1790 Labor - Contract to manage Farms & Gardens at Mount Vernon

East Front of Mount Vernon by Edward Savage (American, 1761 - 1817), c. 1787-1792

George Washington offered Anthony Whiting the position of manager for Ferry and French’s plantation in April 1790, and George Augustine Washington signed an indenture with him on 20 May.  When George Augustine Washington died in early 1793, Whiting took over the management of Mount Vernon for the few months remaining until his own death in June 1793.

West Front of Mount Vernon by Edward Savage (American, 1761 - 1817), c. 1787-1792.

On 20 May 1790 George Augustine Washington completed an indenture with Anthony Whitting on GW’s behalf:

“Articles of Agreement made and entered into this twentieth day of May one thousand seven hundred and ninety between Anthony Whiting late Manager of the Estate of the deceased General Cadwalader (but at present of Alexandria Virginia) of the one part, and George A: Washington of Mount Vernon in Virginia in behalf of the President of the United States, of the other part; Witnesseth that the said Anthony Whiting for the wages and other considerations hereafter mentioned doth agree to serve the said President for the space of one year to commence the first day of June next as an Overlooker of his two Farms, which are united and distinguished as the Ferry & Frenches, and that he will faithfully & diligently attend to the duties thereof; using his best skill to carry into effect the present rotation system of Cropping practised on the said Farms, or such other course as shall be approved by the said President through his agent George A: Washington. 

That he will hold it as an incumbent duty to suggest such changes and alterations in the present system of management as to him shall appear better calculated from the soil or other circumstances to promote œconomy and to encrease the profits of the Farms, but to make no actual change therein without permission; as matters for some time have been tending to the present mode, and ought not to be departed from but under the ful’est conviction of the superior advantages of an other; and in the accomplishment of whatever plan shall be adopted 

That he will use every possible œconomy consistent with good management in the execution

That he will be particularly attentive to the Negroes which shall be committed to his care—to the work Oxen and Horses—to the stock of every denomination—and to all the Tools and impliments of husbandry of every sort belonging to the Farms entrusted to his care--

That he will be particularly attentive to the Inclosures endeavouring as far as time and the means with which he may be furnished will admit, to substitute Ditching and Hedging to dead fences--

That he will see the labourers at their work as soon as it is light in the morning, and (unless he is called of for other purposes benificial to his employer or absent with leave if for purposes of his own except on Sunday when he may occasionally go to Church, and as he will not be allow’d to keep a Horse the use of one belonging to the Farms will be granted when necessary—) 

That he will always be with the people while they are at their labour, as the only sure means of geting the business done and the work properly executed without punishment—

That he will consider it as an essential part of his duty—by this close attention to see that the work is carried on with diligence and propriety especially the Plowing part of it, as the goodness of all Crops depend materially upon the preparation that give birth to them—

That he will pay the utmost attention to the Stocks of every kind, will use every endeavour to encrease and properly distribute the manure on the Farms, and also will improve to the best of his judgment the implements of husbandry necessary thereto—and will instruct as occasion may require, and opportunities offer the labourers therein how to Plow, Sow, Mow, Reap, Thatch, Ditch, Hedge &c., in the best manner—

That he will have proper attention given to the Ferry and a regular return with the proceeds rendered once a week (Saturday) with a report of the labour of the People, the encrease and decrease of the Stock, the receipts and disbursement &c. (a form of which will be furnished with a plan of the Farms—). 

1797 George Washington visits the field hands Colored Lithograph

The retail of liquors is particularly restricted as such a practise must be attended with pernicious consequences, and to avoid enumeration it is only necessary to observe that no emolument will be allow’d but what will hereafter be specified nor no departure from this agreement, as dismission or the claim of the penalty will be resorted to—Lastly if instead of being confined to the cares of those Farms it should be found from circumstances, more expedient to remove and extend his superintendance, that he is still to be governed by the principles here mention’d, although his attention will be more divided and in either case is to consider himself under the controul of the said George A: Washington who acts agreeably to directions received from the said President, And will conduct himself soberly honestly and with the most exemplary industry. 

