To George Washington from William Hartshorne & Company, 26 November 1785
From William Hartshorne & Company
Alexandria Novr 26. 1785
Sir
The Enclosed Letter and Account we recd under cover from our Friend Mr David Pearce of Gloucester New-England with an order on you for the Amount say £63.5.6—as the account is not very plain & you may not be acquainted with the hand writing I have sent a Copy of it1—I am Respectfully Yours
Wm Hartshorne & Co.
LS, DLC:GW.
1. In his letter of 6 Nov. enclosing his account with GW, David Pearce indicated that he was also enclosing a bill of lading, but Hartshorne’s letter of 10 Feb. 1786 seems to indicate that the document was received later. There is in DLC:GW a filled-out printed form, dated 8 Aug. 1785, which records that John Gardoqui was shipping a jackass, 44 Spanish inches high, on the Ranger, Job Knight master, from the river of Bilbao to be delivered to David Pearce in Gloucester, Massachusetts. The bill of lading was signed by Knight. On the obverse side of the form, someone listed such things supplied for the jack as feed and horseshoes. Hartshorne sent GW the original (ADS, DLC:GW) along with a copy (DLC:GW) made by his clerk of Pearce’s charges at the end of the present letter:
| Dr His Excellency Genl Washington | |
| To Freight of an Animal called a Jack Ass from Bilboa to Boston | £35. 0.0 |
| Building a House for Him ⅌ agreement | 7.10.0 |
| Boarding the Spaniard who attended him | 1.10.0 |
| Cash pd for Brandy to Bathe the animals joints | .10.0 |
| Wine & Bran for said Animal | 1. 4.0 |
| Oates for ditto | . 6.0 |
| Your Stable while at Do hired | 1. 0.0 |
| Cash paid Spaniards washing | . 6.0 |
| Cash Expences to Boston and a Man to go wth him 3 days | 1.16.0 |
| the hire of a Boat to Land said Animal | . 3.3 |
| Keepers passage omitted | 14. 0.0 |
| £63. 5.6 |
Sir Please to pay the above a/c to Mr Wm Hartshorne and you will oblige Your obedt Humble Servt David Pearce (Copy).
GW challenged Pearce’s account (see David Pearce to GW, 22 Jan. 1786, William Hartshorne to GW, 10 Feb., 6, 25 Mar. 1786, GW to Hartshorne, 20 Feb. 1786, and GW to Thomas Cushing, 5 April 1786).