WASHINGTON, George (1732-1799), President . Autograph document signed ("G o : Washington S C C"), a land survey prepared for Ann Dunbarr, n.p. [Virginia], 4 November 1749. 1 page, oblong 4 o (8 3/8 x 12 3/4 in.), slight soiling along one fold, docketed by Washington and signed "GW" on verso.
WASHINGTON, George (1732-1799), President . Autograph document signed ("G o : Washington S C C"), a land survey prepared for Ann Dunbarr, n.p. [Virginia], 4 November 1749. 1 page, oblong 4 o (8 3/8 x 12 3/4 in.), slight soiling along one fold, docketed by Washington and signed "GW" on verso. ONE OF WASHINGTON'S EARLIEST SURVEYS, PREPARED AT AGE 18, AND ONE OF THE EARLIEST WASHINGTON MANUSCRIPTS IN PRIVATE HANDS Washington had inherited his father's valuable surveying instruments from a local Virginia surveyor, and beginning at age 15 or so, mastered the technique of surveying. According to his records, Washington's first dated survey may be one completed on 18 August 1747 (D.S. Freeman, George Washington , 1:197fn). While the young Washington clearly enjoyed the work, surveying had the added benefit of cash compensation: "surveying not only had interest and yielded a profit but it also offered excellent training. A good surveyor had to be accurate and thorough..." Washington obviously devoted considerable time to the preparation of these documents: "he painstakingly gave neatness and finish to surveys he made with the fullest care he knew how to display..." On 20 January 1749 the young Washington--having sworn allegiance to the King--was granted a commission from William & Mary College as Culpeper County Surveyor, the title he proudly affixes after his signature on this document. In the early spring of 1750 (before the thick foliage was fully in leaf) he travelled into the western reaches of Virginia and carried out no fewer than 47 separate surveys for various clients, each recorded in his notebook, earning fees totaling £140. The text is couched in formal style: "Pursuant to a Warrant from the Proprietors Office to Me directed I have survey'd for Ann Dunbarr...of waste & ungranted Land Situate lying & being in the County of Augusta and on the Lost River or Cacapehon and bounded as follows: Beginning at a Pine and white Oak on the ridges of the Mountains...." A detailed description of the bounds of the tract follows. The tract he certifies as 412 acres. To the left is a neatly drawn plat of the tract, with the course of a small river carefully sketched in. At the left, he records the names of two "Chainmen" (who stretched the surveyor's chain to take measurements) and then John Dunbarr, as "Marker." A licensed surveyor was a figure of considerable authority on the frontier, "sworn as a government official because, in those unfrequented areas, it was up to him to see that no fraud was done by making surveys larger or smaller than was stated in the deeds...On lands already surveyed, his job included the division of large tracts into workable smaller tracts for sale or rental. At other times...his role was that of an explorer: he needed to identify and map the acreage which would prove, after the forest had vanished and roads been built and trade begun, the most valuable" (J.T. Flexner, George Washington: The Forge of Experience , p.44).
WASHINGTON, George (1732-1799), President . Autograph document signed ("G o : Washington S C C"), a land survey prepared for Ann Dunbarr, n.p. [Virginia], 4 November 1749. 1 page, oblong 4 o (8 3/8 x 12 3/4 in.), slight soiling along one fold, docketed by Washington and signed "GW" on verso.
WASHINGTON, George (1732-1799), President . Autograph document signed ("G o : Washington S C C"), a land survey prepared for Ann Dunbarr, n.p. [Virginia], 4 November 1749. 1 page, oblong 4 o (8 3/8 x 12 3/4 in.), slight soiling along one fold, docketed by Washington and signed "GW" on verso. ONE OF WASHINGTON'S EARLIEST SURVEYS, PREPARED AT AGE 18, AND ONE OF THE EARLIEST WASHINGTON MANUSCRIPTS IN PRIVATE HANDS Washington had inherited his father's valuable surveying instruments from a local Virginia surveyor, and beginning at age 15 or so, mastered the technique of surveying. According to his records, Washington's first dated survey may be one completed on 18 August 1747 (D.S. Freeman, George Washington , 1:197fn). While the young Washington clearly enjoyed the work, surveying had the added benefit of cash compensation: "surveying not only had interest and yielded a profit but it also offered excellent training. A good surveyor had to be accurate and thorough..." Washington obviously devoted considerable time to the preparation of these documents: "he painstakingly gave neatness and finish to surveys he made with the fullest care he knew how to display..." On 20 January 1749 the young Washington--having sworn allegiance to the King--was granted a commission from William & Mary College as Culpeper County Surveyor, the title he proudly affixes after his signature on this document. In the early spring of 1750 (before the thick foliage was fully in leaf) he travelled into the western reaches of Virginia and carried out no fewer than 47 separate surveys for various clients, each recorded in his notebook, earning fees totaling £140. The text is couched in formal style: "Pursuant to a Warrant from the Proprietors Office to Me directed I have survey'd for Ann Dunbarr...of waste & ungranted Land Situate lying & being in the County of Augusta and on the Lost River or Cacapehon and bounded as follows: Beginning at a Pine and white Oak on the ridges of the Mountains...." A detailed description of the bounds of the tract follows. The tract he certifies as 412 acres. To the left is a neatly drawn plat of the tract, with the course of a small river carefully sketched in. At the left, he records the names of two "Chainmen" (who stretched the surveyor's chain to take measurements) and then John Dunbarr, as "Marker." A licensed surveyor was a figure of considerable authority on the frontier, "sworn as a government official because, in those unfrequented areas, it was up to him to see that no fraud was done by making surveys larger or smaller than was stated in the deeds...On lands already surveyed, his job included the division of large tracts into workable smaller tracts for sale or rental. At other times...his role was that of an explorer: he needed to identify and map the acreage which would prove, after the forest had vanished and roads been built and trade begun, the most valuable" (J.T. Flexner, George Washington: The Forge of Experience , p.44).
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
