intentions concerning the Premises; and these are, to give and bequeath the said land to whomsoever the said Thornton Washington (who is also dead) devised the same; or to his heirs forever if he died Intestate: Exonerating the estate of the said Thornton, equally with that of the said Samuel from payment of the purchase money; which, with Interest; agreeably to the original contract with the said Pendleton, would amount to more than a thousand pounds. And whereas two other Sons of my said deceased brother Samuel, namely, George Steptoe Washington and Lawrence Augustine Washington, were, by the decease of those to whose care they were committed, brought under my protection, and in conseqe. have occasioned advances on my part for their Education at College, and other Schools, for their board, cloathing, and other incidental expences, to the amount of near [12] five thousand dollars over and above the Sums furnished by their Estate wch. Sum may be inconvenient for them, or their fathers Estate to refund. I do for these reasons acquit them, and the said estate, from the payment thereof. My intention being, that all accounts between them and me, and their fathers estate and me shall stand balanced.

Item The balance due to me from the Estate of Bartholomew Dandridge deceased (my wife's brother) and which amounted on the first day of October 1795 to four hundred and twenty five pounds (as will appear by an account rendered by his deceased son John Dandridge, who was the acting Exr. of his fathers Will) I release and acquit from the payment thereof. And the Negros, then thirty three in number) formerly belonging to the said estate, who were taken in execution, sold, and purchased in on my account in the year and ever since have remained in the possession, and to the use of Mary, Widow of the said Bartholomew Dandridge, with their increase, it is my Will and desire shall continue, and be in her possession,

1799]

LOTS BEQUEATHED

283

without paying hire, or ma[13]king compensation for the same for the time past or to come, during her natural life; at the expiration of which, I direct that all of them who are forty years old and upwards, shall receive their freedom; all under that age and above sixteen, shall serve seven years and no longer; and all under sixteen years, shall serve until they are twenty five years of age, and then be free. And to avoid disputes respecting the ages of any of these Negros, they are to be taken to the Court of the County in which they reside, and the judgment thereof, in this relation, shall be final; and a record thereof made; which may be adduced as evidence at any time thereafter, if disputes should arise concerning the same. And I further direct, that the heirs of the said Bartholomew Dandridge shall, equally, share the benefits arising from the Services of the said negros according to the tenor of this devise, upon the decease of their Mother.

17

Item If Charles Carter who intermarried with my niece Betty Lewis is not sufficiently secured in the title to the lots he had of me in the Town of Fredericksburgh, it is my Will and desire that my Executors shall make such conveyances [14] of them as the Law requires, to render it perfect.

Item To my Nephew William Augustine Washington and his heirs (if he should conceive them to be objects worth prosecuting) and to his heirs,18 a lot in the Town of Manchester (opposite to Richmond) No 265 drawn on my sole account, and also the tenth of one or two, hundred acre lots, and two or three half acre lots in the City, and vicinity of Richmond, drawn in partnership with nine others, all in the lottery of the

"On May 7, 1781. Carter was of Culpeper County.

It is probable that the words "and to his heirs" immediately preceding the parenthesis, which are interlined in the Will, were added by Washington, on reading over this page and before he noticed the phrase immediately following the parenthesis. He let them stand rather than make an erasure, which would have required an additional note of explanation.

deceased William Bryd are given; 19 as is also a lot which I purchased of John Hood, conveyed by William Willie and Samuel Gordon Trustees of the said John Hood, numbered 139 in the Town of Edinburgh,20 in the County of Prince George, State of Virginia

Item To my Nephew Bushrod Washington,"1 I give and bequeath all the Papers in my possession, which relate to my Civel and Military Administration of the affairs of this Country; I leave to him also, such of my private Papers as are worth preserving; and at the decease of [my] wife, and before, if she is not inclined to retain them, I give and bequeath my library of Books, and Pamphlets of every kind.22

[15] Item Having sold Lands which I possessed in the State of Pennsylvania, and part of a tract held in equal right with George Clinton, late Governor of New York, in the State of New York; my share of land, and interest, in the Great Dismal Swamp, and a tract of land which I owned in the County of Gloucester; withholding the legal titles thereto, until the consideration money should be paid. And having moreover leased, and conditionally sold (as will appear by the tenor of the said leases) all my lands upon the Great Kanhawa, and a tract upon Difficult Run, in the county of Loudoun, it is my Will and direction, that whensoever the Contracts are fully,

19 See Washington's letter to Bushrod Washington, June 29, 1796, ante. 20Edinburgh. It was a paper town on the south side of the James River and was never settled.

"Eldest son of John Augustine Washington, the General's favorite brother, and the most "bookish" of all the nephews.