In consideration of services thus fully and faithfully performed on the part of the said Anthony Whiting the said George A: Washington for and on behalf of the said President of the United States doth agree to allow the said Anthony Whiting the sum of forty Guineas per annum, to commence the first day of June next—Will allow him three hundred weight of Pork and one hundred weight of Beef at killing time but such provision as may be furnished untill that time will be deducted therefrom, if in Bacon such a proportion as shall be deemed equivalent—also f⟨our⟩ hundred weight of Flour distinguished as midlings—the use of a Cow—the privelege of raising Fowls for his own consumption, and the use of a Boy or Girl which can be most conveniently spared to cook &c. And in case his superintendance should be extended will allow him the use of a Horse to enable him to discharge with more convenience & facility, the business which will be required of him. For the true and faithful performance of this agreement the parties each to the other doth hereby bind themselves in the penal sum of One hundred Dollars, the day & year first written."

Mount Vernon tells us that "following Whiting's death, when George Washington was searching for a replacement, he wrote glowingly about his former farm manager. Washington explained that, "The death of my late Manager, Mr. Anthy. Whiting, making it necessary for me to look out for some person to supply his place. . .In fine, if I could [find] a man as well qualified for my purposes as the late Mr. Whitting (whom I presume you know, as he managed an Estate of Gen. Cadwallader's in your neighborhood for some years) I should esteem myself very fortunate."

"Several months later, while instructing Whiting's replacement about the duties of the job, it was obvious that Washington's feelings had shifted significantly with new information. Washington wrote that, "Nothing will contribute more to effect these desirable purposes than a good example, unhapply this was not set (from what I have learnt lately) by Mr. Whiting, who, it is said, drank freely, kept bad company at my house and in Alexandria, and was a very debauched person, wherever this is the case it is not easy for a man to throw the first stone for fear of having it returned to him. . ."

"Moreover, Washington expressed his opinion that Whiting's lack of attention to details were problematic, explaining that "Mr. Whiting did not look more scrupulously into the conduct of the Overseers, and more minutely into the smaller matters belonging to the Farms; which, though individually may be trifling, are not found so in the agregate; for there is no addage more true than an old Scotch one, that 'many mickles make a muckle.'"

Research plus images & much more are available from Geo Washington's (1732-1799) home Mount Vernon website, MountVernon.org. 

Gardening Books in Early America - Owned by Richard Henry Lee 1732-1794

Richard Henry Lee. National Portrait Gallery, Washington DC.
  
Richard Henry Lee (1732-1794), planter and Virginia statesman, the originator of the resolution for independence in the Continental Congress and a Signer of the Declaration of Independence. Lee was born at Stratford Hall, Westmoreland County, Virginia.  

Lee was educated at Wakefield Academy in England. From 1758-1775, he served in the House of Burgesses, and sat in the Continental Congress from 1774-79, 1784-85, and 1787. He also sat in the Virginia legislature in 1777, 1780, and 1785. He sat in the Virginia constitutional ratification convention in 1788 (opposing ratification), and was elected to the first U.S. Senate, serving from 1789 until 1792. 

Dating to the late 1730s, Lee's birthplace Stratford Hall and its outbuildings are remarkable examples of colonial Virginia architecture. The site of a large 18C tobacco plantation was the home of 2 signers of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. Below is The Octagon from Stratford Hall.

Lee had 4 surviving children with his 1st wife, Anne Aylett (1738-1768) and 5 children by his 2nd wife, Anne Gaskins Pinckard. Lee died at his Westmoreland County plantation Chantilly in 1794. Listings for Lee's library are taken from the probate inventory of his estate on 1 August 1794. 

