To George Washington from William Deakins, Jr., 3 November 1790
From William Deakins, Jr.
George-Town [Md.] Novr 3. 1790
Sir
The day after you left this place We employed a Surveyor to lay down our Situations, but it has taken more time than We expected to Ascertain the Exact Quantity of Land held by each proprietor within the lines laid down—I expect on Sunday or Monday Next to hand you the platt & proposals from the holders of the land.1 I am Very respectfully Sir Your Obd Servt
Will. Deakins Junr
ALS, DLC:GW.
For the background to this letter, see Memorandum from Jefferson, 29 Aug. 1790, source note, 14 Sept. 1790 and source note, to GW, 17 Sept. 1790 and notes, and Agreement of Georgetown, Md., Property Owners, 13 Oct. 1790, source note.
William Deakins, Jr. (1742–1798), a Georgetown, Md., merchant and landowner, was the son of William and Tabitha Marbury Hoye Deakins of Prince George’s County. He owned several Georgetown lots, Montgomery County, Md., property near the mouth of Seneca Creek, and land in what would become the federal city. On 30 June 1791 the Commissioners for the District of Columbia appointed Deakins treasurer of the commission, in which office he served until GW ordered its abolition in July 1796.
1. GW visited Georgetown on 15–17 Oct. 1790 on his Potomac tour of potential sites for the federal city. The plat and proposals to which Deakins referred have not been found, but he apparently had them delivered before writing again to GW two weeks later. The plat may be the “Beatty and Orme plat” the president used in determining the particular parcels of land that would be required for the federal city (see Agreement of the Georgetown, Md., Property Owners, 13 Oct. 1790, source note, Deakins to GW, 18 Nov. 1790, GW to Deakins and Benjamin Stoddert, 3 Feb. 1791).