His first purchase was about one thousand acres, for which he paid one hundred pounds, Virginia currency.

Land speculation was the fever of the time.

Savary was early affected by it, and before the new friends left Philadelphia for Richmond he bought warrants for one hundred and twenty thousand acres in Virginia, in Monongalia County, between the Great and Little Kanawha rivers, and interested Gallatin to the extent of one quarter in the purchase.

Soon after the completion of this transaction the sale of some small portions reimbursed them for three fourths of the original cost.

This was the first time when, and Savary was the first person to whom, Gallatin was willing to incur a pecuniary obligation.