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Washington Was Good With a Buck, Accounts Show

Long-ignored financial records a 'treasure trove,' historians say

By Nick McMaster, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 12, 2009 9:53 AM CDT

(Newser) – Fitting enough for the guy who ended up on the dollar bill, George Washington seems to have tracked every buck that crossed his path. The first president not only left scores of diaries and letters reflecting his views, but also assiduously documented his financial transactions. The result? A treasure trove detailing everything from the first books Washington bought at age 15 to "a Wench Dinah" and her four children he purchased in 1773. This weekend a group of scholars gathered at Mount Vernon to discuss how best post the vast collection online.

The records’ value lies not so much in what they reveal about Washington as their glimpse into day-to-day life at the dawn of America, the Washington Post reports. The papers, when fully analyzed, will constitute a great contribution to what a Harvard historian calls “material culture.” "What kind of clothing, what kind of food, what kind of medical care did people have? When did ordinary people have cash?"

[Images (11)]

[Quotes (1)]

George Washington's Mount Vernon estate is seen during a holiday tour Dec. 4, 2004 in Mount Vernon, Va. (Getty Images)

George Washington was good with a buck. (Getty Images)

An original copy of a draft note from President George Washington to his Cabinet concerning plans for taking of the presidential oath from February 27, 1793. (Getty Images)

A painting of George Washington hangs in his Mount Vernon estate December 4, 2004 in Mount Vernon, Va. (Getty Images)

President Bush, right, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy tour the Mont Vernon, Va. home of George Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2007. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

The master bedroom of George Washington and wife Martha Washington is seen in their Mount Vernon estate on Dec. 4, 2004 in Mount Vernon, Va. (Getty Images)

Ruth Toliner and her husband Lowell Toliner, of Olney, Md., ask Steve Bashore questions about this reconstructed slave cabin at George Washington's Mount Vernon estate in Mt. Vernon, Va, on Wednesday,... (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

David Pickerell, master distiller for Maker's Mark, carries water to be boiled as he and other master distillers gather on the archaeology site of George Washington's distillery, Oct. 21, 2003, in Mount... (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)

Joe Dangler, master distiller for Virginia Gentleman, checks the temperature on the condensing coil of a copy of an 18th century copper pot still on the site of George Washington's distillery, Oct. 21,... (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)

One of three sequential $20 gold certificate notes from 1905 featuring George Washington is displayed on sale at the Arcade Currency Palace December 17, 2008 in Palm Beach, Fla. (Getty Images)

A Sheffield plated double wine cooler is displayed during a press preview of Sotheby's auction of objects belonging to George Washington May 13, 2005 in New York City. (Getty Images)

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Laxative Pills for Ruth ... syphilic Pills for Maria ... oz 1 Antiphlogistie Anodyne Tincture ... Bleeding Charlotte ... oz 4 Powdered Rhubarb ... Extracting one of your Negroes tooth ... a Mercurial Purge for Cook Jack ... - Bill from Washington's physician, 1791

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 3 comments

Spudsy

Oct 12, 2009 10:49 AM CDT

Yeaaahhh, I don't know if you would say that if you saw his birth certificate. He wasn't born a US citizen. There is a birther meeting tonight to demand his certificate and they will move to have him removed from the presidency if he can't come up with one. You should probably attend dly, they like your even tempered well thought out logic at those meetings.

Toon

Oct 12, 2009 4:22 AM CDT

Yes but if we know what the top looked like we also know what they purchased for their servants and slaves and what they paid craftsmen and merchants so it tells us something about the bottom too. It would be nice to have records from a wider selection of early Americans but wealth conveyed the leisure to make records and the family stability to have them survive hundreds of years.

DontLikeYou___

Oct 12, 2009 2:54 AM CDT

Great man.

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Washington Was Good With a Buck, Accounts Show