From Mount Vernon, GW began preparing to leave home for an unknown period of time. GW encouraged overseer John Fairfax to care for the farms and livestock, and allowed him to bring a future wife to Mount Vernon. Fairfax would be assisting the management of Mount Vernon under GW’s nephew, George Augustine Washington, to whom GW also wrote instructions.

GW wrote Thomas Green, the overseer of Mount Vernon carpenters, to not drink too much, warning that his nephew would be watching to ensure that Green handled business affairs correctly. GW wrote to Battaile Muse, his rent collection agent, that he agreed to the property line settlement between himself and Robert Scott, and that Muse would be working with George Augustine Washington for future land deals.

George Abbott Hall wrote a request to keep the position he had held since the Revolutionary War: Office of Collector for Charleston. In August, GW reappointed Hall to this position.