This journal of George Washington, now for the first time printed
entire and with literal exactness, was begun, as shown by the
date in the opening lines, when he was but one month over sixteen
years of age. It is his own daily record of observations during
his first remunerated employment. His proficiency as a surveyor,
and his fortitude in encountering the hardships of the forest in
this expedition were, considering his age, truly remarkable. With
him the beginning determined the end. Biographers have made us
acquainted with the character of his worthy parents, and with the
sturdy stock from which they were descended. It does seem as though
Providence called our Washington into being, and educated him in
the western world just at the time when a great leader was wanted
to direct a revolution, and to found on this continent a new and a
free, English-speaking nation. Every factor, whether of lineage or
culture, in the admirably balanced character of Washington, as well
as every aspiration of his heart, from his cradle to his grave,
is of high interest to the world. Although deprived of a father's
care at the age of eleven years, he was, however, especially
blessed in having such a mother as the noble Mary Washington,
who conscientiously discharged her sacred duty as his guardian,
counselor and friend. Hence filial reverence grew with his growth
and strengthened with his maturing years into fixed principles,
making him throughout all his eventful life loyal to every virtue
and heroic in every trust.
When George Washington set out on the enterprise herein narrated,
he was just out of school, where he had received the best education
the neighborhood could supply, supplemented with good private
instruction. We may well believe that his mother and his brothers
then supposed that George had attained an age and proficiency when
he should either go to college to acquire a higher education, or
embark speedily in some respectable calling; and we may further
conclude that this precocious youth was eager to take part in the
affairs of life, and deferentially announced his preference for the
latter course. Possibly he was influenced in this selection by his
great admiration for his half-brother, Major Lawrence Washington,
who was actively and prosperously engaged in various business
enterprises, who made much of George, and had him visit Mount
Vernon whenever it was practicable.
George Washington's aptitude for mathematics early attracted the
attention of his teachers, and his beautifully kept copy-books,
which are still preserved, attest his unusual ability in
mathematical demonstration and diagrams. Mr. Williams, the
principal of the Academy in Westmoreland county, Va., where young
Washington was, to give a practical value to this mathematical
talent, had added surveying and navigation to his other studies;
and these were soon mastered by this bright pupil. Land surveying
was then a profitable and genteel pursuit in the colonies, and it
comported well with Washington's tastes and inclinations. While
visiting his brother at Mount Vernon, he had repeatedly amused
himself and entertained guests of the house by surveying, in their
presence, the garden, or a field, and rapidly drawing plats of
them as an exercise. A few maps of such early surveys have been
preserved. One of them, of Lawrence Washington's turnip field,
bearing date 27 Feb., 1747-8, is reproduced in fac-simile in this
publication. The others are without date, but are of about the same
period; although one, namely that of "Hell Hole," a part of the
Mount Vernon estate, and frequently mentioned in Washington's later
diaries, may have been an earlier production. A fac-simile of it
may also be found in this work.
Washington's efficiency and enthusiasm as a surveyor were observed
and admired not only by his friend and companion, George William
Fairfax, but also by the Hon. Wm. Fairfax and by Lord Fairfax, who
were constantly employing surveyors to lay off lands for sale in
the latter's large domain known as "The Northern Neck" of Virginia.
During the early spring of 1748 the demands for surveys were more
than usually pressing by actual settlers in the Shenandoah valley.
Lord Fairfax engaged the youth, George Washington, to proceed with
George William Fairfax, his agent, as recorded in this journal,
to execute certain commissions and meet a pressing demand. His
surveys and reports gave entire satisfaction and led to his steady
employment by his titled patron, principally as a director of his
lordship's land office and of the surveys, preparatory to sale.
Washington filled this position for about three years, when he was
called upon to accompany his brother Lawrence, who, from failing
health, was constrained, in the fall of 1751, to visit the West
Indies in the hope of finding relief.
The journal kept by George Washington during his visit to Barbadoes
in company with his brother, will be given in a separate work
soon to be issued in its chronological order by the editor. The
journal here presented to the public is, in the main, confined to
Washington's daily entries, memoranda and field notes of surveys of
land situated between the Blue Ridge and the Alleghany mountains.
Unfortunately the records of his surveys are not consecutive, and
it is quite evident that they represent but a part, and probably
but a small part, of the land surveyed by Washington for Lord
Fairfax and others. The notes of surveys here published are all
that can be found or that are now known to exist. It is to be
hoped, however, that if other books of his field notes of surveys
have escaped destruction, they may yet be discovered. This hope
is encouraged from the fact that the laws of the colony required
surveyors, upon retiring from their official stations as county
surveyors, to deposit their field books of notes of surveys with
the records of the county. How far this law was complied with, the
editor is unable to say. It is a mistake, however, to infer that
Washington was constantly employed in actually running lines and
taking field notes. He was largely charged with the supervision of
Lord Fairfax's land office, and the records thereto belonging, and
was his principal adviser in his land surveys, directing the men
employed in the field work.
This journal, with its memoranda and surveys, makes a valuable
addition to our knowledge of the life and employments of Washington
in his youth. Here are also preserved the names of nearly three
hundred of the early settlers and first land owners in the great
valley of Virginia, for whom Washington made surveys, or who
assisted him in this business.
It was a cherished hope of the editor that he might be able to
give, in notes, brief sketches of the pioneers in the valley here
named, through the assistance of their descendants, who, in many
instances, reside upon lands surveyed by Washington for their
ancestors. In this, however, he has been disappointed.
The journal, memoranda and surveys found in these books have all
been copied with literal exactness and are here printed just as
they were recorded by the hand of their author. This literalness is
adhered to in the interest of truth and for the benefit of earnest
students of history unable to consult personally the originals.
Washington requires no apology for any apparent want of style or
other marks of hasty composition in this journal. It was written
in the nature of a memorandum intended for himself alone. His
thoughts, even in these youthful productions, flow easily and in an
orderly and consecutive manner. His sentences are never involved
or obscure, and his observations are always apt and instructive;
and, although a youth in years when this journal was written, he
was dealing ably with important interests, and deporting himself
in a manly manner, and associating on terms of intimacy with the
foremost men of the day. He seems to have had no idle boy life, but
was a man with manly instincts and ambitions from his youth. Time
and accidents are slowly, but effectually, destroying the precious
original manuscripts, so that a literal and authentic copy is a
great desideratum. No liberty whatever is taken by the editor with
the text as recorded by Washington. The notes which are added, it
is hoped, may prove of interest.