Four miles from Mt. Vernon, on the Potomac, is the well-preserved mansion, Gunston Hall, built in 1758 by George Mason, the great-grandson of George Mason, who fled to America after the Battle of Worcester, where he was in arms against the king of England. The first mention of the name of this George Mason occurs in the Virginia patent of land which he secured in March, 1655. George Washington and George Mason were not only near neighbors, but they were warm friends. Frequently Washington drove to Gunston Hall for a talk with Mason; or sometimes he floated down the stream in his four-oared gig, manned by his own slaves. Sometimes the men roamed together through the woods or the fields; on one of these walks they sought to define the boundaries between their estates. Gifts of various kinds passed back and forth between the two manors; one day in 1785, when Mason was driven from Mt. Vernon in Washington's carriage, he sent back by the driver some young shoots of the Persian jessamine and Guelder rose. A few days later a hogshead of cider was broached at Gunston Hall, and a liberal sample was sent to Washington. A note dated "9th November, 1785," addressed to Washington, begins, "The bearer waits on you with a side of venison (the first we have killed this season), which I beg your acceptance of." At one time both Washington and Mason were members of the vestry of Truro parish. Washington's list of the vestrymen shows that his friend was elected by two hundred and eighty-two votes, while he himself received but fifty-one votes. Mason was as often at Mt. Vernon as Washington was at Gunston Hall. After a visit made on Christmas Day, 1783, one of the other guests, Miss Lewis, of Fredericksburg, wrote: "Among the most notable of the callers was Mr. George Mason, of Gunston Hall, who was on his way home from Alexandria, and who brought a charming granddaughter with him.... He is said to be one of the greatest statesmen and wisest men in Virginia. We had heard much of him and were delighted to look in his face, hear him speak, and take his hand, which he offered in a courtly manner. He is slight in figure, but not tall, and has a grand head and clear gray eyes."