Credit Side Annotation

Line 16 - In GW's diary for 18 March 1785, he noted having received "a box containing young trees of the live oak and 10 Acorns" from Josiah Parker (1751-1810), who at the time was the naval officer and collector for the port of Portsmouth, Virginia. GW had probably asked Parker to send him these and other seeds and plants which could be used in the landscaping at Mount Vernon, since Parker had informed GW in late February of his efforts to procure honeysuckles, "Live oak," and acorns. Parker sent additional shipments of plants, and GW set some out in April. On 6 April, GW planted "in a Nursery" in his vineyard honeysuckle and "17 Live Oaks," and on the 13th of that month, he planted and sowed in front of the greenhouse "Ten acrons" sent by Parker.  See Diaries, 4:104 [Rotunda | Founders Online]; Diaries, 4:114 [Rotunda | Founders Online]; Diaries, 4:118 [Rotunda | Founders Online]; Josiah Parker to GW, 24-28 Feb. 1785 [Rotunda | Founders Online | Print (Confederation Series, Volume 2, pages 376-78)]; and Parker to GW, 29 March 1785 [Rotunda | Founders Online | Print (Confederation Series, Volume 2, page 472)].    

GW was not only engaged in adding various plants and trees to Mount Vernon, but he was also receiving shipments of animals and other items. On 19 March 1785, GW recorded in his diary that he received "a Swan, 4 Wild Geese, & two Barrels of Holly Berries (in Sand)" from his brother, John Augustine, who resided in Westmoreland County, Va., the county in which the Nomini neighborhood, mentioned in this entry, is also located. GW's nephew, William Augustine Washington, would also later make efforts to send GW wild geese and swans for the Mount Vernon estate. William Augustine, who also lived at the time in Westmoreland County, may have been somehow involved in the abovementioned shipment of geese, swan, and holly berries which GW received from his brother. In William Augustine's letter to GW of 1 June 1785, William wrote that he had been "particularly attentive in collecting of the Holly Berrys, agreeable to your request," which William assumed "has got safe to hand". See Diaries, 4:104 [Rotunda | Founders Online]; see also William Augustine Washington to GW, 1 June 1785 [Rotunda | Founders Online | Print (Confederation Series, Volume 3, pages 30-31)].