Item #4477 [William Saunders to John Augustine Washington III Concerning the Rental of His Slave.]. William Saunders.
[William Saunders to John Augustine Washington III Concerning the Rental of His Slave.]

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[William Saunders to John Augustine Washington III Concerning the Rental of His Slave.]

[Fairfax County, Virginia]: January 5, 1861. 1 p. 8vo (200mm x 195), docketed on blank page.

A short but chilling letter written to the last Washington to live at Mount Vernon concerning his rental of a slave by the name of Emanuel.

In this brief letter William Saunders specifies his terms for John A. Washington III to rent his slave, noting that he “can have maniel at a hundred and fifty dollars for this year as any and sufficient summer and winter clothing one paire of strong summer shoes one pair of winter boots hat and blanket.” As if in the form of a postscript, Saunders adds, “I would of sent my boy Caleb sooner but his feet was very much frosted.”

The letter is docketed in the hand of John A. Washington: “Jan. 1861 William Saunders letter hiring me his man Emanuel at $150.00.”

John Washington III was the last Washington descendant to live at Mount Vernon. However, by the 1840s—when the estate came into John’s hands—Mount Vernon was already in decline. After graduating from the University of Virginia in 1840, John would return to Mount Vernon in September 1841 where he made the proposition to his mother to manage the plantation. She agreed and loaned him twenty-two slaves and arranged a seven-year contract. The oldest living male heir, John took full possession of Mount Vernon when his mother passed away in 1855. During his tenure, one of the primary forms of income of the withering estate came from the sale and rental of slaves. Here Washington himself rents a slave.

CONDITION: Good, a 1” tear in the left corner with no loss to the text.

Item #4477

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