George Mason Manuscript Collection
George Mason's Endorsement of William Buckland,
October 8, 1759
Four years after he began his term of service with George Mason, Buckland gained his freedom and received an excellant recommendation. Buckland would go on to become a prominent local architect, dying in 1774 when he was 41-years-old and at the height of his career.
The endorsement reads: "The within named William Buckland came into Virginia with my brother Thomson Mason who engaged him in London & had a very good character of him there; during the time he lived with me he had the entire Direction of the Carpenters and Joiners work of a large House; and having behaved very faithfully in my service, I can with great justice recommend him as an honest sober diligent man & I think a complete Master of the Carpenter's and Joiner's Business both in theory and practice."
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