ding the property in
1790 that the public were not to be denied fishing privileges there:

Deed of cession of two acres of land at Cape Henry, in Princess
Anne County, Virginia, for the purpose of erecting a lighthouse
thereon ... provided that nothing contained in this act shall
affect the right of this State to any materials heretofore placed
at or near Cape Henry for the purpose of erecting a lighthouse, nor
shall the citizens be debarred, in consequence of this cession,
from the privileges they now enjoy of hauling their seines and
fishing on the shores of the said land so ceded to the United
States.

When George Washington had come, a newlywed, to be master of Mt. Vernon
in 1759 he found the prospects for fishing very satisfying. One of his
letters at this time boasted:

A river [the Potomac] well-stocked with various kinds of fish at
all seasons of the year, and in the spring with shad, herrings,
bass, carp, perch, sturgeon, etc., in great abundance. The borders
of the estate are washed by more than ten miles of tidewater, the
whole shore, in fact, is one entire fishery.

Washington generously ordered his overseer to admit "the honest poor"
to fishing privileges at one of his shores, a concession that may have
been customary among many landowners.

He was a man who believed in keeping records, and so complete a file of
them has now been reassembled at Mt. Vernon that it is possible to
follow his career in any phase: officer, business speculator, host,
farmer, legislative adviser, and friend. He gave to fishing the
painstaking personal attention he gave to all else. As a "fisherman" he
directed the manufacture as well as the repair of his nets, and the
curing, shipping and marketing of his fish.

It seems obvious that suitable nets were not being manufactured in the
desired quantity or variety in America, otherwise he would hardly have
bought his in England.

He dealt with Robert Cary and Co., London, in 1771. Here is a typical
order:

One seine, seventy-five fathoms long when rigged for hauling; to be
ten feet deep in the middle and eight at the ends with meshes fit
for the herring fishery. The corks to be two and a half feet
asunder; the leads five feet apart; to be made of the best
three-strand (small) twine and tanned.

400 fathom of white inch rope for hauling the above seine. 150
fathom of deep sea line.

To get