George Washington's First Love: Last Privately-Held Letter Heads to Auction

Historic letter written by a 23-year-old George Washington to his first purported love, Sally Fairfax, will be sold at auction.

COLUMBUS, OH, UNITED STATES, April 6, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- On the eve of America's 250th anniversary, a rare letter written by George Washington to his first purported love, Sally Fairfax, is headed to auction on April 24th, 2026, at Fleischer's Auctions in Columbus, Ohio. Written when he was just twenty-three-years-old, the historic letter is the last George Washington wrote to Sally Fairfax in private hands. All of the of the other letters are in museums or institutions. Estimated to sell for $150,000-$300,000, the letter is offered as lot #1 in Fleischer's Auctions' 2026 Spring Premier sale.

Among the most personal survivals of George Washington’s early life, this letter was written from Fort Cumberland during General Edward Braddock’s 1755 expedition. Addressed to Sarah Cary Fairfax, the wife of his close friend George William Fairfax, its tone is unmistakably bashful. The record suggests it was at least the third letter Washington sent in hopes of drawing her into a private correspondence, and his language is by turns deferential, teasing, and emotionally exposed. He all but pleads for a reply, writing in one section, “...how easy is it to remove my suspicions, enliven my Spirits, and make me happier than the Day is long; by honouring me with a correspondence which you did once partly promise to do...”

Washington wrote at least nine letters to Sally Fairfax between 1755 and 1758, and this June 7, 1755 letter is generally counted as the third in that sequence. In earlier letters he had already attempted to encourage a correspondence; here, however, his tone becomes more pressing and more personal. He teasingly complains that her request that news of his safe arrival be conveyed through someone else amounted to “a gentle rebuke” and “a polite manner of forbidding my corresponding with you.” Throughout, the letter is playful and unmistakably written with feeling.

George Washington’s relationship with Sally Fairfax was one of the most intriguing and emotionally charged of his early life. As a young man, Washington became a frequent visitor at Belvoir, the elegant plantation seat of the Fairfax family, after his half-brother Lawrence Washington married Ann Fairfax in 1743. There he came into close contact with Sarah Cary Fairfax- beautiful, cultivated, socially accomplished, and two years his senior. Sally would marry George William Fairfax in 1748, though Washington’s attachment to her appears to have endured long after her marriage.

This letter was also written at a dramatic moment in Washington’s early military career. In the summer of 1755, General Edward Braddock led a force of British regulars and colonial troops westward in an effort to seize the French stronghold at Fort Duquesne, at the forks of the Ohio. As commander-in-chief of British forces in North America, Braddock was mounting the principal British offensive in what became known in America as the French and Indian War, the North American theater of the global Seven Years’ War. Washington, recently promoted lieutenant colonel of the Virginia Regiment, served on the expedition as a volunteer aide-de-camp to Braddock.

Sarah “Sally” Cary Fairfax (1730–1811) was born into one of Virginia’s most distinguished families. In 1748 she married George William Fairfax (1724–1787), heir to Belvoir and one of Washington’s closest early companions. The Fairfaxes played an important role in Washington’s social ascent in colonial Virginia, introducing him to the manners, expectations, and connections of the colony’s highest circles. Sally, in particular, seems to have exercised a singular hold over Washington’s imagination. Some have even suggested that it was his hope of making himself worthy of Sally’s notice that motivated him to improve his station.

Andrew Silvia
Fleischer's Auctions
+1 614-305-5120
info@fleischersauctions.com

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.