4591[Diary entry: 20 July 1770] (Washington Papers)
20. Exceeding hot and Sultry with a southerly Breeze.
4592[Diary entry: 20 July 1770] (Washington Papers)
20. Compleated my Wheat Harvest altogether & exceeding bad I am apprehensive it will turn out—owing I am of opinion to the frequent Rains in the Month of June. The Heads containd but few grains—the Grain but little flower being for the most part perishd and Milldewed. The frequent Rains had by beating down the straw been the occasion of much loss in the Field both by shattering and unclean...
4593From George Washington to Thomas Johnson, 20 July 1770 (Washington Papers)
I was honourd with your favour of the 18th of June about the last of that Month and read it with all the attention I was capable of but having been closely engaged with my Hay & Wheat Harvests from that time till now I have not been able to enquire into the Sentiments of any of the Gentlemen of this side in respect to the Scheme of opening the Inland Navigation of Potomack by private...
4594[Diary entry: 21 July 1770] (Washington Papers)
21. At home alone.
4595[Diary entry: 21 July 1770] (Washington Papers)
21 Also very hot with a black Cloud to the westward and great appearance [of rain]—but none fell here.
4596[Diary entry: 22 July 1770] (Washington Papers)
22. At home all day alone except that Miss Massey, still here & Mr. Semple came just after we had dind & went away after dinner was got for him.
4597[Diary entry: 22 July 1770] (Washington Papers)
22. Clear and Warm in the forenoon with a Black Cloud to the Westward but no Rain here.
4598[Diary entry: 23 July 1770] (Washington Papers)
23. Miss Massey went away, and in the Evening Mr. Boucher, Majr. Taylor and Jackey Custis came here. Boucher was now moving from Caroline County to Annapolis, where Jacky, as had been agreed, was going also to continue his studies under Boucher’s direction. Major Taylor may be James Taylor (1732–1814), Caroline County sheriff and militia officer ( grinnan “James Taylor.” Virginia Magazine of...
4599[Diary entry: 23 July 1770] (Washington Papers)
23. Again appearances of Rain to the Westward with only a sprinkle here.
4600[Diary entry: 23 July 1770] (Washington Papers)
23. Began to Cut my Meadw. at the Mill.
4601[Diary entry: 24 July 1770] (Washington Papers)
24. Colo. Fairfax & Lady and Mrs. Ambler dined here—with the Gentlemen that came yesterday & went away after.
4602[Diary entry: 24 July 1770] (Washington Papers)
24. Clear and Warm all day with but little Wind.
4603[Diary entry: 25 July 1770] (Washington Papers)
25. Mr. Boucher & Major Taylor went away after Breakfast. Mr. Alexander (Robt.) who lodged here Last Night and went over to give Notice to his Tenant of Mr. Marshalls want of part of his Tenement dined here and went home afterwards. Alexander’s notice was a legal warning to the planter who was renting Mrs. Alexander’s Maryland land that before the end of the year he would have to vacate the...
4604[Diary entry: 25 July 1770] (Washington Papers)
25. Light showers in the afternoon and sevl. of them but not sufft. to wet the Ground.
4605[Diary entry: 26 July 1770] (Washington Papers)
26. Jackey Custis went away after Breakfast to Annapolis to School. Jacky took £2 13s. pocket money with him ( General Ledger A General Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers. , folio 319).
4606[Diary entry: 26 July 1770] (Washington Papers)
26. Sevl. very fine Showers but rather heavy in the Afternoon from the Southwest. With wind.
4607[Diary entry: 27 July 1770] (Washington Papers)
27. Went with Mrs. Washington and Patcy Custis to Belvoir to Dinner and returned in the Afternoon.
4608[Diary entry: 27 July 1770] (Washington Papers)
27. Clear and warm with but little Wind—that Northwardly.
4609[Diary entry: 28 July 1770] (Washington Papers)
28. Went up to Alexandria with the Association Papers. Dined at Mr. Ramsays calld at Mr. Jno. Wests and returnd home in the Evening. GW was apparently taking printed copies of the nonimportation agreement to Alexandria to be circulated and signed. At least 333 signatures were eventually obtained, and sometime before 11 Oct. an association committee was elected for the county. Its members were...
