Lease of Mount Vernon
17 December 1754
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[17 December 1754]
This Indenture [l] made this
seventeenth day of December in the year of our Lord God One thousand
Seven Hundred & fifty four Between George Lee of the County of westmorland
and Colony of Virginia Gentleman and Ann his wife of the one part
and George Washington of the County of King George and Colony aforesaid
Gentleman of the other part Witnesseth that the said George Lee
and Ann his wife for and in Consideration of the Rents and Covenants
hereinafter Expressed and Reserved hath Demised set and to Farm
Let and by these presents for themselves their Heirs Executors administrators
and Assigns doth Demise set & to Farm Let unto the said George Washington
his heirs and Assigns all them two messuages Tenements or parcels
of Land the one scituate one Little Hunting Creek the other on Doeg
Creek in the County of fairfax whereof Lawrence Washington Late
of the County of Fairfax Esqr died Siezed and Possesd and Whereof
the said Ann Lee Late the Widdow & Relict of the said Lawrence Washington
Esqr. is Tenant for Life in Virtue of the Last will and Testament
of the said Lawrence also one Water Grist Mill on part of the said
Lands and Tenements Erected Together with the following Negroe slaves
Viz: Nan. James Dula Grace Dublin Harry Roger Phillis Kate Ceasar
Charles Farrow Doll Sue: George Lydia Murreah & Glasgow To Have
and to hold the said two Tracts of Land Water Grist Mill with all
and Singular the Appurtenancies thereunto Belonging Together with
the said negroe slaves unto the said George Washington his heirs
and Assigns and to his and their own proper use and Behoof from
the day of the date of these presents for and during the Natural
Life of her the said Ann Lee Yielding and Paying yearly and Every
year during the said Term unto the said George Lee his Certain Attorney
Heirs Executors administrators or Assigns on the Twenty fifth day
of December the sum or Quantity of Fifteen thousand pounds of Tobacco
in fifteen Hogsheads to be Delivered out--at one or some of the
Warehouses in the County of Fairfax or as much Current money of
Virginia in Lieu thereof as will be Equal there to at twelve shillings
and six pence Current money for Every Hundred Weight of Tobacco
at the Election of the said George Washington his Heirs or Assigns
(the first rent to grow due on the twenty fifth day of December
in the year one thousand Seven Hundred & Fifty five).
But if it should so happen that any of the above Negroe
slaves should Die during the said Term hereby granted then and in
that Case the said yearly rent of Fifteen thousand shall not be
all paid but the following Deduction therefrom shall be made Viz.
for Every Labouring Negroe man slave so Dying a Deduction of one
thousand pounds of Tobacco shall be made (Except the Negroe man
named Ceasar and for him only five Hundred pounds of Tobacco) and
for Every negroe woman Slave so Dying the sum of Eight hundred pounds
of tobacco and so on as often as any of the said Slaves shall Die
And the said George Lee and Ann his wife for themselves their Heirs
Executors & Assigns doth Covinant promise and Agree to &
with the said George Washington his Heirs Executors Administrators
and Assigns that under the rents and Covenants above Expressed and
Comprized it shall & may be Lawfull to and for the said George
Washington his heirs & Assigns into the said Demised premises
with the Appurtenancies to Enter Possession of the said Slaves to
take and during the Natural Life of the said Ann Lee the same To
have hold use Occupie Possess and Enjoy without the Let suite Trouble
molestation Interruption Eviction or Denial of them the said George
Lee and Ann his wife their or Either of their Heirs Executors administrators
or assigns And further: the said George Washington for himself his
heirs Executors administrators and Assigns doth Covenant promise
and grant to and with the said George Lee and Ann his wife their
Heirs Executors administrators and Assigns that he the said George
Washington the aforesaid Annual Rent unto the said George Lee and
Ann his wife their Certain Attorney Heirs Executors &c. During
the said Term and on the days and time above Expressed will well
and Truly Content & pay And Lastly the said George Washington
for himself his Heirs &c. doth Covenant & grant to and with
tghe said George Lee And Ann his wife that In Case the said Yearly
rent should be Behind and unpaid for the space of five Months--After
the sames Becomes due at any time: and there should not be found
upon the said Demised premises Sufficient to Levie the same by Distress
that then it Shall & may be Lawfull for the said George &
Ann his wife during the Life of the said Ann into the said Demised
premises again to re:enter the said Slaves into their possession
to re:take and the same to hold as if this Lease had never been
made In Testimony whereof as well the said George Lee & Ann
his wife as the said George Washington hath hereunto set their hands
& seals the day and year first above Written
George Lee
Ann Lee
Go: Washington
Memorandum, The Eleniation above of Delivering out
of one or sum of the Warehouses in the County of Fairfax, the Quantity
of Tobacco aforesaid is Just [.] Sealed and Delivered In the presence
of W: Fairfax John Dalton Denis McCarty [2]
At a Court held for the County of Fairfax 17. December 1754
George Lee Gent. and Ann his Wife (she being first
privately Examined & thereto consenting) and George Washington
Gent. acknowledged this Lease which is thereupon admitted to record
Test
P. Wagener Clk [3]
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Notes
D.S. Fairfax County Court House; Fairfax County Deed Book
C, 1750-54, pp. 822-25. Reprinted W.W. Abbot, ed, The Papers of George
Washington, Colonial Series, vol. 1, 1748-August 1755 (Charlottesville:
University Press of Virginia, 1983), 232-34.
1. The property described in this
lease was about half of 5,000 acres of land patented in 1674-75 by Nicholas
Spencer and John Washington, GW's great-grandfather. The Washington half
was willed to GW's brother Lawrence by their father Augustine in 1743,
and Mount Vernon was the home of Lawrence and his wife Ann Fairfax (d.
1761) until Lawrence's death in July 1752. By Lawrence's will their only
surviving child, Sarah Washington (1750-1754), inherited the property;
if she were to predecease her mother Ann without issue, Ann was to have
a life interest in Mount Vernon, along with half of the deceased Lawrence's
slaves, which she was doing here. At this time the Mount Vernon property,
as noted in the lease, consisted of two separate parcels: the larger property,
on which the house was located (2,126 acres), situated along Little Hunting
Creek, and the smaller (172 acres) on Dogue Run, where the gristmill was.
See Diaries, 1:227.
2. Denis McCarty (d. 1757) was the
son of Denis McCarty of Cedar Grove. He later had a short and stormy career
in the Virginia Regiment. See particularly John Carlyle to GW, 17 Oct.
1755, n. 3.
3. Peter Wagener (1717-1774) migrated
to Virginia c. 1738 and settled in Prince William County, where he practiced
law and became county clerk (1742-1752). In 1752 he moved to the clerkship
of Fairfax County, which he held until his death. In 1753 he was a founder
of the town of Colchester on Occoquan Creek, in Fairfax County.
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