The Washington herald., 1911-02-19

very existence Of washington's will is
doubtless due to the disposition that,
according to law. had to be made Of this
paper. Swords and household effects end
personal belongings OF the Revolutionary
leader were treasured by his descend
ants, and ultimately found their way,
most OF them, into museums. But the
will, after 1t had been filed for probate
at the county seat OF the county in Nir-
ginia where Washington lived and died.
almost completely disappeared from view.
As time went on Fairfax, Va.-or Fairfax
Court House. as It is now called-the
county seat Of Fairfax county, became re-
mote from the main travelled roads Of the
Old Dominion, and Of the strangers that
did visit the village few knew that there
reposed among the musty archives Of the
old courthouse this significant specimen
of the authorship Of the first president.
About the only time during the past
century that the public heard anything
regarding the will Of Washington was dur
ing the Civil War, when on one occasion
many Of the newspapers OF the country
printed a story to the effect that the
relic had been distracted from the clerk s
office of the Fairfax County Court, sold
by the thief and taken TO England, where
It was said to be on exhibition In the
British Museum. AS is so often the case,
the deniaIs of this erroneous report never
seemed to gain as wide circulation as the
original statement, and there may be
found to this day many persons who sup
pose that the will is one of several valu-
able Washington relics that are owned
abroad.
Doubtless the aforementioned rumors
regarding the Washington will arose from
the fact that during the Civil War the
last will and testament was removed from
the county courthouse, or, rather. the
office of the clerk of the court-which was
then as now in a separate building-and
transferred for safekeeping to Richmond.
Va, the capital Of the Confederacy. How
ever, the solicitous Virginians in the end
came near doing no better by the precious
document than they could have expected
the invading federals to do, for they lost
the will in Richmond. In the confusion
incident to the fall Of that city In the
closing days of the war the will COM
pIetely disappeared, and tradition has it
that it was kicked about among number
of supposedly discarded and worthless
papers. However this may be. 1t was re-
covered in due course and returned to Its
original repository at Fairfax, none the
better, naturally, though, for its expert
ence.
Back in the custody of the court where
It was probated, the will was tolerably
safe from theft, although the fact that 1t
was on display much OF the time in q
building that was not hreproof indicated
that it was menaced by dangers to which
so valuable a relic should never have been
exposed. And, finally, in later years the
very existence began to be threatened by
influences more serious than any OF the
others Historians, government officials
and others who had occasion to view the
will from time to time noted that it was
rapidly yielding to the rayages Of time.
The ink in which 1t was penned-e1cel-
lent as was the ink Of those early days
began to fade. and from the frequent
foldiugs and unfoIdings the pages began
to fray around the edges and split along
the lines Of the creases. Indeed, things
came to such a pass that almost every
page was completely severed through the
middle.
Then. the worst fate OF all befell the
will Somebody in authority at Fairfax,
whose intent may have been good, but
whose judgment was, to say the least,
permitted q woman resident