4610[Diary entry: 28 July 1770] (Washington Papers)
28. Very warm. Wind Southwardly in the Afternoon Thunder, lightning and Rain.
4611[Diary entry: 29 July 1770] (Washington Papers)
29. Captn. Ingles, and his Master, Mr. Bruce and Mr. John West dind here. All of whom returnd afterwards. captn. ingles : probably Samuel Inglis, a Norfolk merchant who dealt in flour, wheat, corn, hemp, and West Indian goods ( Va. Gaz. , P&D, 24 Jan. 1771, 7 July 1774, and P, 26 May 1775). There was a Captain Inglis of the British navy serving in American waters at this time as commander of...
4612[Diary entry: 29 July 1770] (Washington Papers)
29. Clear and Warm. Wind Southwardly again.
4613[Diary entry: 30 July 1770] (Washington Papers)
30. After an Early Dinner (which Mr. Peake took with us), we set of for Fredericksburg that is Mrs. Washington, P. Custis & myself. Reachd Mr. Lawson’s. GW had asked the original officers of the Virginia Regiment to meet him at Fredericksburg 1 Aug. to discuss matters relating to bounty lands in the Ohio Valley that Gov. Robert Dinwiddie had promised members of the regiment in 1754 in order to...
4614[Diary entry: 30 July 1770] (Washington Papers)
30. Exceedingly warm—especially in the Afternoon there being but little wind & that Southwardly.
4615From George Washington to Jonathan Boucher, 30 July 1770 (Washington Papers)
The Books you wrote for, I hope you will receive in good order by Joe, as I desired Lund Washington to pack them up carefully & see them put into the Portmanteau —No thread came from Mr Addison’s, nor any from Mr Digges’s to which place I sent, thinking it might be contrivd there along with Jacks Key’s. We coud easily have carried down, & most certainly shoud have done so if it had ever got...
4616[Diary entry: 31 July 1770] (Washington Papers)
31. Got to my Mothers to Dinner and staid there all Night. Patsy Custis became gravely ill today, suffering not only from “her old complaint” of epilepsy, but also “ague and fever” ( GW to Jonathan Boucher, 15 Aug. 1770 , excerpt, American Art Assoc. Catalogue, 21–22 Jan. 1926, item 294). Dr. Hugh Mercer of Fredericksburg was promptly summoned to Ferry Farm, where he bled the patient and gave...
4617[Diary entry: 31 July 1770] (Washington Papers)
31. Again very warm & still—especially in the Evening and Night.
4618[Diary entry: 31 July 1770] (Washington Papers)
31st. Finished Do. Also laid the 2d. Floor of my Mill.
4619[August 1770] (Washington Papers)
Augt. 1. Dined at my Mother’s. Went over to Fredericksburg afterwards & returnd in the Evening back again. 2. Met the Officers of the first Virga. Troops at Captn. Weedens where we dined & did not finish till abt. Sun set. Mrs. Washington & Patcy dind at Colo. Lewis’s where we lodgd. Meeting a day later than scheduled, the officers and representatives of officers who were present accepted...
4620Acct. of the Weather in August [1770] (Washington Papers)
Augt. 1. Clear with the Wind very fresh from the So. West but very warm notwithstanding. 2. Again very warm with a brisk westwardly breeze. 3. More moderate—the Wind being Northwardly—cloudy with some thunder but no Rain. 4. Warm again but no appearance of Rain tho the wind was favourable for it. 5. Very warm but clear and little wind—that southwardly. 6. Clear and Warm—with but little . 7....
4621Cash Accounts, August 1770 (Washington Papers)
Cash Augt 2— To Cash of Doctr [James] Craik for the use of the Surveyor of the 200,000 Acres of Ld Grantd the Sold[iers] by Govr [Robert] Dinwiddies Procln £ 6. 0.0 To Do of Captn [Peter] Hog on the same Acct 9. 0.0 To Do of Mr Jas Mercer in behalf of his Brother Geo: Do 12. 0.0 9— To Cash won at Cards 0. 5.0 21— To 3 Guineas of Mr [Walter] Magowan for a Gun Imported for him 3.18.9 To Cash of...
4622Remarks & Occurances Augt. [1770] (Washington Papers)
Augt. 1. Began to Sow Wheat at Muddy hole—the Ground Grassy & in bad order. Began to Sow Ditto at Doeg Run Quarter where the Ground was exceeding foul, Grassy, & hard. 8. Began to sow Wheat in the Neck in that Cut upon the Creek above Carneys Gut. The Ground here was tolerably clear and in Good Order the Grass and Weeds being Choped over. Carney’s Gut, named for GW’s former tenant John Carney,...
4623[Diary entry: 1 August 1770] (Washington Papers)
Augt. 1. Dined at my Mother’s. Went over to Fredericksburg afterwards & returnd in the Evening back again.
