American Historical Ephemera & Photography

Manuscript indenture "Between Thomas Ringgold of Chestertown, Kent County and state of Maryland on the one part and William Augustine Washington gentleman of the state of Virginia on the other part," 30 November 1791. 4 pages, approx. 12 x 9 in., split horizontally in the middle, no loss of text, small chip to the upper corner, good overall.

The indenture continues..."in consideration of the sum of One hundred and twenty pounds 10 shillings current money of Maryland to him in hand paid at or before the ensealing and Delivery of these presents....giving eight lots of ground in the Town of Carrollsburg in Prince George's County, Maryland [today's Southwest Washington, DC], together with the houses, outhouses, edifices, buildings, gardens ways, waters, and appurtenances...subject nevertheless to the surrender which the said Thomas Ringgold hate heretofore made of one half of the said lots of ground to the Commissioners of the City of Washington agreeable to the regulations of the said City." On the verso, "Thomas Ringgold to William Augustus Washington, Deed, Rec'd. April 12th 1804 to be recorded same day, Washington County in the District of Columbia, as 'K. No. 10, 284.'"

[With:] Manuscript document, official witness statement relating to the above indenture, signed by William Brent, Clerk of the Circuit Court of the District of Columbia, 8 May 1804. One page, 12 1/2 x 8 in., with seals and blindstamps, recording Papers including the Indenture of lands pertaining to the formation of the City of Washington, DC.

Thomas Ringgold (ca 1768-1818), a resident of Washington County, MD, was described by his brother, Maryland congressman Samuel Ringgold as "quite a madman" with "no friend who could control him." In 1798, Ringgold conveyed his land and other assets in trust to his younger brothers Samuel and Tench to pay his debts. He executed a second deed to the same trustees in 1807 to provide his estranged wife and children and his father's debts. In 1811, Ringgold's wife, Mary Gittings Ringgold, began fifteen years of protracted but ultimately successful litigation against her brothers-in-law to recover some of these assets. 

William Augustine Washington (1757-1810) of Westmoreland County, VA, was the youngest son of George Washington's older half-brother, Augustine Washington II, and his wife Anne. As the only surviving male heir, William inherited Wakefield, the home where his well-known Uncle was born, in 1774. After service in the American Revolution and the sale of Wakefield in 1802, William moved to Georgetown, Washington, DC, where he died in 1810.