Charles Carter (1733–1796) of Ludlow had served with GW in the Virginia legislature; the two men had exchanged visits; and Carter had supplied GW with experimental seeds. So in 1793 when he requested that GW make a short term loan of $100 to his sons Walker Randolph Carter and Charles Landon Carter in Philadelphia during the yellow fever epidemic of that year, GW was happy to oblige (Carter to GW, 15 and 29 Sept. 1793; GW to Carter, 25 Sept. 1793, Papers, Presidential Series, 14:92-93, 133, 141).

However, in February 1795 Carter, whose youthful extravagance had earned him the nickname of “The Blaze” and who had been forced by creditors to sign the title to his property over to trustees in 1788, wrote GW that Walker had begun a carriage business but found himself short of funds because of "the imposability of selling slaves, for ready money." Walker was unable to obtain money from local money lenders since "Speculation, & exorbitant premiums absord all the Cash," so would GW "impower him . . . to draw on some person for 1000 Dollars" until October?

GW's reply exposes the financial insecurities of the man whom some have called our wealthiest president (http://www.foxbusiness.com/business-leaders/2013/02/14/americas-10-richest-presidents-1049821554/) and precisely how far he was willing to go to assist his friends. Oddly, at about the same time Carter's other son independently applied to GW for a loan of up to $600 (Charles Landon Carter to GW, 3 March 1795, DLC:GW) and was given $200.

—David Hoth, Editor at the George Washington Papers