1. GW rode into Williamsburg from Eltham on 2 May and “went to the Play” (Diaries description begins Donald Jackson and Dorothy Twohig, eds. The Diaries of George Washington. 6 vols. Charlottesville, Va., 1976–79. description ends , 2:58).

2. Mary Smith Ball Lee inherited from her husband Col. John Lee at his death in 1767 the use for her lifetime of his land and slaves in Westmoreland County, where she at this time was living. GW bought from her at a sale four slaves: Mulatto Will for £61.15, D[itt]o Frank for £50, the “Negro Boy” Adam for £19, and the boy Jack for £19. See General Ledger A description begins General Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers. description ends , folio 261, and Diaries description begins Donald Jackson and Dorothy Twohig, eds. The Diaries of George Washington. 6 vols. Charlottesville, Va., 1976–79. description ends , 2:88. GW’s promissory note to Mary Lee, dated 15 Oct. 1767, for the amount of purchase, appears in the Robert F. Batchelder catalog no. 78, 1990. Mulatto Will or Billy, or William Lee as he called himself, became GW’s personal servant who accompanied him throughout the Revolution. Greatly indulged by GW in his later years, William Lee received his freedom by GW’s will. “Captn Jno. Lee” is probably a cousin, John Lee, Jr., of Essex, whose sons inherited part of Col. John Lee’s estate.

3. See Cash Accounts, November 1767, n.3.

4. Elizabeth Churchill Bassett Dawson (c.1709–1779), mother of Burwell Bassett and widow of Commissary William Dawson (d. 1752), lived in Williamsburg. See Diaries description begins Donald Jackson and Dorothy Twohig, eds. The Diaries of George Washington. 6 vols. Charlottesville, Va., 1976–79. description ends , 2:58.

5. Billy was sent on an errand. See Joseph Valentine to GW, 17 May 1768.

6. Webb’s ordinary was in Essex County, south of Hobbs Hole.

7. The Nomini neighborhood in Westmoreland County was clustered around Nomini Creek, an affluent of Potomac River.

8. Andrew Grant was a prosperous storekeeper at Boyd’s Hole. Chambers may have been Robert Chambers to whom GW wrote on 28 Jan. 1789 with regard to his account against Ferdinando Washington.

9. For the organization of the Mississippi Land Company, see Mississippi Land Company: Articles of Agreement, 3 June 1763, and the Mississippi Land Company’s Memorial to the King, 9 Sept. 1763. See also GW’s account with the company, General Ledger A description begins General Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers. description ends , folio 169.