An indentured stonemason, Henry Young worked at Mount Vernon from 1774 until 1781, with an interruption in his services from 1776 until 1778. In 1774, George Washington provided Young with at least two pairs of shoes, as well as trousers, a waistcoat, breeches, and a trowel. In 1778, Young was being paid at a rate of ten shillings per day. In 1781, Young paved the two "stages" in front of the mansion, laid the hearth in the dining room, paved the covered walkways with brick, and repaired the steps in front of the house.1 Young also was one of the Mount Vernon three servants taken aboard the British warship Roebuck on July 24, 1776, when the ship was anchored in the Potomac River near the mouth of Aquia Creek in Stafford County. Later that summer, the ship participated in British operations against Washington's army in Philadelphia.2 Young returned to work Mount Vernon in 1778.
Notes: 1. Mesick, Cohen & Waite, "Building Trades," Historic Structures Report (Mount Vernon Ladies' Association): 2-46; see also entries for "1 August 1774," "1 November 1774," "Henry Young Stone Mason a Servt. for Tools & Cloaths," Lund Washington Account Book, 11. See also "Dr….Henry Young Stone Mason…Cr.," Lund Washington Account Book, 77.
2. "From George Washington to Lund Washington, 6 October 1776," Founders Online, National Archives.
