344 AUNUAL REGISTER, 1800. 



ton, to my friends Eleanor Stuart, 

 Hannah Washington, of Fairfield, 

 and Elizabeth Washington, of Hay- 

 field, I give each, a mourning ring, 

 of the value of one hundred dollars. 

 These bequests are not made for the 

 intrinsic value of them, but as me- 

 mentos of my esteem and regard. 

 To Tobias Lear, I give the use of 

 the farm which he now holds, in 

 virtue of a lease from me to him 

 and his deceased wife (for and dur- 

 ing their natural lives), free from 

 rent during his life ; at the expira- 

 tion of which, it is to be disposed 

 of as is herein-after directed. To 

 Sally B. Haym, a distant relation of 

 mine, I give and bequeath three 

 hundred dollars. To Sarah Green 

 daughter of the deceased Thomas 

 Bishop, and to Ann Walker, daugh- 

 ter of John Alton, also deceased, I 

 give each one hundred dollars, in 

 consideration of the attachment of 

 their fathers to me, each of whom 

 having lived nearly forty years in 

 my family. To each of my ne- 

 phews, William Augustine Wash- 

 ington, George Lewis, George 

 SteptoeWashington, Bushrod Wash- 

 ington, and Samuel Washington, I 

 give one of the swords or couteaux, 

 of which I may die possessed ; and 

 they are to choose in the order they 

 are named. These swords are ac- 

 companied with an injunction not 

 to unsheath them for the purpose of 

 shedding blood, except it be for 

 self-defence, or in defence of their 

 country and its rights ; and, in the 

 latter case, to keep them unsheathed, 

 and prefer falling with them in their 

 hands to the relinquishment thereof. 

 And now, having gone through 

 these specific devizes with expla- 

 nations, for the more correct under- 

 standing of the meaning and design 

 of them, I proceed to the distribu- 



tion of the more important part of 

 my estate in manner following : 



1st. To my nephew Bushrod 

 Washington, and his heirs (partly in 

 consideration of an intimation to his 

 deceased father while we were ba- 

 chelors, and he had kindly under- 

 taken to superintend my estate dur- 

 ing my military services in the for- 

 mer war between Great Britain and 

 France, that if I should fall therein. 

 Mount Vernon, then less extensive 

 in dominion than at present, should 

 become his property,) I give and 

 bequeath all that part thereof which 

 is comprehended within the follow- 

 ing limits, viz. beginning at the 

 ford of Dogue Run, near my mill, . 

 and extending along the road, and 

 bounded thereby, as it now goes, 

 and ever has gone since my recol- 

 lection of it ; to the ford of Little 

 Hunting-Creek,attheGum-Spring, 

 until it comes to a knowl, opposite 

 to an old road, which formerly 

 passed through the lower field of 

 Muddyhole-Farm; atwhich,on the 

 north side of the said road, are three 

 red or Spanish oaks, marked as a 

 corner, and a stone placed ; thence 

 by a line of trees to be marked rect- 

 angular to the back line or outer 

 boundary of the tract between 

 ThompsonMason andmyself ; thence 

 with that line easterly ( now double 

 ditching with a post and rail fence 

 thereon) to the run of Little Hun- 

 ting-Creek ; thence with that run, 

 which is the boundary between the 

 lands of the late Humphrey Peake 

 and me, to the tidewater of the said 

 creek ; thence by that water to Po- 

 tomac River ; thence with the river 

 to the mouth of Dogue-Creek ; and 

 thence with the said Dogue-Creek 

 to the place of beginning at the 

 aforesaid ford, containing upwards 

 of four thousand acres, be the same . 