Lee's Books on Landscape, Garden, & Farm

The gardeners dictionary ... containing the methods of cultivating and improving the kitchen, fruit and flower garden by Philip Miller

The gardeners kalendar; directing what works are necessary to be performed every month in the kitchen, fruit, and pleasure-gardens, as also in the conservatory and nursery by Philip Miller

New principles of gardening or, The laying out and planting parterres, groves, wildernesses, labyrinths, avenues, parks, &c. after a more grand and rural manner, than has been done before; ... by Batty Langley

Clavis Anglica linguae botanicae; or, A botanical lexicon; in which the terms of botany, particularly those occurring in the works of Linnaeus, and other modern writers, are applied, derived, explained, contrasted, and exemplified by John Berkenhout

Georgical essays: in which the food of plants is particularly considered. And a new compost recommended upon the principles of vegetation by Alexander Hunter

Medicina Britannica; or A treatise on such physical plants, as are generally to be found in the fields or gardens in Great Britain ... Together with the observations of the most learned physicians ... communicated to the late ... Mr. Ray, and Dr. Sim. Pauli by Thomas Short

History Blooms at Monticello - Green Nutmeg Melon

Green Nutmeg Melon (Cucumis melo cv.)

In 1811 Thomas Jefferson sent seed of the popular Nutmeg Melon, “which I know to be fine,” to his son-in-law, John Wayles Eppes. Mentioned in Bernard McMahon’s The American Gardener’s Calendar, 1806, this aromatic, oval-shaped melon with heavily netted skin and sweet, green flesh, was commonly distributed by American seed merchants. Fearing Burr wrote in Field and Garden Vegetables of America, 1863: “[when] the fruit is perfectly ripe, it is of most delicious excellence and deservedly ranked as ‘one of the best’.”

For more information & the possible availability for purchase

Contact The Tho Jefferson Center for Historic Plants or The Shop at Monticello 

History Blooms at Monticello - in April

All photos from Thomas Jefferson's Monticello..

History Blooms at Monticello - Guinea Bean or Snake Gourd

Guinea Bean or Snake Gourd (Lagenaria siceraria var.)

A member of the bottle gourd tribe, Guinea Bean bears light green, cylindrical fruits up to 5’ long with creamy-white flesh similar to squash. It was believed to originate from New Guinea, hence the name, but it is now known to hail from Africa and is also considered a traditional Italian vegetable called cucuzza. The bottle gourd may have been carried intentionally from Africa to Asia, Europe, & the Americas in the course of human migration, or by seeds floating across the oceans inside the gourd. It is proven to have existed in the New World prior to the arrival of Christopher Columbus. For cooking, pick the green fruits when less than 2’ long and prepare like squash.

For more information & the possible availability for purchase

Contact The Tho Jefferson Center for Historic Plants or The Shop at Monticello 

Flower Pots, Planting Boxes & Tubs, and Vases

Garden pots as well as vases appear early in the records of the 18th century British American colonies. At Bacon's Castle inn the 1728 inventory of Arthur Allen in Surry County, Virginia, clerks recorded "2 flower potts and 2 watring potts." In 1736, another Virginian John Custis recorded in his letterbook, "6 flower pots painted green to stand in chimney to put flowers in the summer time with 2 handles to each pot."

Early depictions of flower pots in colonial American paintings were large, sculptural urns, wooden planting pots & tubs, and vases.  These types of pots were often used to grow garden plants.  Garden pots, large & small, were usually made of clay & earthenware and often left unglazed.  Most small pots had simple decoration, often in the shape of the rim.  Larger pots & urns intended to contain plants were sometimes more decorated and stylized. Large urns meant to contain plants could be made of brass, lead, marble, stone, & stucco.  During the 18th century, European garden writers suggested their use in groves, parterres, and at the end of walkways & vista views.  In colonial American paintings, artists place them indoors & on porticos in portraits.  Few landscape paintings were produced in British colonial America.

1729 John Simbert (American colonial painter, 1688-1751) Mrs Francis Brinley & son Francis

Much later in the century in 1789, at the Woodlands near Philadelphia, as he began to collect exotic plant specimens owner William Hamilton instructed, "Hilton should mark immediately on the pot of each transplanted exotic...all exotics should be arranged according to their sizes in the way I directed particularly the pots on the shelves...in a warm situation screen'd from the noon day sun & gently watered every two or three days...no soul should be allowed in the pot & Tub enclosure."

In 1790, Thomas Jefferson also described planting seeds from an exotic specimen plant from the East Indies, which he sowed, "a few seeds in earthen pots. It is a most precious thing if we can save it."

