George Washington Papers

To George Washington from Benjamin Moody, 17 November 1779

From Benjamin Moody

17 Nov. 1779. Moody defends a property sale “for £15000” that “includes the Lands devised me by Colo. Thomas Colvil” and proposes, per GW’s suggestion in a letter of 18 Sept., final settlement through “a suit in Chancery.” Such an action would allow GW to execute the deed “free from censure,” even though the sale would be completed with depreciated currency. Moody asks GW to “authorise some attorney practising in Fairfax Court” to represent him in the suit so a determination can be reached “early the next Spring.” Moody indicates “dispatch in this matter is of the utmost consequence.”

Copy, NjMoHP. For the full text of this letter, which is part of the Thomas Colvill estate papers, see GW to John West, Jr., 4 July 1773, n.2, in Papers, Colonial Series, description begins W. W. Abbot et al., eds. The Papers of George Washington, Colonial Series. 10 vols. Charlottesville, Va., 1983–95. description ends 9:263. GW served as an executor of Colvill’s estate, and its settlement required many irksome years (see GW to Thomas West, 5 July 1779, and n.2, and Moody to GW, 1 Sept., and the source note to that document; see also Papers, Colonial Series, description begins W. W. Abbot et al., eds. The Papers of George Washington, Colonial Series. 10 vols. Charlottesville, Va., 1983–95. description ends 8:65–66, Papers, Confederation Series, description begins W. W. Abbot et al., eds. The Papers of George Washington, Confederation Series. 6 vols. Charlottesville, Va., 1992–97. description ends 3:13, 4:455–56, and 6:58–59, and Papers, Presidential Series, description begins W. W. Abbot et al., eds. The Papers of George Washington, Presidential Series. 19 vols. to date. Charlottesville, Va., 1987–. description ends 1:63–66).

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    Washington Papers
    Title
    To George Washington from Benjamin Moody, 17 November 1779
    Author
    Moody, Benjamin
    Recipient
    Washington, George
    Date
    17 November 1779

    Reference

    Cite as
    “To George Washington from Benjamin Moody, 17 November 1779,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-23-02-0265. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 23, 22 October–31 December 1779, ed. William M. Ferraro. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2015, pp. 315–316.]

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