Cash Accounts, December 1774
Cash Accounts
[December 1774]
| Cash | ||
| Decr 1— | To Ditto recd from Benjn Berry on the same Acct [Colo. Mercer’s Sale]1 | [£] 1. 0. 0 |
| 17— | To Ditto recd from Mr Fras Willis for Sundrys sold at Belvoir for Cash | 9. 4. 9 |
| To Ditto recd from Abednego Adams for a pr of Scales sold at Belvoir2 | 0.10. 0 | |
| 20— | To Cash recd from Mr Craven Peyton on Acct of Colo. Geo: Fairfax | 162. 9. 7 1/2 |
| To Ditto recd from Captn Chas Smith | 5. 9. 6 | |
| 22— | To Ditto recd from Jno. Auge Washington for Intt of his Bond3 | 7.10. 0 |
| To ditto recd for a Barl of Midlings4 | 1.10. 1 | |
| 27— | To ditto recd from Captn Conway5 | 69. 1. 6 |
| Contra | ||
| Decr 1— | By Cash sent my Mother by Colo. Lewis6 | 20. 0. 0 |
| By Do pd Colo. Peyton in discharge of my Bond to Chas West assignd Colo. Burwell7 | 202.10. 0 | |
| By Exps. at Alexanders | 0.16. 08 | |
| 2— | By Ditto at Leesburg | 0.10. 0 |
| 3— | By Cash pd for 17¾ Bls of Wheat @ 5/ Mill | 4. 8. 9 |
| By Ditto pd Mr Humphy Peake on acct | 9. 0. 0 | |
| 4— | By Mrs Washington | 1. 0. 0 |
| By Charity | 0. 6. 0 | |
| By Lawson Parker bringing home Chr9 | 0. 4. 6 | |
| By Cash pd Going Lanphire by Mrs Washn10 | 1. 4. 0 | |
| By Do omitted Novr 19th11 | 25. 0. 0 | |
| By Ditto paid Going Lanphire12 | 9.15. 8 | |
| 5— | By Ditto paid Captn Curtis Exps. of the Brig. Farmer13 | 63.18. 1 |
| By Ditto pd Do for office Fees 4 Guins.14 | 5.12. 0 | |
| By Ditto pd Jno. Donaldson makg and mendg a pr of Stays for Mrs Washington | 3. 2. 0 | |
| 6— | By Ditto paid Mary Lord for Spinning of 17 lbs. of wool @ 1/3 | 1. 1. 3 |
| By Do pd Mrs Harper for 13 lbs. of Do | 0.16. 3 | |
| 8— | By Do pd James Webster for 12 Bushl of Wheat @ 5/ Mill | 3. 0. 0 |
| By Ditto pd Wm Haynie for 100½ Do @ Do Do Mill | 25. 2. 6 | |
| 9— | By Ditto pd Wm Roberts15 | 22. 0. 0 |
| 10— | By Ditto to Mr Custis £18 Maryld Cy16 | 14. 8. 0 |
| 11— | By Ditto pd Thos Bishop for his wife17 | 0.10. 0 |
| By Ditto pd Wm Skilling | 2.10. 0 | |
| 12— | By Ditto pd Mr Wm Wait for Quarrying 776 feet of Stone18 | 19. 8. 0 |
| By Ditto pd Do for Facing Stone | 1.16. 0 | |
| 14— | By Servants Dinner at Arrells | 0. 1. 0 |
| 16— | By James Brown 12 Bushl Wht @ 5/ Mill | 3. 0. 0 |
| 17— | By Ditto pd Mr [Francis] Willis for 200 Bl Do 4/9 Mill | 47.10. 0 |
| By Ditto pd Mr Abedo Adams 153¾ B. Do 5/ Mill19 | 36. 8. 9 | |
| By Ditto pd Mr Humpy Peake Balle | 21. 8. 6 | |
| 19— | By Charity | 0. 3. 4 |
| 20— | By Mr [William] Ramsay Postage acct | 5.12. 6 |
| By Exps. at Mrs [Mary] Hawkins’s | 0. 3. 9 | |
| By my Subscription to Mr Ballendines Proposals20 | 20. 0. 0 | |
| 22— | By Oysters | 0.18. 0 |
| By Freight of 4 Barls of Flour to Esqr. [Richard] Lee [of Maryland] | 0. 5. 0 | |
