Letter to Bushrod Washington from James Henderson regarding enslaved labor

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

A letter to Bushrod Washington, George Washington's nephew, from James Henderson regarding the business of the Dismal Swamp Company. Letter is written on a single sheet of paper that was folded in a manner as to be its own envelope. Henderson offers to act as Washington's power of attorney at the next "Meeting of the Proprietors of the Dismal Swamp Company" and in the use of a cash dividend to purchase enslaved young men and boys for the purpose of clearing land and planting corn. Letter has standard mathematical equations written in the margins and the remains of a red wax seal at center.

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