3. Extreme cold (but forgot to see what the Mercury was). Wind very high from the No. Wt. and continued so all day. Went up to four mile run to run round my land there. Got on the grd. about 10 Oclock and in Company with Captn. Terret and Mr. Luke commenced the Survey on 4 mile run & ran agreeably to the Notes taken. In the evening went to Alexa. & lodged myself at Mr. Fitzhughs.
my land there: This plot of about 1,200 acres on Four Mile Run, bought by GW in 1775, lay about four miles north of Alexandria on the road to Leesburg. It had been losing timber to trespassers for years, and GW particularly suspected the owners of adjoining lands, among whom were Capt. William Henry Terrett, Jr. (d. 1826), and John Luke (see entry for 27 Jan. 1775; , 57–59, 72–73, 78–79). Terrett was the son of William Henry and Margaret Pearson Terrett. Luke was the son of the John Luke who bought this 330–acre tract in 1773 from Mrs. Susanna Pearson Alexander, daughter of the original patentee, Simon Pearson (, 78–79).