Washington, George | Land ownership at Mount Vernon

Washington, George
Autograph letter signed ("G. Washington"), as First President, to James Henry, discussing the ownership status of land once owned by his deceased stepson, John Parke Custis

1 page (265 x 205 mm), on a bifolium with integral blank, Mount Veron, 20 November 1790; old folds, dampstained, minor edge wear.

Land ownership at Mount Vernon

An intriguing early presidential letter, written by Washington at Mount Vernon. In the letter President Washington seeks to acknowledge real estate matters dealing with land once conveyed by him to his ward, John Parke Custis, and sold by Custis to Virginia judge James Henry.

The letter reads: "I availed myself a few days ago of the presence of M[r.] B. Basset to reacknowledge before him and Dr Stuart the original conveyance from me to the deceased Mr Custis of the land which you are possessed of by purchase from him in King and Queen County. This reacknowledgement in the opinion of professional men is all that is necessary to give validity to the deed, and all that is proper for me to do under the circumstances which exist. The deed thus reacknowledged, was put into the hands of M[r.] Basset, but as he was in the act of departure it did not occur to me at that moment, that there were other papers of yours in my possession — these are now enclosed; and I beg you to be assured of my sensibility for the polite and flattering terms in which you have been pleased to express yourself of my public services in your letter of the 2d of June 1785, which I am ashamed to add ought to have been acknowledged long ago, but which one circumstance or another prevented until it had escaped me altogether or until reminded of it by your second application through Dr Stuart."

Washington had purchased two plantations for his stepson, John Parke Custis, in 1774—one in King William County and one in King and Queen County—and conveyed both to Custis in 1778. Custis immediately offered the latter, Pleasant Hill, for sale, and it was bought by James Henry, who obtained a deed for the 1,381-acre tract and improvements in 1779. Henry was a lawyer and judge who represented his native King and Queen County, Virginia, in colonial and state legislatures, and also served as a delegate until 1782, when he became a judge of the state admiralty court. He was elected to the Confederation Congress in 1779 and 1780, and became a judge of the Virginia General Court in 1788.

When Custis died at the young age of 26 in 1781 (apparently of typhus contracted while serving as civilian aide-de-camp to his stepfather during the siege of Yorktown), he did so at the estate of his uncle, Burwell Bassett, the same "B Bassett" mentioned in the present letter. Upon his untimely demise, Custis left a tangled mess of an estate, which took decades to unravel. The present document is part of the documentary history of the settlement of Custis's affairs. Only a letter book copy and a printed extract are recorded in The Papers of George Washington.

An excellent correspondence from the first American president regarding family business matters relating to Virginia real estate.

REFERENCE
The Papers of George Washington, Colonial Series, ed. Mark A. Mastromarino, 6: 671–672

Condition Report:
Condition as described in catalogue entry.