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This series of letters detail the concerns of estate and plantation management that Bushrod dealt with as inheritor of the Mount Vernon estate. After the passing of Martha Washington in 1802, Bushrod came into ownership of Mount Vernon and the collection of personal letters written to and by George Washington. Bushrod’s inheritance, salary as a Supreme Court Justice, and earning from the plantation proved insufficient to maintain the estate with ease. Despite various attempts to raise funds, including selling many enslaved peoples, Bushrod failed to remedy these financial difficulties, and the estate declined gradually.

From Joseph Story, 8 Aug. 1826

Author

My dear Sir

I owe you an apology for my long silence & especially as I have two letters of yours unanswered. My Cirt. did not end until the latter part of June, & I have ever since been overwhelmed with pressing private or public concerns, which have obliged me to postpone all other business. In addition to my other labours I have been obliged to prepare a Discourse to be delivered this month before a Literary society (the P. B.

From the Executors of the Estate of George Washington to the Earl of Buchan

Recipient

My Lord

We have the honor to enclose to your Lordship a copy of the will of the late Genl George Washington who departed this life at Mount Vernon in Virginia on the 14th day of december last after a short but painful illness; and through the politeness of his Britannic Majesty's Minister we are enabled to transmit to you "the Box made of the Oak that sheltered the Great Sir William Wallace after the battle of Falkirk" bequeathed to your Lordship in the 14th clause of the Will. With sentiments of profound respect We have the honor to be Your Lordship's most obedt and very humb.

From Jared Sparks, 7 Sept. 1829

Author

Dear Sir

In beginning to examine the papers in detail, I find great inconvenience in consulting the letters received by Gen. Washington. They are filed according to their names, but it is quite important, for every purpose of consultation that the whole mass should be arranged in strict chronological order. If you have no objection, therefore, I shall arrange them in this way, & have them bound in volumes. They will thus not only be more easily consulted, but be preserved in a better condition.

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