George Washington Papers

Farm Reports, 3–9 January 1790

Farm Reports

[Mount Vernon, 3–9 January 1790]

Meteorlogical Account of the Weather Kept at Mount Vernon 1790

Jany1
3 Morning 47 SWt Clear Noon 54 SWt Clear Night 57 SWt Clear
4 Morning 49 SWt Clear Noon 58 SWt Clear Night 58 SWt Clear
5 Morning 44 NEt Rain Noon 46 NEt Cloudy Night 48 NW Clear
6 Morning 36 SEt Clear Noon 40 SEt Clear Night 42 SEt Cloudy
7 Morning 37 SWt Cloudy Noon 41 SWt Clear Night 46 SWt Clear
8 Morning 39 SWt Cloudy Noon 42 SWt Cloudy Night 49 SWt Clear
9 Morning 37 NW Clear Noon 40 NW Cloudy Night 41 NW Clear

January 9th

days
Dr. Dogue Run Plantn for the work of 7 Men & 11 Women Amountg per week to 108
Cr. By plowing at the River plantn 4
By hauling Straw to Cover a farm pen & to make litter 6
By Making a farm pen 65
By Clearing and Grubing on the side of the Swamp below ⟨illegible⟩ House 9
By Cuting rails & Trunnels for a Trunnel fence 10
By Striping Tobo 10
By Sickness Brunswick   4
Total 108

Sent to the Mill 11 Bushels Corn Recd from ditto 9 Bushels B. Meal Sent to the Mansn House 6 Barrels Sound Corn, 56 head Cattle 89 Old Sheep, 35 Lambs, & 8 working Horses.

days
Dr. Muddy Hole Plantn for the work of 4 Men & 10 Women Amtg per week to 84
Cr. By breaking up ground in No. 6 22
By hauling rails and going to Mill 1
By Clearing and Grubing in no. 6 45
By Striping Tobo 4
By Sickness Gabrel & Molly 12
84

Sent to the Mill 10 Bushels wheat and 6 ditto of Corn Recd from ditto 6¼ Bushels B. meal 2 ditto Oats, 2 ditto Bran Stock 45 head Cattle 15 Old Sheep, 4 Lambs & 9 working Horses.

Days
Dr. River Plantn for the work of 7 Men 17 Women 3 Boys & 1 Girl Amounting per week to 162
Cr. By breaking up ground in no. 7 15
By hauling Mud on N. 5 and rails to no. 2 20
By going to Mill with wheat 4
By Cuting & Mauling rails 16 days Geting Posts 6 ditto 22
By dressing flax 10
By Cuting Straw & Grinding axes 3 days Shelling Corn 6 do 9
By Taking in and threshing wheat 70
By Sickness Cornelia 6 days Natt 3, & Agness 3 days  12
Total 162

Decrease 2 wethers—Sent to the Mill 52 Bushels wheat 19 ditto of Rye, Reed from ditto 9½ Bushels Corn meal, 45 Bushels Choped Rye and Bran Mixed, & 5 Bushls Oat Meal—Stock 86 Head Cattle 126 Old Sheep, 53 Lambs, & 14 working Horses.

Days
Dr. Ferry & Frenches for the work of 7 Men 16 women & 3 Boys Amtg per week to 156
Cr. By breaking up ground in no. 2 7
By ditto ditto in No. 5 16
By hauling Shingles to the barn, Flax to Mansn House & to the Ferry and at Mill 12
By preparing for Mauling Rails 2
By Leveling the dirt around the barn wall 13
By planting Honey Locust 4
By threshing & Cleaning wheat 24
By Carrying Shingles in the barn Celler 6
By Cuting rail timber & Mauling 22
By Shelling Corn 4 days dressing Flax 8 ditto 12
By Grubing in No. 2 3
By Striping Tobo 11 days Grubing in no. 6 12 ditto 23
By Spinning & Sewing  12
Total 156

Decreas 2 Sheep died from Eating Ivey—Sent to the Mill 16 Bushels Corn 14½ ditto of wheat Recd from ditto 11½ ditto Corn meal—Stock 80 head Cattle 88 Old Sheep, 28 Lambs, 15 working Horses, 2 ditto Mules 2 ditto Spring ditto Fernages 24/.

