Letter from Benjamin Harrison to George Washington, Virginia, March 31, 1783 Virginia 1783 Transcription, encoding and edition Blossom Machado Fehrs Transcription, encoding and edition Clayton McCarl 2026 Scholarly Editing: The Annual of the Association for Documentary Editing http://www.scholarlyediting.org Association for Documentary Editing 2026 se-microedition-iep 10.55520/TZKN9AFV Scholarly Editing: The Annual of the Association for Documentary Editing is freely distributed by the Association for Documentary Editing and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Scholarly Editing: The Annual of the Association for Documentary Editing Editor in Chief Noelle Baker Managing Editor Robert Riter Technical Editor Co-Micro-editions Editor Raffaele Viglianti Co-Micro-editions Editor Megan Bushneel 43 2167-1257 United States Washington, DC Library of Congress, Manuscript Division George Washington papers, Series 4, General Correspondence, 1697-1799 MSS 44693, Reel 091 Manuscript, 6 pages Enslaved Born free (child of enslaved mother born into freedom) Fugitive Value stated explicitly in document Value deduced by editors from context English March 31, 1783
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 Virginia, March 31st, 1783 Give me leave, my Deardear Sirsir, to congratulate you on the establishment of our independence and the glorious conclusion of the war,. theThe great share you have had in bringing us to this happy period, calls forth the grateful returns of your Countrymencountrymen, in particular, and of every honest American. Providence hath also its share in the work, having done more for us on many occasions than we have a right to expect, for which I hope we shall be thankful, that we may procure a continuance of its favors, without which we shall crumble again into insignificance. weWe have happiness within our reach if we have but virtue enough to embrace her, but that is to be doubted,. ourOur Unclear in the source document. faring End of unclear text. interests will probably disunite us if they are not settled
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 by the hands of wisdom and justice, but where shall we find a set of men who will divest themselves of local attachments and party prejudices, and with unshaken constancy pursue measures calculated for the general and universal good,? suchSuch may certainly be found, but that they will not be sought after is to be feared,. howeverHowever, I will never anticipate evils, thothough my forbodings Added in the source document. ring End of addition. a constaText supplied by the editor: letters not visible. nt End of supplied text. alarm. You ask me in your favor of the 6th Instantinstant what induced our Assembly to repeal the duty law, which is as difficult a question to answer as you could well have put to me, no one reason of force having ever occured that I have a thousand on the other side of the question,. indeedIndeed, the bill was a work of my own when I was in the houseHouse of Delegates. I have been told it was done by R.H. &and A. Lee, and that their arguments were such as you have seen from Rhode Island,. theThe act was certainly brought in by them in the latter part of the Sessionsession when the
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 house was very thin and hurried thro'through without due consideration. theyThey were so very quiet that the mischief was done before I knew they Added in the source document. had End of addition. the subject under consideration, or they would probably have missed their aim, for from a conversation I had with many of the members on the subject afterwards, I am fully of opinion they would have reenacted Added in the source document. the law End of addition. if they Added in the source document. had End of addition. time, but whether they will do it now a peace is concluded admits of a doubt. I observe by a clause in the articles we are to have our negros again,. I have thirty missing, many of which I understand are dead, but there are still some that are very valuable,. ifIf it is not too much to ask, I shall ever be under the greatest obligation if you will fall on some method to secure Added in the source document. Unclear in the source document. them End of unclear text. End of addition.. thereThere will no doubt be vessels coming immediately from New York to this Countrycountry that will probably take them in, their passage I will pay with
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 thanks. You have a list of a few of them that I know are in the Towntown, and may easily be come at. yourYour friendship for me will excuse the application, even if it is improper, when I assure you my wellbeing depends on their being recovered. I am, Deardear Sirsir, with sentiments of the highest esteem and friendship, Youryour most obedient and most humble servant. BenjBenjamin Harrison His Excellency, General Washington From Hishis Excellyexcellency, G.Governor Harrison, 31st MarMarch 1783
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A list of Negrosnegros in N.New York belonging to BenjBenjamin Harrison

