Details
WASHINGTON, Bushrod. Five autograph letters signed ("Bush. Washington" or "Bushrod Washington") to Henry Farewell and William A. Washington, various dates, 3 July 1785 to 22 May 1807. Together 8 pages, 4to, one letter (30 May 1806) slightly chipped along edge, catching a few words.
WASHINGTON'S NEPHEW. Bushrod Washington was a noted lawyer, and later a Justice of the Supreme Court. In one letter, a young Bushrod applies for a post as clerk of the Assize Court. To Farewell in Williamsburg, he writes: "I am now pursuing the practice of the law and I flatter myself that the little knowledge I have of it will enable me to conduct with tolerable accuracy the business of the Office I solicit." In 1798 President John Adams nominated Bushrod to the high Court to replace James Wilson. Adams had initially offered the post to John Marshall, who declined (two years later he would accept), and after Martha Washington's death in 1802, Bushrod inherited the Mount Vernon estate. In 1816 Washington became the first president of the American Colonization Society, the group devoted to founding an independent state in Africa to which freed American slaves might emigrate. A few years later he felt the wrath of abolitionists, in 1821, when he sold a large number of his Mount Vernon slaves to owners in Louisiana, breaking up many families in the process. The other letters in this lot, written to Col. William Washington, show Bushrod Washington conducting the business of the Mount Vernon estate, dealing with creditors, renegotiating loans, and selling a crop of tobacco. Together 5 items. (5)
WASHINGTON'S NEPHEW. Bushrod Washington was a noted lawyer, and later a Justice of the Supreme Court. In one letter, a young Bushrod applies for a post as clerk of the Assize Court. To Farewell in Williamsburg, he writes: "I am now pursuing the practice of the law and I flatter myself that the little knowledge I have of it will enable me to conduct with tolerable accuracy the business of the Office I solicit." In 1798 President John Adams nominated Bushrod to the high Court to replace James Wilson. Adams had initially offered the post to John Marshall, who declined (two years later he would accept), and after Martha Washington's death in 1802, Bushrod inherited the Mount Vernon estate. In 1816 Washington became the first president of the American Colonization Society, the group devoted to founding an independent state in Africa to which freed American slaves might emigrate. A few years later he felt the wrath of abolitionists, in 1821, when he sold a large number of his Mount Vernon slaves to owners in Louisiana, breaking up many families in the process. The other letters in this lot, written to Col. William Washington, show Bushrod Washington conducting the business of the Mount Vernon estate, dealing with creditors, renegotiating loans, and selling a crop of tobacco. Together 5 items. (5)