Farm Reports, 3–9 January 1790

Farm Reports

[Mount Vernon, 3–9 January 1790]

Meteorlogical Account of the Weather Kept at Mount Vernon 1790

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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		3½

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		9½
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		4½
By handling 2 Handsaws		1½
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		1½	10
To R. Plantn		52	11½	18½
To D. Run Plantn
To Muddy Hole Plantn		9¾	6
To Ferry & Frenches		15¼	17
		991½	63½	29	22
Contra	Cr.	B. Ml	Rye	Ots	Bran
By River plantn		9½	30		15
By D. Run Plantn		9
By Muddy Hole Plan.		6½		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.

1. At 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.”

2. For John Knowles, see GW to George Augustine Washington, 31 Mar. 1789, n.5.

3. Tom 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).

4. On 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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You Are Looking At

Source Project: Washington Papers
Title: Farm Reports, 3–9 January 1790
Author: Washington, George Augustine
Recipient: Washington, George
Date: 3–9 January 1790

Reference

Cite as: “Farm Reports, 3–9 January 1790,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-04-02-0346. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Presidential Series, vol. 4, 8 September 1789 – 15 January 1790, ed. Dorothy Twohig. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1993, pp. 516–519.]

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