Press Warrant, 10 October 1755
Press Warrant
[Winchester, 10 October 1755]
Press Warrant. viz.
By Virtue of the Power and authority to me given, as Commander in Chief of all the Forces now Raised &c.
I do hereby Impower you, Powell Hazel, to impress any Horse or Horses, for His Majesty’s Service, for the better transporting yourself to and from the Fort, wherein William Vance and Company are1 Given under my hand, this 10th of October, 1755.
G:W.
A Copy of this was given James Sands, for going to the Fort, wherein Hill and Vanmerten were.2
LB, DLC:GW.
1. Powell Hazel was probably Power Hazel of Hampshire County; presumably Vance and his company were at Joseph Edwards’s fort on the Cacapon River. See GW to Vance, and GW to William Cocks and John Ashby, both 10 Oct. 1755.
2. Henry Van Meter’s place was up the South Branch of the Potomac where Thomas Waggener built Fort Pleasant in 1756. Van Meter and Hill may have been at Job Pearsal’s fort down the South Branch on the road from Winchester to Fort Cumberland. “Hill” may be a misreading by the letter-book copyist for “Hite.” Abraham Hite, who seems to have been living on the South Branch of the Potomac by this time, was married to a daughter of Isaac Van Meter, who also held land in the area.