American Historical Ephemera & Photography, including African Americana

DULANY, Benjamin Tasker (1752-1818). ANS ("Benjn. Dulany Jr.") "Tasker's Refuge," [VA], 16 December 1798.

7 1/8 x 3 3/8 in. Docketing on verso "Dulany to Tilla."

In full: "To all whom it may concern; Negro George came [to?] May 16th 1798. and for the services rendered me by said George, I have agreed He should have a legal claim to his Wife Tilla, and two young children Charlotte & Patty. / Dec: 16th 1798, Taskers Refuge."

Colonel Benjamin Tasker Dulany (1752-1818) was born in Annapolis, MD. He was a friend of George Washington prior to the Revolutionary War, and was chosen as one of Washington's aides during the war, eventually achieving the rank of colonel. In 1773, Dulany married Elizabeth French, the daughter of a prominent family from Fairfax County, VA and also Washington's goddaughter. The two moved to Alexandria, VA a few years later in 1777, settling near the Washingtons.

Tax records show that Dulany owned 2,311 acres in Loudoun County in 1782, and he was taxed for one white male and 13 slaves in 1785. This suggests that he had an overseer and 13 enslaved people farming this acreage.

Correspondence between Washington and Dulany show that Washington was hopeful to buy a parcel of land belonging to Dulany's mother-in-law, Penelope (Manley) French (born c. 1739). Years of striving to own this land are recorded in Washington's diaries and letters, some of which are addressed to Dulany, as Mrs. French delegated her business dealings, in part, to him. Other correspondence, including a 1799 document signed by Washington (and originally enclosed in a letter to Dulany), show that Washington leased a multitude of enslaved persons from Mrs. French via a contract between the two of them. Notably, George Washington and Penelope French were the two largest slave holders in Fairfax County, VA in 1790, according to the federal census of that year, with Washington recorded as enslaving 188 people, and French 122.