George Washington Letter Signed.

WASHINGTON, George.

$40,000.00

Item Number: 139571

Mount Vernon:, July 28, 1785.

Rare letter signed by George Washington to his land agent in Virginia, Battaile Muse.

Quarto, three pages on a single folded leaf, the letter is addressed to Mr. Battaile Muse.

The body of the letter, in a secretarial hand, reads in full: “Mount Vernon, July 28, 1785 Sir: A few days ago by a Mr. Hickman, who either is, or wants to be a tenant of mine in Frederick County. I sent you a Dozen Blank leases. The Tract on which he says he is fixed, is part of two lots which I purchased at the sale of Colo. George Mercer’s Estate, in the year 1774: a plot of which I send you, that the whole may be arranged into four tenements, as conveniently disposed as water &c. will admit. In Sept. last, whilst I was at my Brother’s in Berkely [sic], many Persons applied for this Land. But from causes which then existed I came to no positive agreement with any; referring them to Mr. Snickers, who was so kind as to promise that he would fix matters for me (as I was in a hurry and could not go upon the Land myself) on the terms which, if I recollect right, I gave him in a letter. Some time after two men of the names of Winzer and Beaver, with the letter enclosed from Mr. Snickers, came here, and were told that I would comply with whatever agreement was made with them by him: among other things they said Mr. Snickers had promised them Leases for fourteen years: this I observed could not, I conceived to be the case, because I had expressly named ten years (the term for which Mr. Burwell let his Lands adjoining), but, notwithstanding, if the case was so, and Mr. Snickers would declare it, the Leases should be filled up accordingly: this I repeat, and as far as the matter respects Winzer, for it seems Beaver has changed his mind, the other conditions endorsed on the back of Mr. Snicker’s letter to me, are to be granted him: he paying all the taxes which may be on the Land he holds, However as filling up one Lease may be a guide with respect to the others, I enclose one in the name of Winzer, with the blanks, as completely filled as I can do under my uncertainty with respect to the term of years for which he is to have it, and which is to be determined by Mr. Snickers: and for want of the quantity of acres in, and description of the Lot, which he is to have. There are already three Tenants on this tract, to whom you may fill up Leases on the same terms and I have done for Winzer, and whenever they will bring evidences to prove them, I will sign them. As Beaver has declined taking the Lot which he agreed first with Mr. Snickers and afterwards with me for, you may let it to any good tenant who offers, upon the terms the others are held. The three now engaged will have rents to pay thereon the first of next Jan. It will be necessary to take an Assignment of Mr. Whiting’s Lease, before one can be made to Mr. Airess; or some instrument of writing by which it will be can be cancelled, in order to render the new one valid; and I hope payment of the money due on the Replevy Bonds of the former will not be delayed longer than the time mentioned in your last letter, viz, Sept. Having got a Gentleman to assist me in my business, I hope shortly to have my Accts. so arranged as to send you a rental of what is due to me in London, Fauquier and Berkely [sic] Counties. I have a Lot in the town and common of Winchester, which when you have occasion to go thither, I beg the state and condition of them may be enquired into, and information given what can be made of them. The one in the Town, I believe a Doctr. McKay has something to do with. I would be obliged to you for enquiring of Mr. Wormley’s manager, if he has any good red clover seed for sale; what quantity, and the price thereof, and let me know the result by the first conveyance to Alexandria.”

Washington closes his letter and signs the letter in his own hand: “I am Sir Yr Very Hble Serv G Washington.”

In very good condition with an archival reinforcement to the inner fold, remnants of earlier mounts. Housed in a large custom slipcase.

The recipient, Battaile Muse was the son of Colonel George Muse, who served with Washington in the Virginia Regiment during the Fort Necessity Campaign. Washington hired Battaile in November 1784 as his agent for land in Berkeley, Frederick, Fauquier, and Loudoun counties, a position he would hold until 1791. Prior to his presidency, Washington was, by occupation, a planter and he imported luxuries and other goods from England, paying for them by exporting tobacco. In 1765, because of erosion and other soil problems, he changed Mount Vernon’s primary cash crop from tobacco to wheat and expanded operations to include corn flour milling and fishing. His success in these new endeavors led him to soon be counted among the political and social elite in Virginia. From 1768 to 1775, he invited some 2,000 guests to his Mount Vernon estate, mostly those whom he considered people of rank. Following the conclusion of the Revolutionary War, Washington returned to Mount Vernon where he oversaw the completion of the remodeling work at Mount Vernon, which transformed his residence into the mansion that survives to this day, although his financial situation was not strong. Creditors paid him in depreciated wartime currency, and he owed significant amounts in taxes and wages. Mount Vernon had made no profit during his absence, and he saw persistently poor crop yields due to pestilence and poor weather. Again, Washington diversified by undertaking a new landscaping plan and succeeded in cultivating a range of fast-growing trees and shrubs that were native to North America.

American statesman and soldier George Washington served as the first President of the United States from 1789 to 1797 and was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He served as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and later presided over the 1787 convention that drafted the United States Constitution. He is popularly considered the driving force behind the nation's establishment and came to be known as the "father of the country," both during his lifetime and to this day.