Index

Page numbers in italics refer to illustrations.

• abolition and abolitionists, 10, 90, 100, 217–218, 220–224, 289–291; appeals to GW, 11, 98–100, 140–142, 223, 259–261, 289; gradual abolition proposals, 143, 217, 239, 247–251; GW support for, 98–99, 142, 234–235, 267; Pennsylvania Abolition Act, 144–145, 219, 224–226, 234, 288–290; response to GW’s will, 286–287
• Adam, Robert, 42, 66. See also Carlyle & Adam
• Adams, Daniel Jenifer, 58, 65
• Addison, Joseph, 172, 194
• agricultural books, 14–17, 21, 29, 31–36, 103, 110, 140; GW acquisition of, 48, 191–192; GW reliance on, 52–54, 107–108, 125–126, 181, 197, 229
• agricultural exchanges, 6, 14, 31, 97, 215, 232, 284; improvement societies and, 179–180; and national cooperation, 2, 183, 190, 291; of plants and livestock, 192–194, 261–262, 288
• agriculture societies, 178–181, 189, 205, 214, 278, 284; British, 34–35, 105, 181, 188. See also Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture
• Alexandria, VA, 61, 80, 91, 148–149, 228, 265, 274, 279; indentured servants purchased in, 71; market for stolen goods, 169, 230, 267; merchants in, 22, 66, 85, 156, 173, 224; shipbuilder in, 65; GW’s house in, 161; wheat and flour sold in, 42, 63, 84, 177
• Allen, Richard, 286
• American Philosophical Society, 192, 223
• Anderson, James (manager), 127, 232, 254, 263–270, 274
• Anderson, James (of Scotland), 186–193, 244, 255–256, 280–281
• Annals of Agriculture, 107, 188, 192, 208; and anti-mercantilism, 181, 183; GW reliance on, 110–111, 112, 129, 183–184, 206; GW refusal to publish in, 184–186, 284
• Asbury, Francis, 141

• Bakewell, Robert, 258, 262
• Banks, Sir Joseph, 184, 257
• barley, 30, 36, 109, 120, 125, 136, 168
• barns, 51, 60, 136, 146, 196, 205, 236–237, 253; British models of, 110–111; at River Plantation, 94, 115; ruins of, 275; treading barn, 113, 114, 115, 169, 230; at Union Farm, 111–113, 124, 138, 182, 195, 200; Arthur Young design, 110–111, 112, 185
• Bartram, William, 1, 197
• Benezet, Anthony, 221
• Bentham, Jeremy, 221, 335n35
• Biddle, Clement, 202–203
• blacksmiths, 20, 30, 46, 55, 76, 129, 168
• Bloxham, James, 105–107, 120–122; advice of, 113, 134, 197; and management of enslaved labor, 161, 163; as overseer, 132, 158
• Board of Agriculture (Great Britain), 213, 243; GW honorary membership on, 192; publications of, 192, 208; Sir John Sinclair and, 188, 215–216, 255; Arthur Young and, 186, 238
• board of agriculture (proposed in United States), 188–189, 214–216, 281
• Bordley, John Beale, 126, 129, 250–251
• bricklayers (and makers), 79, 111–112, 115, 139, 228, enslaved, 92, 117, 137, 145–146, 155, 267, 285; hired, 163, 165
• Brissot, Jacques Pierre, 221–223, 290
• Brown, Capability, 111, 194, 199
• Buchan, Earl of (David Erskine), 186, 189–190, 192, 251, 255–256, 259
• Buchanan, George, 222
• buckwheat, 1, 120, 136, 195, 206, 252; as fodder, 193; as manure, 126, 128
• Bullskin Plantation, 22–23, 27, 30, 37–43, 45–46, 59–60, 242

