George Washington Papers
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From George Washington to George Clinton, 28 February 1797

To George Clinton

Philadelphia 28th Feb. 1797.

My dear Sir,

Your favour of the 14th instt with a Postscript of the 24th came to my hands yesterday:1 and I hereby acknowledge the receipt of Mr Wilkes’s draught on the Cashier of the Bank of Pennsylvania for the sum of two thousand five hundred dollars on account of our joint concern in the lotts in Coxburgh—and which, as appears by the items of an account enclosed overpays my dividend of the receipts £26.0.1½ York Currency.2

Whenever it shall suit your convenience I would thank you for informing me what lotts remain unsold, and at what price you think it probable they will sell, & when—No injury, I am persuaded, has been sustained hitherto, but the contrary by delay in the sale; but whether a further postponement will be advantageous, or not, your means (greater than mine) will enable you to decide.3

Future payments may be made by draughts on the Bank of Alexandria or Columbia; in Post notes; or (which is less desirable because more hazardous) in Bank notes of the United States by the Mail.4

I have been constant in my enquiries after your health and with sincere pleasure heard, latterly, that it was well restored.5 As early in next week as I can make arrangements for it, my journey for Mount Vernon will commen⟨ce⟩6—Twenty miles from which I think it is not likely I shall ever be again. But if business, inclination, or any other cause should ever induce you to visit that hemisphere, I can assure you with much truth, that I shall be extremely happy to see you under the shade of my vine & fig tree.7 Mrs Washington unites cordially with me in every good wish for you, Mrs Clinton & family8—and with sincere esteem and affectionate regard I am—My dear Sir Your Obedient Servant

Go: Washington

ALS (letterpress copy), DLC:GW; LB, DLC:GW.

2The enclosed account has not been found, but an entry in GW’s cash accounts for 27 Feb. records the receipt from Clinton of “2500 dollars on Acct of Sales of Land in partnership betwn us” (Cash Memoranda, 1794–97 description begins Cash + Entries & Memorandums, 29 Sept. 1794–31 Aug. 1797. Manuscript in John Carter Brown Library, Providence. description ends ; see also General Ledger C description begins General Ledger C, 1790–1799. Morristown National Historical Park, Morristown, N.J. description ends , 27). The $2,500 came from the sale of GW’s “one half” of a 6,071-acre tract along the Mohawk River in Coxeborough township (Coxe’s Patent), Montgomery County (later Herkimer and now Oneida County), New York. GW and Clinton had purchased this land from Marinus Willett and his wife by 1784 for land speculation purposes (General Ledger C description begins General Ledger C, 1790–1799. Morristown National Historical Park, Morristown, N.J. description ends , 2). Clinton began selling lots on that land in the latter 1780s (see Indenture with Jedediah Sanger, 22 July 1790, and the source note to that document; see also GW to Clinton, 25 Dec. 1793, and n.1 to that document; and Clinton to GW, 5 March 1785, and n.1 to that document, in Papers, Confederation Series description begins W. W. Abbot et al., eds. The Papers of George Washington, Confederation Series. 6 vols. Charlottesville, Va., 1992–97. description ends 2:408–9). An account made in 1806, headed “George Clinton in Account current as Attorney To George Washington Esquire deceased,” also shows transactions under the date of 14 Feb. 1797. The debit side of the account for that date lists the sum of £973.18.11½ “To ½ the Amount of sundry Sums received for” lots sold in Coxeborough township “as pr Statement and Acct rendered.” The credit side under the same date shows £1,000 “By Cash remitted” (CSmH).

“Mr Wilkes” may refer to either John Wilkes, a New York notary public, or Charles Wilkes, cashier of the Bank of New York.

3GW’s ledgers show that as of December 1793, 2,019 lots still remained unsold. In GW’s will, he listed approximately 1,000 acres as his half of the unsold portion of the Mohawk River land. Clinton received $6 per acre for most of the lots that he had sold by 1793 (see General Ledger C description begins General Ledger C, 1790–1799. Morristown National Historical Park, Morristown, N.J. description ends , 2; see also GW to Clinton, 25 Nov. 1784, and n.2 to that document, in Papers, Confederation Series description begins W. W. Abbot et al., eds. The Papers of George Washington, Confederation Series. 6 vols. Charlottesville, Va., 1992–97. description ends 2:145–49).

4No further payments from Clinton during GW’s lifetime have been identified. The September entry in Clinton’s 1806 account (see n.2 above) shows £1,111.2.11½ “To ½ the Amount of Cash due after the last remittance [of 14 Feb. 1797].” The same account also includes a statement showing the sums that Clinton had received since February 1797 for the various lots on the Mohawk River that he and GW owned. He listed the sum of £2,222.7.2 for ten lots, “½ of which as pr annexed Acct” came to £1,111.3.7.

A post-note is a “note made and issued by a bank or banking association, payable not to bearer but to order, not on demand but at a future specified date, and designed as part of its circulating medium” (OED description begins James A. H. Murray et al., eds. The Oxford English Dictionary: Being a Corrected Re-Issue with an Introduction, Supplement, and Bibliography of A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles. 12 vols. 1933. Reprint. Oxford, England, 1970. description ends ).

5Clinton informed GW in November 1795 that he had been in an “ill state of Health for upwards of a year” (Clinton to GW, 17 Nov. 1795, and n.1 to that document). Clinton began to recover his health by the spring of 1796 (see James Monroe to Clinton, 25 July 1796, in Papers of James Monroe description begins Daniel Preston et al., eds. The Papers of James Monroe. 5 vols. to date. Westport, Conn., and Santa Barbara, Calif., 2003–. description ends , 4:60).

6GW left Philadelphia for Mount Vernon on 9 March and arrived home on the 15th.

7This reference to the vine and fig tree comes from Micah, 4:4 (see GW to Landon Carter, 17 Oct. 1796, and n.1 to that document). GW’s extant diaries record no visit from Clinton to Mount Vernon.

8Clinton and his wife, Cornelia Tappen Clinton, had several living children at this time: their daughters Catharine (b. 1770), Cornelia Tappen Clinton Genet (1774–1810), and Maria (1785–1829); and their only son, George Washington Clinton (d. 1813). Their deceased daughter was Martha Washington Clinton (1783–1795).

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