Erhalten Sie Zugang zu diesem und mehr als 300000 Büchern ab EUR 5,99 monatlich.
- Herausgeber: Madison & Adams Press
- Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017
The journals of young George Washington were written at the beginning of his military carrier. The books give us a marvelous insight of the atmosphere in the pre-revolution period in America. Apart from that significant value, these accounts reveal interesting details about Washington's daily life, military duties, his political opinions and personal thoughts on current events. Contents: Journal of My Journey Over the Mountains While Surveying for Lord Thomas Fairfax, Baron of Cameron, in the Northern Neck of Virginia, Beyond the Blue Ridge, in 1747-8 Journal of Major George Washington: Sent by the Hon. Robert Dinwiddie to the Commandant of the French Forces in Ohio, in 1753-4
Sie lesen das E-Book in den Legimi-Apps auf:
Seitenzahl: 239
Das E-Book (TTS) können Sie hören im Abo „Legimi Premium” in Legimi-Apps auf:
Ähnliche
The Journals of George Washington
Table of Contents
Journal of My Journey Over the Mountains
Preface
Washington's Journal here given to the public, if we except his version of the "Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour in Company and Conversation," is the earliest literary effort of this, the most admirable character in all history. The editor has long been engaged in collecting accurate copies of all the obtainable writings of this great man. Wherever it has been found practicable to examine and critically compare even his generally accepted writings with the originals, it has been, or will be done to secure a copy of exact and verified conformity, in every particular, with the text as it left the hand of the writer.
It is a well-known fact that editors have taken great liberties with Washington's writings, not for the purpose of falsifying history, or aspersing his character, but from a variety of reasons, often to suppress caustic expressions, or to substitute a more euphonious word to give to his sentences a fine, rhetorical finish. Such editorial dressing, even where the motive is well intended, is vicious in principle and liable to abuse; and, in the case of Washington's writings, is neither justifiable nor desirable. The time has come when the people want to know intimately and without glamour or false coloring, the father of his country as he actually lived and labored, and to possess his writings, just as he left them, on every subject which engaged his attention. It is the purpose of the editor to prepare a complete collection of all the writings of George Washington, from his youth to the close of his eventful life, with that literal exactness as to text which can only be assured by the careful efforts of an experienced copyist and expert proof reader having access to and comparing in every possible case the copies with the originals. This initial Diary of Washington opens with his sixteenth year, and plainly shows the energy and the maturity of his judgment, and his capability to discharge even then important trusts with efficiency.
Forthcoming volumes will give, in chronological order, his co-operation in the march of events on this continent, and his life and opinions as seen through the writings he left. This volume must be viewed as the work of a youth, making a few, brief and hurried memoranda while in the depths of the forest and intended for no eye but his own. The time is not far distant when an edition of Washington's more important papers will be called for in facsimile by some one of the photogravure processes now available for such purposes, because of the unquestionable fidelity to the original it secures and which is approximately arrived at in this publication.
This is the first systematic attempt to produce the writings of Washington with literal exactness as to abbreviations, the use of capitals, punctuation, spelling, etc. It is possible that the plan pursued may not, at first, meet with an unqualified commendation from the public. But if the editor does not much mistake the desire of students, the admirers of Washington and the demand of historians, this method, if faithfully executed, must produce the preferred edition of his writings.
A few miscellaneous pieces in Washington's youthful handwriting are preserved in this Journal, and are here printed with the same effort for literal accuracy which has been bestowed upon the Journal itself, and upon his field notes of land surveys.
Introduction
This journal of George Washington, now for the first time printed entire and with literal exactness, was begun, as shown by the date in the opening lines, when he was but one month over sixteen years of age. It is his own daily record of observations during his first remunerated employment. His proficiency as a surveyor, and his fortitude in encountering the hardships of the forest in this expedition were, considering his age, truly remarkable. With him the beginning determined the end. Biographers have made us acquainted with the character of his worthy parents, and with the sturdy stock from which they were descended. It does seem as though Providence called our Washington into being, and educated him in the western world just at the time when a great leader was wanted to direct a revolution, and to found on this continent a new and a free, English-speaking nation. Every factor, whether of lineage or culture, in the admirably balanced character of Washington, as well as every aspiration of his heart, from his cradle to his grave, is of high interest to the world. Although deprived of a father's care at the age of eleven years, he was, however, especially blessed in having such a mother as the noble Mary Washington, who conscientiously discharged her sacred duty as his guardian, counselor and friend. Hence filial reverence grew with his growth and strengthened with his maturing years into fixed principles, making him throughout all his eventful life loyal to every virtue and heroic in every trust.