• capitalism, 12
• Carleton, Sir Guy, 93–94
• Carlyle, John, 22–24, 42, 63–64. See also Carlyle & Adam
• Carlyle & Adam, 42–43, 58, 63–64
• carpenters, 23, 30, 46, 86, 144, 229, 265, 267; accounts of work, 37, 116, 227; construction of farm buildings, 51, 86, 111–113, 114, 115, 138, 169, 176; enslaved overseer of, 122–123, 155, 158, 160, 266; escaped, 93; at harvest, 44, 54, 139, 152; hired, 55, 113, 150, 159, 164–166, 169, 228–229, 266; manufacture of farm equipment, 26, 82, 129, 136–138, 171, 262; sale and purchase of enslaved, 23, 58, 76; variety of tasks, 55–57, 59, 231
• Carter, Charles (of Cleve), 33
• Carter, Landon, 34
• Carter, Robert, 91, 250
• cattle, 22, 70, 72, 126, 178, 195, 258, 262; feeding of, 84, 193; stalls for, 111, 113, 115, 200
• Charles III of Spain, 173–176
• Chastellux, Marquis de (François Jean de Beauvoir), 97–98, 101, 172
• Cincinnatus, 7–8, 105, 172, 186, 259–261, 277, 279–280, 283
• Clarkson, Thomas, 221–223, 249
• clover, 20, 30, 36, 127–129, 193, 206, 236; in crop rotations, 109, 252
• Coke, Thomas, 141
• Coke, Thomas William, 111, 183, 242
• coopers, 56, 93, 130, 134, 267
• corn, 24, 28, 60, 70, 203, 231; cultivation of, 51, 53, 55, 128–129, 136; destructive effects of, 16, 97, 171, 209; processing of, 23, 62, 124, 136; for provisions, 62, 111, 128, 148, 150, 152, 159, 212; purchase of, 128–129; in crop rotations, 96, 109, 126–129, 252; sale of, 43, 65, 83–85, 129
• cradlers (wheat), 52, 54–55, 57, 134–135, 263
• Crawford, William, 69, 71–72
• Creek Plantation, 29, 44
• crop rotations, 5–6, 13, 115, 162, 204; experiments with, 108–109, 180, 273; implementation of, 107, 122–129, 131–132, 138, 236, 265, 288; and New Husbandry, 15, 30–32, 34, 103, 110, 124; for tenants, 252; wheat and corn in, 25, 51, 53, 96, 109
• Custis, Daniel Parke, 24, 28
• Custis, John Parke, 30, 41, 55, 85, 247
• Custis, Eleanor Parke (Nelly), 268–269, 273–274
• Custis estate, 21, 24–30, 45–46, 56, 73, 225, 270

• Dandridge, Bartholomew, 144, 272
• Davenport, Joseph, 130–131
• Dinwiddie, Robert, 23, 69
• distillery, 5, 14, 85, 129, 263–264, 267–269, 273
• ditchers, 51, 110, 137–138, 145; enslaved, 117, 155, 167, 229, 267; hired, 62, 165, 228; variety of tasks, 111, 265, 139
• Dogue Run Plantation (later Farm), 29, 43, 96, 268–269, 273–274, 285; enslaved laborers at, 44, 113, 117, 120, 124, 134, 148, 231; overseers of, 37–38, 56, 115, 122, 158–160, 244, 266; crop rotations at, 109, 127; treading barn at, 113, 114, 115, 169, 195, 230, 285
• Douglass, Frederick, 287
• dower slaves, 25, 28–30, 58–59, 120, 245–247, 252, 270, 274
• Duhamel du Monceau, Henri-Louis, 33, 36, 52, 54
• Dunmore, Lord (John Murray), 80–82

