George Washington at Millers Run in 1784. April 4, 2019

Copyright © 2019                               John F. Oyler 

April 4, 2019

George Washington at Millers Run in 1784

Last month the Bridgeville Area Historical Society presented a workshop on George Washington’s visit to western Pennsylvania in 1784 as part of its “Second Tuesday” series. This was the sixth workshop dedicated to Washington and western Pennsylvania, part of a project to develop information for a permanent historical exhibit dealing with that subject.

Following the Battle of Yorktown and the cessation of hostilities in 1783, Washington gave his famous farewell address to the troops and returned to civilian life at Mount Vernon. He was pleased to find that neither Mount Vernon nor his wife Martha’s plantations near Williamsburg had suffered during the Revolutionary War and that he was still a very wealthy man.

Mount Vernon itself was an extremely valuable property, eight thousand acres including four farms, a fishing fleet, a grist mill, and a distillery – probably worth twenty million dollars in today’s currency. The Williamsburg plantations were more than double in size and surely worth at least forty million dollars today.

In addition, Washington had many thousands of acres of property elsewhere, much of it undeveloped. The portions that were developed had been left in the care of agents, many of whom he felt had not been good stewards of the property. Consequently he decided to make a trip west to inspect his holdings in person. 

Washington was an extremely well-organized person who kept a daily journal of his activities and his interests. We are fortunate to have access to the journal for this expedition; it is full of minute detail about the journey and his personal interpretations of things he has observed.

Accompanied by his life-long friend and personal physician Dr. James Craik and three servants, he bade goodbye to his wife and headed west on September 1, 1784. They made twenty-five miles the first day, arriving at Difficult Bridge where he owned 274 undeveloped acres. According to Washington’s journal, he was concerned that a neighbor’s plan to build a grist mill would degrade the value of his property.

Two days later he was at the plantation of his brother Charles, northeast of Winchester, where he had extensive properties – about 2,500 acres with ten tenants. His agent there was a Mr. Snickers, whose performance apparently satisfied him.

That evening a second objective of his trip became obvious when he met with a group of local residents to discuss the feasibility of opening up a transportation route to the Ohio Country beginning with the Potomac River. This was a pet project of Washington’s, one that would be discussed with everyone he met on this expedition.

One of these persons was General Daniel Morgan, who had served under Washington in the Continental Army. He was the leader of “Morgan’s Riflemen”, a regiment of sharpshooters who were instrumental in the Battle of Saratoga. Morgan was enthusiastic about Washington’s ideas and confident that it would find significant support in the counties along the Potomac.

Washington’s next stop was at the town of Bath (now Berkeley Springs) where he met an ingenious gentleman named James Rumsey, the inventor of a water-powered “poleboat”. Under “the injunction of secresy”, Rumsey showed Washington a model of his invention and convinced him it “might be turned to the greatest possible utility in inland Navigation”.

Rumsey’s idea was to mimic the action of a group of men poling a boat upstream. Two men at the stern hold the boat stationary against the current with their poles while two others pole it forward incrementally. Rumsey began with two poles holding the vessel stationary, then mounted two water wheels in tandem at the bow. 

Supposedly the current will turn the wheels, just like an undershot water wheel. Poles cleverly attached to a continuous chain around the wheels then would engage the channel bottom and pole the vessel upstream. As absurd as this seems, Washington was impressed.

A few years later Rumsey built a full size poleboat, that did not work. Undaunted he then designed a steamboat. Unfortunately while he was seeking funding Robert Fulton successfully demonstrated the “Clermont” and quickly dominated the market. Rumsey’s legacy is the Rumseian Society in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, a group of history buffs dedicated to his memory. In 1985 they built a full size steamboat to his design; it worked perfectly.

Washington’s next major stop was at Old Town, the plantation of Colonel Thomas Cresap, near Cumberland, Maryland. Here he had a long discussion with a man regarding the possibility of linking Ten Mile Creek on the Monongahela with the Little Kanawha River, eliminating the necessity of following the Monongahela all the way to Pittsburgh to reach the Ohio River. This also would be an all-Virginia route, avoiding competition with Pennsylvania.

From Old Town Washington followed Braddock’s Road to Great Meadows, where he owned 234 acres and had a tenant who done little to improve the property, then on to Gilbert Simpson’s plantation. Simpson was his agent at Washington’s Bottom, now Perryopolis, Pa. 

Washington’s property there consisted of 1644 acres that was not generating the income he had anticipated. He decided to terminate his relationship with Simpson and attempt to sell or lease the property at public auction. Included was a gristmill located on a small stream that failed to supply sufficient water for effective operation. A large group attended the auction “more out of curiosity I believe than from other motives”, but no one bid on the property.

While at Simpson’s plantation Washington was visited by a delegation of people living on his Millers Run property, attempting to ascertain his intentions about that property.. He promised to meet them at Millers Run later in the week. Before leaving Simpson’s he engaged Major Thomas Freeman to be his agent for the Washington’s Bottom plantations.

