The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1914-01-15
SPOT LIGHT IS ON
HISTORIC FAIRFAX
Virginia IN Fight to Regain
Martha Washington win
=,. l.. H. ss'5 ---------------- i5
INSISTS MORGAN GIVE II Up.

Testament Cut From the Records Of
Fairfax County During Civil War and
Discovered In Fathers Library Six
Years Ago Is Priced Beyond Price In
the Old Dominion.
The stage is being set for a bitter
battle between the state of Virginia
and J. Pierpont Morgan in Virginia's
avowed intention Of recovering sat all
costs'' the will Of Martha Washington,
which was stolen from the records of
Fairfax county, Va, during the civil
war. This historical document is in
the possession of the New York finan-
cier, who has declined to accede to
the request Of the state that he sur
render it.
Representative Charles G.. Carlin,
who represents the Fairfax district,
has come forward to aid the state and
county officials to recover the will,
"The people of Virginia are aroused
over this NATTER" said the congress
man recently. 1.-The will is ours, and
we are going to have it restored to
where it belongs"
"Virginia will recover the will of
Martha Washington at all COSTS
declared Crandall Mackey, common
wealth attorney for Alexandria county.
until Mr.. Morgan persisted in his
refusal to return the will to the ar
chives from which it was purloined
the fight was one between him and
the people of Fairfax county, to whom
the document belongs, but now it has
become state wide question"
Will Lost For Fifty Years.
The will Of Martha Washington,
wife Of the first president Of the Unit
ed States, was cut from the records Of
Fairfax county while the war between
the states was raging in that part of
Virginia. Virginians believe that one
Of General McDowell's soldiers car
ried off the Martha Washington will
along with other records, but how it
got into Mr.. Morgan's possession no
For more than fifty years the people
Of Fairfax county have searched for
the Martha Washington will, which
they priced very highly as a relic
Not long ago some one who saw the
will among Mr.. Morgan's collection
notified a friend in Fairfax, and an
effort was made to have the document
returned to where Virginians say it
rightfully and legally belongs.
Mrs. John S. Barbour, regent of the
Falls Church Va.) chapter of the
Daughters of the American Revolu-
ton, acting for her organization, wrote
and asked Mr.. Morgan to return the
will. which, she said, had been taken
from the records of Fairfax county.
Va"
An unfavorable reply was received
from Mr.: Morgan's librarian.
Futile Appeals to Elder Morgan.
The report that the Washington will
was in the Morgan collection first was
heard six years ago. Several letters
were sent to the elder Morgan, but he
never replied to any of them, so it is
said.
After his death the Fairfax people
became interested in the will again
The Daughters Of the American Revo-
luton and the Falls Church chapter
joined forces in an effort to recover
the testament. When gentler means
failed it was decided to enlist the aid
Of the state.
The suit planned to recover the will
is unique in that the state of Virginia
sues an individual before. the supreme
court of the United States. It is one
Of the few instances where a state
has sued a citizen in the supreme
court
Ferdinand D. Richardson, father of
the present clerk of Fairfax county,
was clerk of the county when the will
was taken. -.
Mrs. Washington's estate at the time
the will was made was one Of the
largest in the south.