• Edwards, Bryan, 221–222
• Edwards, Enoch, 189, 192
• emancipation, 238–239, 245–253, 258–259, 270–275, 283–284, 286–287, 290–292; Virginia laws and, 10, 144, 249–250, 272, 274
• enslaved laborers, 7–13, 17, 29–30, 106, 137–140, 149–150, 168–170, 229–231; escape of, 44–46, 59, 91–94, 156–157; population at Mount Vernon, 24, 26, 57, 119–120, 267, 272; punishment of, 11, 45, 143, 152–158, 232; relocation to western lands, 69–72, 267–268, 270, 273; and Revolutionary War, 80–82, 91, 99–100. See also dower slaves
• enslaved laborers, agricultural work of: adaptation to new farming, 43–46, 51–57, 76–77, 103, 115–116, 166–168, 288–289; children’s work, 82, 120, 134–135, 167, 169, 268; and farm equipment, 168–169, 206, 262–263; management of by overseers, 38–39, 121–122, 158–166, 229–230, 264–266; seasonal work of, 135–137; supervision of, 37, 132–135, 266–267, 269; and use of draft animals, 20–21, 115, 129, 177–178; women field laborers, 26, 110, 112, 115–117, 129, 132, 136–137, 150; work reports about, 116–119, 154, 226–228. See also blacksmiths; brickmakers; carpenters; ditchers; overseers, enslaved; spinners and seamstresses
• enslaved laborers, living conditions at Mount Vernon: clothing for, 82–83, 86, 150–152; families of, 9, 11, 59, 90, 115, 143–147, 252, 268; food provisions for, 128, 147–152; marriages of, 30, 120, 217, 249, 270; medical care of, 143, 149–150, 231–232, 264, 266, 290; residences of, 86, 113, 147, 236
• enslaved laborers, and the slave trade: hire of, 124–125, 238, 243, 245–246, 257, 268; purchase and acquisition of by GW, 23–26, 41–42, 57–60, 72, 75–76, 144–146; sale of by GW, 45, 87–91, 95, 99, 144–145, 157–158
• Enslaved persons (by name): Abram (field laborer at River Plantation), 45; Abram (field laborer at Union Farm) 153, 156; Anderson (at Dandridge estate), 158; Annie (spinner), 231; Anthony (miller), 37, 46, 62; Austin (valet), 224; Bath (field laborer), 58; Ben (“Matilda’s”), 155, 158; Ben (miller), 130; Bett (sold in 1779), 88–89; Betty (wife of Anthony), 46; Brunswick (field laborer), 118; Caesar (field laborer), 134; Charity (field laborer), 118; Charlotte (seamstress), 155; Cleo (field laborer), 23; Cloe (field laborer), 45; Cook Jack, 20–21; Cupid (field laborer), 44, 301n14; Daphne (plow driver), 167; Davis, Tom (bricklayer), 112, 115, 134; Davy, See (below) Gray, Davy; Deborah (escaped), 93; Dick (field laborer), 231; Dolshy (field laborer), 134; Dorcas (in Pennsylvania), 145; Esther (field laborer), 93; Frank (purchased in 1770), 75; Frank (escaped), 93; Frederick (overseer), 92; George (miller), 46; Grace (plow driver), 167; Gray, Davy (overseer), 56–57, 84, 86, 122–123, 148, 158–159, 230, 232, 318n31; Gunner (brickmaker), 92–93, 112; Hannah (wife of Morris), 26, 56; Hannah (field laborer), 167, 231; Hardiman, Peter (stable worker), 146; Harry (field laborer), 59; Hercules (chef), 157, 224–226; Isaac (carpenter and overseer), 58, 122–123, 137, 155, 158, 164, 229, 231, 266; Isaac (field laborer), 167; Jack (African born laborer), 44; Jack (sold in 1779), 89; Jack (field laborer), 134; Jack, “Waggoner,” 158; James (carpenter), 58, 160, 266; James (purchased in 1770), 75; Jem (carpenter’s apprentice), 164; Jenny (field laborer), 153; Joe (postilion), 230; Judge, Ona, 157, 224; Julius (carter), 167; Lee, Frank (butler), 58; Lee, William (valet), 58, 270; Lewis (escaped in 1781), 93; Lucy (escaped in 1781), 93; Lucy (field laborer), 59; Lucy (knitter), 167; Michael (overseer and carpenter), 57, 59; Milly (field laborer), 167; Moll (field laborer), 231; Moll (servant), 224; Molly (wife of Davy Gray), 123; Morris (overseer), 26, 56–57, 84, 86, 122–123, 158; Moses (cooper), 267; Muclus, or Nuclus (bricklayer), 115, 155; Mulatto Jack, 20–21, 46; Murria, 76; Myrtilla (field laborer), 134; Nancy (in Pennsylvania), 144; Nat (blacksmith), 55, 168; Ned (field laborer), 76; Neptune (bricklayer), 146; Neptune (field laborer), 44–45, 301n14; Orford (sold in 1779), 88–89; Orson (laborer in Pennsylvania), 70; Pascal (field laborer), 167; Paul (field laborer), 157, 168; Pegg (field laborer), 231; Peros (escaped), 44; Perros (on Custis plantation), 59; Peter (blacksmith), 20; Peter (escaped in 1781), 93; Phillis (sold in 1779), 88; Richmond, 156; Ruth (field laborer), 231; Sabine (field laborer), 167; Sam (brickmaker), 112; Sam (at Mansion House), 230, 231; Sambo (carpenter), 93, 144; Simon (carpenter), 144; Siss (plow driver), 167; Strephon (cooper), 93; Tom (foreman), 45; Tom (cooper), 134; Tom (plow driver), 167; Troy (field laborer), 43; Wally (weaver), 93; Washington, Henry (escaped), 93; Will (lead carpenter), 37; Will (seedsman and overseer), 122–123, 134, 158, 160, 266; Will, “French’s,” (overseer), 122, 158, 166–167
• Evans, Oliver, 207

