Send E-mail to [email protected]Copy of letter from George Washington to Charles Morgan (One of many of Washington's letters available on line at the Library of Congress).
Philadelphia, Jan. 17, 1795
Sir,
Your letter of the 26th of Nov. came safe (not expeditiously) to hand.
I hope Col. Cannon has long ere this, surrendered to you all the papers respecting my business, which are in his possession, together with a full and complete statement of what is due to me from the tenants, or from himself, up to the period of your taking the management of it yourself; -- and that you will be able, without further procrastination or difficulty, to collect the amount of what may be found due to me, from both.
As I am more inclined to sell, than to rent the land I hold on the Western waters, and giving leases, although for a short term, may be a hindrance to the former, I would have you rent from year-to-year only.
I have no doubt of obtaining what I ask for the tract in Washington County (giving credit) -- viz $4 an acre. The number of full-handed emigrants that are pouring into this country, from all quarters, owing to the disturbed state of Europe, and the quantity of money brought by them, and sent over by others to be vested in land, have given an astonishing start to the price of this article. If, therefore, I do not sell soon on the terms just mentioned I shall raise my price. If I do not sell my land on the Ohio and the Great Kanawa in a lump -- or at least, by the whole tract, they will be not be sold at all by me.
This will fetch me 50% more at this time than I would have sold them for two years ago.
I am Sir,
your very humble servant.
G. WashingtonMr. Charles Morgan
BACKGROUND (Charles Morgan, brother of Simon Morgan, was father of Elizabeth Morgan Foulks, mother of Charles Morgan Foulks. Simon Morgan was a captain in the Continental Army 1775-1783; later the State of Virginia's adjutant general in the 1790s)
This is one of many letters President Washington wrote about his land holdings, and his problems in realizing a profit from them. Timely rents were not being collected (if at all), or else the proceeds were not being forwarded to Washington. Additionally, his ownership of some properties was being disputed by settlers who believed they had homestead rights to the properties Washington had earlier acquired. (Military warrants for land were part of his compensation as commander of the Continental Army.) In another letter on the topic, Washington says he owns 58 miles of river-front property along the Ohio.
This letter makes it clear that he is entrusting to Charles Morgan, the responsibility -- "without further procrastination or difficulty" -- of cleaning up the situation.
As a British officer, Washington had been on several expeditions into the Ohio River valley, and was quite familar with the territory. Just how and when he acquired the land holdings is not revealed in this 1795 letter, but the area involved had been -- for years -- in a turmoil of disputes among the American settlers, the Indians, British, and French.
The tracts of land described here are in Washington County, Pennsylvania (in the area of Washington, PA, south of Beaver County); and near the confluence of the Kanawha River with the Ohio, across from Gallipolis, Ohio.
The 1782 Treaty of Paris ended the Revolutionary War. Much of the land which Great Britain had won in the French and Indian War was ceded to the United States in this treaty. The Indians had for the most part tolerated British control, basically because the British had a great interest in trade with the Indians. However, the Americans were not coming merely for trade, they were coming to settle. On October 15, 1783, Congress passed the Ordinance of 1783, setting up a boundary line between the Americans and Indians. It included provisions to prevent injustice to the Indians, and it regulated trade, declaring that only licensed persons could trade with the Indians.
By 1786, Congress had claimed possession of all lands south of Canada, north of the Ohio, west of the Alleghenies, and east of the Mississippi river. Ignoring the warnings of Henry Knox that it could begin an Indian war, Congress in 1787 passed the Northwest Ordinance, opening up the western territory to settlement and creating a system that would eventually allow these territories to become states. Under the Articles of Confederation, the money from land sales was too lucrative for the financially starved Congress to ignore. In theory, although not in reality, it protected Indian rights, claiming that Indian lands could not be taken without their consent or by a "just and lawful" war. The three methods of acquiring Indian lands thus were by: purchase, conquest, or by occupation of vacated lands. The phrase "just war" could easily be used whenever a war against the Indians was desired, since the term itself was never clearly defined.
Gen. Anthony Wayne's defeat of the Indians at Fallen Timbers in 1794 had set the stage for open settlement of the entire area, free from Indian attack. The tone of this letter seems to make clear that Washington now wanted new management of his holdings, entrusting them to Charles Morgan as Washington continued with presidential duties.
Washington was president from 1789-1797, and 57 years old when his tenure began. During this period, the Northwest Territory (Ohio) -- across the river from Washington's holdings -- was opened to settlers. Charles Morgan's eventual success in collecting the rents or selling the properties has not been detailed, and is not known...Washington died Dec. 14, 1799, four years after writing this letter.
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