When George Washington set out on the enterprise herein narrated, he was just out of school, where he had received the best education the neighborhood could supply, supplemented with good private instruction. We may well believe that his mother and his brothers then supposed that George had attained an age and proficiency when he should either go to college to acquire a higher education, or embark speedily in some respectable calling; and we may further conclude that this precocious youth was eager to take part in the affairs of life, and deferentially announced his preference for the latter course. Possibly he was influenced in this selection by his great admiration for his half-brother, Major Lawrence Washington, who was actively and prosperously engaged in various business enterprises, who made much of George, and had him visit Mount Vernon whenever it was practicable.
George Washington's aptitude for mathematics early attracted the attention of his teachers, and his beautifully kept copy-books, which are still preserved, attest his unusual ability in mathematical demonstration and diagrams. Mr. Williams, the principal of the Academy in Westmoreland county, Va., where young Washington was, to give a practical value to this mathematical talent, had added surveying and navigation to his other studies; and these were soon mastered by this bright pupil. Land surveying was then a profitable and genteel pursuit in the colonies, and it comported well with Washington's tastes and inclinations. While visiting his brother at Mount Vernon, he had repeatedly amused himself and entertained guests of the house by surveying, in their presence, the garden, or a field, and rapidly drawing plats of them as an exercise. A few maps of such early surveys have been preserved. One of them, of Lawrence Washington's turnip field, bearing date 27 Feb., 1747-8, is reproduced in fac-simile in this publication. The others are without date, but are of about the same period; although one, namely that of "Hell Hole," a part of the Mount Vernon estate, and frequently mentioned in Washington's later diaries, may have been an earlier production. A fac-simile of it may also be found in this work.
Washington's efficiency and enthusiasm as a surveyor were observed and admired not only by his friend and companion, George William Fairfax, but also by the Hon. Wm. Fairfax and by Lord Fairfax, who were constantly employing surveyors to lay off lands for sale in the latter's large domain known as "The Northern Neck" of Virginia. During the early spring of 1748 the demands for surveys were more than usually pressing by actual settlers in the Shenandoah valley. Lord Fairfax engaged the youth, George Washington, to proceed with George William Fairfax, his agent, as recorded in this journal, to execute certain commissions and meet a pressing demand. His surveys and reports gave entire satisfaction and led to his steady employment by his titled patron, principally as a director of his lordship's land office and of the surveys, preparatory to sale. Washington filled this position for about three years, when he was called upon to accompany his brother Lawrence, who, from failing health, was constrained, in the fall of 1751, to visit the West Indies in the hope of finding relief.
The journal kept by George Washington during his visit to Barbadoes in company with his brother, will be given in a separate work soon to be issued in its chronological order by the editor. The journal here presented to the public is, in the main, confined to Washington's daily entries, memoranda and field notes of surveys of land situated between the Blue Ridge and the Alleghany mountains.
Unfortunately the records of his surveys are not consecutive, and it is quite evident that they represent but a part, and probably but a small part, of the land surveyed by Washington for Lord Fairfax and others. The notes of surveys here published are all that can be found or that are now known to exist. It is to be hoped, however, that if other books of his field notes of surveys have escaped destruction, they may yet be discovered. This hope is encouraged from the fact that the laws of the colony required surveyors, upon retiring from their official stations as county surveyors, to deposit their field books of notes of surveys with the records of the county. How far this law was complied with, the editor is unable to say. It is a mistake, however, to infer that Washington was constantly employed in actually running lines and taking field notes. He was largely charged with the supervision of Lord Fairfax's land office, and the records thereto belonging, and was his principal adviser in his land surveys, directing the men employed in the field work.
This journal, with its memoranda and surveys, makes a valuable addition to our knowledge of the life and employments of Washington in his youth. Here are also preserved the names of nearly three hundred of the early settlers and first land owners in the great valley of Virginia, for whom Washington made surveys, or who assisted him in this business.
It was a cherished hope of the editor that he might be able to give, in notes, brief sketches of the pioneers in the valley here named, through the assistance of their descendants, who, in many instances, reside upon lands surveyed by Washington for their ancestors. In this, however, he has been disappointed.
