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- GLC#
- GLC04860
- Type
- Letters
- Date
- March 18, 1789
- Author/Creator
- Washington, George, 1732-1799
- Title
- to James Mercer
- Place Written
- Mount Vernon, Virginia
- Pagination
- 2 p. : Height: 23.3 cm, Width: 19.1 cm
- Primary time period
- The New Nation, 1783-1815
- Sub-Era
- Creating a New Government
Written one month before taking his oath of office as the first United States President, Washington attempts to collect a debt owed by the estate of James' father John Mercer. States that he was formerly promised repayment by James' brother, Colonel John Francis Mercer, but John did not deliver the sum in full. Informs James "I am thus explicit, for the purpose of evincing to you, that necessity alone prompts me to make this plain and unequivocal declaration" regarding reimbursement. Reveals willingness to receive land titles as repayment. Expresses his wish to secure titles for two lots of land in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia.
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