To George Washington from Augustine Washington, April 1760
From Augustine Washington
[c.April 1760]
Dear Brother
Yrs I recd by Capt. Posey1 & am very sorry we shall not have the pleasure of yrs & my Sisters company here in yr way to Wmsburg, but hope unless you make too long a stay below & very anctious to return home we may have that pleasure some time in may & that I may not be absent if you intend this way desire you will acqt me as you will have freqt op⟨por⟩tunities from the general Court,2 I am of the opinion from the freqt disapointments, we shall meet first at yr house where you may be assured to se me as soon as the weather will permit & I dare with safety Venture for the Gout, which has been most favourable to me this w⟨int⟩er than for many past & I am at this time in a better state of health than I have been for the last seven years.3 I am Surprised Mr Carlyle shou’d blame me for the accts not being settled he has all the Accts & when we settled last there was a Ballence due ⟨us⟩ I am also surprised at the large acct of Quitrents, Mr Carlile Charged himself with that debt so that none ought to be due only from the death of our Niece.4 if it is convenient be assured we shall be extreme glad to se you both, but at all events I will (if no unforseen accident happens) pay you a Visit in warm weather such as will suit my Gouty Joints. The small pox is no nearer than when I wrote last5 & in no other families. Mrs Washington Joins me in my Compts to yourself & my sister & I am Dr Sir Yr affe Bror
Augst. Washington
P.S. I am sorry to hear there is so great a prospect of yr missing Cliftons land, if it is not too late let me advise you not, you will repent it as long as you live, to you it is worth half as much again as I am informed he has ⟨s⟩old it for.6
ALS, ViMtvL.
1. GW wrote Augustine Washington at Pope’s Creek on 19 Feb. (, 1:239), but the letter referred to here was a later one. See note 2.
2. GW left Mount Vernon for Williamsburg on 19 April, and after visiting Burwell Bassett at Eltham while he inspected the Custis properties, he arrived in Williamsburg on 24 April. Martha Washington did not accompany him on this trip. Upon getting word of an outbreak of smallpox on his Bullskin plantation, GW left Williamsburg on 28 April for Frederick County by way of Mount Vernon. The General Court’s spring session was set by law to meet on 10 April each year and to remain in session for twenty-four days, excluding Sundays.
3. For reference to Augustine Washington’s earlier trip to England for his health, see GW to Richard Washington, 20 Sept. 1759.
4. Lawrence Washington’s somewhat equivocal will signed in June 1752 had named among others his brother Augustine, his half brother GW, and his brother-in-law John Carlyle as his executors, with Carlyle undertaking the most active role in the administration of the estate. After the death of Lawrence’s daughter Sarah in 1754, part of the estate descended to the Washington brothers. The widow Ann Fairfax Washington (married to George Lee of Westmoreland County) received her share. For Lawrence Washington’s will, see , 14:423–27. See also , 1:264–66, 2:2–5, and , 1:227–31.
6. GW learned on 11 Mar. that William Clifton had agreed to sell to Thomson Mason the land that he had promised to sell to GW, and GW did not succeed in buying Clifton Neck, at public sale, until 20 May 1760. See GW to Benjamin Waller, 2 April 1760, and note 1 of that document.