Taking a larger view of the slave labor used

As I explain in the book, the commissioners generally thought they could save money by contracting out for supplies. Brick contractors worked so close to the Capitol and White House that I do discuss the slaves used by them, though I have no sure numbers on how many slaves as opposed to free workers, including free blacks, were used. In describing how the hired slaves got roof timbers for the building in the winter of 1796-97, I make clear that it was a special job. The commissioners had contracted with outside and far away men, presumably plantation owners, for most of the lumber needs.

That means a full accounting of what the slaves did is impossible without the records of those contractors. I had begun researching that on the web but didn't put what little I gleaned in the book. The letter below shows again what I often suggest in the book, the mere contracting for something or advertising for work and slaves does not reflect what really happened. Someone has to dig into the commissioners' account books to see if McCarthy Fitzhugh, Esq., ever delivered the timbers.

Who was he and did he use slave labor? There is a court case listed in Cranch's Reports, volume 1, about McCarthy Fitzhugh not paying $55 for annual hire of "Negro Charles" in 1797, nor the penalty agreed to if he didn't pay. The 1804 case was in the District of Columbia, which then included parts of nearby Virginia. But the contract the commissioners made was probably for timber in the Northern Neck. The Fitzhugh plantations had long been near the Lee plantations and genealogical records show that is where Henry Alexander Ashton lived.

I don't think the court case has anything to do with the timber contract other than showing that McCarthy Fitzhugh was not meeting his obligations in 1797. Judging from other court records "Negro Charles" was a man servant bequeathed to male family members until they reached the age of 21.

Slavery permeated Virginia society and the question is did Fitzhugh also hire slaves to get timber just as William Augustine Washington did on the commissioners' account http://capitalslaves.blogspot.com/2015/11/hring-slaves-to-cut-timber-in.html, or did he use his own  slaves?

My guess is that slaves were hired to do that work and one would think that somewhere there remain records of that hiring. Find that and we get a more complete idea of  how many black hands built the White House.