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George Washington’s lost 1787 letter to the retired colonel hinting that America’s first president ran into financial trouble and needed to sell land to raise money is expected to raise $50,000
- The letter was written from the Mount Vernon, Virginia, estate of George Washington.
- It involved a parcel of land of more than 1,600 acres that he owned in western Pennsylvania.
- The letter was in a private collection and was previously unknown to scholars.
A long-lost letter from George Washington revealing his financial woes after the Revolutionary War could fetch $50,000 at the auction house where it’s up for sale.
The never-before-seen letter was written in March 1787, just months before Washington left for Philadelphia to preside over the Constitutional Convention, and two years before he became the first president of the United States.
In the letter, Washington corresponded with a fellow Revolution officer about a piece of land in western Pennsylvania that he hoped to sell.
The officer, Colonel Israel Shreve, wanted to buy the land on credit, but Washington insisted in the letter that he needed cash for the sale.
Washington’s letter was found in a private collection in West Virginia. It is being sold by the Raab Collectionan auction house that deals in historical documents.
George Washington found himself out of cash after the Revolutionary War in 1787
The first page of the never-before-seen letter written by George Washington in 1787
The letter was previously unknown to scholars and never appeared in any Washington writing collection, according to the Raab Collection.
This was a 1,644-acre property on the banks of the Youghiogheny River known as Washington’s Bottom that Washington first purchased in 1768.
According to earlier correspondence, Washington found itself in difficult financial times in early 1787 due to outstanding debts.
“Those who owe me money cannot and do not want to pay it without lawsuits and suing is like doing nothing,” he wrote to his mother in February of that year. “Whereas my expenses, not because of any extravagance, or an inclination on my part to live lavishly, but because of the absolute support of my family and the visitors who are constantly here, are extremely high.”
In response to those problems, Washington chose to sell some of its holdings, which numbered more than 70,000 acres at its peak. At the time of Washington’s death in 1799, he owned about 52,000 acres.
Washington began corresponding with Shreve, who served in the 2nd New Jersey Regiment and camped with Washington at Valley Forge in 1777, and the colonel hoped to purchase Washington’s land with land credits issued to revolutionary veterans known as warrants of recompense. land.
The letter was printed by Washington Secretary Tobias Lear. His final section and signature were inked by Washington himself, according to the Raab Collection.
The letter was written at Washington’s home in Mount Vernon, Virginia.
In the newly discovered letter, Washington responded to Shreve on the matter from his Virginia home in Mount Vernon.
‘Your favor of the 5th inst. it duly came to hand,’ Washington wrote in the letter. ‘The land you mention is for sale, and I hope it would be convenient for me to accommodate you with it for the military certificates; but raising money is the only incentive I have to sell it.
‘Consequently, certificates, if they cannot be converted into cash, will not serve my purpose. And if they can, you could do it on better terms than I, since I know nothing of their value, having no dealings with them. ‘
My price is PA$40 an acre if sold together, which is a third less than small tracts of land in the surrounding area, of lesser intrinsic value, have sold for. A quarter of the money to be paid, the other three quarters in three annual payments, with interest.
Initially, Shreve only leased 600 acres of the property from Washington. Later, in 1795, however, he purchased the entire property for 40,000 Pennsylvania currency.
The letter was printed by Washington Secretary Tobias Lear. His final section and signature were inked by Washington himself, according to the Raab Collection.