George Washington and John Francis Mercer to Francis Deakins and Benjamin W. Jones, 8 December 1792
George Washington and John Francis Mercer to Francis Deakins and Benjamin W. Jones
Philada 8th Decembr 1792.
Gentlemen,
Since the Letter which we addressed to you, requesting your valuation of a certain tract of Land in Montgomery County, another arrangement has taken place with regard thereto.1 It is now agreed that the price of seven dollars per acre shall be fixed & the whole tract divided into two equal parts, with respect to quantity, quality & value. In giving effect to this agreement, we must still rely on your good offices to make the necessary division, which when certified to us will enable us to determine by Lot the possession. Your attention to this request, as early as your conveniency will permit, will greatly oblige,2 Gentlemen, Your mo: obt hble Servts
G: Washington
John F: Mercer.
LB, DLC:GW.
This letter was enclosed in Mercer’s letter to GW of this date from Philadelphia. “I have executed a Letter enclosed,” Mercer wrote, “authorizing & requesting Mr Deakins & Mr Jones to divide the Land in Montgomery, which if you approve of, you will be pleased to sign & forward as you think proper” (DLC:GW).
1. In a letter to Deakins and Jones of 8 Aug. 1792, Mercer and GW had asked for an evaluation of a parcel of land that Mercer’s wife, Sophia Sprigg Mercer, had inherited, in anticipation that this parcel would be used to settle a debt that the Mercer family owed GW. For GW’s earlier efforts to collect the money due him from the estate of John Mercer, the father of James and John Francis Mercer, see GW to James Mercer, 18 Mar. 1789, and note 1, and 4 April 1789, and to John Francis Mercer, 5 April 1789, 30 June and 23 July 1792. For more recent attempts to reach an agreement, see John F. Mercer to GW, 15 Sept., 5 Nov., and GW to John F. Mercer, 26 Sept. 1792.
2. Deakins and Jones sent GW their assessment of Sophia Mercer’s land on 20 Dec. 1792.