Annapolis, Maryland silversmith William Faris kept his pots outdoors in the summer and moved them in for the winter months. In 1792, he noted in his diary, "I moved the Potts into the seller for the Winter"

1731 Gerardus Duyckinck (American colonial painter, 1695-1746) Pierre Van Cortlandt

Grant Thornburn wrote of painting pots in 1801, which lead to his flourishing New York seed business, "About this time the ladies in New York were beginning to shew their taste for flowers; and it was customary to sell the empty flower pots in the grocery stores; these articles also comprised part of my stock...

1737 Gansevoort Limner (Possibly American colonial painter Pieter Vanderlyn) Young Lady With Fan

"In the fall of the year, when the plants wanted shifting prepatory to their being placed in the parlour, I was often asked for pots of a handsome quality, or better made...

1760 William Williams (American colonial painter, 1727-1791) Deborah Richmond

"I was looking for some other means to support my family. All at once it came into my mind to take and paint some of my common flower-pots with green varnish paint, thinking it would better suit the taste of the ladies than the common brick-bat colored ones.

1762 Joseph Blackburn (fl in American colonies 1752-1778) Woman

"I painted two pair, and exposed them in front of my window. I remember, just as I had placed the two pair of pots in front of my window on the outside, I was standing on the sidewalk, admiring their appearance, a carriage came along, having the glasses let down, and one lady only in the carriage. As the carriage passed my shop, her eye lit on the pots; she put her head out at the windown, and looked back, as far as she could see, on the pots...

1765 John Singleton Copley (American painter, 1738-1815) Elizabeth Oliver (Mrs. George Watson)

"They soon drew attention, and were sold. I painted six pair; they soon went the same way. Being thus encouraged, I continued painting and selling to good advantage. These two pots were links of a chain by which Providence was leading me into my present extensive seed-establishment...

1770 Daniel Hendrickson (American painter, 1723-1788) Catharine Hendrickson

"One day, in the month of April following, I observed a man for the first time selling flower-plants in the Fly market, which then stood in the foot of Maiden Lane. As I carelessly passed along, I took a leaf and rubbing it between my fingers and thumb asked him what was the name of it. He answered, a rose geranium. This, as far as I can recollect, was the first time that I ever heard that there was a geranium in the world; as before this, I had no taste for, nor paid any attention to, plants. I looked a few minutes at the plant, thought it had a pleasant smell, and thought it would look well if removed into one of my green flower pots, to stand on my counter to draw attention...I did not purchase this plant with the intention of selling it again, but merely to draw attention to my green pots, and let people see how well the pots looked when the plant was in them. Next day, some one fancied and purchased plant and pot."

 1773 John Singleton Copley (American painter, 1738-1815) Rebecca Boylston (Mrs Moses Gill)

In 1803, Rosalie Steir Clavert (1778–1821) wrote of her pots at Riversdale in Maryland, "I have arranged all the orange trees and geraniums in pots along the north wall of the house, where they make a very pretty effect, and the geraniums, being shaded, beat many more blossoms and are growing well."

1801 Rembrant Peale (American painter,1778-1860) Rubens Peale with Geranium

Practical wooden planting boxes often replaced breakable large vases in both greenhouses and home settings in the Early Republic. George Freeman (Connecticut artist, 1787-1837) Widow Elizabeth Fenimore Cooper 1816

Pots, planting boxes & tubs, and vases appear in several American paintings of the period, accompanied by the eternal question of what is real and what is simply the artist's imagination.

History Blooms at Monticello - Corn Salad

Corn Salad (Valerianella locusta)

Corn Salad, also known as Mâche and Lamb’s Lettuce, is a cool-season annual with 3” leaves that add a mild, nutty flavor to salads. Thomas Jefferson grew this European native at Monticello, and recorded saving seed in 1794. While serving as President, he noted that “corn sallad” was available in Washington markets from March 4 to April 30.

For more information & the possible availability for purchase

Contact The Tho Jefferson Center for Historic Plants or The Shop at Monticello