4624[Diary entry: 1 August 1770] (Washington Papers)
Augt. 1. Clear with the Wind very fresh from the So. West but very warm notwithstanding.
4625[Diary entry: 1 August 1770] (Washington Papers)
Augt. 1. Began to Sow Wheat at Muddy hole—the Ground Grassy & in bad order. Began to Sow Ditto at Doeg Run Quarter where the Ground was exceeding foul, Grassy, & hard.
4626[Diary entry: 2 August 1770] (Washington Papers)
2. Met the Officers of the first Virga. Troops at Captn. Weedens where we dined & did not finish till abt. Sun set. Mrs. Washington & Patcy dind at Colo. Lewis’s where we lodgd. Meeting a day later than scheduled, the officers and representatives of officers who were present accepted William Crawford as surveyor for the veterans’ bounty lands and resolved that GW should make a journey to the...
4627[Diary entry: 2 August 1770] (Washington Papers)
2. Again very warm with a brisk westwardly breeze.
4628[Diary entry: 3 August 1770] (Washington Papers)
3. Dined at my Brother Charles’s—spent the Evening there & lodgd at Colo. Lew⟨is⟩. Charles Washington was now a leading citizen of Fredericksburg, being both a vestryman of St. George’s Parish and a Spotsylvania County justice. He owned at least 759 acres of land in the county outside Fredericksburg, and in Aug. 1761 he had bought lots numbered 87 and 88 in town for £80 from Warner Lewis of...
4629[Diary entry: 3 August 1770] (Washington Papers)
3. More moderate—the Wind being Northwardly—cloudy with some thunder but no Rain.
4630Agreement with George Muse, 3 August 1770 (Washington Papers)
[ 3 Aug. 1770 ]. “Articles of Agreement made and concluded upon this third day of August in the year of our Lord One thousand Seven hundred and Seventy, between George Muse of the County of Caroline . . . & George Washington . . . Witnesseth that the said George Muse hath this day agreed . . . to let the said George Washington . . . have one full third part of all the Land which he the said...
4631[Diary entry: 4 August 1770] (Washington Papers)
4. Dined at the Barbicue with a great deal of other Company and stayd there till Sunset.
4632[Diary entry: 4 August 1770] (Washington Papers)
4. Warm again but no appearance of Rain tho the wind was favourable for it.
4633[Diary entry: 5 August 1770] (Washington Papers)
5. Went to Church (in Fredg.) and dind with Colo. Lewis. St. George’s Church, built in 1732, had as its minister at this time James Marye, Jr. (1731–1780), who had succeeded his father as parish rector in 1767 ( meade [1] [William] Meade. Old Churches, Ministers and Families of Virginia . 2 vols. Philadelphia, 1857. , 68–69).
4634[Diary entry: 5 August 1770] (Washington Papers)
5. Very warm but clear and little wind—that southwardly.
4635[Diary entry: 6 August 1770] (Washington Papers)
6. Dined with Mr. James Mercer. James Mercer (1735–1793), a younger brother of Lt. Col. George Mercer but no relation of Hugh Mercer, was a prominent Fredericksburg lawyer. Educated at the College of William and Mary, he served 1762–76 as a burgess from Hampshire County, where he owned land ( garnett [1] James Mercer Garnett. “James Mercer.” William and Mary Quarterly , 1st ser., 17 (1908–9):...
4636[Diary entry: 6 August 1770] (Washington Papers)
6. Clear and Warm—with but little .
4637[Diary entry: 7 August 1770] (Washington Papers)
7. Dined at Colo. Lewis’s—Colo. Dangerfield & Lady & Miss Boucher comg. there to see us. colo. dangerfield & lady : possibly Col. William and Sarah Taliaferro Daingerfield, of Belvidera, just south of Fredericksburg. But more likely they are Col. William’s first cousin, also a Col. William (d. 1781), and his wife, Mary Willis Daingerfield, of Coventry in Spotsylvania County. It was this...
4638[Diary entry: 7 August 1770] (Washington Papers)
7. Clear in the Morning but very cloudy and like for Rain afterwards—tho little or none fell. Wind Eastwardly.
4639[Diary entry: 8 August 1770] (Washington Papers)
8. Dined at Colo. Lewis’s. GW apparently clubbed at Weedon’s again this evening and played cards, winning 5s. ( General Ledger A General Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers. , folio 320).
4640[Diary entry: 8 August 1770] (Washington Papers)
8. Cool and Clear. Wind fresh from the Northwest.