Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1879-08-29
AOSoIuSkO'S Will.

AOsoIuskO's Will.
Among the records of the clerk ofics of the
Circuit Court of this county there is docu-
ment which, from tbe notable position which
the parties connected with it have hold in the
history of cur ccuutry. is Of interest. The doc.
uuent in question is the will ef Thaddeus Kos
cusko, the Polish patriot, the friend of liberty
aud of Jefferson. 10 Offering this ancient pa
per 10 the peIusll of our readers it may not b.
Inappropriate to gvs brief sketch OF the lifo
OF its noble author. Thaddeus kossusko VAS
born 10 the Grand Duchy of SiilicaDia 10 1852.
he was spruog OF nob. aDc sstors and iohcrt.
ed considerable estate. E,rly 10 lfe he cs.
poused tbs cause OF civil liberty. aud ono of the
first acts of his manhood Was to break the tet.
ters of his own seris. After tho partition Of
Poland, 10 1772, he retired to Paris aud sought
10 her schools military education. II Was
hero that his attention was first directed to
Amerio,, and the struggle 10 which the coloniea
ware then engaged against the mother
couutry, offered wide field of usefulncsJ to
bis liberty loving heart. He arrived 10 thia oouu.
try 10 l7!6 and 10 tho same year was ap-
pointed b. the Colonial Congress a Colonel Of
Ii E,glueere. His services 10 the cause of lib
erty were signal aud valuable. He was ever
selected for the most dangerous and difficult
work. and besides planning ths frrti6cations
OF various other important tur.s, The WORKS al
West Poat were designed by him and built
under his personal supervision. ASS memorial
OF the Vaiu9ble services rendered 10 this case,
the cadets at West Poiat have erected a statuo
to him within the forlfo,Iion5 10 1883. as
reward for his great services. Congress, bestow,
ed upon him the rank OF Btigadier Geaerai
and passed vote declaratory of their high
sense of his faithful aud moritorious condpc:."
Between kosiusko aud MIR. Jefferson there
existed tho Tarmest friendship and Intimacy.
Ho was welcome guest at Monticello, where
be spent some time, and the mutual love Of
these two great men for liberty and freedom.
made their conpanonship highly congeuial.
With the price Of his services as soldier in
the American army, he had purchased Ameii
oau securities. and 10 these Consisted the prop
erty comprised 10 this testamentary disposition.
Un the eve of his departure from this country
in 179S be mado this will and left it 10 the pos
session of Mr.. Jefsrsou.
Tho ruling passion Of his life, that of gain-
ing for bis fellow man libery and freedom, is
msolested clearly in this quaint instrument.
1t reads as follow:
II, Thsddcus Kosciusko, being just 10 my
departure fr)m America, do hereby declare
and direct that should mako DO other tps:a
mentsry disposition OF my properly in the Uoi
ted States hereby nu,hcrz, ny friend.
Thomas Jefferson. 10 embloy the whole thereof
in purchasing negroes from annng his own or
any others and giVlcg them Liberty II my
nsme. in giving them sn education 10 trades or
otherwise, and in having them insrlc'ed for
their rew condition in the duties CT morality,
which may msko them good neiahbors. good
fathers or mothers, hush binds or wives. aod 10
their duties as citiz ,ns, teaching them 10 b.
useful; and make the said Thomas J.ff,rson
Executor Of this 5!h day Of Nav, lT9S.
IT. kosCIUsCo."
at the bottom ef lhs will is the usual mem-
oraldum Of its probate, as Of the l2;h day oil
May, 1919, and the memorandum a'50 contains
the statement that mir. Jefslson, the Exeol
tor therein named. rafoses to take upon him
self the burthea of the execution of the said
wiIl-Testc John Carr, G. g."
10 letter to 30 eminent Frenoamao, written
about this time, Mr.. Jefferson states that ho
is now ''too old to undertake such on nnerous
duty, but is striving to have the phlantbropic
wishes Of tho donor discharged" The probate
Of the will gave OCCASION to very interesting
correspondence between Mr.. j. aud William
Writ, then Attorney General of the Uoited
States, as TO where tho WILL 6noulo De pr0Veu'
1t was decided that as Mr.. J. held the evidences
Of the debts tho Circuit Court Of this county was
ths proper forum for its probate.
ltnowhe1e appears whether tho provisions OF
the will were carried Gu, or not. Mr. VIM. Wer'
teubaker, the venerable Librarian of the UuiVer-
sity, was clerk 10 tho ofice of the Circuit
| Court at The time, aud remembers tho o,roum'
ssaros of the recordalon CT the will, What
became of thi, property is not knoHD; the
| securities may have been WORTHLESS. and it ls
highly probable that the philanthroplc wishes
| of tie donor we're never carried out.
Alter Kosciusko had assisted our forefathers
TO establish their Temple of Freedem he re-.
turned to bis native land, where he fought
prsvely for her Liberation. bu. filling Ia this ha
re ired to Suirzerlsnd, whero he died in 1917.
l--GordonsviUe Gazette.
| Nav, D,rro GonDa --Ralr1oral Skirts end