To George Washington from the Militia and Citizens of Frederick County, Va., 12 November 1796
II
From the Militia and Citizens of Frederick County, Va.
Winchester [Va.] 12th Novr 1796
Sir
In Obedience to the requests of our fellow Citizens of Frederick County, contained in the enclosed resolutions, we beg leave to approach you with the sincerest affection, and for them and ourselves to express the extreme regret we feel, at the prospect of your retiring from that important Office, which you have hitherto filled with so much honour to yourself, and so much to the interest of our common Country.1
Indeed, Sir, it is impossible to review, the great lenght of time which you have devoted to the service of your Country, the very critical situations in which you have so often been placed, the Wisdom and firmness which you have always displayed, the high and important Offices you have filled, and the still more important services, which, in the discharge of the duties of those offices, You have rendered to your fellow Citizens, without being imprest with the most grateful and affectionate regard for your person, and without experiencing the depest concern, that your Country can no longer avail herself of those talents and virtues, which have been so often and so eminently serviceable to her.
Be pleased, Sir, to accept of our most earnest and devout wishes for your future peace and happiness. May you experience, in that retirement which is your choice, every personal and domestic felicity which human nature is capable of enjoying. May you long live to see that Country, which we believe you ardently love, happy in the complete fruition of Liberty and tranquillity. And May you finally be put into possession of that reward, which is prepared by the great Author of all good, for those who devote their lives to the happiness of their fellow men, We have the honour to be, with sentiments of the greatest Esteem and regard Sir, Yr Hbe Svts
John Smith
Wm McGuire
C. Thruston
Robt White jr
H[ug]h Holmes
DS, DLC:GW; LB, DLC:GW.
John Smith (1750–1836), of Winchester, Va., a former colonel of militia in the Revolutionary War, represented Frederick County in the Virginia House, 1777–79 and 1786–87, and several counties in the state Senate, 1791–94. He later represented Virginia in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1801 to 1815, and he became a major general of militia in 1811.
William McGuire (1765–1820), a lawyer and former Revolutionary War officer, represented Frederick County in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1797 until his appointment in 1798 as the first chief justice of the Mississippi Territory, a position he resigned in 1800. He served as military storekeeper of ordnance at the U.S. armory at Harpers Ferry from 1817 until his death.
Hugh Holmes (1768–1825), a lawyer from Winchester, was mayor of that town in 1795. He served in the Virginia Senate from 1795 to 1799 and in the House of Delegates from 1802 to 1805, when he resigned to accept an appointment as a judge on the General Court, a post he held until his death.
1. Three resolutions were enclosed. One resolution, dated 29 Oct. and passed “unanimously” at a muster of the 31st Regiment of Virginia militia, appointed Smith and Holmes a committee to address GW in the name of the regiment. A similar resolution, dated 31 Oct., passed “unanimously” at a muster of the 51st Regiment of Virginia militia, appointed McGuire to address GW in the name of the regiment. The third resolution, dated 5 Nov., passed “unanimously” at “a meeting of the people of Frederick” at the county courthouse, appointed Thruston and White a committee to address GW in behalf of the county’s people (all DLC:GW).