The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-03-04
FAMOUS PERSONS WILLS.
Which Form Part Of the Treasures at
Washington.


Testamentary Disposition of Many of
the Presidents Reflects the Charao-
teristics of the Notable Subscribers.
Excerpts From the Last Testaments
of George Washington, "oId Kick
ory," John Quincy Adams, and 9th
ers.
From the Washington Post
81, John Smith. being in feeble health,
but of sound mind, and desiring to settle
my affairs in this world and to make nv
peace with God, do make this my last
will and testament"
| In the great iron vault in the basement
of the city hall there are thousands of
| legal documents with similar preface.
Some read like the inscription upon
ombstone and some echo the groans of
the sick man upon his bed of pain. When
| you enter the hre-proof chamter in which
| these aged instruments Of more than four
| generations are stored, there is a feeling
as though you were standing in one of the
great underground catacombs of Egypt
or Palestine. One can think that the
! spirits of the departed could issue from
the musty and yellow papers on which
they have directed how their earthly eff
fects should be disposed of and hold high
carnival within the closed iron walls at
! the dead of night. What gathering it
would be of the ghosts of presidents, sol
dlers, statesmen, cranks, rich and poor
| Tho thought is uncanny What a story a
Hawthorne would have conjured up from
his imagination
In spite of these reflections which come
to one who first approaches the subject
the collection Of old wills in the vault of
| the District of Columbia are probably
more precious than any other collection
OF local archives. One only needs to en-
ter the vault with Col. L. =. Wright. the
registrar, who is always genial and ac-
cOmmodating, to realize what a wealth of
historic manuscripts and of quaint forgot-
ten eccentricities it contains. There was
provision in the early law by which the
wills, once deposited, could not be with
drawn, so the registrar has in his keep
ing all the legal instruments OF this char
acter since the year 1900 Many men
known to history and identified with the
development OF the nation have lived and
owned property in Washington, and their
Wills, or exact copies thereof, repose in
the great iron receptacle.
he will of George Washington is, per
maps, the most famous of all the docu-
ments. 1t was recently copied by the
order OF the registrar into a record book
where 1t could be consulted with facility
Inc original is somewhere in Virginia,
but Washington had some property inter
ests in the Capital city, and CODY was
deposited with the authorities here 1t is
a mammoth document and probably COW
ers more writing paper than any other
will among the archives 1t is spread upOn
eight broad pages and it would require
at least TWO solid pages of the Post on
which to print it. While the earthly pos
sessions of the father of his country,
though he was one of the richest Ameri-
cans OF his time, we're by no means as ex-
tensive as those of many modern million
aires, he prescribed with the greatest
minuteness how they should be disposed
of
The most famous provisions in this
great document, which Washington de-
clares to have written with his own hand.
are those in which he devised fifty shares
OF stock In the Potomac River Company
for the founding of an American uniyer-
sity, and that in which he provides for
the liberation of his slaves. The shares
OF stock were presented to him by the
Virginia legislature, and were at first de-
cllned, but the gift was afterward so ar
ranged as not to conflict with his notions
OF proprlety in receiving public gifts
The provisions for the gift to the pro-
posed university are couched in patriotic
language characteristic of the man.
Washington was not only patriotic; he
was public spirited. He made many gifts
in his will which were intended to be
public benefactions.
1t is the slave clause which reads most
curiously TO the child of the last genera
ton. IL is, in fact an excellent aboli-
Zionist document They were not to be
released till the death of Martha Wash
lngton, his wife. He stated that it was
his earnest wish that they should be
emancipated before, but he thought this
would be accompanied with insurmount-
able difficulties The chief Of these was
the lntermarriages which existed with
the dover negroes He says that he
should be glad to emancipate both. but il
was not in his power to do so They
were to be taught to read and write. and
at Mrs Washington's decease all his
directions with regard to their freedom
were to be religlously carried out with
out evasion or neglect.
AS a remembrance of the DAYS of bond
age the will of "Old Hickory'' is a curio.
II was made at the Hermitage, where he
passed his declining years. 1t required
nearly all his earthly possessions, saving
few slaves, to pay the debts which his
adopted son, Andrew Jackson, Jr., and
ment that he had made this will on ac-
count of the change in his affairs, neces-
STATED by the obligations he had assumed
for his SON. Every member Of his i'm
mediate family, including his grandchil-
dren of tender years, is remembered with
at least one slave to be owned absolutely.
These requests are made in language ex-
pressive of the great affection which he
possessed for all his kin.
Probably the old pictures of jackson
which represent him as always walking
with a cane, are true to life. for in his
will he has several requests of his favor
lite walking sticks. These appear as dear
to him as his swords He presents the
latterwith the patriotic request that they
never be raised except in defense of the
nation. Indeed, the language of the will
leaves no room TO doubt that jackson was
a patriotic man to the core and that he
had this highest welfare of the nation at
heart.
In striking contrast to the will of Jack /
son is that of John Quincy Adams. They
are as unlike as were the two men, |
Adams was a Unitarian of the Boston !
school, and his will contains none of the |
usual references to religious matters, but |
deals strictly with the topic in hand-the
diSpOgitiOn of his prODerfv TIC ea,yg