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Chapin collection of Washington & Custis family documents .5 Linear Feet (2 boxes)

Lewis, Eleanor Parke Custis, 1779-1852

This collection consists of papers inherited and collected by Washington family descendants. Many were purchased in 1927 at auction to reunite Washington family correspondence. The collection includes correspondence, financial documents and legal documents that relate primarily to the Custis and Lewis families, but include other items related to Virginia history. Charles and Peter Chapin, the previous owners of this collection, descended from Eleanor Parke Custis and Lawrence Lewis through Esther Maria Lewis and Charles Chapin. This collection was originally assembled by Esther Maria Lewis Chapin who inherited some of the Washington/Custis papers, but was also an avid collector and brought back together family items that were being dispersed nationwide. This collection is an example of that effort; much of which was at auction in 1927 (Anderson Galleries, sale 2201, 28-29 November 1927).

  1. The George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon

Letter, George Washington to General John Scott Box 1

Autograph letter signed, 1 page. Mounted on cardstock. Washington gives orders for the removal of suspected loyalists to New Rochelle. He warns against any injury to persons or property but insists they be kept "at a distance from the Enemy of whom it is suspected they are favourers and are carrying on correspondances dangerous to the United States of America.

  1. The George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon
  2. Chapin collection of Washington & Custis family documents
  3. Series 2. Correspondence

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