The scantling was being taken for the new mill from the land Thomas Hanson Marshall had agreed to give GW in exchange for the Maryland property GW had bought from Robert Alexander. This was the most convenient location from which to get the timber. However, because Alexander had not yet given Marshall either use of or title to the land in Maryland, the deal was still pending, and GW was obliged to pay Marshall £5 for the trees cut here. Most of the timber for the mill had been obtained during the previous summer from land belonging indisputably to GW (General Ledger A description begins General Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers. description ends , folio 139; GW to Marshall, 16 Mar. 1770, DLC:GW).