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WASHINGTON, George (1732-1799), President. Autograph letter signed ("Go:Washington") to Sarah ("Sally") Cary Fairfax, Mount Vernon, 15 November 1757. 1¼ pages, 4to, 228 x 183mm., small tear at left-hand edge, neatly repaired but affecting three letters on p.1, otherwise in very good condition.
COLONEL WASHINGTON TO "SALLY" FAIRFAX, PERHAPS AN OBJECT OF HIS AFFECTIONS, REQUESTING HERBAL REMEDIES AND RECIPES
A very early letter of the twenty-five-year-old Virginian to Sally (Mrs. George William Fairfax), perhaps one of the first letters in an exchange which some have interpreted as reflecting an infatuation on Washington's part for the comely young married woman. Washington, despite his youth, had already had a remarkably active career in the colonial military establishment. In 1755 he had served as aide to General Edward Braddock's expeditionary army and was with the column when it was ambushed and Braddock killed on its march through the wilderness. As commander of the first Virginia Regiment, he had spent much of the summer of 1757 recruiting to bring the regiment up to strength after desertion had seriously depleted its strength. In early September his patron, Col. William Fairfax, "who had done as much as any other single individual to counsel and to advance young George Washington" (Freeman, Young Washington, p.266), died unexpectedly. In July Washington had contracted a mild case of dysentery, which he initially ignored; by the Fall, though, his illness had worsened to the point where he was sternly advised by physicians to relinquish command. Finally, in the first week of November he turned command over to Capt. Robert Stewart and returned to Mount Vernon.
Not long after his return he writes to Sally, whose husband, George William Fairfax, was in England, settling his father's estate: "I have lingered under an Indisposition for more than three Months; and finding no relief above, on the contrary, that I daily grew worse, I have follow'd my Surgeon's advice to leave the place, & try what effects fresh Air and Water may have upon my disorder. On Sunday last I arrived here, and on Yesterday Mr. Green was so kind to favour me with a visit & prescrib'd to me." He goes on to describe the physician's recommendations: "He forbids the use of Meats, and substitutes Jelly's [sic] and such kind of Food for a constancy"; now my sister is gone home, and I have no Person that has been us'd to making these kind of things; and no directions; I find myself under a necessity of applying to you for a Rect. [recipe] Book for a little while, and indeed for such materials to make Jellys as you think I may not just at this time have, for I can't get Hartshorn Shavings anywhere. I must also beg the favour of you to lend me a Pound, or a smaller quantity if you can't spare that, of Hysop Tea. I am quite out & cannot get a supply anywhere in these parts. Please also to lend me a bottle or two of Mountain, or Canary Wine. Mr. Green directs me to drink a Glass or two of this every day mix'd with Water of Gum Arabic. Pray make my Compliments acceptible to the Young Ladies of Your Family..."
Sally is thought to have answered Washington's appeal for help, and may have visited him occasionally during his recuperation. According to some commentators, "Whether she did or not, when he emerged from his sickroom he was in love with her. Certainly a letter he wrote her some 10 months later, from Fort Cumberland, contains "a passage filled with significant pauses and innuendo" (R.M.Ketcham, The World of George Washington, p.60-61; that letter is printed in Fitzpatrick: 2:287). The Library of Congress Ms. Division, which has posted many of Washington's letters to Sally on the George Washington Papers home page, terms the correspondence "flirtatious," but adds that Washington's correspondence "with the well-married Sally Fairfax was not unusual for the eighteenth century," even though "she no doubt retained a special place in Washington's heart." While it is even more difficult to discern the reciprocity of Sally's feelings, as Sally's letters to him have not survived; the fact that she saved his letters indicates at least an interested affection on her part. Yet at about the same time, Washington had begun his courtship of the wealthy young widow whom he would ultimately marry in 1759, Martha Dandridge Custis. Even so, the unobtainable Sally Fairfax was never completely out of his thoughts; as late as 1798, just a year before his death, Washington wrote her in England that none of the events since their last meeting, in 1773, "have been able to eradicate from my mind," the recollection of "those happy moments, the happiest in my life" (Fitzpatrick 36:262-263).
Letters from this early period of Washington's life are extremely rare and few ever appear for sale. In the past 25 years only two letters from the decade of the 1750s, both to Governor Dinwiddie, have surfaced at auction.
COLONEL WASHINGTON TO "SALLY" FAIRFAX, PERHAPS AN OBJECT OF HIS AFFECTIONS, REQUESTING HERBAL REMEDIES AND RECIPES
A very early letter of the twenty-five-year-old Virginian to Sally (Mrs. George William Fairfax), perhaps one of the first letters in an exchange which some have interpreted as reflecting an infatuation on Washington's part for the comely young married woman. Washington, despite his youth, had already had a remarkably active career in the colonial military establishment. In 1755 he had served as aide to General Edward Braddock's expeditionary army and was with the column when it was ambushed and Braddock killed on its march through the wilderness. As commander of the first Virginia Regiment, he had spent much of the summer of 1757 recruiting to bring the regiment up to strength after desertion had seriously depleted its strength. In early September his patron, Col. William Fairfax, "who had done as much as any other single individual to counsel and to advance young George Washington" (Freeman, Young Washington, p.266), died unexpectedly. In July Washington had contracted a mild case of dysentery, which he initially ignored; by the Fall, though, his illness had worsened to the point where he was sternly advised by physicians to relinquish command. Finally, in the first week of November he turned command over to Capt. Robert Stewart and returned to Mount Vernon.
Not long after his return he writes to Sally, whose husband, George William Fairfax, was in England, settling his father's estate: "I have lingered under an Indisposition for more than three Months; and finding no relief above, on the contrary, that I daily grew worse, I have follow'd my Surgeon's advice to leave the place, & try what effects fresh Air and Water may have upon my disorder. On Sunday last I arrived here, and on Yesterday Mr. Green was so kind to favour me with a visit & prescrib'd to me." He goes on to describe the physician's recommendations: "He forbids the use of Meats, and substitutes Jelly's [sic] and such kind of Food for a constancy"; now my sister is gone home, and I have no Person that has been us'd to making these kind of things; and no directions; I find myself under a necessity of applying to you for a Rec
Sally is thought to have answered Washington's appeal for help, and may have visited him occasionally during his recuperation. According to some commentators, "Whether she did or not, when he emerged from his sickroom he was in love with her. Certainly a letter he wrote her some 10 months later, from Fort Cumberland, contains "a passage filled with significant pauses and innuendo" (R.M.Ketcham, The World of George Washington, p.60-61; that letter is printed in Fitzpatrick: 2:287). The Library of Congress Ms. Division, which has posted many of Washington's letters to Sally on the George Washington Papers home page, terms the correspondence "flirtatious," but adds that Washington's correspondence "with the well-married Sally Fairfax was not unusual for the eighteenth century," even though "she no doubt retained a special place in Washington's heart." While it is even more difficult to discern the reciprocity of Sally's feelings, as Sally's letters to him have not survived; the fact that she saved his letters indicates at least an interested affection on her part. Yet at about the same time, Washington had begun his courtship of the wealthy young widow whom he would ultimately marry in 1759, Martha Dandridge Custis. Even so, the unobtainable Sally Fairfax was never completely out of his thoughts; as late as 1798, just a year before his death, Washington wrote her in England that none of the events since their last meeting, in 1773, "have been able to eradicate from my mind," the recollection of "those happy moments, the happiest in my life" (Fitzpatrick 36:262-263).
Letters from this early period of Washington's life are extremely rare and few ever appear for sale. In the past 25 years only two letters from the decade of the 1750s, both to Governor Dinwiddie, have surfaced at auction.