The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1902-01-16
THE TOWN OF WASHINGTON
Georgia Has the Oldest Namcsake
OF the Father of Hiss Country

Georgia Has the Oldest Namcsals
Of the Father of Hiss Country.
/ Miss + +. Andrews contributes II.
i"ll)wins article TO the Wa>hinytr,
| (Ga) rhroniric:
Although our town is the rldrs
namcsakc of the father Of his cuuu
try,' very few people, apparently, ar,
aware that President Washington one,
made Il visit to this, the first born o
inc numerous progeny OF geographical
Observation-Disclosures biz an,
Wasmnglons l,ltlc, Washinytons rural
urban and territorial, that have sine,
! donc more or less honor 10 the name
Yet, such Is the fac'; the great foam len
OF the republic once sprr, night in
our town, and there are rrnplc sill
| living IN our midst that have seen and
talked with the vcrilahlc colonial ,!amc
| that entertained HIM.
IT was in the year l79D, when
Washington made hls great tour of the
southern States, embracing Richm.nd.
Charleston and Savannah, Ir'urLiny
py Augusta and the inl"ii " towns of
hc Carollras and Virginia. Oar little
NaShln"tnn WAS on the great highway
nciwccn Richmnnd and Augusta. and
mus " along the route the pr,s;d ut
mad )" carefully mapped cut ipr him.
SELF that he never failed to arrive Il,
each place where h" proposed {, hat
on the very day he had fixed There
was living here at that time II CrlGncl
Allison, who had folio we'd the tide Of
emigration that flowed fr.m Virginia,
like 80 many OF our early settlers. lie
was brave Revolutionary officer, a
member Of a"hington's staT, AMI a
warm personal friend and so, when
the great general was passing through
Georgia, what more natural than that
he should arrange To stop at Washing
ton town and spend Il NIGHT with his
old flicnd?
C"lolcl Allison lived ia Il two story
lramc house quite prctcnun;s build.
ing Tor those times that used to stand
back Of where WooA's livery stable
now L., and was burned nuwn in the
great fire of 1885 that DESTROYED the
the Episcopal church and many ether
tuildi iTs on that block. The writer
remembers il as Il dilapidatrd old
structure tha, used to be pointed out,
IN the days OF her youth, as the I,lcaL
house IN town. Thi5 fact gave il "A
certain interest and seemed to con-
siitutc lis only distinction, as the cir
cumslnnccs that il had once sh, lirrc,t
SO illustriOuS Il guest as the FIST prcSi-
dent of the rcpI3 ic seems, strangely
enough, to have passed entirely out uf
mind. The old house gradually went
from bad to worse, and as The w:i.cr
last +, mHmbcrs it WA iuhah.icL T.,
ne rruc3 WHO swarmrd within The dl"oy
old walls as thick a. the population ni
a New Yolk tenement.
Colonel Allsnn WAS enc of the Ori4-
nal founders of the Order Of the Gin
cinnati, and his certificate Of member ;
ship, signed with Washington'S auto
graph, is now in the possession Of /
Captain j. II. Alexander, OF Au!nAla. ,
lie left Il wild IVY who lived toa great !
aAc, and son, Robert, who was the ,
first husband Of Mrs. Barnett. the
mother our honorcd citizens, Dr.. Frank
Willis and the Hon. SHmu,l Bllncu.
Mrs. Allison, whose l. al len name
was Mcltac, was very fond of the first
Mrs. Adam Alexander, aud Mrs.
AlcXandcr's daughter, Mrs. Clifford
Hull, remembers whcn 4 very little
yil having sometimes accompanied
her mother on her visits to The aged
widow. Mrs. \ liSon owned Il ct Of
china that hal been yivcn TO her az Il
bridal prcsc 1t by General Washington, ,
and just before her death she presented
his set, SIX cups and Sauccr>, together
with the cul0nciS Ger iiica'c o! lnrmhnr.
ship in the Cincinnati, to MIS-. Al"Xal-
der. AS the china had been used on
her table ut the time Of Waehinvton's x
visit it Is certain that he had drunk
from one OF the cups, but as there was
| no mark by winch th,t particular cup
could be Identified, hrro-wOrShpng
tea drinkers who u>ch any OF The six
could latter themselves with lilc pos
sibility that they were GrlnknnG at!"r
Washington. Two cups and sauccro
of this set are sill in existence, onc III
| the possession Of General T.. i. Alex
| andcr, the other of Mrs. Cooper Pope,
Of this rlucc. The cups are without
handles and Of the shallow bowl shape
familiar IN old china, while thc %anccrH
are very deep, as il was the collcrI
thing in those days to pour TEA or c"Il"'
into the saucer and dunk from il, ans
have no doubt but Washln"jou tuph
| his that way. What Il IT, ,as,Irc one I"
these old relics wOuId be to the u MGh
tcrs of the RcvoluilCn.