George Washington Papers
Documents filtered by: Recipient="Robert Cary & Company" AND Period="Colonial"
sorted by: editorial placement
Permanent link for this document:
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/02-06-02-0189-0002

Enclosure: Invoice to Robert Cary & Company, 20 September 1759

Enclosure

Invoice to Robert Cary & Company

[Mount Vernon] 20th Septr 1759

Invoice of Sundries to be sent by Robt Cary Esqr. and Company for the use of George Washington. viz.

A Light Summer Suit made of Duroy1 or &ca by the Measur 4 pieces best Indian Nankeen 2 best pl[ai]n Beaver Hats @ 21/ 1 ps. Irish Linnen @ 4/ 1 ps. black 6d. Sattin Ribbon 1 Sword Belt, red Morocco or Buff2—no buckles or Rings 4 lb. Ivory black 2 best two bladed Knives 2 pr good horse Scissars3 ½ Rheam good Post Paper4 cut ½ Rheam good Do 4to Ditto.

A Sammon colourd Tabby5 of the Inclosd Pattern wt. Sattin Flowers to be made in a Sack & Coat 1 Cap, hand[kerchie]f Tucker6 & Ruffles to be made of Brussels Lace or Point proper to wear with the above negligee7 to cost £208 1 ps. Bag Holland9 @ 6/ 2 fine flowerd Lawn Aprons10 2 dble handkercheif 1 pr Womans white Silk hose 6 pr Do fine Cotton Do 4 pr thrd Do 4 thd 1 pr bla: & 1 pr white Sattan Shoes of the Smallest fives11 4 pr Callimanca Ditto12 1 fashi[onabl]e Hatt or Bonnett 6 pr Womans best kid Gloves 6 pr Ditto Mitts ½ dozn Knots & breast Knots 1 dozn round silk Laces 1 black Mask 1 dozn most fash: Cambrick Pockt Hand[kerchie]fs 2 pr neat Small Scissars 1 lb. Sewing Silk Shaded ¼ lb. Ditto cloth colourd Ditto 4 ps. binding Tape 6 M Miniken Pins13 6 M short White 6M Corking Pins14 1 M hair Ditto 6 lb. perfumd Powder 3 lb. best Scotch Snuff 3 lb. best violette Strasburg15 8 lb. Starch 2 lb. powderd Blue 2 oz. Coventry thrd16 1 of wch to be very fine 1 ps. narrw white Sattan Ribbon Pearle Edge.

1 Case of Pickles to consist of Anchovies—Capers, Olives—Salid Oyl & 1 Bottle India Mangoes 1 large Cheshire Chees 4 lb. Green Tea 10 groce best Corks 25 lb. best Jarr Raisons 25 lb. Almonds in the Shell 1 Hogshead best Porter 10 Loaves dble & 10 Single Refind Sugar.

6 Strong Halter’s Hempen Reins 3 best Snaffle Bridles 317 best Girths 25 lb. Crown Soap18 12 lb. best Mustard 2 dozn packs playg Cards 2 Sacks of best English Oats 1 dozn painters Brushes 1 Bushel of Tares19 12 best hard Padlocks 1½ dozn Bell Glasses for Garden 1 Mahagony Close Stool Case in the newest taste wt. place for Chamber pot &ca 2 more Chair Bottoms such as were wrote for in a formr In. 1 more Windw Curtn & Cornish20 100 lb. white Bisquet 3 Gals. of Rhenish in pt Bottles 2 Lanthorns 8 Busts according to the Inclosd directi[o]n & Measure.21

25 Yds broad Cloth of the Inclosd Colour to cost abt 7/6 15 Yds course thick dble some Colr22 6 Yds Scarlet brd Cloth @ 8/6 30 Yds red Shalloon 20 dozn white Washd Coat Buttn 12 dozn Waist[coa]t Ditto Twist, thread, Silk &ca Sufft to make up the above Cloth 40 Yds course Jeans or fustian for Summer Frocks for Negroe Servts 1 ps. Irish Linnen @ 1/3 1 ps. Doulas23 @10d. 1½ dozn pr strong Course thrd Hose fit for Negroe Servts 6 Caster Hatts24 at abt 5/ 2 Postilian Caps25 1 dozn pr course Shoe & knee buckles26

450 Ells Oznabrigs 4 ps. brown Rolls 350 Yds Kendall Cotton27 100 Yds Dutch Blanketts 2 ps. fearnought28 8 dozn pr Plaid Hose sorted 4 dozn Monmouth Caps29 20 lb. brown thread 15 lb. best Shoemakers Ditto 20 Sacks Salt.

