WASHINGTON, George.

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Autograph letter signed, to James Ross, arranging the subdivision and sale of his western lands. Washington, in his final retirement at Mount Vernon, asset-rich but chronically cash-poor, seeks to sell his western lands in Ohio. Washington had left the presidency on 4 March 1797. His final years, as evidenced here, were no peaceful retirement; instead, he threw himself into managing his vast estate. He was one of the wealthiest men in the country, but his wealth was tied up in vast tracts of speculative land, leaving him perennially short of cash.On 1 February 1796, Washington advertised for sale large tracts of land on the Ohio River and its tributaries, the Great Kanawha and Little Miami rivers, together exceeding 35,000 acres. Much of Washington's western property, particularly the Great Kanawha tract, derived from military bounty claims promised to Virginia officers from 1754 for service in the French and Indian War.He writes to James Ross (1762-1847), a Federalist senator for western Pennsylvania from 1794 to 1803. As President, Washington had appointed Ross a commissioner to negotiate during the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794, successfully defusing the crisis. Ross was a lawyer and land specialist, whom Washington had employed as an agent since 1794.Ross had written to Washington on 2 October, that "In the course of the summer several people have inquired for your Ohio lands, but none of them were of such ability that I could encourage a hope of their offers being accepted",

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