The subscription books of the new company having been, as the law required, opened on February 8, 1785, a summons was issued for a meeting of the subscribers at Alexandria, Virginia, on May 17. The meeting having been called to order, Daniel Carrol was elected chairman and Charles Lee, clerk.[1] The books being opened, it was found that Virginia had subscribed for two hundred and sixty-six shares, the Richmond book showing one hundred shares, the Alexandria book, one hundred and thirty-five, and the Winchester book thirty-one; Maryland had subscribed for one hundred and thirty-seven shares, divided as follows: Annapolis, seventy-three; Georgetown, forty-two; Frederick, twenty-two. The total shares were therefore four hundred and three, giving the company a capital of £40,300. President and four directors of the Potomac Company, as it was known, being ballotted for, George Washington was elected president, and Thomas Johnson, Thomas Sim
- ↑ All particulars concerning the inner history of the Potomac Company are from Pickell's A New Chapter in the Early Life of Washington; the author had access to all documents in the case.
