George Washington Papers
Documents filtered by: Project="Washington Papers"
sorted by: editorial placement
Permanent link for this document:
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/01-04-02-0002-0012-0013

[Diary entry: 13 December 1785]

Tuesday 13th. Thermometer at [ ] in the Morng. 47 at Noon and [ ] at Night.

Wind Westerly, fresh, & air turning cold. Flying Clouds all day, but clear at Night, and still.

Finished killing my Hogs—The Number & weight of which are as follow.

No. Wt.
River Plantn. 44 6814
Dogue run Do. 28 4003
Muddy hole Do. 30 3638
Ferry—Do. 26 2930
Total 128 17385

Out of the above Thos. Bishop & Thos. Green are each to have 500. Hezekiah Fairfax has had 480 & Morris 416 and Davy 414—leaving for family use 15075 lbs. which with 4 Hogs killed for early Bacon (in October) Weighing 810 lbs. make in all 15,885 lbs. laid up for the consumption of my Table—use of my People—and the poor who are distressed for it.

Mr. Baldwin, formerly a Chaplain in the Army from Connecticut—now a Lawyer in the state of Georgia called here on his way to the last but would not stay [to] dinner.

A Mr. Douglas came here to rent my Land on Difficult run for which I asked him £50 pr. Ann. and to which he is to give an Answer after consulting his Brothers in Alexanda.

Thomas Green, overseer of the plantation carpenters, was working at Mount Vernon as a joiner by Jan. 1783 and stayed until late 1794. He was a drunken incompetent, and although GW often threatened to fire him, his compassion for the man’s family restrained him. Green finally ran away or was fired and left his wife Sarah (Sally), daughter of GW’s old servant, Thomas Bishop, and several small children destitute (General Ledger B description begins General Ledger B, 1772–1793. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers. description ends , folio 170, 209, 239, 243, 252, 279, 350; THANE description begins Elswyth Thane. Potomac Squire. New York, 1963. description ends , 246, 328–30).

Morris and Davy, two of GW’s slaves, were at this time in charge of Dogue Run and Muddy Hole farms, respectively.

Abraham Baldwin (1754–1807) was a tutor at Yale during the early years of the Revolution and then served as chaplain of the 2nd Connecticut Regiment. He later studied law and in 1784 settled in Georgia where he became a member of the Georgia Commons House of Assembly. He was influential in setting up an educational system in Georgia and was the first president of Franklin College (later the University of Georgia). Baldwin was a member of the Continental Congress 1785, 1787–88, and of the Federal Convention in 1787. He was in the United States House of Representatives 1789–99 and the United States Senate 1799–1807. He was undoubtedly on his way home from the Continental Congress at this time.

mr. douglas: This may have been Hugh Douglass (Douglas) of Garrallan in Loudoun County (WISE description begins Jennings Cropper Wise. Col. John Wise of England and Virginia (1617–1695): His Ancestors and Descendants. Richmond, Va., 1918. description ends , 292–96). GW’s 300–acre tract on Difficult Run in Loudoun County was of value chiefly for its location at Difficult Bridge on the road from Alexandria to Leesburg and Winchester (WRITINGS description begins John C. Fitzpatrick, ed. The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources, 1745–1799. 39 vols. Washington, D.C., 1931–44. description ends , 37:295).

Index Entries