[Diary entry: 30 September 1785]

Friday 30th. Thermometer at 60 in the Morng. 68 at Noon and 70 at Night.

Day clear, wind pretty brisk from the Southward—till the Evening when it veered more to the Eastward.

Mr. Hunter, and the right Honble. Fred. von Walden, Captn. in the Swedish Navy—introduced by Mr. Richd. Soderstroin came here to Dinner, and returned to Alexandria afterwards. In the Evening a Mr. Tarte—introduced by letter from a John Lowry of Back river came in to request my Sentiments respecting some Entrys they, in Partnership, had made in the Great Dismal Swamp, which I gave unreservedly, that they had no right to.

One of the Hound Bitches wch. was sent to me from France brought forth 15 puppies this day; 7 of which (the rest being as many as I thought she could rear) I had drowned.

Run round the ground which I designed for a Paddock for Deer & find it contains 18 A[cres] 3 R[ods] 20 P[erches].

Began again to Smooth the Face of the Lawn, or Bolling Green on the West front of my House—what I had done before the Rains, proving abortive.

Capt. Frederick von Walden on 28 July laid before Congress a plan of coinage of “copper to the amount of 100,000 £ Stg.” No action had yet been taken on his plan, and he may have been at Mount Vernon to try to enlist GW’s support for the scheme (LMCC description begins Edmund C. Burnett, ed. Letters of Members of the Continental Congress. 8 vols. 1921–36. Reprint. Gloucester, Mass., 1963. description ends , 8:171, 210–11; JCC description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds. Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789. 34 vols. Washington, D.C., 1904–37. description ends , 29:587).

richd. soderstroin: Richard Söderström, the new Swedish consul at Boston, had been recently embroiled in a controversy with Congress because he had presented his credentials to the governor of Massachusetts before presenting them to Congress. Söderström’s act was soon recognized, not as a sign of disrespect, but as an innocent blunder (see LMCC description begins Edmund C. Burnett, ed. Letters of Members of the Continental Congress. 8 vols. 1921–36. Reprint. Gloucester, Mass., 1963. description ends , 8:33, 51–52; JCC description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds. Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789. 34 vols. Washington, D.C., 1904–37. description ends , 28:360–61, n.2, 393–94; State of Söderström’s Case, n.d., NNGL: Knox Papers). Söderström’s letter of introduction was dated 12 Sept. 1785 (DLC:GW).

John Lowry was probably the son of John Lowry (died c.1766) and Mary Lowry of Elizabeth City County. Back River runs through Elizabeth City County and empties into the Chesapeake Bay, midway between James and York rivers. Several members of the Tarte (Tart) family lived in Elizabeth City County—Norfolk County area.

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Source Project: Washington Papers
Title: [Diary entry: 30 September 1785]
Author: Washington, George
Date: 30 September 1785

Reference

Cite as: “[Diary entry: 30 September 1785],” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/01-04-02-0002-0009-0029. [Original source: The Diaries of George Washington, vol. 4, 1 September 1784 – 30 June 1786, ed. Donald Jackson and Dorothy Twohig. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1978, pp. 199–200.]