• Fairfax, Ferdinando, 251
• Fairfax, George William, 22–24, 62, 104–106
• Fairfax family, 4, 67
• Farmer’s Compleat Guide, The, 35, 52–53, 197
• farming implements, 119, 129–130, 137, 140, 150, 168, 208; imported from Great Britain, 6–7, 22, 34–35, 46–48, 52, 64, 106–107; manufactured by enslaved carpenters, 122, 137–138, 164; offered to tenants, 247, 253–254, 257; threshing machines, 129, 168–169, 206–207, 262–263; visual representations of, 200–201. See also plows
• Ferry Plantation, 59, 67, 96, 120, 124, 197, 239; barn at, 111, 113, 138; enslaved laborers at, 59, 134–135, 168; overseers of, 57, 121–123, 132, 228
• fishery, 56, 67, 85, 148, 198, 264, 268; trade of, 58, 64–66, 267
• flax, 79, 82, 84, 117, 136, 138; sale of, 50, 66
• flour, 51, 206–207, 209; inspection of, 65; markets, 58, 61, 63–66, 83–84, 130–131, 177
• foxhunting, 67–68
• Freeman, Thomas, 144–145
• French and Indian War, 5, 18, 22, 71
• French, Penelope, 96, 111, 122–124, 150; enslaved laborers hired from, 151, 157, 166–168, 245, 268, 272–273
• French’s Plantation, 124, 197, 239; barn at, 113, 138; enslaved laborers at, 124–125, 168; overseers of, 121–122, 132, 158, 166, 228
• Fugitive Slave Act, 219

• George III, 15–16, 107–108, 181, 183–184, 278, 281
• Gildart, James, 27, 66
• Gordon, William, 99, 140
• grasses, 48, 97, 134, 136, 167, 195–196; in northern states, 96, 204, 233; in crop rotations, 109, 125–126, 128. See also hay crops
• Green, Thomas, 113, 158–159, 165, 169–170, 229
• Guyasuta, 69

• Hale, Thomas, 33, 35–36, 197
• Hamilton, Alexander, 203, 211–212, 215, 219
• Hanbury, Capel and Osgood, 26, 66
• harvests, wheat and hay, 52–54, 120, 270–271; hired labor and, 23, 38, 55, 211, 263; management of labor in, 12, 43–44, 54–55, 112, 135–139, 152, 265, 270; mechanization of, 206, 262–263; provisions for laborers during, 80, 148; supervision of, 67, 134–135; visual representations of, 200–201, 227, 287
• hay crops: lucerne, 20, 36; sainfoin, 20, 109; timothy, 109, 125, 135, 195. See also clover; grasses
• hemp, 42–43, 50, 60, 66, 82
• hogs, 84, 136, 148, 156, 231, 252, 263
• Hollingsworth, Jacob, 162–163
• Home, Francis, 34, 36
• Home House Farm, 29–30, 38, 131; artisans at, 44, 46, 115, 119; enslaved laborers at, 79, 93, 112, 116, 122, 134, 229; overseers, 38, 117, 163. See also Mansion House Farm
• horses, 70, 159, 258; breeding of, 95, 176, 178, 267; for draft work, 21, 97, 130, 173, 238, 262; purchase and sale of, 75–76, 84, 95; use of in treading wheat, 111, 113–115, 207
• Houdon, Jean Antoine, 8, 279–280

• improvement, agricultural, 2, 6, 31–32, 97–98, 100–101. See also agriculture societies; New Husbandry; Washington, and agricultural improvement
• indentured servants, 37–38, 46, 89, 110, 118, 138, 250, 271–272; and Dunmore’s proclamation, 80–82; on western lands, 71–72
• Indian nations, 68–73, 284; farming by, 17