2 Casks 8d. Nails 2 Ditto 10d. Ditto 10 M 20d. Ditto 20 M 6d. Ditto 20 M 4d. Ditto 6 Spades 200 lb. German Steel 2 dozn best Sickles30 6 best Whites handsaws 6 best Broad Axes 6 House Adzes 2 dozn box Gimblets 6 pr Steel Compasses31 1 dozn Augers sorted from 2 Inches to half an Inch 1 Cowpers Taper Bitt32 1 Ditto Croe33 1 Ditto doweling Bitt 1 Ditto wimble Ditto 1 Ditto Vice 1 Ditto pr large Compasses 1 Ditto jointer34 1 Ditto Adze 1 Ditto Round Shave35 1 Ditto Howell 1 Wheel Rights Buz.36 1 Ditto large Gouge 1 Ditto Center Bitt 2 dozn pair HL Hinges37 25 lb. Glew 2 × cut Saws 12 Inch Chissels [Joiners Tools]38 1 Jointer 2 long Plains 2 Jack Ditto 4 Smoothing Do 10 pr Hollows & Rounds 6 Ogees 4 two Square Asticles 3 pr of Groving Plains 1 Snipes Bill 4 quarter Rounds 4 Sash Plains 3 bead Ditto 6 Ovelos 1 plow & Irons 1 moving Philester 1 Screw Rabbit Plain 1 Square Ditto 3 raising Ditto39 1 Spring Brase & Bits Compleat 1 Turkey Oyl Stone40 1 Panell Saw 1 Tenant Ditto 1 Compass Ditto41 1 Sash Ditto 1 dozn firmers 1 dozn gouges 6 Morticing Chissels 1 Adze 1 Drawing knife42 2 pr Compasses 2 Rules 2 Chalk lines 1 Small hatchett 2 punches 2 Saw Setts 2 dozn Gimblet 3dozn Plain Irons 6 Rasps 2 of a Sort 2 dozn handsaw files 2 Ditto of Tenant Ditto.43

6 Bottles Turlingtons Balsam44 8 Oz. Spirit of Lavender45 ½ lb. Ipecacuane powderd46 ½ lb. Jallop powderd47 12 Oz. Venice Treacle48 4 Oz. best Rhubarb49 12 Oz. Diascordium50 4 lb. Pearle Barley51 4 Sago52 4 Oz. Balsam Capevi53 5 Oz. Liquod Laudanum 5 Oz. Spirits Sal Armoniac54 5 Oz. Spirits Hartshorn 4 Oz. Spanish Flies55 3 lb. Bird Lyme56 6 lb. Oyl Turpentine 2 lb. Spirits of Ditto 5 lb. White Sugar Candy 10 lb. brown Ditto 157 Barley Sugar 2 lb. Linseed Oyl—cold drawn 4 lb. Allam58 1 lb. Spirma Citi 4 Oz. Tincture of Myrrh59 4 Oz. Balsum Sulpher60 4 Oz. Pulvus Basilic61 2 Oz. Mer. Dulcis62 4 Oz. Salvolatile63 1064 Hartshorne Shaving 2Quarts strong Cinamon Water65 2 Ditto Weak Ditto N.B. all Liquids in dble flint B[ottles].

40/ Worth of Medicines for Fariery66—among wch let there be—4 lb. flower of Brimstone67 4 lb. Anniseeds68 4 lb. Carthamus69 5 lb. Syrup of Colts foot70 2 lb. Diapente71 5 lb. black Soap 4 lb. Cummin Seeds72 4 lb. Fenugreek73 2 lb. juice of Liquorace74 4 lb. long Pepper.75

Go. Washington

Directions for the Busts76

4—one of Alexr the Great—another of Julius Cæsar—anr of Chs 12 Sweeden & a 4th of the King Prussia.

N.B.—these are not to exceed 15 Inchs in hight nor 10 in width for brokn Pedimt.

