The mines were willed to him by his father, when he reached the age of 
majority.  George Washington was building Ships, and commissioned a ship 
that his brother-in-law, Fielding Lewis built. Don't you wonder where the 
Iron came from to build these ships? One of the ships commissioned by 
Washington was the Dragon, which my ancestor, Charles Lewis served aboard. 
It is a matter of reading the available material, not just Washingtons' 
material but his brother-in-laws writings as well.

Anita


>From: James Brothers <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history         
>      <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Slavery and immoral stance, etc.
>Date: Sun, 17 Jun 2007 22:47:35 -0400
>
>Part of the agreement between Principio and Augustine Washington, was  that 
>Washington would provide iron ore to the Potomac IW. During this  period it 
>is likely that the mining was done by slaves. But again you  indicated in 
>your earlier post that it was GW's slaves that worked  iron ore. That is 
>unlikely as the Principio shares passed to Lawrence  Washington who died 
>about the time Potomac was shut down and well  after mining operations had 
>shifted to Maryland. That most of  Principio was owned by Royalists caused 
>major problems during the  Revolution. Virginia appropriated funds for the 
>reopening of the  Potomac IW, but not by Washington.
>
>James Brothers, RPA
>[log in to unmask]
>
>
>
>On Jun 17, 2007, at 14:33, Anita Wills wrote:
>
>>I read a document several years ago that mentioned Augustine  Washingtons' 
>>slaves as working in his Iron Ore operations. You  would have to look at 
>>his Will to see where the slaves were at the  time of his death. I do know 
>>that the slaves worked in the iron ore  operations.
>>
>>Anita
>>
>>
>>>From: James Brothers <[log in to unmask]>
>>>Reply-To: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia  history      
>>>         <[log in to unmask]>
>>>To: [log in to unmask]
>>>Subject: Re: Slavery and immoral stance, etc.
>>>Date: Sun, 17 Jun 2007 13:45:59 -0400
>>>
>>>Augustine Washington was a partner in the Principio Co. Most of  the  
>>>Principio partners lived in England (which caused no end of  problems  
>>>during the Revolution) and most of their facilities were  in Maryland.  
>>>Their first "ironmaster" neglected to make sure that  the land he  bought 
>>>had iron ore (he was primarily interested in  his own  commercial 
>>>activities). His replacement, John England (an  experienced  ironmaster), 
>>>spent his first few months in America  looking for and  securing iron ore 
>>>for the company. It being hard  to make iron without  ore.
>>>
>>>One of the places he found it was on land owned by Augustine   Washington 
>>>on Accokeek Creek, near Fredericksburg (called Potomac  IW,  but today 
>>>called Accokeek IW). A blast furnace and iron mine  was  built there 
>>>around 1726. For a while it also served as the   headquarters of the 
>>>Principio Co. This ironworks was closed  around  1753-57 and the HQ 
>>>shifted back to Maryland. However, GW  retained a  minority interest in 
>>>the company. I am not aware of  any of the  Washington's slaves working 
>>>iron ore after Accokeek/ Potomac closed.  Because of the medieval 
>>>(really!) nature of land  tenure in the  Northern Neck, the Fairfaxes got 
>>>1/3 of all of the  iron ore mined. As  a result Principio, and many other 
>>>Virginia  ironworks, switched to  using ore from Maryland in the 1750s.  
>>>While I suppose technically  some of the company slaves were GW's,  he 
>>>had little if any  control  over what they did, nor how they  were 
>>>treated.
>>>
>>>James Brothers, RPA
>>>[log in to unmask]
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>On Jun 13, 2007, at 22:11, Anita Wills wrote:
>>>
>>>>My brother wrote his masters thesis about the migration of  blacks  from 
>>>>the south to northern cities. That was the first  time I saw on  paper, 
