Washington, George. Estate

Autograph letter signed by John Augustine Washington ("Jno. A. Washington"), also signed by three of George Washington's nephew-executors, Bushrod Washington, Samuel Washington, and Lawrence Lewis, 1 page (9 7/8 x 7 7/8 in.; 253 x 201 mm) on a bifolium of wove paper (watermarked I Bicking | posthorn), "Berry Hill, Jefferson Co.," May 1809, evidently to their legal counsel, docketed on the verso of the integral blank "Thornton & Law | Washington"; some light stains, tiny losses at central fold.

See Eugene E. Prussing, The Estate of George Washington, Deceased (Boston, 1927) and Charles Royster, The Fabulous History of the Dismal Swamp Company: A Story of George Washington's Times  (New York, 1999)

Autograph letter signed by John Augustine Washington ("Jno. A. Washington"), also signed by three of George Washington's nephew-executors, Bushrod Washington, Samuel Washington, and Lawrence Lewis, 1 page (9 7/8 x 7 7/8 in.; 253 x 201 mm) on a bifolium of wove paper (watermarked I Bicking | posthorn), "Berry Hill, Jefferson Co.," May 1809, evidently to their legal counsel, docketed on the verso of the integral blank "Thornton & Law | Washington"; some light stains, tiny losses at central fold.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

George Washington, "Light-Horse Harry" Lee, and the Dismal Swamp Company. One of the most vexatious components of George Washington's vast and complicated Estate was the matter of his shares in the Dismal Swamp Company. Washington was an early investor in this venture, which was characterized by Charles Royster as "a fantastically delusional enterprise that proposed draining and developing a vast morass along the Virginia-North Carolina border." Nonetheless, Washington himself believed, as he wrote to Henry Lee on 18 February 1793, that the land "may be easily drained; & when drained is equal to the richest Rice land of So. Carolina ..." (Papers, Presidential Series 12:173).

In 1795, Washington contracted with Lee to sell his shares of the Company for $20,000. Lee, however, almost immediately fell into financial difficulty,  and over the next four years he managed to pay Washington only about $750—in addition to some stocks and thirty barrels of corn. In May 1799, Lee wrote to the retired President that "no event of my life has given me more anguish" than his failure to settle his debt. "It was six weeks after this avowal that Washington wrote and signed his will and schedule of property [9 July 1799]. There seemed at the time little or no hope of Lee's performing his contract, and so in the notes left for the guidance of his executors and legatees Washington omitted all comment upon the unfortunate situation of his friend which might become public, contenting himself with limiting his valuation of the property to the unpaid principal sum still owed him" (Prussing, p. 281).

Lee's financial situation did not improve during the decade following Washington's death (14 December 1799), and in April 1809 he was jailed for debt. Before he was incarcerated, Lee wrote to Bushrod Washington offering to return to his uncle's Estate the shares in the Dismal Swamp Company while forfeiting a refund of the portion he had already paid towards their purchase. Bushrod and his fellow executors accepted this solution to the very awkward problem and issued a lithographed circular letter to that effect "To the Legatees of Gen. Washington," on 13 May 1809. The circular letter appeared over the names of Bushrod, William A. Washington, and Lawrence Lewis.

The present document is essentially a draft for the circular letter, but with the executors' wishes stated not as imperative but as an accession to the advice of their lawyers: "Your letter by post of May 13th came safe to hand, In which you state, that our testator, sometime before his death, sold his Dismal Swamp property to Gen. Lee, without however, having made a deed for the same. Some part of the consideration money was paid, but the exact amount is not now recollected. You state also that Gen Lee has lately proposed to rescind the contract, without requiring a return of the money paid by him; and believing that the property is likely to become very valuable, and could now be sold for a good price, it is your decided opinion, that his offer ought to be accepted. Upon this subject we pretend to have very little knowledge, consequently our opinion must be made up from the argument urged in your letter. It will therefore only be necessary for us to say that we concur with you in opinion, and do consent as far as we are interested that the proposition which you state to have been made by Gen. Lee should be accepted of."

Three months later, the Washington-Lee Dismal Swamp stock was repatriated to Washington's Estate; the stock remained among the assets of Bushrod Washington until his death in 1829.