From George Washington to Capel & Osgood Hanbury, 28 June 1766
To Capel & Osgood Hanbury
Mount Vernon 28th June 1766.
Gentn
The bearer of this, Mr Benja. Sebastian, a young Gentleman of this Country is going Home for Holy Orders; and being in want of a small Sum of Money, please to let him have upon demand Sixty pounds Sterg and place it to Acct of Mastr Jno. Parke Custis, who is allowed Interest for the same here1—If it shoud lye in your way to facilitate the design of Mr Sebastian’s Trip to England, as also of Mr Masey’s,2 who accompanies him for the same purpose above mentioned it will be doing an acceptable favr to two very deservg young Gentln as well as to Yr Most Obedt Hble Servt
Go: Washington
ALB, DLC:GW.
1. Benjamin Sebastian, Jr. (c.1745–1834), was licensed by the bishop of London on 21 Sept. 1766 and took the king’s bounty on 2 October. Licensed for service in Virginia, he acted as minister in Frederick Parish, Frederick County, Va., in 1766–67, and thereafter in other parishes of Virginia and Maryland before removing to Kentucky in 1788. In Kentucky he practiced law and became active in politics. In 1804 he was found to be receiving a pension from the Spanish governor of Louisiana, which ruined his reputation. GW carried Sebastian’s debt in his guardian accounts until he turned John Parke Custis’s property over to him in 1773.
2. Lee Massey was to become the next minister of Truro Parish. See Truro Parish Vestry to Francis Fauquier, 4 Feb. 1766, and source note.