29

The papers suffered some small spoliation while in Bushrod's possession; but the great losses occurred during the period of Jared Sparks's activities. While in his possession at Cambridge, the collection was sold to the United States in 1834, after the death of Bushrod Washington. In 1849 the remaining Washington manuscripts were sold to the Government by George Corbin Washington, nephew and heir of Bushrod, and son of Corbin Washington. Both purchases have been combined and are now in the custody of the Library of Congress. The larger part of Washington's books (the library) were sold in 1847 or 1848 to Henry Stevens and were purchased from him by a group of Boston gentlemen to prevent them being taken to England. They are now in the Boston Athenæum, which has published a catalogue of the collection.

1799]

THE EARL OF BUCHAN'S BOX

285

and respectively complied with, according to the spirit, true intent and meaning thereof, on the part of the purchasers, their heirs or Assigns, that then, and in that case, Conveyances are to be made, agreeably to the terms of the said Contracts; and the money arising therefrom, when paid, to be vested in Bank stock; the dividends whereof, as of that also wch. is already vested therein, is to inure to my said Wife during her life; but the Stock itself is to remain, and [16] be subject to the general distribution hereafter directed.

Item To the Earl of Buchan I recommit "the Box made of the Oak that sheltered the Great Sir William Wallace after the battle of Falkirk" presented to me by his Lordship, in terms too flattering for me to repeat, with a request "to pass it, on the event of my decease, to the man in my country, who should appear to merit it best, upon the same conditions that have induced him to send it to me."23 Whether easy, or not, to select the man who might comport with his Lordships opinion in this respect, is not for me to say; but conceiving that no disposi tion of this valuable curiosity can be more eligable than the recommitment of it to his own Cabinet, agreeably to the original design of the Goldsmith Company of Edenburgh, who presented it to him, and at his request, consented that it should be transfered to me; I do give and bequeath the same to his Lordship, and in case of his decease, to his heir with my grateful thanks for the distinguished honour of presenting it to me; and more especially for the favourable sentiments [17] with which he accompanied it.

Item To my brother Charles Washington I give and bequeath the gold headed Cane left me by Doctr. Franklin in his

This box had been presented to the Earl by the Corporation of Goldsmiths of Edinburgh, Scotland. (See Washington's letter to the Earl of Buchan, May 1, 1792, ante.)

26

Will." I add nothing to it, because of the ample provision I have made for his Issue. To the acquaintances and friends of my Juvenile years, Lawrence Washington and Robert Washington of Chotanck,25 I give my other two gold headed Canes, having my Arms engraved on them; and to each (as they will be useful where they live) I leave one of the Spy-glasses which constituted part of my equipage during the late War. To my compatriot in arms, and old and intimate friend Doctr. Craik," I give my Bureau (or as the Cabinet makers call it, Tambour Secretary) 28 and the circular chair, an appendage of my Study. To Doctor David Stuart I give my large shaving and dressing Table, and my Telescope.29 To the Reverend, now Bryan, Lord Fairfax, I give a Bible in three large folio volumes," with notes, presented to me by the Right reverend Thomas Wilson, Bishop of Sodor and Man.31 To General de la Fayette I give a pair of finely wrought steel Pistols, taken from the enemy in the

"A codicil to Franklin's will provides: "My fine crabtree walking stick, with a gold head curiously wrought in the form of a cap of liberty, I give to my friend, and the friend of mankind, General Washington. If it were a sceptre he has merited it; and would become it. It was a present to me from that excellent woman Madame de Forbach, the Dowager Duchess of Deux-Ponts, connected with some verses which should go with it." This cane was presented to the United States in 1843 by Samuel T. Washington, grandson of Charles. The verses have not survived. The cane is now in the National Museum, Washington, D. C.

25

Direct descendants of Lawrence, the brother of John, the emigrant. Lawrence, the emigrant, had settled in the Chotanck region, a vaguely defined area on the south bank of the Potomac some miles above Westmoreland County. These legatees, Lawrence and Robert, belonged to the Lund and Townsend branch of the Washingtons and were the playmates of George, after his father's death (1743), when, seemingly, he was not settled at any one particular place, but spent much time away from the "Ferry Farm" near Fredericksburg in long visits with different relatives.

26 The cane,

bequeathed to Robert, is now in the possession of Lloyd W. Smith, of

New Jersey.
"Dr. James Craik.

23 The "Tambour Secretary" has been restored to Mount Vernon, and is now in its place in the library.

29 Now in the possession of the Armour Institute of Technology, Chicago, Ill. 30 This Bible is now in the Library of Congress.

31

Washington's mistaken recollection that it had been presented to him by the Rev. Thomas Wilson, Bishop of Sodor and Man, was due to the fact that it had been bequeathed to him by the son of the bishop, the Rev. Thomas Wilson, Prebendary of Westminster.