DS, as magistrate in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, 1p, legal folio, September 3, 1771.

In this interesting colonial document Charles Washington acknowledges that the statement of one William Templeton is correct. The body of the document reads in part:"..Parson McDonald had a Negro Sale the year before he died at which Sale Colo. Champe purchased an old Negro Fellow, a Negro Woman, & some Children, not upon his own Acct but with intention to sell again to reduce the Parson's Store Acct..."

$1,800

George Washington. Autograph endorsement on verso of an order by Capt. Charles Edmonstone 20 November 1768 (but probably in 1771). 1 page, 4to, creases expertly mended, tipped at top edge to another sheet. Washington's endorsement six-lines, 17-words.

The Edmonstone document reads, “ By Charles Edmonstone Esq.: Captn of the 18th or Royal Regt of Ireland and Commanding His Majesty’s Garrison at Fort Pitt: Whereas Laurence Morrison hath made of application to me, to inclose the Big Meadows and Longfields at the lower end of them for pasturage and to raise grain for the use of Pack Horses, Beef Cattle, etc., that may be sent up for the Benefite of this Garrison, also to keep a House of Entertainment for the Accommodation of His Majestys Troops, and other Travellers, and it being agreeable to a late act of Assembly, made in Pennsylvania, and for the reasons above mentioned, I do hereby Permitt the said Laurence Morrison to take up, and Improve, the Big Meadows, on General Braddock’s Road, and any land he may think necessary adjoining them. And to be subject to such Regulations as may be ordered by the Commander in Chief or by the Commander on this district for the Good of His Majesty’s Service. Given under my hand at Fort Pitt this 20th day of Novr.1768. Chas.Edmonstone Capt Royal Regt. Of Ireland”.

This important document is one of only two regarding the Great Meadows that I have ever seen. For the other, Washington’s bill of sale for the land encompassing The Great Meadows, see my ad in MAD, March 2006, which contained this historic explanation:

It came to the attention of Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia that the French were creating outposts on English land near the Pennsylvania-Ohio border. Dinwiddie was a major stockholder and huge supporter of the Ohio Company of Virginia, a major land speculation group. In December of 1753 he sent young George Washington to meet with the French commander, Legardeur de Saint-Pierre, at Fort Le Boeuf [now Waterford, Erie County, Pennsylvania]. There Washington found the information he had been instructed to acquire, that the French were encroaching on English land and making alliances with the local Native American tribes. He reported back to Dinwiddie, who raised £10,000 to mount an expedition to ward off the French. Washington was soon promoted to lieutenant colonel and was sent to the frontier with a group of 300 backwoodsmen from Virginia and Kentucky under the command of Colonel Joshua Fry. As the company neared Cumberland, Maryland, Colonel Fry was seized with a fever and died suddenly, leaving Colonel Washington in command. Scouring the countryside for the French, he found a small party and instituted a skirmish in which the French leader Jumonville was killed along with several followers. Washington and his troops retreated to the Great Meadows, marshy grassland located eleven miles east of what is now Uniontown, Pennsylvania. Here the young Colonel Washington and his troops hastily built a fortification they called “Fort Necessity,” perhaps as they were under such military duress. The French forces commanded by Coulon de Villers, numbering over 1400, attacked across the Great Meadows on July 3, 1754, at the aptly named Battle of Fort Necessity. Because of the numerous casualties inflicted on the British soldiers, Washington accepted terms of a conditional surrender, the only time in his military career he capitulated to the enemy. Thus began both the French and Indian War and the wars between France and England, which continued until the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. More important, it signaled the emergence on the international scene of the most important American military and political career of George Washington.

$22,500

DS, 1 page, small folio, [Northhamptonshire], April 2, 1599. Countersigned by William Hasketh, and Stephen Fencke. With the Washington family crest in the form of a shield imprinted on one seal and a bird on the other.

A receipt for "twenty pounds of current English money" from the "estate of Sir John Spencer, Knight".

Robert Washington was born at Sulgrave Manor, the Washington family ancestral estate and was the last of the male heirs to die there. A virtually unobtainable Washington family ancestral autograph.

$2,700

DS, as witness, 1p on vellum,[Northampton], May 4, 1687.Also signed by Thomas Grosham, Richard Nicholson, and Palen P.Romda

A financial document obligating one Thomas Grosham to pay the sum of 200 pounds to Richard Norosomo.

$800

INVOICE OF SUNDRIES TO BE SENT BY ROBERT CARY AND COMPANY FOR USE OF GEORGE WASHINGTON. Four full pages, in a secretarial hand, folio, [Mount Vernon], 20th September, 1759.

Of particular interest besides the usual cloth, clothing, tools, spirits, and pins are:

“...40 Yds Course Jeans or justians for summer frocks for Negro Servants…1/2 dozen pr.course strong hose fit for Negro Servants…2 other Busts, of Prince Eugene and the Duke of Marlboro, somewhat smaller.2 Wild Beasts, not to exceed 12 inches in hight, nor 18 in length. Sundry Small Ornaments for chimy piece…” In The Writings of George Washington by Fitzpatrick only the first two pages are published; this may be the only complete account of Washington’s order from Cary.

$9,500

George Washington
Thomas Badger (USA, 1792 - 1868)

Oil on canvas; 30 7/8 x 20 1/2 inches. Inscribed on verso,"Painted by T.Badger, Boston,1840". In a giltwood frame.

This is a one-third copy of the famous "Lansdowne" portrait of April 1796 by Gilbert Stuart (primary version for Senator William Bingham, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts; secondary, simultaneous version for William Constable, Brooklyn Museum; further simultaneous copy for Bingham's presentation to Lord Lansdowne, now loaned by Lord Roseberry to the National Portrait Gallery (Washington), engraving by James Heath published 1800). This version is accurate in most details, save for an interesting shift of the "center of gravity" toward the left: much more of the chair is visible along the right edge, and Stuart's architectural background is omitted from the upper right corner. Stuart's face was based on the type of his unfinished, iconic "Athenaeum" portrait, of 12 April 1796; Badger's individual manner is most to be discerned in these details of the face, with its much bigger eyes, wider mouth, and more pronounced chiaroscuro. It is very likely to have been modeled on Heath's print of 1800, given the conspicuous inscription of "Boston" on the reverse.

SOLD

Oil on canvas; 25 x 38 inches. Signed and dated April 1, 1880, LL.

On verso the artist has listed subjects in the painting welcoming President-elect Washington including William A.Washington, Col.Humphreys, Charles Thomson, John Jay,Bushrod Washington, G.W.Custis, Alexander and Mrs.Hamilton, Genl. and Mrs.Schuyler, Major Willets, General Knox, Indians, as well the Spanish Warship Galveston

POR