking the Doctrs. Direction’s in regard to my People I set out for my Quarters and got there abt. 12 Oclock—time enough to go over them and find every thing in the utmost confusion, disorder & backwardness my Overseer lying upon his Back of a broken Leg, and not half a Crop especially of Corn Ground prepard. Engagd. Vale. Crawford to go in pursuit of a Nurse to be ready in case more of my People shd. be seizd with the same disorder.


Title: [Diary entry: 8 May 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Thursday May 8th. Got Blankets and every other requisite from Winchester & settld things upon the best footing I coud to prevt.

the Small Pox from Spreading—and in case of its spreading for the care of the Negroes. Mr. Vale. Crawford agreeing in case any more of the People at the lower Quarter getting it to take them home to his House—& if any of those at the upper Quarter gets it to have them removd into my Room and the Nurse sent for.


Title: [Diary entry: 9 May 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Friday May 9th. Set out on my return Home. The Morning drizzling a little. Calld at the Bloomery and got Mr. Wm. Crawford to shew me the place that has been so often talkd of for erecting an Iron Work upon. The Convenience of Water is great—first it may be taken out of the River into a Canal and a considerable Fall obtained—& ⟨then⟩ a Run comes from the Mountain on which the largest Fall may [be] got with Small Labour and expence. But of the constancy of this Stream I know nothing nor Coud Crawford tell me. I saw none of the Ore but all People agree that there is an inexhaustable fund of that that is rich—but Wood seems an obstacle not but that there is enough of it but the Gd. is so hilly & rugged as not to admit of making Coal or transporting it. I did not examine the place so accurately myself as to be a competent

   the bloomery: a primitive means of turning iron ore into iron, consisting of a hearth rather larger than that of a blacksmith. Iron ore and charcoal were fed into a fire fanned by a bellows that was powered by a waterwheel. When the heated iron formed a lump, or “bloom,” it was lifted to an anvil and beaten into a bar by a hammer, also powered by the waterwheel. The product was an impure wrought iron used by local artisans and blacksmiths. A bloomery for making bar iron was begun in 1742 by a group which included William Vestal and Crawford’s stepfather, Richard Stephenson. It was located on John Vestal’s land about four miles above Key’s (later Vestal’s) ferry, on the right bank of the Shenandoah River and the mouth of Evitt’s Run.

   iron work: a more sophisticated process producing a high grade of iron for commercial sale. Such a work, using limestone for flux, needed a much greater amount of capital to finance a 25– to 30–foot-high furnace, a large bellows (often 25 feet long) for the blast, a waterwheel over 20 feet in diameter, and a minimum of 10 to 12 full-time workers. But it could turn out 20 tons of relatively pure pig iron per week, which would either be worked in the colonies or shipped to England for sale (BININGArthur Cecil Bining. Pennsylvania Iron Manufacture in the Eighteenth Century. Harrisburg, 1938. In Publications of the Pennsylvania Historical Commission, vol. 4., 76–84). Vast amounts of firewood were needed to produce charcoal for the iron furnace.

   William Crawford, brother of Valentine Crawford, entered the Virginia Regiment in 1755 as an ensign in the company of scouts and later served with GW on the Forbes expedition of 1758. He lived in Frederick County until 1765, when he removed to the Youghiogheny country in western Pennsylvania.

   Despite Crawford’s approval of this site for an ironwork, GW did not join in the venture.

   judge of this matter & Mr. Crawford says there will be no difficulty in the case. Reachd Coleman’s.


Title: [Diary entry: 10 May 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Saturday May 10. Arrivd at home abt. 10 Oclock where I found my Brother Jno. And was told that my great Chesnut folded a Horse Colt on the 6 Instt. and that my Young Peach trees were Wed according to Order. The Oats, & in short every thing else seemd quite at a stand, from the dryness of the Earth which was remarkably so partly for want of Rain and partly by the constant drying Winds which have blown for sometime past.


Title: [Diary entry: 12 May 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Monday May 12th. Fine Rain began in the Morning and continued by Intervals all day. Sent Cook Jack & my Horses to get in Stephens Corn. Black Mare was coverd again to day. Mr. Alexander sent a Mare but She refusd the Horse.