• jackasses, 97, 173–179, 262, 266
• Jay, John, 178, 186, 189, 192–193, 278
• Jefferson, Thomas, 173, 186, 206, 262, 278, 288; and survey of American agriculture, 208–212; and Board of Agriculture, 189, 192, 281; on expatriation of freed slaves, 251, 286; and Houdon sculpture of GW, 8, 279; on management of enslaved labor, 143, 162; as secretary of state, 207, 219, 221

• Kames, Lord (Henry Home), 107–109, 138, 188, 190, 197, 308n40

• Lafayette, Marquis de (Gilbert du Motier), 97–98, 172, 174, 177, 194; antislavery appeals to GW, 11, 91–93, 140, 142, 223, 289; plan to transition slaves to tenancy, 98–100, 249
• Latrobe, Benjamin Henry, 171, 199
• Laurens, John, 90, 93
• Lear, Tobias, 192, 207; accounts of GW and slavery, 155, 169; on Arthur Young, 185–186; and proposed lease of farms, 238–239, 244, 254–255; and removal of enslaved servants from Philadelphia, 225–226
• Lee, Henry, 145–146, 168, 177
• Lewis, Howell, 118, 229
• Lewis, Lawrence, 268–269, 273–274
• Lewis, Robert, 268
• Lisle, Edward, 32–33, 35
• livestock management, 6, 28–30, 45–46, 94–95, 130, 136; breeding, 7, 178, 194, 257–258, 262; exchange of, 14, 261; feeding of, 48, 51, 109, 126, 233, 263; inventories of, 116, 119, 177, 231; meadows for, 23, 67, 128; in New Husbandry, 15, 30–31, 34, 103, 106–107, 124, 243; overseers and, 37, 43, 161, 163; purchases and sales of, 43, 73, 76, 85, 152, 208, 274; shelters for, 26, 110–111, 266; and tenants, 238, 246, 253–254. See also cattle, hogs, horses, jackasses, mules, sheep

• Macaulay, Catherine, 105
• Madison, James, 141, 215, 218
• Mansion House Farm, 131, 231, 236–238, 272, 274; overseers of, 138, 152, 159–160, 165, 199, 226, 266. See also Home House Farm
• manufactures, domestic, 43, 50, 61, 77, 79, 82, 203, 205
• manures, 104, 126–128, 136–137, 263; dung as, 30, 36, 110–111, 113, 128, 204; mud as, 36, 130, 132
• map, “Five Farms,” 240–241
• Maxwell, Robert, 34, 47
• Mercer, George, 73, 76, 89
• Mercer, James, 74–75
• Mercer, John, 28
• Mercer, John Francis, 145
• Mifflin, Warner, 217, 220–221
• milling, 14, 23, 83–84, 96, 171; Evans’ works, 207; merchant mill, 61–63, 66–67, 245, 264, 268–269, 273; millers, enslaved, 37, 46, 130; millers, hired, 62, 83–84, 87, 130–131; millrace, 44, 56, 95, 138, 195–196; in the West, 69, 71–72
• Mill Plantation, 56, 59, 86, 122–123
• Moore, Bernard, 73–75
• Moore, Thomas, 58, 73–75
• Morris, Gouverneur, 1, 194, 255, 279
• Morris, Robert, 142, 156
• Mount Vernon, 3–5, 21–25, 272–275; British threat to, 80–82, 91–94; growth of, 67, 95–96, 123–124; landscape of farming at, 67–68, 94–95, 109–110, 124, 194–199; lease of farms, 237–246, 252–259; organization of farms at, 29–30, 59, 86, 239; visitors to, 7, 67, 171–172, 199–201. See also Creek Plantation; Dogue Run Plantation; Ferry Plantation; French’s Plantation; Home House Farm; Mansion House Farm; Mill Plantation; Muddy Hole Plantation; River Plantation; Union Farm; Williamson’s Plantation
• Muddy Hole Plantation (later Farm), 29, 42, 67, 94, 195, 272; enslaved laborers at, 56, 124, 134, 166, 230; overseers of, 86, 122–123, 158–160
• mules, 97, 173, 175–178, 238, 262
• Museum Rusticum, 33–35

• Newenham, Edward, 191
• New Husbandry, 31–36, 183, 194, 208, 278; farm buildings and, 110; farming implements and, 46, 48; enslaved labor and, 117; techniques of, 77, 103, 197
• Newton, Thomas, Jr., 65–66

