From George Washington to James McHenry, 2 January 1798
To James McHenry
Mount Vernon 2d Jan: 1798
Dear Sir,
This letter will be presented to you by Mr Elliot, the son of a meritorious Officer in the Revolutionary War. He has equitable (if not legal) claim to Land. I have advised him to shew you the nature of it. If it is within your power to serve him, I am sure you will. If not, you can advise him as to the course best to be taken.1 Always, & sincerely, I am Your Affectionate Humble Servant
Go: Washington
ALS (letterpress copy), DLC:GW; LB, DLC:GW.
1. In his diary entry of this date, GW recorded that “a Mr. Elliot came to dinnr. and stayed all Night” ( , 6:276). The visitor, Barnard Elliott, Jr. (c.1777–1806), was the son of a leading political figure in colonial South Carolina who served as lieutenant colonel in the South Carolina Regiment of Artillery during the Revolution before his death in 1778.