Title: [Diary entry: 13 May 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Tuesday May 13th. Cloudy with some slight Showers of Rain. People all working at Muddy hole getting in Stephens’s Corn. My Brother Jno. returnd from Difficult.


Title: [Diary entry: 14 May 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Wednesday May 14th. Wind at No. Wt. fresh and drying. Visited at Belvoir. People & Plows at Muddy Hole.


Title: [Diary entry: 15 May 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

 Thursday May 15th. Drying Winds—People at Muddy hole again.


Title: [Diary entry: 16 May 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Friday May 16th. Still Cool and Windy—my People yet continuing at Muddy hole. My Brother Jno. left this and I got Nations Estate Appraisd by Messrs. McCarty Barry & Triplet—as follows viz.

One old Gun & lock
7.6

1 Small Bell
2.6

         1 Suit of Cloaths viz.
         }

         a Coat Waistt. Breechs.

         Shirt, Hat, Shoes & Garters

10

A Small parcel of Lea[the]r
1


Title: [Diary entry: 18 May 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Sunday May 18th. Set out in Company with Mr. George Johnston. At Colchester was informd by Colo. Thornton and Chissel that the Assembly wd. be broke up before I could get down.

Turnd back therefore & found Colo. Fairfax and his Family and that Lightning wch. had attended a good deal of Rain had struck my Quarter & near 10 Negroes in it some very bad but with letting Blood they recoverd.


Title: [Diary entry: 19 May 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Monday May 19th. Went to Alexandria to see Captn. Littledales Ship Launchd wch. went of extreamely well. This day was attended with slight shower’s. Colo. F[airfa]x had a Mare Cover’d. So had Captn. Dalton.


Title: [Diary entry: 20 May 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Tuesday May 20th. Being Court day Mr. Clifton’s Land in the Neck was exposd to Sale and I bought it for £1210 Sterlg. & under many threats and disadvantages paid the Money into the Comrs. hands and returnd home at Night with Colo. Fairfax & Famy. Captn. Dalton’s Dun Mare again Covd.


Title: [Diary entry: 21 May 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Wednesday May 21. Wrote to Messrs. Nicholas & With for Advice how to act in regard to Clifton’s Land. Sent the Letter by the Post. A good deal of Rain in the Night. Colo. Fairfax went home. Began shearing my Sheep. ⟨Dalton’s sorrel⟩ Mare coverd.


Title: [Diary entry: 22 May 1760]
From: Washington, George
To:

Thursday May 22d. Continued shearing my sheep. A good deal of Rain at Night—and Cool as it has been ever since the first Reign on the 12th. Captn. Dalton had a sorrell Mare coverd. My Black Mare that came Frederick was Coverd Yesterday & the day before. Captn. McCarty had a Mare Coverd the 20th. Memms. To have 600 Tobo. Hills Marld at Williamsons quarter—to try the Virtues of it—to do it more effectually, tend 500 Hills of the same Ground witht. Marl giving both equal working and let them fare exactly alike in all Respects.  For an Experimt. Take 7 Pots (Earthen) or 7 Boxes of equal size and number them. Then put in No. 1 pld. Earth taken out of the Field below, which is intend. for Wheat—in No. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 equal proportion’s of the same Earth—to No. 2 put Cow dung—to 3 Marle, 4 ⟨with⟩ Mud from the Marshes ⟨& bottoms⟩ adjoining the  Field, to 5 Mud ⟨tak⟩en out of the River immediately, to 6 the same Mud lain to Mellow sum time, and to 7 the Mud taken from the Shoreside at low Water where it appears to be unmixd with Clay. Of each an equal quantity—and at the proper Season of Sowing Oats put in each of these Pots or boxes 6 Grains of the largest and heaviest Oats planted at proper distances—and watch their growth and different changes till Harvest. N.B. To preserve them from Accidents put them in the Garden ⟨and⟩ let the Pots be buried ⟨up⟩ to their brims.