Days
Dr. Mansn House for the work of 14 men 8 Boys & 6 Girls Amtg per week to 168
Cr. By waggon Hauling rails to post and rail fence Hay, wood and at Mill 6
By 2 Carts hauling wood Sand, & Gravel 12
By working at Muddy Hole Plantn 18
By Mauling and Sawing rail Stuff 10
By Killing Hogs & Striping Tobo 14½
By diging Holes and puting up post and Rail fence 45½
By Tenentg rails 5
By Cuting wood for Mansn House 7
By Cuting Rail Stuff
 
By Loading waggon with Hay 1
By hauling with the Muddy Hole Cart for the post & rail fence 2
By tending Knowles2 13
By feeding beeves & beating Homeny 6
By burning the Ends of the posts ⟨½⟩
By Currying leather 6
By tending Stock 6 days Making Baskets 3 ditto 9
By Sickness Tom Davis 6 Days Scomburg 3 ditto3   9
Total 168

Recd from the Ferry Plantn 6 Hogs Wt 596—from the River pln 1 ditto Wt 75—Total 671 out of the same was delivered to Isaac 50 Wt to Will 50 ditto—Recd from the Mill 25 Bushels B. Meal 7 Ditto of Oats & 13 ditto of Bran—Stock 17 head Cattle, 32 Old Sheep, 18 Lambs, 5 last Spring Mules, 1 ditto 2 Years Old, 4 ditto Spring ditto, 3 ditto Spring Colts, 2 ditto Spring Jennies, 2 ditto Old ditto, 3 ditto Jacks, 1 ditto Spring ditto

days
Dr. Ditchers for the work of 5 Men Amtg per week to 30  
Cr. By ditching finished 25½ roods 12½
By Sawing & hewing Rails
By hewing posts at Manleys on Acct of Rain 2
By Sickness Pascall  6
Total 30
days
Dr. Joiners & Carpenters for the work of 4 men Amtg per week to 24
Cr. By Thomas Mohony4 puting the plates of the barn Shed walls puting up Joists & Posts
By handling 2 Handsaws
By James & Sambo engaged in ditto 10
By Making a Gutter & putg it on the Shed Stable to prevent the water from Injuring the wall 2
By Carrying wheel Stuff from the Top of the Hill to the Houn Kennel for Isaac 1
By Isaac Making a New wheel Barrow and a New wheel to another & assisting about removg the Lemmon & Orange trees to the Green House and finished a New Cart wheel for D. R. Plantn  6
Total 24
Mill Grist Dr. Wht Corn Rye Oats
Remg in the Mill 913 19 10½ 22
To Toll this week 10
To R. Plantn 52 11½ 18½
To D. Run Plantn
To Muddy Hole Plantn 6
To Ferry & Frenches  15¼ 17     
991½ 63½ 29 22
Contra Cr. B. Ml Rye Ots Bran
By River plantn 30 15
By D. Run Plantn 9
By Muddy Hole Plan. 2 2
By F. & Frenches 11½
By Mansn House 25 7 13
 
By Coopers & Miller 1
By John Knowles   2½
65 30 9 30
Days
Dr. Coopers for the work of 2 Men Amtg per week to 12
Cr. By Making Tobo Hogheads & Flower Casks 11
By geting the Large boat round in the Mill Creek  1
Total 12

D, in the writing of George Augustine Washington, DLC:GW.

This report and other similar accounts were sent by George Augustine Washington and GW’s later managers on a regular basis during GW’s absences from Mount Vernon. See Farm Report, 6–12 Dec. 1789, source note.

For information on many of the slaves mentioned in the farm reports, see particularly the list of GW’s slaves “at Mount Vernon and the plantations around it” in Diaries description begins Donald Jackson and Dorothy Twohig, eds. The Diaries of George Washington. 6 vols. Charlottesville, Va., 1976–79. description ends , 4:277–83. Slaves were often shifted temporarily from one farm to another. For the location of the various Mount Vernon plantations, see GW to John Fairfax, 1 Jan. 1789, notes.

1At the beginning of this document George Augustine Washington wrote the following entries and then deleted them:

“1 Morning 46 SW Clear Noon 50 Sw Clear Night 53 SW Clear

“2 Morning 42 Net Clear Noon 51 Set Clear Night 54 SEt Clear.”

3Tom Davis was a dower slave attached to the Mount Vernon home house. Davis worked primarily as a bricklayer and stonemason, although he also occasionally did painting and carpentry. Scomburg is probably Schomberg, the slave listed in GW’s 1786 slave list as “past labour” (Diaries description begins Donald Jackson and Dorothy Twohig, eds. The Diaries of George Washington. 6 vols. Charlottesville, Va., 1976–79. description ends , 4:277).

4On 1 Aug. 1786 GW made an agreement to pay Thomas Mahony for his services as a house carpenter and joiner “and (when not employed in either of these) in other jobs which he may be set about; and will during the said term, behave himself quietly, soberly, and orderly in the family, persuing the business about which he may be employed with diligence and fidelity.” On 15 April 1788 a similar agreement was signed giving Mahony £24 a year and certain perquisites for his services. Both indentures are in DLC:GW and on CD-ROM:GW. Apparently Mahony’s behavior, at least in the realm of behaving soberly, left something to be desired. For an account of a drinking spree with GW’s overseer Thomas Green, himself no model of sobriety, see Green’s letter to GW, 15 May 1788.

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