The journal, memoranda and surveys found in these books have all been copied with literal exactness and are here printed just as they were recorded by the hand of their author. This literalness is adhered to in the interest of truth and for the benefit of earnest students of history unable to consult personally the originals. Washington requires no apology for any apparent want of style or other marks of hasty composition in this journal. It was written in the nature of a memorandum intended for himself alone. His thoughts, even in these youthful productions, flow easily and in an orderly and consecutive manner. His sentences are never involved or obscure, and his observations are always apt and instructive; and, although a youth in years when this journal was written, he was dealing ably with important interests, and deporting himself in a manly manner, and associating on terms of intimacy with the foremost men of the day. He seems to have had no idle boy life, but was a man with manly instincts and ambitions from his youth. Time and accidents are slowly, but effectually, destroying the precious original manuscripts, so that a literal and authentic copy is a great desideratum. No liberty whatever is taken by the editor with the text as recorded by Washington. The notes which are added, it is hoped, may prove of interest.
J. M. T.
Journal
A Journal of my Journey over the Mountains began Fryday the 11th of March 1747-8.1
Fryday March 11th 1747-8. Began my Journey2 in Company with George Fairfax, Esqr.;3 we travell'd this day 40 Miles to Mr George Neavels4 in Prince William County.5
1 Double dating of the year, as is done here, was an old custom observed between January 1st and the 25th of March. For all other portions of the year a single date was used. Although January 1st had been generally accepted as the beginning of the historical year in Christian countries, yet March 25th was held by some as the beginning of the civil or legal year. The Gregorian chronology or new style had not, at the time this journal was written, been adopted by England, and, indeed, was not until September 2nd, 1752.
2 The party on this expedition set out from "Belvoir," the home and plantation of the Hon. William Fairfax, described by General Washington as "within full view of Mount Vernon, separated by water only, is one of the most beautiful seats on the river." (Letter to John Sinclair, 11 December, 1796.) It was founded by William Fairfax, cousin and agent to Lord Thomas Fairfax, and was his residence until his death in 1757. The estate then passed to his eldest son, George William Fairfax, also one of Lord Fairfax's agents, and was his residence until July, 1773, when, accompanied by his wife, he went to England to attend to some property he had inherited there. Washington, his friend and neighbor, consented to act as his agent during his absence, which, at the time, neither anticipated would be of long continuance.
"Law's delay" and business interests making it important for Mr. Fairfax to remain in England, he directed Washington to dispose of his stock, farm fixtures and household effects at public sale. After due advertisement, this was done August 15, 1774. A second sale at "Belvoir" took place December 5, 1774.
The following bill of household effects bought at this first sale at Belvoir by George Washington has been preserved among his private papers and was in the possession of one of his inheritors, Lawrence Washington, in January 1891. The bill in the auctioneer's handwriting was folded and endorsed in Washington's known hand:—"Articles bought by Go Washington at Colo Fairfax's Sale 15 August 1774."
"Inventory of House Furnishings bought by Colo George Washington at Colo Fairfax's Sale at Belvoir 15 August 1774.
The following admirable description of the estate is taken from an advertisement in the Pennsylvania Gazette of Philadelphia, October 19, 1774:
"To be rented from year to year, or for a term of years,—Belvoir, the beautiful seat of the Honorable Geo. W. Fairfax, Esq., upon the Potomac river, in Fairfax county, about 14 miles below Alexandria.
"The mansion is of brick, two stories high, with four convenient rooms, and a large passage on the lower floor; five rooms and a large passage on the second; servants' hall and cellar below; convenient to it are offices, stables and coach-house; adjacent is a large and well furnished garden stored with a great variety of fruits, all in good order.
"Appertaining to the tract on which these houses stand and which contains near 2,000 acres (surrounded in a manner by navigable water), are several valuable fisheries and a good deal of clear land in different parts which may be let all together or separately as shall be found most convenient.
"The terms may be known of Colonel Washington who lives near the premises, or of me in Berkeley county.
"Francis Willis, Junior."
The estate was leased to the Rev. Andrew Morton for a term of seven years. Unfortunately the mansion was destroyed by fire only a few years later. The owner's long absence, and the fact that there was no house to invite a careful tenant, together with the excitement and derangement of business incident to the war for independence, caused the estate rapidly to depreciate in value. Early in 1775 Washington relinquished the agency of George W. Fairfax's business in America, as his time was fully taken up in directing the momentous affairs of the Revolution.
