Battaile Muse papers, 1726-1891, bulk 1777-1800 7.2 Linear Feet — 18 boxes
Collection includes correspondence and papers of Battaile Muse (1750-1803), agent for large Virginia planters and plantation owners, relating to the desertion of Tidewater farms by Virginia planters for the more fertile areas in Loudoun, Fauquier, Frederick, and Berkeley counties; the progress of the Revolutionary War; planting and the sale of indigo and other farm products; the treatment of slaves, the estate of James and John Francis Mercer, 1776-1783; the Fairfax estate; and Muse's career as rental agent for George Washington in Frederick and Fauquier counties; 1784-1792. Included also are account books and memoranda listing rent collections and other business operations. Four letters, 1847-1848, relate to a dispute in the faculty of the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia.