1790 The Beginnings of the Yazoo Land Scandal—David Ross Discusses Georgia’s Western Territory,
ROSS, DAVID. Autograph letter signed “David Ross,” two pages, Arrowfield, Virginia, March 13, 1790, to a correspondent in Augusta, Georgia. Accompanied by an older typewritten transcription.
An important firsthand account of the earliest phase of the Yazoo land controversy, written by one of Virginia’s most prominent Revolutionary-era merchants and western speculators.
Scottish-born David Ross became a major Virginia merchant, industrialist and landowner. During the Revolutionary War, he provided essential commercial and manufacturing services to Virginia and was appointed a state commercial agent by Thomas Jefferson. His extensive holdings included mills, ironworks, plantations and thousands of acres of land.
In this revealing letter, Ross discusses the severe financial pressures confronting post-Revolutionary Virginia:
“Money is the great object with most people in this Country—the weight of our old debts publick and private fall very heavy upon us.”
Ross then turns to “the Country lately purchased from the State of Georgia,” a vast western territory claimed by the Virginia Yazoo Company. Although acknowledging his limited knowledge of the region, he predicts that it may be productive and healthy and writes that members of the company will soon explore it “in order to form an adequate idea of the value of the Lands.”
Ross identifies fellow company agent Captain John B. Scott, then in Georgia conducting company business, and asks the recipient to assist Scott in securing payment on two bonds. Ross’s statement that payment might be made either in money or in acceptable Georgia financial instruments illustrates the speculative financing that supported these enormous western land ventures.
The Virginia Yazoo Company included politically prominent investors such as Patrick Henry, Abraham B. Venable, William Cowan and John B. Scott. Its 1789–1790 purchase preceded the more notorious Georgia Yazoo sale of 1795, which produced one of the early republic’s greatest political and financial scandals and ultimately led to the landmark Supreme Court decision Fletcher v. Peck.
A historically significant letter documenting, in real time, the financing, proposed exploration and valuation of Georgia’s disputed western lands at the beginning of the Yazoo controversy.
Original folds, toning, scattered staining, ink show-through and old reinforcement along a weakened fold; writing remains legible and Ross’s signature is bold. Accompanied by a typewritten transcript.
ROSS, DAVID. Autograph letter signed “David Ross,” two pages, Arrowfield, Virginia, March 13, 1790, to a correspondent in Augusta, Georgia. Accompanied by an older typewritten transcription.
An important firsthand account of the earliest phase of the Yazoo land controversy, written by one of Virginia’s most prominent Revolutionary-era merchants and western speculators.
Scottish-born David Ross became a major Virginia merchant, industrialist and landowner. During the Revolutionary War, he provided essential commercial and manufacturing services to Virginia and was appointed a state commercial agent by Thomas Jefferson. His extensive holdings included mills, ironworks, plantations and thousands of acres of land.
In this revealing letter, Ross discusses the severe financial pressures confronting post-Revolutionary Virginia:
“Money is the great object with most people in this Country—the weight of our old debts publick and private fall very heavy upon us.”
Ross then turns to “the Country lately purchased from the State of Georgia,” a vast western territory claimed by the Virginia Yazoo Company. Although acknowledging his limited knowledge of the region, he predicts that it may be productive and healthy and writes that members of the company will soon explore it “in order to form an adequate idea of the value of the Lands.”
Ross identifies fellow company agent Captain John B. Scott, then in Georgia conducting company business, and asks the recipient to assist Scott in securing payment on two bonds. Ross’s statement that payment might be made either in money or in acceptable Georgia financial instruments illustrates the speculative financing that supported these enormous western land ventures.
The Virginia Yazoo Company included politically prominent investors such as Patrick Henry, Abraham B. Venable, William Cowan and John B. Scott. Its 1789–1790 purchase preceded the more notorious Georgia Yazoo sale of 1795, which produced one of the early republic’s greatest political and financial scandals and ultimately led to the landmark Supreme Court decision Fletcher v. Peck.
A historically significant letter documenting, in real time, the financing, proposed exploration and valuation of Georgia’s disputed western lands at the beginning of the Yazoo controversy.
Original folds, toning, scattered staining, ink show-through and old reinforcement along a weakened fold; writing remains legible and Ross’s signature is bold. Accompanied by a typewritten transcript.
