Tuesday 31st. Mercury at 66 in the Morning—66 at Noon and 66 at Night.
Govrs. Lee & Johnson, Colo. Fitzgerald & Colo. Gilpin came here according to appointment.
Fanny Bassett returned. Raining more or less all day—in the Evening & Night much fell.
The directors of the Potowmack Company agreed at this meeting to divide the clearing of the Potomac into two areas of responsibility, one above and one below Harpers Ferry. For each of these two areas 50 men under an assistant manager would be hired, and both groups would be under a general manager to be chosen at the next meeting of the directors, set for 1 July in Alexandria (Va. Journal, 9 June 1785). In this way, GW wrote to the marquis de Lafayette, work could begin “in those parts which require least skill; leaving the more difficult ’till an Engineer of abilities & practical knowledge can be obtained” (25 July 1785, DLC:GW).