2 other Busts of Prince Eugene & the Duke Of Marlborh—somewht smallr. 2 Wild Beasts—not to exceed 12 Inch in highth nor 18 in length. Sundry Small Ornaments for Chim[ne]y piece.77

LB, in GW’s hand, DLC:GW; ADS, Welcome Institute of the History of Medicine, London; copy (photostat), ViMtvL. Only the last two pages of the original invoice have been found, and the letter-book copy is printed here, with all substantive differences between the entires in it and those on the two pages of the original noted. The contemporary copy at Mount Vernon was certainly made from the original invoice, and substantive differences between this copy and the letter book have also been noted. For the other invoices enclosed and not printed here, see GW to Robert Cary & Co., this date, n.11. There is an ADS of the invoice of the orders for the Custis children in CSmH in addition to the letter-book copy in DLC:GW. When copying this and other invoices in his letter book, GW nearly always listed the items that he was ordering in columns, two columns to a page. In the printed versions of GW’s invoices placing orders with British merchants, the entries will not be printed in columns and only a space is used to separate entries. Indentations are used to mark where GW clearly shifted in his listing of goods from a group of one particular sort of articles to a group of distinctly different type of articles.

Robert Cary & Co. filled GW’s order by 15 Mar. 1760, the date of the invoice for the goods the company shipped to GW on the Charming Polly, Capt. Thomas Woodford. GW acknowledged receipt of the goods on 10 Aug. 1760.

1This was a form of corduroy.

2Instead of buff color, GW may be referring here to buff, or buffalo leather, which was usually the name applied to a very stout kind of leather made of oxhide, dressed with oil.

3The ViMtvL copy lists only one pair of scissors.

4Post paper was writing paper.

5Tabby was a fabric of plain or taffeta weave.

6A tucker was a piece of fabric used to fill in low décolletage.

7A negligee was a kind of loose gown worn by women in the eighteenth century. Point is a threaded lace made with a needle.

8The ViMtvL copy calls for a cost of £10.

9Imported linen was often called Holland.

10Lawn is fine linen.

11The ViMtvL copy says “Sizes.”

12Callimanca (callamancoe) was a glazed linen fabric.

13Miniken pins were small household pins.

14A corking pin was the largest of the household pins.

15Violet Strasburg was a scented snuff particularly popular among women.

16Coventry thread was a bright blue worsted English yarn used for embroidery.

17The ViMtvL copy lists “9” girths.

18Crown soap, or soapwort, was an herb used for skin disorders. The ViMtvL copy calls it “brown” soap.

19Tares are vetch seed.

20For the chair bottoms and curtain, see Invoice to Robert Cary & Co., 1 May 1759.

21The description of the “8 Busts” comes at the end of this invoice. In the ViMtvL copy this entire description of the busts ordered is written after “1 More Window Curtain & Cornish.” See note 77.

22The ViMtvL copy calls this “thick duffle of the same colour.”

23Doulas was a coarse linen used for work shirts and toweling.

24Castor fraņais was a long-haired felt.

25A postilion cap, usually made of beaver skin, had a tall tapered crown and narrow brim.

26The ViMtvL copy adds “fit for [Negro Servants].”

27Kendal was a green color associated with the green woolen cloth manufactured in Kendal, Westmoreland.

28Fearnought is heavy woolen fabric.

29A monmouth cap was a flat and round military cap.

30The ViMtvL copy reads “Staples” instead of “Sickles.”

31The ADS copy begins with this item.

32The cooper’s tapering bit is used to bore holes.

33A “croe” is a crowbar.

34A jointer is a bench plane.

35A round shave is a drawing knife used to make smooth the rough places inside a cask.

36The invoice from Cary of 15 Mar. 1760 lists a “Wheel Rights Burr.” A cooper’s howel was a plane used for smoothing the insides of such things as casks.

37This is as it appears in the ADS copy.

38The previous three items do not appear at this point in the ADS, but they are the last three items before the next indentation.

39A jack plane, or fore plane, is used for the preliminary preparation of a wood surface. An ovolo plane is used in making molding. A moving fillister plane is adjustable. A raising plane is a panel, or fielding plane. For the other planes named here, as well as for tools not identified here, see the notes to Invoice from Richard Washington, 20 Aug. 1757.