>>>>how this migration affected America. My  paternal Grandfather  left 
>>>>South Carolina for Pennsylvania to  work in the Steel Mill. The  small 
>>>>town that I was raised in was  made up of immigrants from  Europe 
>>>>(mostly Communist Countries),  and blacks from southern  states. The 
>>>>main industry when I was  growing up was the Steel Mill.  I learned 
>>>>about the role iron ore  played in the Revolution while  reading about 
>>>>George Washington,  whose slaves who worked with Iron  Ore.
>>>>
>>>>The economics of slavery encompassed more than Cotton and  Tobacco.  
>>>>Thank you for pointing this out.
>>>>
>>>>Anita
>>>>
>>>>>From: James Brothers <[log in to unmask]>
>>>>>Reply-To: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia   history   
>>>>>            <[log in to unmask]>
>>>>>To: [log in to unmask]
>>>>>Subject: Re: Slavery and immoral stance, etc.
>>>>>Date: Wed, 13 Jun 2007 20:57:03 -0400
>>>>>
>>>>>It should be remembered that while the US played a part in the   slave  
>>>>>trade, most of the slaves shipped out of Africa to the   Americas went  
>>>>>to Brazil and the Caribbean (often in ships out  of  Boston and  
>>>>>Baltimore, but also Liverpool and lots of other   places). But more  
>>>>>importantly it was the British who outlawed   slavery and enforced an  
>>>>>embargo of the Atlantic trade. This  was  followed by the US. It was  
>>>>>the British and US Navy that  finally  shut down the Atlantic slave  
>>>>>trade. The East African  (overseas)  trade was not shut down until  
>>>>>later, and it can be  argued that  portions of the trans-Sahara trade  
>>>>>flourish today.  Slavery in the  US should be viewed in a world  
>>>>>context, not  just as a peculiar  American problem. Because it was   
>>>>>transnational and its solution  was as well.
>>>>>
>>>>>My primary area of study is the iron industry. Many, in some  case   
>>>>>most or even all, of the workers at blast furnaces,  forges, and   
>>>>>foundries in the South and in the North were slaves.
>>>>>
>>>>>             Negroes were used in the ironworks from the early    
>>>>>establishment of the Pennsylvania industry.  In 1727 the  shortage  of  
>>>>>labor was so acute that the ironmasters in the  colony  petitioned the  
>>>>>Assembly for permission to import  Negroes free of  duty to labor at  
>>>>>their works... A bill  permitting Negroes  imported into the colony for 
>>>>>  the express  purpose of laboring at  ironworks to enter duty free  
>>>>>failed by  the deciding vote of the  Speaker.  Two years later,  
>>>>>however,  the duty of £5 on each Negro  brought into the Province was   
>>>>>reduced to £2... While Negro slaves  and freed Negroes usually  worked  
>>>>>at menial tasks, at many  ironworks they were skilled  workmen.   
>>>>>[Bining 1938:99-102]
>>>>>
>>>>>It was reported by Acrelius that the workers at PA ironworks  were   
>>>>>"generally negroes". the most interesting case is that  of  Monmouth  
>>>>>County, NJ. It was the site of an early  ironworks,  Tinton Falls  
>>>>>(circa 1677). The large number of  slaves used there  skewed this rural 
>>>>>  counties population well  into the 19C. For  years no one could 
>>>>>figure  out why a rural  county in NJ had such a  large Black 
>>>>>population. The  reason was  the descendants of the  Tinton Falls 
>>>>>slaves.
>>>>>
>>>>>James Brothers, RPA
>>>>>[log in to unmask]
>>
>>_________________________________________________________________
>>Need a break? Find your escape route with Live Search Maps. http:// 
>>maps.live.com/default.aspx?ss=Restaurants~Hotels~Amusement% 
>>20Park&cp=33.832922~-117.915659&style=r&lvl=13&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-100 
>>0&scene=1118863&encType=1&FORM=MGAC01

_________________________________________________________________
Get a preview of Live Earth, the hottest event this summer - only on MSN 
http://liveearth.msn.com?source=msntaglineliveearthhm