Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

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Use Restrictions

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Preferred Citation

Virginia. Land Office. Letter from records of the Virginia Land Office from Fielding Lewis to Colonel George Washington, 1775. Accession Land Office inventory entry no. 5, State government records collection, The Library of Virginia, Archives Branch, Richmond, VA 23219.

Acquisition Information

Accession LOI 5 transferred by the Secretary of the Commonwealth, 1948.

Historical Information

The act which established the previous Land Office next hit passed the General Assembly on 22 June 1779. The register was the head of the Office and was appointed by joint ballot of both houses of the legislature.

Biographical Information

Fielding Lewis was a successful merchant from Fredericksburg, Virginia. He served as a colonel in the American Revolution and married Betty Washington, George Washington's only sister. Fielding began construction on the mansion at Kenmore in 1769, moving into the home in the fall of 1775. Although a respiratory ailment kept him from serving as a soldier, he played a substantial role in supporting the troops, providing provisions and ships, as well as building a gun manufactory in Fredericksburg. He died in 1781, soon after the British surrender at Yorktown.

Scope and Content

This record contains a letter dated 1775 Apr 23 from Lewis requesting instructions regarding the disposition of several surveys made for Washington but in Lewis's possession, particularly a survey of 578 acres sent to Washington by Mr. Thomas Lewis for land on the Ohio River. He also refers to repairs being made on his home at Kenmore and to the impending war with Great Britain. Lewis specifically mentions an effort to procure powder from Baltimore and asks Washington to send powder from Philadelphia if the effort fails.

Index Terms

Persons:

• Lewis, Fielding, 1725-1782.
• Washington, George, 1732-1799.

Corporate Names:

• Virginia. Colonial Land Office.
• Virginia. Land Office

Subjects:

• Kenmore Mansion, Fredericksburg (Va.)
• Surveying -- Virginia -- 18th century.

Geographical Names:

• Virginia -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783

Genre and Form Terms:

• Letters (correspondence)
• State government records -- Virginia.