• Ohio country, 4, 68–73, 80, 86, 89, 234
• overseers, enslaved, 56–57, 84, 103, 120, 122–123, 158–160, 266; GW’s consultation with, 148, 166; payments to, 56, 86; provisions for, 119, 152; work reports from, 118. See also overseers, by name.
• overseers, hired, 21–23, 104, 121–122, 147–150, 157–166, 168–170; authority over enslaved laborers, 44, 122, 131–132, 137–138, 152–155, 229; compensation of, 38–39, 42, 44, 104, 123; criticism of, 17–18, 73, 78, 229–232, 262; on Custis estates, 28, 59–60; farm work by, 4, 29–30, 40, 43, 197–198, 269–270, 287; management of, 37–39, 43; provisions for, 119, 136; residences of, 113, 236, 238, 253; work reports from, 116–118, 154, 226–227. See also overseers, by name
• overseers, by name, Allison, John, 165; Alton, John, 122; Butler, James, 159, 163–164; Chowning, John, 44; Cleveland, James, 72, 86; Cook, Josias, 44; Crow, Hiland, 148, 153, 155–156, 158–159; Fairfax, Hezekiah, 123; Fairfax, John, 117, 131–132, 169, 174, 176, 226; Foster, John, 37–38; Garner, William, 158; Gray, Davy (enslaved), 56–57, 84, 86, 122–123, 148, 158–159, 230, 232, 318n31; Hardwick, Christopher, 23, 37, 43; Jones, Henry, 158; Kelly, Nelson, 38–39; Knight, Humphrey, 23–24; McCoy, Henry, 159; Michael (enslaved), 57, 59; Mitchell, Burgess (Burgis), 38; Morris (enslaved), 26, 56–57, 84, 86, 122–123, 158; Stephens, Robert, 37–38; Stuart, William, 159–160; Valentine, Joseph, 28, 30; Violette (Violet), Edward, 38–39; Will (enslaved), 122–123, 134, 158, 160, 266; Will, “French’s,” (enslaved), 122, 158, 166–167

• Parkinson, Richard, 257–258
• Peacey, William, 105–106, 109, 242
• Pearce, William, 127–128, 163, 229, 232; and management of enslaved labor, 149, 163, 230–231; and overseers, 159, 164–166; and proposed lease of farms, 245–246, 253–254; and punishment of the enslaved, 153, 156–157
• Peters, Richard, 17–18, 180, 192, 210–214
• Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture, 103, 126, 198, 214; GW and, 1, 179–181, 182, 192, 250, 284
• Pleasants, Robert, 141–142
• plows and plowing, 20–21, 29, 55, 106, 132; British models of, 48, 107, 120, 129, 169, 171; and draft animals, 52, 139, 176; drill, 36, 129, 136, 171, 205, 279; enslaved laborers and, 46, 115–117, 137, 139, 166–167; manufacture of, 26, 138, 164; and New Husbandry, 30, 34, 53, 106, 129, 244; in northern states, 204, 206; use after 1785, 119, 124–126, 128–129, 136–137, 196, 270; Rotherham, 36, 47, 48, 129; as symbol, 7–8, 172, 259–260, 279
• Posey, John, 59, 67, 74–75, 310n57
• potatoes, 136, 193, 205, 231, 252
• Potomac River, 4–5, 68, 76, 186, 209–210, 234–235
• Powel, Samuel, 1, 180, 199, 206, 208

• Randolph, Edmund, 219, 224–226
• River Plantation (later Farm), 24–25, 29–30, 43, 53, 195, 228, 262, 273; barn at, 94, 115; enslaved laborers at, 44–45, 58, 76, 92–93, 120, 134–135, 231; lease of, 254, 258; overseers of, 44, 72, 122–123, 158–159, 270
• Robert Cary & Company, 27, 30, 39–41, 50, 64–66; agricultural books and tools sent by, 33, 36, 48, 63
• Roberts, William, 62, 83–84, 87, 130
• root crops, 36, 109–110, 125–126, 136, 193
• “Royal Gift” (Spanish Jackass), 174–179, 175, 205
• Rushton, Edward, 261
• rye, 20, 36, 128, 135–136

