I hereby constitute & appoint Mr Jas. Eveleth[1] of Washington City my hire & lawful agent, with full powers in my name & behalf, to hire & receive the wages of my servant Philip Minday & to exercise such authority, control, and direction over him as may be necessary to this end as well as for his protection, safety, & well doing.
Given under my hand & seal, in the city of Washington, this first day of August, Anno Domini 1852.
RE Lee (Seal)
In presence of
Robert Fowler
Fred. A. Smith
Source: The Archives of the Robert E. Lee Memorial Foundation, Papers of the Lee Family, Box 3, M2009.217, Jessie Ball duPont Library, Stratford Hall
Transcribed by Colin Woodward, 2015 September 4
[1]According to the U.S. census, James Eveleth was born in 1815 in Virginia and was living in Washington, D.C., in 1860. In the 1845 Register of Officers and Agents Civil, Military, and Naval in the Service of the United States, he is listed as a clerk working in the Engineering Department in Maryland. Perhaps Lee knew him through his work with the Corps of Engineers.
