Colony."[14]

The county surveyor wrote on July 18, 1749:

By Virtue of an Act of the General Assembly ... I, the Subscriber did
Survey and lay off sixty acres of land to be for the said town, and
divided the same into lotts, streets, etc., as per the plan thereof

JOHN WEST, JR.
Dept. S.F.C.[15]

George Washington had been living with his half-brother, Lawrence, at
Mount Vernon for some time and studying engineering under Mrs. Lawrence
Washington's brother, Colonel George William Fairfax. It is a safe
assumption that the three young men sailed up the Potomac numerous times
to see the layout for the prospective new town; or, that wanting an
afternoon's ride, they set their horses towards Belle Haven. It was not
a strange journey. For years the Hunting Creek warehouse had handled
tobacco from Mount Vernon, Belvoir, Gunston Hall, and the neighboring
estates. Tradition has it in Alexandria that Washington aided John West
when he was struggling through the underbrush and tree stumps staking
out the lots. So familiar did the embryo engineer become with the future
town site that he drew a map, and added the names of lot purchasers to
the side of his drawing.[16]

News traveled throughout the colony, from the Tidewater to the
Shenandoah, of the town to be built near the Hunting Creek warehouses.
Advertisements were inserted in the colony's gazettes. Auction of lots
was to take place on the site, in the month of July, on the thirteenth
day.

On the morning of the sale people on horseback began pouring into the
village of Belle Haven from all the nearby plantations and estates.
Tidewater was represented by Ralph Wormley of Rosegill in Middlesex;
from Westmoreland came Augustine Washington; from Fredericksburg,
William Fitzhugh; from Gunston Hall, George Mason; from Belvoir, the two
Colonels Fairfax; and from Mount Vernon, young George Washington and his
half-brother, Augustine, up for the proceedings.

Lawrence Washington was not present, possibly away in England at the
time. His brother, Augustine, however, stood proxy and the letter in
which he reported the day's proceedings throws a new light upon the
sale. It is believed never to have been published; here is the portion
relating to the Alexandria auction:

Mount Vernon July 19th 1749

D^r Brother

I have this day returned from Goose Creek, and the Vessel by whom
this comes being under way alows one but a short time to