Exceptional ALS signed “Go. Washington,” four pages on two adjoining sheets, 7.5 x 9, July 29, 1798. Letter written from Mount Vernon to Alexander Addison, Esq. In full, “Your favor of the 11th instant, dated in Philadelphia, has been received; accompanied by one from Col. Pickering, advising me of his favor received from you, on my a/c, the Sum of Seventeen hundred dollars as part of the Installment due, the 5th of June last, on the deceased Colonel Matthew Ritchie’s Bond. For want of the bond, which was deposited in the Bank of Pennsylvania at Col. Ritchie’s request, I am at a loss to understand the meaning of your question & statement, ‘The amt. of the payment due on the 1st of June last is Doll. 3292.80 of which 352.80 is interest. Shall interest be calculated on or on 2490? If the Bond had been complied with, and the installment of $3292.80 had been paid at the time it became due no question could have arisen. If then I rightly comprehend the meaning of it, it can hardly be expected that, besides sustaining the inconvenience of a disappointment of the receipt, that I should feel an injury also in the payment, occasioned by that delay. Had I received $3292.80 on the 1st day of June agreeable to the tenor of the Bond, that sum might & would have been actively employed in stopping interest, Investing it so as to have produced it. In this light I persuade myself the matter will strike you; and when I add, which I can do with truth, that the non-reception of the above sum - and an Installment due on Colo. Shreve’s Bond for a similar purpose, & due at the same time, has been attended with a serious disappointment, your doubts will vanish, and the full sum be paid, so soon as you are enabled. Amicable decisions are, in my opinion always to be preferred to litigious contentions, but I little suspected after it was agreed to fix the price of the land by a re-survey of its contents, and that the resurvey probably, was made with the knowledge, if not in the presence, of Mr. James Read that I should ever be called upon for a deduction of it thereafter. I have a right understanding of the matter, it is of little moment what Mr. Read’s patent says if the words of mine are opposed to it, for I am much mistaken indeed if my Survey was not made, and Patent granted long before any others on Millers run - And I have a perfect recollection of the facts (when I viewed the land myself in Autumn of 1784) but not of the person’s name who I was told was then extending his clearing on my side the line. More than probable, Read is the man, & being in possession, claims it as a right. As all the Papers relative to this land have been transferred to Col. Ritchie; As all of them passed through the hands of the Honble. Mr. Ross who drew the writings and was well acquainted with the understanding of the parties, acting the part of a mutual friend to both at the time. I am willing, if he should think I ought to have any further concern in disputes arising after the price was fixed in the manner aforesaid, that he on my behalf, & you showing him this letter should you on the most speedy and equitable mode of adjusting that with Mr. James Read. I pray you to excuse this scrawl, as I write it with much haste.” Ink is so bold that writing showing through from opposing sides makes text somewhat challenging to read, a couple pinpoints of ink erosion and a few trivial fold separations, otherwise in bright and fine condition. A powerful letter from the former president, as he attempts to solve a land dispute in which he has become reluctantly entangled. His comments on finding a solution outside the legal system only reinforce the notion that judicial process should be used as a last resort, and speaks volumes of how much it had already become and integral part of American life. COA John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and R&R COA.