Emanuel, my body servant, a mulatto, [...] Unclear in the source document. looksome End of unclear text. [...],. aa good barber. Tabb, his wife, a likely young woman, dark mulatto and a good cook. Unclear in the source document. heHe End of unclear text. had 2 children. John, a tall mulatto, hard [...], [...] head, and a large mouth. aA house carpenter. Unclear in the source document. Gloucester End of unclear text. Will, a tall copper -colored mulatto, some of his Unclear in the source document. fore End of unclear text. teeth out or broke, Unclear in the source document. rather End of unclear text. slender. aA good shipsship's carpenter and caulker. Unclear in the source document. Casp End of unclear text., Brotherbrother to Emanuel. aA white mulatto boy, comely, and about 16 years old,. aA house servant. Tom, [...] a likely dark boy,, about 16 years old. Bobb, a brown boy, about 15 years old, [...] Unclear in the source document. stammers End of unclear text. [...] in his Unclear in the source document. speech End of unclear text.. Jacob, a brown boy, about 14, some of his fore teeth out when he went away. Stephen, a black boy, about 14 years old. Jenny, a dark copper, Unclear in the source document. pitted End of unclear text. with the Unclear in the source document. smallpox End of unclear text., about 18 years old. Charles, a tall Unclear in the source document. fellow End of unclear text., dark copper colour, a house carpenter and [...] miller. Betty, his wife, same colour, very likely and Unclear in the source document. cleanly End of unclear text..
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 Dennis, a squat, well made negro, very Unclear in the source document. artful End of unclear text.. aA brush maker. Kidd, a tall fellow, dark complexion. anAn exceeding fine sailor but a great Unclear in the source document. rogue End of unclear text.. BenjBenjamin Harrison The reference is to March 6, 1783. This text appears written sideways in the left margin.

Emanuel

Gender
male — value deduced by editors from context
Occupation
body servant
Residence
New York, New York, United States of America
Status
Fugitive

Tabb

Gender
female — value stated explicitly in document
Occupation
cook
Residence
New York, New York, United States of America
Status
Fugitive

John

Gender
male — value deduced by editors from context
Occupation
House carpenter
Residence
New York, New York, United States of America
Status
Fugitive

Unclear in the source document. Gloucester End of unclear text. Will

Gender
male — value deduced by editors from context
Occupation
ship's carpenter and caulker
Residence
New York, New York, United States of America
Status
Fugitive

Unclear in the source document. Casp End of unclear text.

Age
16 (in 1783)
Gender
male — value deduced by editors from context
Occupation
house servant
Residence
New York, New York, United States of America
Status
Fugitive

Tom

Age
16 (in 1783)
Gender
male — value deduced by editors from context
Residence
New York, New York, United States of America
Status
Fugitive

Bobb

Age
15 (in 1783)
Gender
male — value deduced by editors from context
Residence
New York, New York, United States of America
Status
Fugitive

Jacob

Age
14 (in 1783)
Gender
male — value deduced by editors from context
Residence
New York, New York, United States of America
Status
Fugitive

Stephen

Age
14 (in 1783)
Gender
male — value deduced by editors from context
Residence
New York, New York, United States of America
Status
Fugitive

Jenny

Gender
female — value deduced by editors from context
Residence
New York, New York, United States of America
Status
Fugitive

Charles

Gender
male — value deduced by editors from context
Occupation
house carpenter and miller
Residence
New York, New York, United States of America
Status
Fugitive

Betty

Gender
female — value stated explicitly in document
Residence
New York, New York, United States of America
Status
Fugitive

Dennis

Gender
male — value deduced by editors from context
Occupation
brush maker
Residence
New York, New York, United States of America
Status
Fugitive

Kidd

Occupation
sailor
Residence
New York, New York, United States of America
Status
Fugitive