His primary means of income came from wheat and potato production, woodcutting, selling slaves and outsourcing slave labor, collecting land rents, and his herring operation on the Potomac River. However soil degradation, poor harvests, temperamental weather, and the devastation of crops by insects and pests limited his agricultural returns.
Initially John Augustine followed the precedential policies of his mother, father, and uncle Bushrod, publishing trespassing notices around the property, requesting letters of introduction to enter the mansion, and denying the landing of steamboats on the Potomac River. But with his lands yielding such little profit, John Augustine decided to embrace this historical tourism, implementing business strategies to extract money from the thousands of visitors who journeyed to the home of George Washington.
In order to bring more people to the estate, he entered into a contract with the proprietors of the Thomas Collyer to permit their steamboat to dock directly at Mount Vernon. He also promoted and invested in the construction of the Alexandria, Mount Vernon and Accotink Turnpike Road, which was designed to make travel easier to Mount Vernon over land.
As more visitors descended upon the grounds, he instructed slaves and laborers to sell bouquets of flowers, fruit, milk, and hand-carved canes to tourists. The Washingtons and Their Homes. Berryville, Va. Podcast Mount Vernon Everywhere! He also served as Sherriff for Westmoreland County from to , By the start of , Wakefield was destroyed by fire and William Augustine Washington moved his growing family to Blenheim, an existing house located a mile inland from the Potomac River.
Samuel K. Back to Main menu Center for Digital History. If Augustine, Jr. At Lawrence's death, he indeed had no living children, and Augustine, Jr. As she remarried and was not living at Mount Vernon, she leased the property to George beginning in Upon her death in , George Washington inherited the plantation outright.
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