I had the pleasure a few days ago to receive your favor of the 31 July. I sincerely regretted I assure you that we were in Richmond under circumstances which forbid our meeting as frequently as we wished & should otherwise have done. The business of the Convention occupied most of my time in the day, and, being a member of the standing committee, I was under the necessity of attending at the Bishops during the evening. I write most cordially with you in the hope that we shall yet meet again, and at no place could it be half so agreable to me as at Mt Vernon. Recollect, my dear Sir, that I have your promise of a visit when you next come to this part of the Country.

I have followed the Author you mention in the pisé buildings I have constructed. The foreman of my Carpenters is a very intelligent man, and after frequently reading to him what appeared necessary for him to know, he made the frame & pisoir with great skill, & proceeded to build a large barn, the walls of which he completed with about 5 hands in a day less than a month to the best of my recollection. He may sometimes have had a hand or two more than I have mentioned. Believing it to be almost impossible for dry dirt to be formed unto a compact wall, we sprinkled the dirt with some water, but a longer experience has proved that we were wrong. I have since built another barn, an ice house above ground, two Porter's lodges & a Green house 50 feet by 18, Just covered in; without having ever moistened the dirt in the slightest degree. We have in some instances used clay & in others a soil more mixed with sand; the latter we found the best. Johnson however is full upon this part of the subject. A stone or brick foundation is absolutely necessary, and not only so, but it should be laid 2 or 3 feet below the surface as otherwise, the great weight of the wall would cause it to settle & might occasion cracks. We put a layer of about 4 inches of dirt at a time into the frame which is beaten with the pisoirs until no further impression can be made— then another layer, & so on till the frame is full.

Thus, my dear Sir, I have endeavoured to answer all your questions, & it will give me pleasure to afford to your friend any further information in my power. I wish to hear of these buildings become common in our state. They are so cheap that I make them sometimes in order to give employments to my carpenters, and they must be comfortable for dwelling houses, being cool in summer & warm in winter. What houses can be better suited for the habitations of our Negroes? Wishing you health & happiness I am my dear Sir very sincerely & affectly yrs