From George Washington to John William Bronaugh, 26 October 1795

To John William Bronaugh

Phila. 26th Oct. 1795

Sir

Your letter of the 18th instt from Aquia, enclosing one from your father of the 17th, has been duly recd.

There is no doubt, in my mind, but that your fathers Land on the Great Kanhawa is good—All that was surveyed for the Soldiery, under the Proclamation of 1754, was reputed to be so—and as they were the first choice and made by a good judge it is the best evidence I can adduce of the fact for I have no knowledge of the particular tract you are enquiring after consequently (if it was in other respects proper) I can give no certificate concerning the quality of it.1

All my papers, respecting those lands and the transactions relating to them are packed up at Mount Vernon and not to be got at unless I was there. If your father was blended with others in the original grant, it is not likely that the Patent (at this late day) is in my possession: but of this you may, possibly, receive some information from Doctr Craik of Alexandria; who, if my memory serves me was one of the Patentees.2 My respects to your father I am—Sir Yr very Hble Servt

Go: Washington

ALS, owned (1988) by Mrs. Helen S. Euston, Miami, Florida.

1. By a proclamation of 9 Feb. 1754, the Virginia governor Robert Dinwiddie, in order to encourage enlistment of a force sufficent to “erect and support” the fort to be constructed at the forks of the Monongahela River, promised that 200,000 acres would be distributed among those “who by their voluntary Engagement and good Behaviour in the said Service shall deserve the same” (see Petition to the King for the Virginia Regiment, c.11 March–10 July 1762, 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 7:117–19). For discussion of the surveys of grants under that proclamation, see GW to Samuel Lewis, 1 Feb. 1784, and GW to John Harvie, 31 May 1785 (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 1:91–95, 3:28–30).

2. The original tract was 7,894 acres, of which 6,000 were granted to William Bronaugh, 1,794 to James Craik, and 100 to George Muse (Va. Executive Journals, description begins H. R. McIlwaine et al., eds. Executive Journals of the Council of Colonial Virginia. 6 vols. Richmond, 1925–66. description ends 6:548–49).

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Source Project: Washington Papers
Title: From George Washington to John William Bronaugh, 26 October 1795
Author: Washington, George
Recipient: Bronaugh, John William
Date: 26 October 1795

Reference

Cite as: “From George Washington to John William Bronaugh, 26 October 1795,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-19-02-0056. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Presidential Series, vol. 19, 1 October 1795–31 March 1796, ed. David R. Hoth. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2016, p. 74.]

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