3 George William Fairfax, eldest son of the Hon. William Fairfax, of "Belvoir," Va., was born in Nassau, New Providence, West Indies, in 1724. His father having been appointed to the custom house in Salem, Massachusetts, he was taken to that town and resided there until 1734, about which time his father accepted the agency of Lord Fairfax's lands in Virginia, and removed to that province. For a time he resided in Westmoreland county, Va., but after a couple of years he settled upon and developed the "Belvoir" estate on the Potomac river. George William Fairfax was educated in England, and coming to his majority settled at "Belvoir," and married Sarah, daughter of Col. Wilson Cary, of Hampton, Va., who some writers, on rather apocryphal testimony, endeavor to show was an object of Washington's ardent devotion when a mere youth. The same compliment has also been claimed for her sister Mary, who married Edward Ambler, and for other belles of that period in Virginia, as well as in some of the other colonies. George W. Fairfax, after his marriage, resided part of the time at "Belvoir," and part at "Greenway Court," as agent of Lord Fairfax, in the vicinity of which he owned and cultivated lands. On his father's death in 1757 he inherited "Belvoir," where he continued to reside until the summer of 1773, when, accompanied by his wife, he went to England to look after some property he had inherited there. The proprietors of "Belvoir" and "Mount Vernon" and their families were always on the most friendly terms, as the letters extant of each attest, and Washington's diaries fully confirm. Mr. Fairfax favored the early protests by the colonies and petitions to the king in the interests of the colonies, but opposed measures looking to forcible resistance. Washington consented to act as his agent while he was absent, presuming his stay in England would be of short duration. But a complication of matters detained him abroad so that he instructed his agent to sell off his stock at "Belvoir" and lease the property. A sale was accordingly held on the estate in August, 1774, which continued two days. A second and further sale was held in December the same year. The property was leased in 1774 for seven years, but shortly after this the mansion house was burned down and never rebuilt. During the Revolutionary war some of Mr. Fairfax's property in Fairfax county was escheated to the state. His loss of income from America led him to limit his expense, he therefore removed from Yorkshire to Bath and lived in a modest way, dividing generously, from his limited means, with the American prisoners of war held in England. He had no children. A friendly correspondence was kept up between him and Washington to the close of his life. He was urged to return to America, but his mansion at "Belvoir" having been destroyed by fire he kept putting it off and never returned. He left "Belvoir" and some other landed property to Ferdinand, son of his half-brother, Rev. Bryan Fairfax, and died at Bath in England, April 3, 1787, and was buried in Wirthlington church. His will appointed George Washington as one of his executors. His wife survived him until 1812. Her remains were placed by the side of her husband's.
4 George Neville, Esq., was among the earliest planters to settle in the western part of Prince William county, Va. As early as, or before 1730, he selected a large body of desirable land lying on the main road by way of Ashby's Gap from Fredericksburg to Winchester. Here his residence was beautifully situated on high, healthy and productive land near the head springs of Bull Run, a tributary of the Occoquan river, and 34 miles from Fredericksburg, the head of tide water on the Rappahannock river. Squire Neville, the proprietor of this fine estate, as he was usually called, was a man of steady and industrious habits, possessed a fine constitution, gentle in his manners, and cultured in his tastes, enterprising and thrifty, with a genius for overcoming such difficulties as always beset the path of the pioneer in a new country. As the lands to the west of him, and particularly those in the Shenandoah valley beyond the Blue Ridge, began to attract settlers the travel on the road past his house became considerable, and as a matter of accommodation to the public he opened an ordinary and kept a store for general merchandizing. Neville's Ordinary was a land mark, and is to be found on Fry and Jefferson's Map of Virginia, as well as on Governor Pownall's and other early maps of Virginia. In 1750 Washington surveyed for Mr. Neville 400 acres of land. By marriage George Neville was related to the Fairfax family of Virginia. His wife, Ann Burroughs, was a cousin to Lord Thomas Fairfax of "Greenway Court," the proprietor of the Northern Neck of Virginia. Squire Neville and his wife were blessed with a numerous family of healthy sons and daughters, who inherited the sturdy virtues of their parents, and who founded families for themselves, and whose descendants are to be found throughout the southern and western states. Joseph Neville, son of George, was a prosperous