To George Washington from John Harvie, 13 May 1785
From John Harvie
Land office [Richmond, Va.] May 13th 1785
Sir
You will receive with this Letter a copy of the previous Title Law that pass’d in the year 1779 1—I also Inclose you a Certificate of the loss of your Original Survey for the 2813 Acres of Land 2—likewise a copy of the Grant that issued to you and General Lewis for the Burning Spring 3—I do not Recollect that any application has been made for the Round Bottom by Cresups Heirs or any other person since your Grant Issued.4 I have the Honour to be Sir Yr Most Obt Servt
John Harvie
ALS, DLC:GW.
1. This is the act that Harvie discusses in his letter to GW of 22 April.
2. Harvie wrote GW on 22 April that “the Original Survey upon which your patent issued [for the 2,813 acres on Millers Run] with a Number of other public papers fell into the Hands of the Enemy and were destroy’d by them.”
3. For the purchase of the Burning Springs tract by GW and Andrew Lewis, see GW to Samuel Lewis, 1 Feb. 1784, n.3.
4. On 11 April GW wrote Thomas Freeman about securing renters for his Round Bottom tract on the Ohio, for which he had secured a patent in October 1784 after first laying claim to it in October 1770. See note 2 in his letter to Freeman. See also the references in GW to Thomas Lewis, 1 Feb. 1784, n.3, and William Crawford to GW, 2 Aug. 1771. Harvie wrote GW on 20 May 1785 that Cresap’s heirs had applied for a grant to the Round Bottom and suggested that GW “enter a Caveat against a Grant issueing to them.” GW sent Harvie his caveat on 31 May, in which he reviewed the history of his claims to the Round Bottom tract. See also Harvie’s letter to GW of 5 August.