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Memorandum List of Tithables, 16 July 1770

Memorandum List of Tithables

[c.16 July 1770]

A List of Tithables in Truro Parish Fairfax County—given in July 16th 1770.

George Washington, Lund Washington

Thos Bishop, Wm Skilling, Thoms Davis. Ho. Servants: Breechy, Billy, Giles, Schomberg, Harry, Doll, Jenny, Betty, Moll, Sall, Sarah, Phillis, Winney, Sue, Kitt. Home Plann: Jack [&] Herculas—Ferry men, Joe, Arlington, Peter, Sarah, Frank, Lydia, Phœbe. Tradesmen: Jon[atha]n Palmer, Will, Michael, Davy, Tom, George, Ned, Jupiter, Peter, George, Lewis. Muddy hole: Jno. Alton, Will, Adam, Will, Sam, Morris, Kate, Nan, Sarah, Jenny. Doeg run Pl.: Morris, Matt, Bath, Jupiter, Robin, Bob, Paul, Hannah, Sue, Betty, Jone, Moll, Lucy. Mill Plann: Davy, Ned, Robin, Judy, Lucy, Jenny.1 In all 69 deduct 2–67.2

List of Tithables in Fairfax Parish July 16th 1770.

James Cleveland

Frederick, Essex, Ben, Natt, Will, Neptune, Abram, George, Walley, Schomberg, Ruth, Peg, Murria, Doll, Daphne, Cloe, Nan, Judy, Milly.3 In all 20.

ALB, DLC:GW.

1Tithables in GW’s list for Truro Parish in 1769 but not in his list for 1770 include the bricklayer Michael Tracy; Julius and Kate, house servants; Ben and one of the slaves named Jack, on the Home farm; Sam and Natt, tradesmen; and Ben on Dogue Run farm. Natt presumably is the young slave whom GW apprenticed to the blacksmith Peter Gollatt on 19 March. Julius is probably the young slave belonging to John Parke Custis who was also apprenticed to the blacksmith. In 1770 GW lists three additional men, two ferrymen at the Home farm, named Jack and Herculas, and one man at Dogue Run farm, named Bath. He bought Bath from Carlyle & Adam in May 1770 for £66.10 (General Ledger A description begins General Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers. description ends , folio 310). The ferrymen, Jack and Herculas, he probably obtained from John Posey who had run the ferry in previous years. Both names are among the names of slaves mortgaged by Posey to GW in 1767 (Fairfax County Deed Book G—1, 303–5, ViFfCh), and GW paid Posey £6.14 on 17 Nov. 1770 for the “Hire of Negro Jack from the 23d of Apl last, to this date” (General Ledger A description begins General Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers. description ends , folio 256). Essex was moved from the Dogue Run farm in 1769 to the Fairfax Parish list in 1770, while Lucy was moved from the Fairfax Parish list in 1769 to the Dogue Run list in 1770. John Alton, who was listed as overseer of Mill farm in 1769, is shown as having replaced Thomas Bishop as overseer of Muddy Hole farm in 1770.

2GW deducted the two ferrymen from his total number of tithables for Truro Parish. “An Act for the Settlement and Regulation of Ferries, and for Dispatch of Public Expresses,” passed in the October 1748 session of the Virginia general assembly, provided that “for encouragement of ferry keepers, and in consideration of setting over public messengers, [free of charge] . . . That all the men attending the said ferries be free of public and county levies, and from all other public services of musters, constables, clearing highways, impressment, and other things of like nature” (6 Hening description begins William Waller Hening, ed. The Statutes at Large; Being a Collection of All the Laws of Virginia, from the First Session of the Legislature, in the Year 1619. 13 vols. 1819–23. Reprint. Charlottesville, Va., 1969. description ends 13–23).

3Essex is added to the list of tithables in Fairfax Parish in 1770 and Lucy is taken away. See note 1.

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