| By Cash to Mr [George] Young | 1.16. 0 | |
| By Ditto paid Wm Keating21 | 1.16. 0 | |
| By Do paid Frans Jenkins on acct of B. Jenkins | 3. 4. 0 | |
| By Mr Going Lanphire | 6. 0. 0 | |
| By Captn [Philip] Curtis’s order in favr of the office22 | 1.18. 5 | |
| 23— | By Cash pd Doctr Jno. Johnson Miss [Martha Parke] Custis | 29.15. 9 |
| By Charity | 1.16. 0 | |
| By Mr Thos Triplett on acct of Wh[ea]t | 100. 0. 0 | |
| 24— | By David Lewis waggonage of Colo. Mercers Wheat pr [William] Dawson’s ordr | 3. 0. 0 |
| By Isaac Edwards Do pr Ditto | 6. 3. 0 | |
| By Thos Philips Do pr Ditto23 | 2.19. 3 | |
| 25— | By Cash paid Chr Shade | 2.10. 0 |
| By Ditto paid Willm Skilling | 1.10. 0 | |
| 26— | By Ditto sent Mr [Thomas] Everard to hasten the Patenting of my Land24 | 2. 0. 0 |
| 27— | By Ditto pd Colo. [John] Carlyle a proven acct agt Colo. Thos Colvils Estate | 8.14. 6 |
| By Captn [Richard] Conway for a Yawl25 | 11. 0. 6 | |
| By Thos Moxley allowd Capn Conway on Acct agt the Brig. Farmer | 2.17. 0 | |
| By Club at [Richard] Arrells | 0. 6. 0 | |
| 31— | By Cash on hand this day | 418. 0.11 |
| By Ditto [Cash] lost, or otherwise unaccd for | 56. 9.1126 | |
1. By a “Sexpartite” deed made on 30 Nov. between George Mercer, Richard Gravatt, Mary Wroughton, John Tayloe and George Washington, James Hunter [Jr.] and Charles Dick, and Benjamin Berry, Berry purchased 560 acres of George Mercer’s land in Frederick County (Frederick County Deed Book 16 [1773–75], 642–48, ViWnFreCh). The original deed, signed by GW for himself and George Mercer, Gravatt, and Wroughton, is in NjP: De Coppet Collection. A similar deed was made at the same time to Thomas Berry for 357 acres (Frederick County Deed Book 16 [1773–75], 636–42, ViWnFreCh). See GW to John Tayloe, 30 Nov. 1774, and note 2 of that document.
2. For the sale of Belvoir furnishings, see Francis Willis, Jr., to GW, 2 June, and notes to that document.
3. GW wrote this receipt: “Receiv’d this 22d day of Decr 1774. From Mr Jno. Augustine ⟨W⟩ashington the Cu⟨rrent⟩ Sum of Seven ⟨p⟩ounds ten shillings, for a years Intt ⟨on⟩ his Bond to Me (as Guardian of Mr ⟨John P⟩arke Custis) for One hundd and ⟨f⟩ifty pounds—the said sum being due the 5th of Novr ⟨illegible⟩. Also receiv⟨e⟩d at the sametime, his penal Bill for Twenty pounds for ⟨the I⟩nterest of his other Bond on said ⟨Custis⟩ for the Sum of F⟨our⟩ hundd pounds the in⟨terest⟩ thereon being due the 13th ⟨I⟩nst. Go: Washington” (ADS, OFH).
4. In his GW added “241 Nett.”
6. GW added in his “wch charge.”
7. In his account with Charles West GW noted: “To Cash paid Colo. Frans Peyton in discharge of my Bond Assignd Colo. Robt Burwell by you” (, 59). This was the last payment for the land GW bought from West. See Cash Accounts, December 1772, n.5.
