George Washington Papers

[Diary entry: 19 October 1768]

19. Set of on my Journey to Williamsburg & reachd Colo.

Henry Lees to Dinner.

GW is beginning a multipurpose trip. Although the Assembly was not scheduled to meet, the General Court had begun its 24-day fall session, which would draw most of the merchants and many lawyers and planters to Williamsburg for both their public and private affairs. Virginia was also expecting the arrival in Williamsburg of a new governor; Norborne Berkeley, baron de Botetourt (c.1718–1770), was appointed 12 Aug. 1768 to be the royal governor of Virginia. Rather than sending a deputy to the colony, Botetourt chose to reside in Virginia and govern directly, thus becoming the first peer in 80 years to reside as governor in Virginia.

Jacky Custis accompanied GW on this trip as far as Boucher’s school where he resumed his studies.

Col. Henry Lee’s home, Leesylvania, was on the south side of Neabsco Creek near the Potomac River. Henry and his wife Lucy had eight children who lived to maturity, all of whom appear in the diaries.

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