Other Discoveries
Lease contract signed by William Smith, Peter Chaillé, and Alpheus Wheelock, 1787
A find of particular value to Washington College’s archives is this rare document signed in 1787 by the school’s founder, Dr. William Smith, during his relatively short sojourn in Chestertown. Acting as attorney for one of the College’s early trustees, Peter Chaillé, Dr. Smith negotiates the lease to Alpheus Wheelock of a half-acre lot near campus.
This manuscript — along with all the others recently discovered in the attic — will be accessible to researchers and the general public in Washington College’s Miller Library. Collectively, they will be known as the Ripley Papers, named for the old house near Chestertown where the documents originated.
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