Ch 28 In which George Washington and his happy negro smoke dope with Mason and Dixon

[Joseph Tracy]

One way and another George made a lot of money:This is  the Wall St.’s  Journal’s list of the richest U.S. presidents:

1. George Washington, first president from 1789 to 1797
-- Net worth: $525 million In office
His Virginia plantation, Mount Vernon, consisted of five separate farms on 8,000 acres of prime farmland, run by more than 300 slaves. His wife, Martha Washington, inherited significant property from her father. Washington made well more than subsequent presidents: his salary was 2% of the total U.S. budget in 1789. ( only JFK was richer)

The following quote is from this article
How Did Washington Make His Millions?  by Andrew G. Gardner  in an online journal sponsored by The Colonial Williamsberg foundation.
"Most of this wealth can be traced to Washington’s success as a land speculator, an enterprise that grew out of his early career as land surveyor. “
http://www.history.org/Foundation/journal/winter13/washington.cfm <http://www.history.org/Foundation/journal/winter13/washington.cfm>

>> 
>> Though farm land has proved a better investment than improved
>> properties, property investment has,generally disappointed.
>> 
>> A good article on this, though not directly applicable to Washington,
>> here-----> from  ROBERT J. SHILLER is Sterling Professor of Economics
>> at Yale.
>> 
>> Why Land and Homes Actually Tend to Be Disappointing Investments
>> 
>> https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/17/upshot/why-land-may-not-
>> be-the-smartest-place-to-put-your-nest-egg.html
>> --
>> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>> 
> --
> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l