8. Morgan Alexander (1746–1783) of Gloucester County had moved to the Shenandoah Valley a few years earlier and married Sarah Snickers, daughter of Edward Snickers. He may have been at this time running Snickers’s ordinary at Snickers’ Gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains. After GW’s entry in his is the note: “charge Colo. Francis Peyton with a Compass & Chain at Cury what it cost me sterlg viz. 5.10.0.”
9. The entry for 5 Dec. reads: “By Lawson Parker bringing the broken Chair home.” This was probably GW’s riding chair or chaise.
10. The entry for 5 Dec. reads: “Charge going Lanphire with 4 Dollars had of Mrs Washington whilst I was at Phila.”
11. The entry for 5 Dec. reads: “Also charge him [Going Lanphier] with Cash Novr 19th 1774.”
12. GW wrote in his on 5 Dec.: “By Cash paid Jno. Gunnel Sheriff for Going Lanphire which charge to him.”
13. In Lund Washington’s Mount Vernon account book, 1772–86, ViMtvL, is a receipt signed on 21 Nov. by Philip Curtis, master of GW’s brigantine Farmer: “Received of Colo. George Washington the above sum of Sixty three pounds Eighteen shillings & one penny Virginia Currency It being in full payment of the Balance of my Accots for my own & sailors wages as stated above to this date as witness my hand” (f. 39). There are several accounts in this Lund Washington account book for Captain Curtis, and the Farmer.
14. In Lund Washington’s Mount Vernon account book, 1772–86, ViMtvL, is an entry in Captain Curtis’s account for 21 Nov.: “To Cash paid him 4 Guineas, to clear out at the Office, on his Voyage to Lisbon” (f. 39).
16. This was for “going to Md” ().
17. Susanna Bishop was paid this for acting as midwife to “Ho[use] Alice” ().
18. William Waite, a builder from Fauquier County, owned his own quarry. This payment was the cost of 776 feet of stone quarried by Waite “@ 6d.” (, 111).
19. The records this as 145¾ bushels.
20. The has: “By my Subscripn—pd Mr Thompson—for Jno. Ballen⟨d⟩ine.” Thompson was undoubtedly Richard Thompson, clerk for the trustees of the Potomac navigation who had visited Mount Vernon in November (, 3:290). For John Ballendine’s new plans for Potomac navigation, see Thomas Johnson to GW, 24 Jan. 1775, and note 1 of that document.
21. This was for weaving ().
22. The has: “in favr of Richd Lee Esqr.” This may be Richard Lee of Blenheim in Charles County, Md., who was the naval officer there. Both he and Richard Lee of Lee Hall in Westmoreland County, who was naval officer for the South Potomac district of Virginia, were called Squire Lee. Curtis had gone to Annapolis to get a Mediterranean pass for his trip to Lisbon, and GW paid Curtis in Maryland currency (Lund Washington’s Mount Vernon account book, 1772–86, ViMtvL, ff. 36, 39).
23. GW added in his : “Note the above to be chargd to Mercers Acct.”
24. The reads: “By Ditto sent Mr Everard to Pay fees & expedite the Patenting of the Survey made by ⟨Saml⟩ Lewis Botetourt.” This was for the 2,950—acre tract on the Great Kanawha in Botetourt County. See GW to Andrew Lewis, 27 Mar. 1775, and note 1 of that document.
25. This yawl was for the brigantine Farmer ().
26. Among the entries in the which do not appear in the cash accounts is this entry under the date of 10 Dec.: “Memm drew on Robt Cary Esq. & Co. for £66.16.4 payable to Thos Eden Esqr ⟨and⟩ on behalf of Jno. P. Custis. Note. £25.19.7 of the above Sum being for my use Mr Custis is to be credited for it.
“Charge Thos Eden Esqr. & Co. with nett proceeds of 4 Hhds Tobo £14.17.2 Sterg.
“Credit them by my draft in favr of Thos Eden Esqr. wch with the above Sum of £25.19.2 pays the sd Thos Eden for a Pipe of Madeira Imported for me Cost with Charges £40.16.9.” See also , 122.