On September 18 Washington and his party crossed the Monongahela at Devore’s Ferry (now Monongahela, Pa.) and followed a road from there to the estate of Colonel John Canon. Canon was a very early resident of the Chartiers Valley. He laid out the community of Canonsburg, dammed Chartiers Creek, and built a very successful grist mill there. Washington described Canon as “a kind hospitable Man; & sensible.”

Two days later, accompanied by Colonel Canon, Colonel Presley Neville, High Sheriff van Swearingen, and a Captain Ritchie, Washington visited his Millers Run property. It consisted of 2813 acres that had been warranted to John Posey, a veteran of the French and Indian War. He had deeded it to Washington in return for paying off a debt. In 1771 Colonel William Crawford surveyed it and built a small cabin on it.

At that time the area was still claimed by both Pennsylvania and Virginia. George Croghan encouraged a group of Scotch-Irish to settle on Washington’s land. They moved in, built cabins and barns, and generally improved the land, despite being warned by Crawford that they were squatters.

Washington recorded his observations in his journal, dined with one of them (David Reed), and then met with the group of fourteen settlers to resolve their differences. Their spokesman was James Scott. He reported that they felt their claims to the land were superior to Washington’s but they would be willing to discuss a compromise if his terms were moderate. 

It appears that the meeting was completely cordial, on both sides. Washington offered to sell his rights for twenty-five shillings an acre or to grant a lease for 999 years at a rate of ten pounds per one hundred acres. Both offers were consistent with the going rate for such property at that time. After some discussion Scott replied courteously that they would prefer to have this settled in court. 

Washington then requested they be polled individually and asked each one to speak for himself. The result was a unanimous rejection of his offer. He then removed a red handkerchief from his pocket and announced, "Gentlemen, I will have this land just as surely as I now have this handkerchief." He then returned to Colonel Canon’s plantation. The location of the meeting is commemorated by a historical monument on Route 50 between Venice and Hickory.

Originally Washington had contemplated going down the Ohio River to his properties on the Kanawha River as he had in 1770. However, information on the Indians in the Ohio Country in 1784 suggested he would not be a welcome visitor. His agent, Colonel Crawford, had been captured by Indians, tortured, and burned at the stake just two years earlier. He concluded it would be better for him to return to Mount Vernon, investigating possible water routes on the way home.

He returned to Simpson’s plantation, then rode south to Beason Town (now Uniontown) to engage attorney Thomas Smith to represent him in litigation versus the squatters. While there he met a Captain Hardin who convinced him that a connection from the headwaters of the Potomac to the Monongahela via the Cheat River was practical.

To investigate this possibility Washington went south to the confluence of the Cheat and the Monongahela (near Morgantown, West Virginia) and then returned to Virginia overland, following the Cheat upstream. His trip east was dominated by numerous observations of topography and watersheds.

The problem, of course, was the fact that the ridges, and particularly the Allegheny Front, ran in a general north east to south west direction, as did all the tributaries of the Potomac and the Monongahela. Unlike the Mohawk River in New York, there is no easy east/west water route. 

Once back in Mount Vernon it appears that Washington concluded he would prefer to work on improvement of the Potomac rather than deal with agents and tenants as an absentee landlord. He organized the Potowmack Company and served as its president for the next four years. 

The mission of the Potowmack Company was to make improvements to the Potomac River and improve its navigability for commerce. Washington hired James Rumsey as its first superintendent. The company did successfully construct by-passes at the five major rapids/falls between Cumberland and tidewater, greatly facilitating the movement of cargo downstream. 

In 1831 the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company acquired the assets of the Potowmack Company and incorporated them into its new canal, 185 miles long with seventy-four locks. The C & O Canal was built for about eleven million dollars (two billion dollars today). It originally was planned to be extended to the Youghiogheny River and on to Pittsburgh; the projected expense and 246 additional locks were deemed impractical.

In October, 1786, Washington’s case against the squatters was heard by Pennsylvania State Supreme Court Justice Thomas McKean in the city of Washington, county seat of Washington County, Pennsylvania. Somehow suing George Washington in a city and county named for him calls for a n eighteenth century version of Jim Croce’s “You don’t tug on Superman’s cape”.

The people on Millers Run questioned GW’s title on grounds that Crawford was not a Virginia county surveyor in 1771; that his survey was registered and the patent granted after they moved on the land; and that the tract was deserted when they occupied it. They were represented by attorney Hugh Henry Brackenridge.

Thomas Smith, Washington’s attorney, argued that Crawford did not have to be a county surveyor because the land was surveyed under a military warrant; that most of the present occupants did not move on the land until after the date of his patent; that none of them ever took any steps to obtain a patent; that Crawford improved and had the land occupied long before anyone else did; and that the settlers were frequently warned over the years that they were trespassing. 

The jury ruled in favor of Washington; the squatters then moved to other sites in Washington and Allegheny Counties. In 1796 Matthew Ritchie purchased the entire property for $12,000. This was $4.27 per acre, compared to the $6.25 per acre price Washington had offered four years earlier.

It is interesting to imagine Washington as he was in 1784. By then he was fifty-two years old, highly principled yet cognizant of the plight of the common man. He was still thrilled at the prospect of exploring the frontier on horseback, looking for ways to build roads and waterways to the west. One wonders if he had ambitions to become President of this new nation at this time.