Dr. William Gordon (1728–1807), a dissenting minister in England, migrated to America in 1770 and settled in Roxbury, Mass., where he soon became active in the independence movement. As the Revolution progressed Gordon began copying and collecting documents with which to write a history of the struggle, and in 1784 he visited at Mount Vernon for 2½ weeks while he copied and abstracted Revolutionary documents from among GW’s papers (FREEMAN description begins Douglas Southall Freeman. George Washington: A Biography. 7 vols. New York, 1948–57. description ends , 6:36). Before he returned to England (1786) to find a publisher, Gordon circulated subscription papers for his history, which was first published in four volumes as The History of the Rise, Progress, and Establishment of Independence of the United States of America (London, 1788). Besides this subscription paper given to Dr. Craik, GW forwarded copies to correspondents in Alexandria and Fredericksburg. GW subscribed to two sets himself, for a total of £2 (GW to James Mercer, 20 Jan. 1786, DLC:GW; General Ledger B description begins General Ledger B, 1772–1793. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers. description ends , folio 223; see also PILCHER description begins George W. Pilcher. “William Gordon and the History of the American Revolution.” The Historian 34 (1971-72): 447–64. description ends ).