General Discussion

As an ambitious but younger son, he wasn't expected to inherit much from his father, so he learned a trade - surveying and leveraged that into buy land in western Virginia. He eventually inherited Mount Vernon from an older brother, but unlike a lot of Virginia planters he didn't stick to growing tobacco: he planted cereal crops and kept the estate solvent. When he lived in New York City as president he visited a synagogue at least once. As you point out, he didn't free his slaves during his lifetime, but he made arrangements for them to be freed after his death, and cared for in the meantime. The more I read about both of them the more I prefer Washington to Jefferson.

William Lee is a fascinating person: he was with Washington throughout the Revolution and his presidency. One of the great never-written books I want is Lee's memoirs of his time with Washington.