• Saint Domingue, 219–220
• Savage, HMS, 91–93
• sheep, 22, 168, 188; breeding of, 184, 258, 261–262; theft and loss of, 156, 230–231
• Simpson, Gilbert, 70–71
• Sinclair, Sir John, 188–192, 213–216, 233–234, 255–257, 280–283, 288
• Slavery, 7–10, 12–13, 76–77, 89–91, 209–213, 216–224, 286–289. See also abolition and abolitionists; emancipation; enslaved laborers; enslaved laborers, by name; overseers, enslaved; trade, slave trade; Washington and the management of enslaved labor; Washington and slavery
• South-Carolina Society for Promoting and Improving Agricultural … Concerns, 179
• spinners and seamstresses, 82, 117, 137–139, 155, 230
• Spotswood, Alexander, 180
• Stearns, Junius Brutus, 227, 287
• Steele, Joshua, 143
• Strickland, William, 192, 255–256
• Stuart, David, 146, 209, 218, 243, 286; plan for gradual abolition, 246–249, 251–252, 259

• tenants and tenantry, 59–60, 79, 86, 268, 286; British tenantry, 31, 105, 108, 214; freed slaves as, 98–99, 249–251; at Mount Vernon, 24–25, 29, 40, 44, 48, 70, 124; on western lands, 14, 71; proposed lease of farms, 216, 237–247, 252–259, 261
• tobacco, 3–4, 6; cultivation by GW, 24, 29–30, 38–40; destructive effects of, 16, 109, 128, 209; experiments with, 36; reduced cultivation of, 7, 9, 12, 41–43, 46, 50–52, 56, 61; reintroduction of, 84, 118, 124, 132, 166; tenants and, 25, 60, 252; trade in, 3, 22, 27–28, 30, 33, 39–41, 48, 63–65
• trade, 12, 61, 68, 76–77, 97–98; with Caribbean, 22, 58, 65, 220; colonial, 3–6, 27–28, 33, 35, 39–42, 48–51, 60–61; and the new nation, 2, 101, 131, 183, 189–191, 215, 291; during Revolutionary War, 82–86; slave trade, 9–10, 26, 76, 143, 217–218, 221–222; with Southern Europe, 43, 65–66; and the West, 4–5, 14, 68–70, 204–205, 209–210, 288. See also flour, tobacco, wheat
• Tucker, St. George, 251
• Tull, Jethro, 20, 30–31, 35–36

• Union Farm, 239, 262, 264, 268, 272; barn at, 115, 182, 195; enslaved laborers at, 148, 167, 228; overseers of, 153, 158–159, 270