planter in the western part of Prince William county, Va., in 1760. (See Washington's Diary.) He served as a colonel in the Revolution, was one of the commissioners for running the boundary line between Pennsylvania and Virginia, and was a member of Congress 1793-5; died in Hardy county, Va., 1819. John Neville, another son, was colonel of the 4th Virginia regiment in the Revolution, and brigadier-general in the Pennsylvania militia at the close of the war. He was born in Virginia 26 July, 1731. From his youth he had a fondness for military affairs and served in the Braddock expedition, and also in the Dunmore Indian war. He and his brothers were early and life-long friends of General Washington, the acquaintance beginning when they were youths. At an early date John Neville took up considerable tracts of land in Frederick and Augusta counties, Va. He resided for some years in the Shenandoah valley, being at one time sheriff of Frederick county. He also acquired large tracts of land on Chartier's creek in Pennsylvania, and had built himself a house preparatory to taking up his residence there, when the Revolutionary war began, in which he took an active and honorable part. This event postponed, for some years, his removal with his family to Pennsylvania. On the 24th August, 1754, he was united in marriage to Winifred Oldham, by whom he had two children, a son and a daughter, Presley and Amelia. Presley Neville married Nancy, daughter of General Daniel Morgan, and they became the progenitors of the large and influential family of Nevilles of Pittsburg, Pa. Colonel Presley Neville, as he was called, served in the Revolution for three years on the staff of General Lafayette. Amelia Neville married Major Isaac Craig of the Revolution, and they became the founders of the well known and esteemed family of Craigs of Pittsburg.—Eagle's Pennsylvania Genealogies.
5 Prince William county, Va., formed in 1730 from Stafford and King George counties, embraced territory extending from the Potomac river on the east to the summit of the Blue Ridge on the west; it was divided from Loudoun county by the Occoquan and Bull Run streams. Prior to 1822 the county seat was at Dumfries, but at that date it was removed to Brentville.
Saturday March 12th this Morning Mr James Genn ye surveyor6 came to us, we travel'd over ye Blue Ridge7 to Capt Ashbys8 on Shannondoah River,9 Nothing remarkable happen'd.
6 James Genn, a licensed surveyor in Virginia, much employed by Lord Fairfax, and frequently mentioned by Washington, and whose name often appears signed to surveys in which the latter was engaged, as the surveyor or director, is doubtless the person to whom reference is here made.
7 Blue Ridge—the most easterly of the mountain ranges of the United States. The name properly restricted however, applies especially to that portion of the Appalachian range south of the Potomac river. In some parts of Pennsylvania it is known as Kittatinny and at some places in Maryland as South Mountain. It attains its greatest altitude in Virginia at the Peaks of Otter, which are about 4,000 feet above sea level.
8 Capt. Ashby resided on the Shenandoah river above Burwell's island and the great bend of that stream, at which place he maintained a ferry and kept a house of entertainment. It was on the natural line by which travel came from the tide-water region of Virginia, through a gap in the Blue Ridge and across the Shenandoah valley to the country beyond. Being a man of great courage and usefulness, he was deservedly popular among the early settlers, and his name was given not only to his ordinary but also to the gap and to the ferry. There was, too, a Fort Ashby on Patterson creek, near the town of Frankfort. There are numerous families bearing the name of Ashby throughout the southern and western states, who are probably descendants of this famous pioneer. General Turner W. Ashby, an officer of distinction in the Confederate army, is presumably of this family. The name still attaches to the gap in the mountains, but it has been superseded at the old ferry.
9 Shenandoah river—this is the largest tributary of the Potomac. The name is of Indian origin, and in the aboriginal language is said to signify "the daughter of the stars." Kercheval, in his History of the Valley of Virginia, says the name was first written Gerando, then Sherandoch, and now we have Shenandoah. The river has its head in Augusta county near the divide where the head-waters of the James river take their rise. The Shenandoah flows for about 170 miles through a broad valley over a limestone bed between the North mountain on the one side and the Blue Ridge on the other, to the Potomac river at Harper's Ferry. This valley was the theater of many important military operations during the late war. The name of Sherando is perpetuated in the name of a post-office in Augusta county on the head-waters of the Shenandoah.
Sunday March 13 Rode to his Lordships Quarter10 about 4 Miles higher up y River we went through most beautiful Groves of Sugar Trees & spent ye best part of y Day in admiring ye Trees & richness of ye
