Memorandum of Agreement with William Black, 25 November 1773
Memorandum of Agreement with William Black
[25 November 1773]
Memm of an Agreement made between Mr William Black of King & Queen County and George Washington of Fairfax County 25th Novr 1773.1
Mr Black is to convey unto the said George Washington a clear and indisputable Title to the Lands he bought from the Admrs of John Robinson Esqr. decd, containg by Deed 1381 acres of high Land, with a Mill, & abt 600 acres of Marsh—Also the Land purchased from the Trustees of Colo. Bernd Moore for 1125 Acres—Also the Land which he bought of one Mr Grisley for [550] acres—and also the Mill with [100] acres of Land adjoing, which he purchased from2 [ ] the last mention’d Tracts laying in King Wm County & adjoining each other & the first Tract in King & Queen.
Mr Black is to pass Deeds to the said George Washington with a general Warrantee & Mrs Black is to acknowledge her Right of Dower in the usual forms of Law.3
Mr Black is to surrender possession of all the Land, Mills, &ca by the 25th of Decr ensuing the date hereof; and to deliver the Houses &ca in the Order & Condition they are now in.
In consideration of which, the said George Washington is to pay the said Black the Sum of Five thousand five hundd pounds curry; Five hundd of which is to be paid down upon executing of Deeds, in the manner aforementioned; and the remaining Five thousand either at the sametime, or in April next4 at the ⟨op⟩tion of the said George Washington who if the money is paid upon executing of the Deeds is to be allowed a discount of two and an half pr Ct.5
ADf, in GW’s hand, ViHi: George Bolling Lee Papers.
1. See GW’s Bond to William Black, 30 Nov.. For a description of the property GW was buying for John Parke Custis and the details of the transactions with Black, see GW to Robert Cary & Co., 10 Nov., nn.3, 4, and 6.
2. Where the figures have been inserted in brackets, GW left blank spaces as he does here after “from” where someone else has inserted “P. L. atts. of W. S. (Pendleton[;] Lyons attorneys of William Seton).” See note 7 in the enclosure to Bartholomew Dandridge to GW, 30 December.
3. This turned out to be the great stumbling block in the negotiations. See GW to Cary, 10 Nov., n.3.
4. These were better terms for Black than he was asking. See Rind’s Virginia Gazette (Williamsburg), 21 Oct. 1773.
5. Added at the bottom in the same hand as the insertion quoted in note 2, are these notations: “Story to Robinson—⟨Bernard⟩ Moore to Robinsons Admr—Moore to Braxton & others[—]Richd Johnsons Act of Assembly—Thos Moores Act of Assembly—93 if mill included.” The contents of George Wythe’s Legal Opinion, 15 Dec. 1773, enclosed in Bartholomew Dandridge to GW, 30 Dec., suggests that these were notations made on GW’s draft in the preparations of Wythe’s opinion.