In 1786 he took a census of his slaves on the Mount Vernon estate.  On the Mansion House Farm he had sixty-seven, including Will or Billy Lee, who was his “val de Chambre,” two waiters, two cooks, three drivers and stablers, three seamstresses, two house maids, two washers, four spinners, besides smiths, a waggoner, carter, stock keeper, knitters and carpenters.  Two women were “almost past service,” one of them being “old and almost blind.”  A man, Schomberg, was “past labour.”  Lame Peter had been taught to knit.  Twenty-six were children, the youngest being Delia and Sally.  At the mill were Miller Ben and three coopers.  On the whole estate there were two hundred sixteen slaves, including many dower negroes.

If our Farmer took any special pains to develop the mental and moral nature of “My People,” as he usually called his slaves, I have found no record of it.  Nor is there any evidence that their sexual relations were other than promiscuous—­if they so desired.  Marriage had no legal basis among slaves and children took the status of their mother.  Instances occurred in which couples remained together and had an affection for their families, but the reverse was not uncommon.  This state of affairs goes far toward explaining moral lapses among the negroes of to-day.

I have found only one or two lists of the increase of the slaves, one being that transmitted by James Anderson, manager, in February, 1797, to the effect that “there are 3 Negro Children Born, & one dead—­at River Farm 1; born at Mansion house, Lina 1; at Union Farm 1 born & one dead—­It was killed by Worms.  Medical assistance was called—­But the mothers are very inattentive to their Young.”

Just why the managers, when they carefully mentioned the arrival of calves, colts, lambs and mules, did not also transmit news of the advent of the more valuable two-legged live stock, is not apparent.  In many reports, however, in accounting for the time of slaves, occur such entries as:  “By Cornelia in child bed 6 days.”  Occasionally the fact and sex of the increase is mentioned, but not often.

Washington was much more likely to take notice of deaths than of increases.  “Dorcas, daughter of Phillis, died, which makes 4 Negroes lost this winter,” he wrote in 1760.  He strove to safeguard the health of his slaves and employed a physician by the year to attend to them, the payment, during part of the time at least, being fifteen pounds per annum.  In 1760 this physician was a certain James Laurie, evidently not a man of exemplary character, for Washington wrote, April 9, 1760, “Doctr.  Laurie came here.  I may add Drunk.”  Another physician was a Doctor Brown, another Doctor William Rumney, and in later years it was Washington’s old friend Doctor Craik.  I have noticed two instances of Washington’s sending slaves considerable distances for medical treatment.  One boy, Christopher, bitten by a dog, went to a “specialist” at Lebanon, Pennsylvania, for treatment to avert madness, and another, Tom, had an operation performed on his eyes, probably for cataract.