From George Washington to William Crawford, 6 December 1771
To William Crawford
Mount Vernon Decemr 6th 1771.
Dear Sir,
The inclosed I write to you in behalf of the whole Officers & Soldiers; & beg of you to be attentive to it, as I think our Interest is deeply concerned in the event of your dispatch.1
I believe from what I have lately heard, that there is no doubt now, of the Charter Government taking place on the Ohio; but upon what terms, or how the Lands will be granted to the people, I have not been able to learn: I shou’d be glad however if you would endeavour to keep the Tract you surveyed for me till such time as we can tell where, & how, to apply for Rights;2 or, if you did any thing with McMahan, on my account, I will abide by that3 As soon as the Tract at the Great Meadow’s is enlarged, I should be glad to have the Surveys return’d to the Office, and to get a plat of it myself, as I am determined to take out a patent for it immediately.4
I cannot hear of any reserve in favor of Colo. Croghan; for which reason I do not care to say any thing more to him on the subject of a purchase untill matters are upon a more permanent footing, since no disadvantage can follow to him, after leaving him at liberty in my last letter to sell the Tract he made me an offer of to any body he pleased. I shou’d be glad however to hear from you how he goes on in his sales, & what is said, & thought of his claim; in short, what chance there appears to be of his getting it; for I suppose his right to the Lands he claims must either be confirm’d, or rejected by this time, & known at Pittsburg before now.5 I shou’d be glad to hear from you by the first opportunity in respect to these several matters; in the mean while I remain with my best wishes to Mrs Crawford,6 yourself & Family Dr Sir Your assur’d Friend & Servt
G: Washington
LB, DLC:GW.
1. The “inclosed” has not been identified, and Crawford in his response to this letter on 15 Mar. 1772 does not allude to it or give any indication of its contents. See Petition to Governor and Council, 1–6 Nov. 1771.
2. GW is referring to the charter for a colony for which the Walpole Company was negotiating.
3. Dr. James McMechen (McMahon) was an early settler on the Ohio River near Wheeling Creek. He was clerk of Ohio County for a short time before he returned to the East during the Revolution. Crawford wrote GW on 15 Mar. 1772: “I have Seen McMahons Land he had to Seel but it was not Such as it was Recomended to me and be sids there is a Disput about part of it a man has Built a Cabin on the best of it but if it had not bin so it would not suted you it is two Hilly and not Rich neither.”
4. For the Great Meadows tract, see Crawford to GW, 6 Dec. 1770, n.1.
6. Crawford’s wife was Hannah Vance Crawford.