13 

 ARTHUR YOUNG December 12, 1793. 



This is perhaps the most important letter in this collection. 

 For in it, Washington gives to us a detailed and careful de 

 scription of his Mount Vernon Estate which was the scene of 

 all his agricultural activities. Since he was a surveyor from 

 youth, the map that he includes in his account of the estate is 

 no doubt very reliable. It surely is an excellent help in form 

 ing an adequate conception of the extent of his farm hold 

 ings. 1 



TO ARTHUR YOUNG 



Philadelphia, 12 December, 1793. 

 Sir, 



I wrote to you three months ago, or more, by my late 

 secretary and friend, Mr. Lear; but, as his departure from 

 this country for Great Britain was delayed longer than he 

 or I expected, it is at least probable, that that letter will not 

 have reached your hands at a much earlier period than the 

 one I am now writing. 



At the time it was written, the thoughts which I am now 

 about to disclose to you were not even in embryo; and 

 whether, in the opinion of others, there be impropriety or 

 not in communicating the object which has given birth to 

 them, is not for me to decide. My own mind reproaches me 



i Besides the Mount Vernon Estate which contained 3260 acres, he held 

 large tracts of land on the Ohio and great Kcnhawa Rivers west of Pitts- 

 burg, amounting to 37,372 acres and three smaller tracts, two located 

 in Washington and Fayette Counties, Pennsylvania, and a third near 

 Wheeling, West Virginia. These three totaled 5,465 acres, making a 

 grand total of all the land held by Washington in 1793 of 46,097 acres. 



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