To George Washington from Peter Dow, 20 June 1786
From Peter Dow
[Fairfax County] June 20th 1786
Sir
Mr Lund Washington, applied to me yesterday, as also your young Man ⟨W.⟩ Shaw, to day for the Rent I owe you; I sincerely wish it had been in my power to discharge the same; but from an unforseen event, my Family coming in and drawing on me without advice for Some money; togather with my retirement from any kind of Trade to the Country, has rather embarrassed me at this Season till I can collect the growing Crop—If it were any way agreeable to your excellency I wou’d give Bond with Security & Interest pay[abl]e in Six months.1 I am Sir your Excellencys Most Obedent & Most hume Servant
Peter Dow
ALS, DLC:GW. The letter was sent “by Mr [William] Shaw,” GW’s secretary.
1. In 1782 GW bought a 376–acre tract on Hunting Creek from Peter Dow and others in order to exchange it for the 543–acre French-Dulany land on Dogue Run, but the exchange was not consummated until the fall of 1786 because of Penelope French’s refusal to give up her lifetime right to the land on Dogue Run. In the meantime, Dow had been renting and continuing to live on the Hunting Creek tract. See George Clinton to GW, 27 Feb. 1784, source note, GW to Charles Lee, 20 Feb. 1785, , 4:84–85, and GW to William Triplett, 25 Sept. 1786, and notes.