| DOCUMENTS
Washington and the Potomac: 11anuscripts of the Minnesota His
torical Socich., [17541 1769-170. 1.
Iv 1826 General John Mason, of 1 irginia, son of George Mason
of Gunston Hall, possessed a large bundle of papers relating to the
opening of navigation up the Potomac River, which had been en-
trusted to him by General Washington, a year or two before the
latter's death. Mason lent nine of these papers, in that year, 1826,
to .Andrew Stewart, member of the House of Representatives trout
Pennsylvania. Stewart made excellent use of these in his report of
1826 on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. and, fortunately, printed
nearly all of the nine in the appendix to that report. Writing in
1853 to John Pickell, he saes that he returned "the original manu-
script" (manuscripts) to General 1l ason.1 The documents which
are here printed seem to come from the same Nlason collection. The
history of these letters and papers. Folded neatly and endorsed by
Washington, from 1826 until the v were discovered in the manuscript
division of the Minnesota Historical Society- in 1922, will probably
never be known, though certain vague references point to r87o as
the date of their acquisition by that institution. They form a unit,
all dealing with the navigation of the Potomac and James rivers, and
cover the period 1754-1796. The only exception is a letter from
Stephen Sayre of -.November t; , 1787, relating to the new constitution
of the United States. In all, the group consists of thirty-eight pieces,
including three pen sketches. Some papers of the bundle as it came
from Washington's file have been lost, notably all but one of those
documents bearing his signature. Fortunate it is, sometimes, that the
autograph collector seldom recognizes the value of an unsigned manu-
script; for nearly- every piece in this collection has writing by Wash-
ington upon it, and several are. entirely in his autograph.
Some of these papers are clrafts of acts, resolves, etc.. that may
be found among the printed laws of Maryland and Virginia. The
majority, however, will prove an unworked mine for the economic
history of Afaryland and Virginia in the second half of the century;
for the antecedents and activities of the Potomac Company; and for
chapters in the lives of two great men, George Washington and
x9 Cong., 1 sess., House Report no. 228, Pp. 25-35. John Picket), A Neu,
Chapter in the Early Life of Washington 1NeR York. IAg6), p, 175.
AM. HIS'L. FL's'„ VOL. X%\'117.- ;3. (.tl)1 1
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