Friday 16th. Thermometer at 50 in the Morng. 56 at Noon and 56 at Night.
Rainy Morning and an Easterly wind, but not much of it. Drizzling all day and towards Night it began to rain again and threatned a wet Night. Very light wind all day.
Before dinner Joseph Hickman, another of my Tenants from Frederick came in, to whom and those that came yesterday and [ ] Williams, I passed Leases for the Land on which they live. All went away after it.
Mr. Shaw returned before dinner from Alexandria.
Joseph Hickman and John Williams seem to have been living on GW’s Frederick lands before the leases were made out. Both were given 14–year leases, retroactive from 1 Jan. 1785 to 31 Dec. 1798. Hickman’s tenement was 116 acres, for which he paid £11 12s. per year. Williams leased 100 acres for £10. GW wrote his rental agent, Battaile Muse, on this day, instructing Muse to use his own judgment in making decisions about whether the tenants were complying with the terms of the leases. Since Williams did not come to Mount Vernon on this day, GW sent his lease to Muse for completion. GW also requested that Muse send him a list of his tenants, with an account of the lots they leased, the rents due, and the amounts paid (GW to Muse, 28 July and 16 Dec. 1785, DLC:GW; , 33–36; GW’s rental accounts, 1788–90 and 1791, ViMtvL).