• Washington, Augustine, 3–4
• Washington, Bushrod, 131, 176, 272, 274
• Washington, George, 3–6, 16–19; and Custis estate, 24, 28–30; and British colonial policy, 49–51, 60–61; financial calculation of, 13–14, 127; reputation, concern for, 18–19, 79, 142, 198–199; and the West, 59–60, 68–73
• Washington, George, and agricultural improvement, 14–18, 20–21, 104–106, 128–129, 290–291; agricultural books, 33–36, 52–54, 107–108, 125–126, 191–192; criticism of American farming, 102–103, 210, 213, 254, 285; barns and farm structures, 110–113, 114, 115, 200; British husbandry, commitment to, 6–7, 102–104, 213–214; British correspondents regarding, 186–193, 213–214, 254–257; and British hires, 120–122, 164, 244, 263; and crop rotations, 108–109, 122–129, 265; and farming experiments, 14–15, 20–21, 36, 40, 53–54, 108–109, 126; and livestock breeding, 172–179, 261–262; and mechanical improvements, 129–130, 168–169, 206–207, 262–263; and improvement proponents in the United States, 179–181, 189, 205–206; impact of slavery on, 9, 11–12, 45, 209, 211–213, 234–235; and Arthur Young, 107, 110–111, 112, 181–186, 207–213, 237–243, 278, 280–281
• Washington, George, identity as a farmer, 2–3, 14–15, 17–19, 46–48, 131, 259, 277–278; British tributes to, 280–283; as Cincinnatus, 7, 8, 172, 259–261, 279–280, 283; farming, preference for, 202–203
• Washington, George, and farming in the new nation, 1–2, 97–98, 100–101, 131, 214–216, 279, 283; presidential tours, 203–205; and relations with other nations, 101, 172, 189–192; surveys of American agriculture, 207–213, 232–234
• Washington, George, and management of an agricultural estate, 73, 77–79, 103–104, 118–119, 131–133, 269; and farm managers, 43, 78–79, 116–118, 160–163, 166, 228–229, 232; and overseers, 37–39, 158–166, 169–170, 228–229, 266; records and accounts by, 12–13, 118–119, 150–152, 264. See also James Anderson (manager), William Pearce, George Augustine Washington, Lund Washington, Anthony Whitting.
• Washington, George, and management of enslaved labor, 43–46, 54–57, 122–123, 138–140, 158–166, 266–270, 288–290; acquisition of enslaved laborers, 23–26, 41–42, 57–60, 72, 75–76, 144–146; amelioration of condition, 10, 142–144; reliance on enslaved artisans, 46, 110–112, 145–146, 288; criticism of enslaved laborers, 168–170, 229–231; and dower slaves, 25, 30, 58–59, 120, 225, 245–247, 252, 274; and families of the enslaved, 11, 30, 59, 90, 115, 143–147, 252; and new farming methods, 3, 7, 10, 76, 103; provisions and medical care for the enslaved, 12–13, 86, 147–152, 211–212, 232; and punishment of enslaved laborers, 11, 45, 143, 152–158, 232; sale of enslaved laborers, 45, 74–77, 87–91, 95, 144–145, 157–158, 224, 290; and work reports, 116–119, 154, 226–228
• Washington, George, and slavery, 3, 7–13, 73–77, 220–224; support for abolition, 98, 142, 234–235, 267; antislavery appeals to, 10–11, 98–100, 140–142, 217–218, 223, 259–261, 289–291; and emancipation, 238–239, 245–253, 258–259, 270–277, 283–284, 286–287, 290–292; and governmental policy, 216–220; property claims to the enslaved, 92–94, 156–157, 224–226; impact of Revolutionary War on, 89–91, 99–100
• Washington, George Augustine, 116–117, 177, 273; and James Bloxham, 121; duties as manager, 131, 228; and overseers, 159–161; and enslaved laborers, 153, 163
• Washington, John Augustine, 22, 272
• Washington, Lawrence, 4, 21, 25–26
• Washington, Lund, 43, 51, 62, 104–105, 109, 116; defense of Mount Vernon, 80–82; and escape of slaves to the British, 91–93; purchase and improvements of land, 94–96, 195, 197; sale of slaves, 88–90; wartime management of Mount Vernon, 78–80, 82–87
• Washington, Martha Dandridge Custis, 5, 20, 24, 67, 95, 258, 282–283; and enslaved laborers, 86, 157, 224–225; GW’s will and, 270–273, 341n51; and the Custis estate, 25–29, 74, 144, 252; manumission deed of, 273–274, 341n57; at wartime Mount Vernon, 79–80
• Washington, Mary Ball, 4, 146
• Washington, Richard, 22, 40
• weavers, 50, 82, 86, 93, 136
• wheat 6–7; as cash crop, 42–44, 51–52, 77, 130–131; cultivation of, 22–23, 34, 96, 121, 135–137, 139; and enslaved labor, 43–45, 54–57, 76, 211, 213, 288; experiments with, 36, 52–54; and farming landscape, 67; harvests of, 23, 38, 120, 134–136, 200–201, 263, 287; impact of war on, 83–84; implements for, 47–48, 137; markets for, 63–66, 68; and New Husbandry, 30; processing of, 124, 262, 285; regional patterns of, 203–204, 208–211, 233; in crop rotations, 96, 109, 123, 126–128; tenants and, 253; treading of, 113–117, 199, 285; suspected theft of, 230–231; threshing of, 79, 110–111, 136, 206–207; varieties of, 180, 183, 193; visual representations of, 200–201, 287
• Whitting, Anthony, 113, 160–163, 196, 198, 206, 228–229; and crop rotations, 127; management of enslaved labor, 149, 153, 163, 231; punishment of the enslaved, 155–156
• Wilberforce, William, 221–222, 249
• Williamson’s Plantation, 29, 38

• Young, Arthur, 13, 17, 103, 163, 188–189, 191–192, 206; assistance for GW, 105, 107, 109–111, 112, 120, 126, 129, 166; on GW, 7, 278, 280–281; barn design of, 110–111, 115, 124, 200; and George III, 15–16, 183–184; and GW’s plan to lease farms, 237–241, 243–245, 253–255, 258; on livestock, 178, 184; on mercantilism and empire, 181, 183; solicits writings of GW, 184–186; and survey of American agriculture, 208, 210–214, 233