Econlib

The Library

Other Sites

 Front Page arrow Titles (by Subject) arrow ADVERTISEMENT OF THE OHIO LANDS. 1 - The Writings of George Washington, vol. II (1758-1775)

Return to Title Page for The Writings of George Washington, vol. II (1758-1775)

Search this Title:

Also in the Library:

Subject Area: Political Theory
Subject Area: War and Peace
Topic: The American Revolution and Constitution

ADVERTISEMENT OF THE OHIO LANDS. 1 - George Washington, The Writings of George Washington, vol. II (1758-1775) [1889]

Edition used:

The Writings of George Washington, collected and edited by Worthington Chauncey Ford (New York and London: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1889). Vol. II (1758-1775).

Part of: The Writings of George Washington, 14 vols.

About Liberty Fund:

Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals.


ADVERTISEMENT OF THE OHIO LANDS.1

Mount Vernon in Virginia,July 15, 1773.

THE Subscriber having obtained Patents for upwards of TWENTY THOUSAND Acres of LAND on the Ohio and Great Kanhawa (Ten Thousand of which are situated on the banks of the first-mentioned river, between the mouths of the two Kanhawas, and the remainder on the Great Kanhawa, or New River, from the mouth, or near it, upwards, in one continued survey) proposes to divide the same into any sized tenements that may be desired, and lease them upon moderate terms, allowing a reasonable number of years rent free, provided, within the space of two years from next October, three acres for every fifty contained in each lot, and proportionably for a lesser quantity, shall be cleared, fenced, and tilled; and that, by or before the time limited for the commencement of the first rent, five acres for every hundred, and proportionably, as above, shall be enclosed and laid down in good grass for meadow; and moreover, that at least fifty good fruit trees for every like quantity of land shall be planted on the Premises. Any persons inclinable to settle on these lands may be more fully informed of the terms by applying to the subscriber, near Alexandria, or in his absence, to Mr. LUND WASHINGTON; and would do well in communicating their intentions before the 1st of October next, in order that a sufficient number of lots may be laid off to answer the demand.

As these lands are among the first which have been surveyed in the part of the country they lie in, it is almost needless to premise that none can exceed them in luxuriance of soil, or convenience of situation, all of them lying upon the banks either of the Ohio or Kanhawa, and abounding with fine fish and wild fowl of various kinds, as also in most excellent meadows, many of which (by the bountiful hand of nature) are, in their present state, almost fit for the scythe. From every part of these lands water carriage is now had to Fort Pitt, by an easy communication; and from Fort Pitt up the Monongahela, to Redstone, vessels of convenient burthen, may and do pass continually; from whence, by means of Cheat River, and other navigable branches of the Monongahela it is thought the portage to Potowmack may, and will, be reduced within the compass of a few miles, to the great ease and convenience of the settlers in transporting the produce of their lands to market. To which may be added, that as patents have now actually passed the seals for the several tracts here offered to be leased, settlers on them may cultivate and enjoy the lands in peace and safety, notwithstanding the unsettled counsels respecting a new colony on the Ohio; and as no right money is to be paid for these lands, and quitrent of two shillings sterling a hundred, demandable some years hence only, it is highly presumable that they will always be held upon a more desirable footing than where both these are laid on with a very heavy hand. And it may not be amiss further to observe, that if the scheme for establishing a new government on the Ohio, in the manner talked of, should ever be effected, these must be among the most valuable lands in it, not only on account of the goodness of soil, and the other advantages above enumerated, but from their contiguity to the seat of government, which more than probable will be fixed at the mouth of the Great Kanhawa.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.1

[1 ]Printed in The Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser, 20 August, 1773; and Pennsylvania Gazette, September, 1773.

[1 ]1773. Augt. 23. “In the afternoon came David Allan and James Whitelaw, two Scotchmen, empowered by a number of families about Glasgow, to look out land for two hundred families, who had a mind to settle in America.

“24. The above persons prosecuted their journey towards Carolina in pursuit of this scheme, purposing also to view the lands on Ohio, and to see mine there before they returned with their report to Scotland.”—From an interleaved almanac.

“In your letter you mention the American Company of Farmers in the west of Scotland, and I cannot but approve of their sending over skilled men to take up land for them before they bring their families here; and they have just taken the method which you and others advised me to take, and I would surely follow your advice, but I could not prevail on my wife to stay a year behind me. David Allan and James Whiteland, the two commissioners from that company, are now at my house, and I hope they will rest with me for a week or two, for I can easily accommodate them and their horses. They are going now for North Carolina to look for a large tract of land agreeably to their commission. A large tract of land to the extent of 16,000 or 20,000 acres, all contiguous and conveniently situated and not yet occupied, is not to be got in the middle provinces: though they might hereabout get plenty of single plantations here and there; for the farmers are, many of them, selling their plantations and going back to take up larger tracts. I, therefore, advised them all I could to go to the Ohio, but they are afraid the settlers there will be too far from market or a landing place. Since I come to America I have learned to think that those who have got a rich soil in a favorable climate, and who have got all the conveniences of life in great plenty, may be happy enough though they have but little money, and they may carry on a sort of inland trade among themselves by way of barter; but those on the Ohio will not long be under that necessity, for I hear that money is already subscribed to improve the navigation by cuts into the Ohio, and besides the farmers in that rich country may easily get money by rearing large flocks of cows, hogs, and sheep, which they may drive to Philadelphia, and the market towns of New York and Maryland. By my being here I see that much of that fine land on the Ohio and Mississippi will be quickly taken up, though no person should come to it from Scotland. I see emigrants in crowds passing this way almost every week. One of my family, whom I lately sent to Philadelphia, lodged in a house with fifty of them, and within these few days I saw more than three score, all of them hastening to the banks of the Ohio. Some of them came from Ireland, some from England, and some from Germany, and we hear that several ship fulls are coming from Corsica or Italy. About Fort Pitt, where three considerable rivers fall into the Ohio, the country is pretty well peopled already.” Alexander Thomson, 16 August 1773.—Penn. Magazine of History and Biography, viii., 322, 323.