Petition of the Inhabitants of Loudoun County (January 8, 1776)

Petition of the Inhabitants of Loudoun County, January 8, 1776

To the Hon^ble. the President & Gent^m. of the Convention

The Petition of Sundry’s Inhabitants of Loudoun County Humbly Sheweth That there is a Great Number of Tenants in this county on Cash Rents (It is believ’d more than three Hundred) that many of them whose Contracts are of a late date are upon High rents & some of them now Excessively so by Having numbers of Slaves annex’d with them their Lands. Your Petitioners beg leave further to observe, that when these Contracts were enter’d into they had a very Flourishing Growing Trade for Grain & Flour at Alexandria & other Ports. That those Articles were Chiefly Rely’d on by Landlords’ Tenants to raise their rents. That those Articles are now Useless on our Hands is so Notoriously Known, and of consequence the difficulty your Petitioners now Labour under, that it needs no Further Explanation. Your Petitioners woud Further observe that in most of our late contracts, the Landlords have bound the Tenants to pay all Land Taxe’s that Might Happen, as these Unhappy times was unforeseen, this adds to our Embarrassments. We therefore pray that your Hon^ble. House will take our Situation into Consideration & Grant us such Relief as you in your Wisdom shall judge proper. —