To George Washington from James Anderson, 22 February 1797
From James Anderson
Mount Vernon 22d Feby 1797
Sir
I was duely favored with Yours of 13th And the seeds which I delivered to the Gardener1—I am sincerely happy in finding You approve my various Schemes—And as to the Distillery—will make it appear at least a 50 pCt trade have bought about 100 Barlls Corn at 20/.2 Another 100 will do untill late in the Fall When more will come in. And the ⟨Tailings⟩ will do for some time to Mix with the Corn.3
Have now been in Loudon & bought 44 Hogs, Sows & Shoats ⟨30 Ozds⟩ I think 38 will do to Kill this Fall And may make 4 to 5,000 lb. pork—besides the Sows, which We need to rear from I send for them this Week—And pay them on the 12th March. they are 3 Dollars each, I also bought 20 Turkeys & some few Geese, & a few Pullets all kinds of Fouls are scarce & extravagantly high—the Turkeys are 5/— Geese I am not so sure what I may have or price, until Allison goes for them. And the Pullets are 1/—Such roads I never traveled on—I will put the Hogs to eat Slope at the Distillery And the Turkeys for Your Table about 10, leave in Coops at the House. And put the others & 2 Cocks to the Distillery & Geese there to feed on the Grains to rear from them. I am fixing a Girl to feed the Hogs & fowls. And my son & one boy Manages the Stills,4 this Weak we shall have 80 gallons at least of Whiskie, which I will deposit in my Cellar And when the fishing Season comes there will be more demand and probably it may sell higher—I charge the Distillery 3/ a Bu. for the Wheat Tailings—I believe that is more than they are Worth.
I am making a Ditch & Hedge of Locust from the bed of the mill run, to the Mill race, along the side of the road. And placing a new Post & rail fence on the top of the Bank. there are a small ditch on each side and the hedge on the inside—a good many of the other hedges are filled say the Gaps And the remainder Shall immediatly be filled—The rainey weather has retarded ⟨the⟩ ploughing5—But is mending the Wheat some of which is looking well the fallow on Union Farm especially.
There are no such thing as applying the Roller. the Land is so very soft but will do it whenever it can be worth propriety. Whenever the Potatoe arives will plant them6—The time of planting of the Pease being in April & May shall have seed ready. As I have spoke to some Merchts in Town to collect some, I am affraid Mr Goughs Cattle will be higher priced than I would think adviseable to buy at—a Gentn informed me, He asked 200 Dolls for a Year old Bull7—after You are once here And the road good, I may be able to find some good Cows in the upper parts of Loudon Berkeley &c among the Dutch Who have good kinds. And in Scotland I have prefered that kind of Cattle.8
Shall refer sending for the Berrys untill You come here but have thot on them coming by the way of Loudon and from thence to Alexria have found one Whos friend in Loudon will take care of them. When You get things to send round here please get one Bll Mollases, as there has been none since I came here—And also the following things for Neale 1200 Spike nails, for Doguerun B: floor. 4 good Broad Axes—6/ lb each 6 Strong Inch & 6 Strong 2 Inch Chissels—2 New Hand Saws 4 Rules of 2d quality—a Qty files for Hand saws Cross cuts &c in Plane Irons of different Sizes. Gimblets of various sizes 2 pr Strong Compasses—2 half Inch Augers 1 ⟨illegible⟩ & 1 flatt bitt do—And some Barrels Nails of different Kind 20d. 10d. & lathing nails9—This week I will fitt up some trough to feed a few Cows at my house,10 with Slope & Hay—and get a little fresh Butter by Your return.11
If any thing else is wanted, shall do my best to lay it in. The prices of flour at Alexria are when paid in Cash 48/ p. Bll for Superfine—46 p. Bll for fine. & good Midlings 10/ P. Bll. Am affraid Callahan is rather to Anxious, our Midlings are very poor And tho the Superfine looks tolerable it is with me, a doubt Whether it passes the Inspection—which is now, I am told pretty thick—But if it should be so, there are only 2/ difference between Super, & fine.
He follows what Rickets & other Millers mostly do12—to attempt having the great part Superfine. And in past Years there has been few faults found, as the demand was so great. Wheat is Rather looking up. the best 9/ to 9/6 And it is my Opinion the Armies, & Navys in the West Indies must soon be in want.13 And the price of Corn has every chance of Advancing. being with much esteem Sir Your most Obedt Humble Sert
Jas Anderson
ALS, DLC:GW. GW replied to Anderson on 27 February. The farm reports that Anderson enclosed with this document are probably those of 12–18 Feb. (DLC:GW).
1. GW’s letter to Anderson of 13 Feb. has not been found.
2. For the recent establishment of a distillery at Mount Vernon, see GW to Anderson, 8 Jan., and n.2.
3. Tailings refer to “inferior qualities, leavings, or residue of any product,” and may especially apply to grain or flour of inferior quality ().
4. Anderson’s eldest son, John (b. 1776), helped manage the stills. In August 1797, a payment of £7.10.0 was made to “John Anderson … for his services as Distiller &c.” (, 31). John oversaw the larger-scale distillery that was operating at Mount Vernon by February 1798 (see GW to Robert Lewis, 26 Jan. 1798, and n.2 to that document, and GW to Anderson, 6–7 Feb. 1798, in 2:47–48, 74–75).
5. The farm reports for 12–18 Feb. record laborers “planting a Hedge at the Mill,” and “Ploughing 18. & planting Hedges 8 days” at Union farm. Laborers at the latter farm also made post and rail fences.
6. For GW’s shipment of potatoes for Mount Vernon, see his letters to Anderson of 22 Jan. and 20 February.
7. GW had authorized Anderson to purchase livestock and had mentioned Baltimore merchant Henry Dorsey Gough as a potential dealer in bulls (see GW to Anderson, 8 Jan.). In April 1797, GW declined to purchase a nine-month-old bull calf from Gough, who charged $200 for the animal. However, in August, Gough gifted GW a calf of an “improved Breed,” which Anderson arranged for delivery to Mount Vernon (see GW to John Eager Howard, 30 April, and Gough to GW, 17 Aug. 1797, in 1:129, 302).
8. Dutch cattle referred to the Holstein-Friesian breed of cattle with the black-and-white markings.
9. For the March shipment of some of these and other articles to Mount Vernon, see GW to Anderson, 5 Feb., and n.5 to that document.
“Neale” refers to Mount Vernon carpenter John Neale (Neal).
10. For the location of Anderson’s house, see GW to Anderson, 8 Jan., and n.3 to that document.
11. GW returned to Mount Vernon on 15 March (see , 6:239).
12. Merchant John Thomas Ricketts was a partner in the Alexandria, Va., firm of Ricketts & Newton. He owned a gristmill called Cameron Mills, on Cameron Run near Alexandria (see Anderson to GW, 14 Feb., and n.10 to that document; see also GW to Anthony Whitting, 10 Feb. 1793, and n.3 to that document).
13. In late 1795, Gen. Ralph Abercromby had led a British expedition of about 25,000 troops to the West Indies. This resulted in the subjugation in 1796 of Saint Lucia and the colony of Demerara (part of present-day Guyana). Though the Spanish island of Trinidad had also surrendered to Abercromby’s forces on 19 Feb. 1797, Spanish and local forces thwarted British attempts to capture San Juan, Puerto Rico, the following April (see Gouverneur Morris to GW, 19 Dec. 1795, and n.10 to that document; see also Greenleaf’s New Daily Advertiser [New York], 6 Oct. 1796; and Porcupine’s Gazette and United States Daily Advertiser [Philadelphia], 31 March 1797).