54501[Diary entry: 25 March 1748] (Washington Papers)
Fryday 25th. 1748. Nothing Remarkable on thursday but only being with the Indians all day so shall slip it. This day left Cresaps & went up to the Mouth of Patersons Creek & there swum our Horses over got over ourselves in a Canoe & travel’d up the following Part of the Day to Abram Johnstones 15 miles from the Mouth where we camped. Patterson’s Creek flows into the Potomac about 12 miles...
54502[Diary entry: 23 March 1748] (Washington Papers)
Wednesday 23d. Rain’d till about two oClock & Clear’d when we were agreeably surpris’d at the sight of thirty odd Indians coming from War with only one Scalp. We had some Liquor with us of which we gave them Part it elevating there Spirits put them in the Humour of Dauncing of whom we had a War Daunce. There Manner of Dauncing is as follows Viz. They clear a Large Circle & make a great Fire in...
54503[Diary entry: 22 March 1748] (Washington Papers)
Tuesday 22d. Continued Rain and the Freshes kept us at Cresaps.
54504[Diary entry: 21 March 1748] (Washington Papers)
Monday 21st. We went over in a Canoe & Travell’d up Maryland side all the Day in a Continued Rain to Collo. Cresaps right against the Mouth of the South Branch about 40 Miles from Polks I believe the Worst Road that ever was trod by Man or Beast. Thomas Cresap (1694–1790) was born at Skipton, Yorkshire, Eng., and immigrated to America about 1719, settling first in Maryland and later moving to...
54505[Diary entry: 20 March 1748] (Washington Papers)
Sunday 20th. Finding the River not much abated we in the Evening Swam our horses over & carried them to Charles Polks in Maryland for Pasturage till the next Morning. Charles Polk had land under cultivation in the area as early as 1748 ( NORRIS [1] J. E. Norris, ed. History of the Lower Shenandoah Valley . 1890. Reprint. Berryville, Va., 1972. , 68).
54506[Diary entry: 18 March 1748] (Washington Papers)
Fryday 18th. We Travell’d up about 35 Miles to Thomas Barwicks on Potomack where we found the River so excessively high by Reason of the Great Rains that had fallen up about the Allegany Mountains as they told us which was then bringing down the melted Snow & that it would not be fordable for severall Days it was then above Six foot Higher than usual & was Rising. We agreed to stay till...
54507[Diary entry: 17 March 1748] (Washington Papers)
Thursday 17th. Rain’d till Ten oClock & then clearing we reached as far as Major Campbells one of there Burgesses about 25 Miles from Town. Nothing Remarkable this day nor Night but that we had a Tolerable good Bed [to] lay on. Andrew Campbell, who lived northwest of Winchester, was one of Frederick County’s most prominent residents. He served as one of the county’s first justices, as a member...
54508[Diary entry: 16 March 1748] (Washington Papers)
Wednesday 16th. We set out early & finish’d about one oClock & then Travell’d up to Frederick Town where our Baggage came to us. We cleaned ourselves (to get Rid of the Game we had catched the Night before) & took a Review of the Town & then return’d to our Lodgings where we had a good Dinner prepar’d for us Wine & Rum Punch in Plenty & a good Feather Bed with clean Sheets which was a very...
54509[Diary entry: 15 March 1748] (Washington Papers)
Tuesday 15th. We set out early with Intent to Run round the sd. Land but being taken in a Rain & it Increasing very fast obliged us to return. It clearing about one oClock & our time being too Precious to Loose we a second time ventured out & Worked hard till Night & then returnd to Penningtons we got our Suppers & was Lighted in to a Room & I not being so good a Woodsman as the rest of my...
54510[Diary entry: 14 March 1748] (Washington Papers)
Monday 14th. We sent our Baggage to Capt. Hites (near Frederick Town) went ourselves down the River about 16 Miles to Capt. Isaac Penningtons (the Land exceeding Rich & Fertile all the way produces abundance of Grain Hemp Tobacco &c.) in order to Lay of some Lands on Cates Marsh & Long Marsh. Jost Hite (d. 1760) was born in Strasbourg, Alsace, and emigrated to America about 1710, settling...
54511[Diary entry: 13 March 1748] (Washington Papers)
Sunday March 13. Rode to his Lordships Quarter about 4 Miles higher up the River we went through most beautiful Groves of Sugar Trees & spent the best part of the Day in admiring the Trees & richness of the Land. It has usually been suggested that the party proceeded on 13 Mar. to Fairfax’s land across the Shenandoah—the area known as Greenway Court ( FREEMAN Douglas Southall Freeman. George...
54512[Diary entry: 12 March 1748] (Washington Papers)
Saturday March 12th. This Morning Mr. James Genn the surveyor came to us. We travel’d over the Blue Ridge to Capt. Ashbys on Shannondoa River. Nothing remarkable happen’d. John Ashby (1707–1789) was a member of a prominent frontier family. His father, Thomas Ashby, had settled in Stafford County in 1710 and moved to what is now Fauquier County before 1748. In 1741 John Ashby married Jean Combs...
54513[Diary entry: 11 March 1748] (Washington Papers)
Fryday March 11th. 1747/8. Began my Journey in Company with George Fairfax Esqr.; we travell’d this day 40 Miles to Mr. George Neavels in Prince William County. The two dates used by GW are explained by the difference between New Style and Old Style dating. Until 1752 England, Ireland, and the colonies followed the Julian Calendar (Old Style). Under England’s interpretation of the Julian...
54514School Exercises (Washington Papers)
[ Ferry Farm, 1744–1748 ]. The earliest manuscripts among GW’s surviving papers are the schoolwork of his boyhood, amounting to 218 pages of exercises, mostly in mathematics and surveying. Because of the special character of these documents and because with appropriate annotation they will fill a volume in themselves, the exercises have been set aside for separate publication. At his death GW...
54515George Washington’s Professional Surveys (Washington Papers)
Between the ages of 17 and 20 GW was a practicing professional land surveyor. During that time he made more than 190 surveys, nearly all of them for grants of new lands on the frontiers of Lord Fairfax’s Northern Neck Proprietary. Frontier surveying was a lucrative business in Virginia at the middle of the eighteenth century, as swarms of settlers and speculators laid claim to the colony’s...
54516The Letter Book for the Braddock Campaign (Washington Papers)
The Preface to this volume includes an extended discussion of the problems relating to the letter books that GW kept during the French and Indian War, all of which are in the Washington Papers at the Library of Congress. There are two manuscript copies of the letter book for the Braddock campaign in the library. One is the original letter book kept by GW during the campaign and revised by him....