Dear Charlotte & other Posey researchers, A lot of bad history has been written about the relationship between my ancestor Capt. John Posey and George Washington. Unlike many other researchers, I do not believe that Capt. Posey was incompetent, nor do I believe that Washington was necessarily either a hero or a villain in this piece of history. In fairness both to Capt. Posey and to Washington, I thought that a few notes of clarification might be in order here: 1. John Price Posey was the son of Capt. John Posey, and Washington had few kind words for Price Posey. Some people (though not necessarily Charlotte or others reading this thread) have confused the two. 2. Capt. John Posey was the owner of only a small parcel of the Posey property which eventually became a part of Mount Vernon (more about this in 5. below); Capt. Posey was also the person to whom Washington lent large sums of money. George Mason also lent Capt. Posey large sums, but there is no evidence that he did so in order to gain possession of Capt. Posey's real estate. 3. It is perhaps worthwhile to note that Capt. Posey acted as Washington's agent for several land purchases. Many of these transactions happened after Capt. Posey's bankruptcy. 4. Washington fell out with John Price Posey because Price Posey took Washington's place as manager of the Custis estate when Washington's stepson, John Parke Custis, came of age. Price Posey and John Parke "Jackie" Custis had been close friends since childhood, and Washington had no confidence in the management abilities of either Price Posey or Jackie Custis. The Custis estate was, at the time, the largest personal estate in VA, perhaps in America. Therefore, it would be fairer to say, not that Washington was the largest landholder in America, but rather that he, as trustee for his stepchildren, had managed the Custis estate, which was the largest estate, etc. 5. Washington definitely wanted the Posey property in Fairfax County, VA, but it should be remembered that Capt. Posey's home there, "Rover's Delight," was not owned by Capt. Posey outright. Most of the land at "Rover's Delight" was in fact owned by Capt. Posey's second wife by right of dower. When she died, her portion of the property reverted to her late husband's family (she was the widow of George Harrison when she married Capt. Posey), and it was from that family that Washington ultimately purchased the real estate in question. 6. There is ample evidence that the death of Capt. Posey's second wife, combined with a wheat blight which ruined many farmers in the vicinity, was what caused Capt. Posey's financial ruin. The wheat blight almost certainly had a negative impact on Capt. Posey's income, but it was the loss of the Fairfax County property to the Harrison heirs that left him with insufficient property to repay his debts. (By the way, Washington noted in his journal his own losses on account of this wheat blight, and except for his other sources of income, he might have suffered a fate similar to that of so many of neighbors who were not so well off.) 7. Though Capt. Posey was definitely in financial trouble, the records indicate that it was he himself, and not Fairfax County officials, who advertised the auction of his properties. Therefore, it is fair to say that he took charge of the situation himself, and since there were no subsequent legal actions taken against him, we must conclude that he voluntarily settled his debts before he was forced to do so. I hope that these points will help to clear the air concerning Capt. John Posey's relationship with George Washington. The evidence that they were long-time friends far outweighs any evidence that Washington might have engineered Capt. Posey's downfall. Nevertheless, it is true that Washington did ultimately profit from Capt. Posey's loss. I am simply unable to find any real evidence that this was Washington's ulterior motive when he lent money to Posey, since I believe that Washington knew full well who actually owned the property in question. Best wishes to all, Rev. Richard M. Rodgers -----Original Message----- From: MarieCSW@aol.com [mailto:MarieCSW@aol.com] Sent: Saturday, October 28, 2000 7:53 AM To: POSEY-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [POSEY-L] George Washington & Posey Dear Posey Researchers, I have my doubts about this relationship. History paints a bad picture of Posey, but George Washington benefited greatly from Posey's demise. The whole southern end of Mount Vernon on the Potomac was originally Posey's property("Dogue Run"), although the Washington family had originally owned it. Posey bought it from Charles Washington I think. At any rate, Old George was determined to get that property back. He kept lending Posey money long after everyone else knew that Posey was getting deeper and deeper into debt and had stopped lending to him. History has painted it as George's benevolence with his old friend, but I have my suspicions. George Washington didn't become the largest land holder in North America by 1799 by being a total "good guy". And BTW, lots of people were in Posey's positions during those years just before and just after the revolution. There were economic hardships and lots of what we call "recession" and "depression". Lots of landholders lost their shirts and their lands and ended up in debt and debtors prison, which was really easy to do in those times. So Old George let Posey get into him so deep for money that the only solution, short of jail, was to sell his land at auction (way below the "market price") and then guess who snapped it up for a song? None other than old George Washington. Very interesting history. I have some articles on it. If you remind me at regular intervals, I'll send....have to be a few weeks or months from now. best, Charlotte Rigg Nugent