1. Jefferson apparently was mistaken when he endorsed this letter as having been received on 7 Mar., as GW dated it “Thursday Morning,” 8 March.

2. In his letter to the commissioners for the District of Columbia of 6 Mar., Jefferson had mentioned the canal as a possible undertaking for the current work season (see Jefferson Papers, description begins Julian P. Boyd et al., eds. The Papers of Thomas Jefferson. 41 vols. to date. Princeton, N.J., 1950–. description ends 23:224–28). After receiving GW’s letter Jefferson wrote privately on 8 Mar. to commissioner Thomas Johnson: “You formerly hinted the expediency of bringing the navigable canal from the little falls down to Washington. The President thinks the practicability of this should be properly examined into, as it would undoubtedly be useful” (ibid., 236–37).