From George Washington to James Anderson, 27 February 1797
To James Anderson
Philadelphia 27th Feb. 1797
Mr Anderson,
Your letter of the 22d with the weekly reports, was received on the 25th.1
As its contents, is chiefly matter of information, it requires but little to be said in reply: and as the public business presses upon me at this juncture, and I shall (I hope) be at Mount Vernon ’ere long,2 I will suspend giving any opinion, or directions relative to the business entrusted to you, in this letter; trusting that all matters are in a good train, and will go on well.
Enclosed is Mr Landon Carters letter relative to the Peas with which he was to furnish me; but it is so unintelligible, that I scarcely know what to expect from it;3 and therefore have, with a view to reduce matters to a certainty, wrote him a letter which is left open for your perusal—sealing—and forwarding; that you may, upon receiving his answer, take such measures as the case may require. Under my cover you may put a few lines to him for the further arrangement—greater convenience—and certainty in the prosecution of this business.4
It is far, from my desire, or wish, that the Wheat should be rolled until the ground is in perfectly good order for it.
The articles required in your letter shall be got and sent round with my Goods5—I am Your friend &c.
Go: Washington
ALS (letterpress copy), ViMtvL.
1. In his letter to GW of 22 Feb., Anderson must have enclosed the farm reports for 12–18 Feb. (DLC:GW).
2. GW returned to Mount Vernon on 15 March (see , 6:239).
3. GW evidently enclosed Landon Carter’s letter to him of 14 Feb., which has not been found. For Carter’s offer to supply peas, see Carter to GW, 13 Dec. 1796; see also GW to Anderson, 8 and 22 Jan., and 5 Feb. 1797.
4. GW enclosed his letter to Carter of this date, written from Philadelphia: “Your favor of the 14th instt came duly to hand; and I hope, as the season is approaching fast when the ground should be prepared for it, that you have informed Mr James Anderson (my Manager) in a letter directed to the care of the Postmaster in Alexandria, at what time he may send for the Peas you were so obliging as to promise me.
“Having informed Mr Anderson of my expectation of Peas from you, he suggested (and I thought it a good expedient) that instead of sending my own Waggon along the heavy road between Mount Vernon & Stafford Court House, that one should be hired by you to transport them to some landg on the Potomack; at which my Boat at an appointed time, might meet them. As the roads, I am told, were never worse than at present; and as no road in the world can be deeper, or more distressing for horses to plunge through than the one from Occoquan to Stafford Court house; the expedient beforementioned has, in a manner, become essential: and I will cheerfully add the cost of Waggonage to the price of the Peas, and pay the whole to your order; or remit it in Bank notes as soon as the amount is made known to me.
“As delay, or uncertainty in any respect, may prove injurious, I have put this letter (open) under cover to Mr Anderson, with a request that he may also write to you on the subject, for the purpose of having a time & place fixed, that my Boat may not be disappointed when it arrives. The matter therefore now rests between you, & him” (ALS, NjP; ALS [letterpress copy], ViMtvL). The distance between Mount Vernon and Stafford County Courthouse, now Stafford, Va., was approximately twenty-five to thirty miles (see , 1:220–21). Roughly twenty miles separated Occoquan Creek, Va., from Stafford County Courthouse.
Anderson received GW’s letter to Carter in early March. After perusing it, Anderson forwarded it with his own letter to Carter, written from Mount Vernon on 3 March: “At the request of the President of the United States I have to beg leave to hand his letter under the same cover with this.
“I have only to Add to that wrote by the President—That the soon[er] You have 40 Bushels of the White Indian peases, with black Eyes, ready, You will the more Oblidge the President, I do not wish any of the small kind either, the round kind called the Gentlemen pease, nor of the other small kind, which resemble the large—It is not for sale that I intend raising them—Our Stock of Sheep being upwards of 600, and probably may increase them, These pease are meant to be put away to them, which with the Assistance of Turnip Will (You know) make an excellent Winter food—Have You any of the grey pease raised in the County of Glocester, under the name of the Yeatman pea? If so It will be confering a still greater Obligation Your leting us have 2 Bushels of them.
“As I will raise a little Cotton for Mrs Washington, please send us 2 Bushels of the seed of white Cotton, such as You can recomend, And place this with the Carriage to the same account.
“Your Superior knowledge of the Potomack and its Creeks makes me refer the place of delivery to Your self, and therefore please Mention the nearest & most convenient Shiping place on this River, or its Creeks for Your delivery, And such as our Boat can come into—She draws 2 to 3 feet Water When Loaded—I will expect the favour of hearing from You on receipt hereof, And will be sure to send where, & When You direct” (NjP). Carter docketed the letter: “Pease to be sent. Friday 24. March 1797.”
In early March, Anderson received a letter from Carter, notifying him that the thirty bushels of peas were ready for delivery. GW made a payment to Carter “for Pease &ca” on 17 April 1797 (see Anderson to GW, 8 March, in 1:20–23; see also ; and , 28).
5. For the shipment to Mount Vernon of numerous articles that Anderson had requested in his letters to GW of 14 and 22 Feb., see GW to Anderson, 5 Feb., and n.5.