40A Turkey oilstone was a whetstone. The next entry in the ADS copy is: “1 handsaw.”

41A tenant is a tenon handsaw, and a compass saw is used to cut curved shapes in wood.

42Coopers used a drawing knife to make staves smooth.

43The ADS lists “2 of Tennant Do,” instead of 2 dozen.

44Turlington’s balsam was a tincture of benzoin applied externally to wounds and bruises and taken internally to ease many complaints.

45Spirits of lavender was used particularly for women’s complaints.

46Ipecac is a powder derived from the root of a West Indian plant and was used in the treatment of dysentery.

47Jallop (Jalap), the powder of a dried root, was used as a purgative.

48Venice treacle was a medicinal confection used to produce sweating as well as for its opiate effects.

49Rhubarb was used to prevent choler and to treat stomach ailments.

50Diascordium was a syrup containing various herbs used as a diuretic and to produce sweating.

51Pearl barley was a soothing substance used in fevers.

52Sago jelly derived from palm trees was mixed with milk or broth to supplement the diet of a convalescent.

53Copaiva balsam, a resinous juice from a South American tree, was used as a purgative and diuretic.

54Salts of ammonia (sal ammonica) was used as a stimulant and as a tonic.

55A powder produced by grinding Spanish flies was used in the treatment of venereal diseases.

56Birdlime, an astringent and antacid, was applied both internally and externally for various ailments. It was derived from plants.

57The ADS reads “1 lb. Barley Sugar.”

58Alum is used to promote scabbing of a wound or burn.

59Myrrh was used for colic.

60Balsam of sulfur was sulfur mixed in olive oil taken to relieve chest and abdominal complaints.

61Pulvis balsamicus was a powder used in the treatment of catarrh.

62Mercurius dulcis, or sweet mercury, was supposed to promote the circulation and excretions of the body.

63Sal volatile is used to revive a fainting person.

64The ADS reads “10 lb. Hartshorn Shavings.”

65Cinnamon water was used as an astringent.

66A farrier not only shoes horses but also treats their diseases. Farriery is the art of the farrier in treating horses. In the ADS copy GW wrote “proper for Horses” rather than “for Fariery.”

67Flour of brimstone is a mild laxative. It was also used as a cleansing agent to reduce skin disorders.

68Aniseed was used to treat intestinal disorders.

69Carthamus is a kind of thistle used as a catharsis.

70Coltsfoot is an herb used to treat lung disorders.

71Diapente was a mixture of myrrh, laurel berries, Sentian root, ivory shavings, and bathwort root given to horses as a purgative.

72The oil of cumin seeds was used to make poultices.

73The seeds of the plant fenugreek were used in poultices and liniments.

74Licorice was used for treatment of chest disorders.

75These are the immature fruit spikes of two kinds of peppers used to make medicine for expelling gas in cases of colic. This entry is followed in the ADS copy with: “& such others as are most proper.”

76GW got his wild beasts and his small ornaments for his chimneypiece, but William Cheere reported that there were no busts available of the size GW specified of the six military heroes. See Invoice from Robert Cary & Co., 15 Mar. 1760.

77In the ViMtvL copy GW’s description of the bust and ornaments appears in the middle of the invoice and gives more details of his requirements. GW requested: “8 Busts &ca according to the following directions & measures of Copper. Enamel. or Glazed. viz. 1 of Alexander the great—1 of Julius Cæsar 1 of Charles the 12 of Sweden & another of the King of Prussia these all to be of the same sizes in order to fill up broken pediments over doors, & not to exceed 15 inches in height nor 10 inches in Width. 2 Furious Wild Beasts of any kind, not to exceed 18 inches in length & 12 in higth but as near that size as may be drawn as if approaching each other & eager to engage, at the distance of about 4 feet, to be the same Colour as those above. Prince Eugene & the Duke of Marlborough of somewhat smaller size than the above to stand on each end of a pediment wh. is carved in this Manner [here appears a drawing of a curved pediment.] Sundry small ornaments for a Chimney piece that is 6 feet long & 8 inches wide.” See the Invoice from Robert Cary & Co., 15 Mar. 1760, and GW to Cary, 28 Sept. 1760.

Index Entries