St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1895-02-09
REL ICS OF WASHINGTON.
Vail iable Mementoes Reccntly
Gwen to the Nation Museum.
Among Them II = Cor splets Set OF Papers.
Door ments and He AseAOld Accounts
In the Handw fit1ng OF tho
Father or fIds Country.

Among Them II \ Cor spIets Set OF Paper.
Oocs ments and He AseAOld Accounts
In the Handw fiflng Of the
Father or Flas Country.
Especial Wasr anGton Lett1tl
The memory Of George Nashinrto.
= dear to the hear Is Of f.ls countrvmen
Tne Steamboats, riY.n< the Potomac al
ways toll their b lls as they pass Mount
Vernon. and the excursion steamers no,
only toll their hells- but their bands o,
music slowly Inv America, !" or sweet
~ watt aero s the water the notes o,
that beautiful SundAy-school hymn
safe in the Arms of Jesus
Every ar k:le which uver belonged tc
Washington is highly priced as a relic,
ana the Government has expended con.
siderable money IN tho purchase ot
house aold goods and personal property
OF me Father Of his Country. For.
tn lately. how ever. the men and women
Fho have Come in possession of val,
uable rellcs have donated many of them
20 the GO c'ernment. for public exhibf-
ton in 7 e Smithsonian institution. The
Old hW lcstead at Mount Vernon is KEEP,
In Pr .ctically the condition it was when
tho great patriot and his widow passed
aW ay from the scenes OF earth. Recent
y, clump OF trees which had grown
tall and outrageous has been trimmed
down SO that \ good view Of Mount
Vernon can be obtained from the river.
The ladies in charge of the historic and
sacred place keep 1t in excellent repair
and make it attractive. Every visitor
sarries away with him from the place .
pleasant memory. Fifty Thousand peo-
pie have visited Mount Vernon during
the present year.
The memcntces Of Washington are
regarded as OF such Importance that
they are given an entire section of one
OF the halls Of the National museum.
where they arc kept in one collection
ghe entire list could not well he accu-
rately described in detail. save in q
large volume. Everything. from an
old-tilne miniature of Washington to
his revolutionary war medicine chest,
are grouped together.
One of the later exhibits added to the
collection by donation is complete
lot Of papers and documents which
were kept by Washington, nearly all
Of them heing autographic work.
These papers are the property OF Law
renee Washington who generously
made the donation with the .proviso
that they should be exhibited in his
name. Bushrod Washington, the
nephew of George Washington, after
the death Of his distinguished uncle,
received all of the papers which had
belonged to the general. Bnshrod
Washington was an associate justice
OF the United States supreme court. He
had no descendants. and when he died
the papers went. by his will. to his
brother, Corbin Washington, the great
grandfather of Lawrence, who has re-
Gently offered them for exhibition in
the museum. Ever since the death of
Corbin Washington these papers were
stored away in obscurity. and have re-
Gently. for the first time. been brought
before the public. They are regarded
by those in charge Of the collection as
one Of the most yalaAble parts Of the
Gen. Washington exhibit, and are kept
In separate cases.
Ono cf the valued treasures Of the
collection Is the win Of John Washing
ton, George Washington's great-grand-
father. who, with his brother Law
renee, came to this country from Eng
land. He was . man OF considerable
wealth and largo landed possessions,
and owned many boats and large sail-
ing vessels 1n the early days Of the
Of America, John Washing-
ton and Nicholas Spencer brought to
this country \ large number of settlers,
passage for them on their
own ships. In compensation for their
they received 5000 acres Of
Virginia land from Lord Culpeper.
This land all bordered on the Potomac
river and included Mount Vernon.
which afterwards became the home
and last resting place Of the Father Of
his Country. The original deed Of this
tract of land is among the papers, and
there is also q memorandum as to the
nature Of the document indorsed ON
The back by George Washington. This
is as follows: ''Thos. Gull |
peper's patent to Col. N. Spencer and
1t. Col. John Washington for 5000
lcres Of land'' This deed is ancient,
Is Is shown by the date which it bears,
March 1, 1874. -'---
Before the land came into the hands |
II the Washingtons survey Of 1t was
made on the order of Lord Culpcper. |
4 copy Of this order Is among the pa-
,ers in this collection. There are also
numerous deeds. dated from that time |
N, relating to transfers and re-survcys |
Ifter the Washington family had con-
rol Of 1t. There Is deed from William 1
harrison. an ancestor Of ex-Presidcnt |
3enjamin Harrison. transferring 200
'cres Of woodland in the year l7Os.
rom 1890 to . century later are other
leeds recording transfers to and from
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