Washington sentinel. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1853-1855, 1854-10-03
From Correspondence of Philadelphia Enquirer.
A Slave of General WashIngton--Extraor
binary Case of Longevity.


Marvellous and incredible as it may seem,
there is at present living in Fayette county, in
this State, an aged negro who was slave of
General Washington, and who cannot now be
less than 100 years old. His history is briefly
this He was brought in slave ship from the
coast of Guinea, to the port of Philadelphia,
sometime between the years 1850 and 20, and
was purchased, together with nine others, for
farm hands on the Mount Vernon estate, then
owned by Col. George Washington, (already a
man Of note in the colonies, from his services
in the French aud Indian wars.) His name
in his native country was "Funtemah," but at
Mount Vernon they gave him the less barba-
rous appellation of Simon 10 which he after
wards added the name of g Washington" in
honor Of his good master. Simon continued
| to reside at Mount Vernon until the time the
revolution, when, with others, he was sent out
TO tract of land in Fayette county, Pennsyl-
vania, owned by General Washington, to assist
in the erection of mill. After laboring here
for some years, he was sold to BAIL Brown,
| from whom the town of Brownsville is named,
and he sold him to Colonel Edward Cook, in
whose service he remained as long as he was
recognized as slave.
These are the main points Of his life. In
proof of their Authenticity, we have the vener.
able old negro's own story, which he has told
in the same way, and without shadow OF varia-
ton, to his neighbors, time out of mind, and
his exceeding simple mindedness, entirely pre-
cludes the slightest suspicion of its being an
invention. Besides, there are those who re-
member him when General Washington was
yet living, and the fact Of having been his
slave-no wonder at oil Uten-has only grown
$50 by his surviving him SO long, Gen. Joseph
Markle, wing candidate for governor in 1874
himself now seventyeight years of age, test
| fees that "he has known Simon for more than
| ffty-eight years, and that when he first knew
him, be was apparently an aged man." Every
one at all acquainted with the characteristics
of the negro race, Especially the native Arr
CAM knows that they rarely exhibit marks o.
age until they are beyond three score years
| Hon. James Todd, Of Greensburg, formerly
secretary of this Commonwealth, says, in ar
affidavit, that "the facts Of the case, as above
| stated, are such as have been credited by al
his neighbors for the last sirty years, and he
regards them as indisputably true.p ~
Andrew Luin, esq, respectable farmer O
Westmoreland county, now nearly ninety year.
| of age, testifes that I" in the year l779 OF
| 1880, he went to Washington's mill, as it was
then called, and that there he found colorec
man, named Simon, residing---that he was Q
slave Oh 0entfhi w dShluBSOnb unu bhhb Lt
has known him ever since, and can vouch fol
the truth and accuracy Of his statement re
garding himself" With all these proofs, i
would seem the veriest in6delity TO disbeliv,
that old Simon was in reality the slave o
Washington, and that his age cannot be shor
| of six score years--perhaps II exceeds il.
Old Simon has Of late years been bene
iciary Of Colonel Joseph Snider, Of Westmore
land county, who has kindly protected him il
his age and indigence. Last autumn he tool
him TO the agricultural fair at Pittsburg, where
he was visited by thousands. II is understood
that he viii bring him also to the great fair
to be held at Powelton pext week--he will nc
doubt be entitled 70 the premium for the
oldest inhabitant," the individual whose power
Of memory is so often invoked.
In cases Of extreme age, such as this, the
bare numerical statement Of years conveys no
clear idea Of what 1t really is. Il is only by
| comparison that we can ever approximately
gain conception Of It. The Countess Dea-