George Washington Papers

[Diary entry: 13 May 1762]

13. Got a Cask of Leith Ale from Mr. Marshall Piscatwy. Agreed to do Mr. Bells Work for £59.

Marshall is probably James Marshall, who owned or managed a “Public House of Entertainment” in Piscataway in 1761 (Md. Gaz., 23 April 1761). Piscataway is on Piscataway Creek in Prince George’s County, Md., almost directly across the Potomac from Mount Vernon. At this time it was a thriving town made up largely of Scottish merchants engaged in the tobacco trade.

mr. bells work: On 15 Aug. 1763 GW received £41 15s. 8d. from “Mr. Josias Bell for Carpenters w[ork]” (General Ledger A description begins General Ledger A, 1750–1772. Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 5, Financial Papers. description ends , folio 166). Most of GW’s carpenters were involved in this work during the summer of 1762 (see entries for 28 June, 19 July, 27 July, and 29 July 1762). Bell was probably Josias Beall (born c.1725) of Prince George’s County, Md.

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