Evening star., 1929-12-15
PAMPHLET DENIES
WASHINGTON TALES
Tract Prepared for AIexan-
dria's Society Expected
to End Gossip.

EFIueIlCe 10 prove Gne IdlSlCy OF Cne
stories rejecting upon the personal
been printed in a pamphlet. entitled
The George Washington Scandals" :"
and was released for distribution yes
terday by the Washington Society of
Alexandria, which after the Society of
the Cincinnati is said to be the oldest
patriotic society in this country. The
pamphlet is being distributed in COM
memoration of the 130th anniversary
of Washington's death.
The Washington Society was organ
lied in Alexandria one month after
Washington's death by his neighbors
and friends, all of whom had par
ticipated in the ceremonies attending
his funeral 1t functioned for about
so years, but died out about the time
of the Civil War. Two years ago it
was revived Its purpose is Ito dis
seminate historical information regard
ing events connected with George
Washington"
John C. Fitzpatrick of this city, a
widely known authority on Washing
tonians and a member of the Wash
ington Society, is the author of the
pamphlet.
Few Of our great men," saws Mr..
Fitzpatrick, have escaped vilif1cation
of one kind or another, but the whispers
Cthey are nearly always whispers)
against the morals of George Wash
ington seem more viciously continuous
than the attacks on any other great
American" @
Stories of Four Varieties.
Mr.. Fitzpatrick says that when all
the stories and their recognizable
variations are examined it will be found
that they are rooted in four, more or
less distinct, anecdotes or charges;
three of which have separate founda-
tions, leaving the fourth sort of will
-wisp, depending for its vitality
upon the stability of the Others"
THE worst of these charges" con-
tinues the pamphlet, lis the so-called
letter of invitation to Mount Vernon,
in which it is claimed the allurements
of an octoroon slave-girl are set forth
as an inducement for the viSit-the
shadow of which has lain across Mount
Vernon for years"
A painstaking examination of this
story has been male by Mr.. Fitzpatrick,
and, in his own words, has produced
startling results"
THE letter, if indeed there is such, "
says Mr.. Fitzpatrick, lis so elusive that
it has never been located, nor has an
authentic copy of it ever been pro-
have definite knowledge of 1t, yet,
strangely enough. it seems impossible
to find the man who has seen the
actual letter. The nearest approach
to him always is the man who knows
the man who has seen the letter, and
while those of the first are comparative
ly numerous those of the second have
never been found; for some peculiar
reason they are always away, sick or
dead.
'OctOrOOn Letter Story Persists.
"The letter itself is variously de-
scribed. 1t was written, 1t is said, by
Washington to Lafayette, by Jefferson
to Washington. by Hamilton to Wash
ington etc, but despite its Josephs
coat it is a persistent story"
The basis for the story, Mr.. Fitz-
patrick explains, is undoubtedly
letter written by Benjamin Harrison
in Virginia to George Washington In
Cambridge, July 81. ITS, which was
intercepted by the British and for
warded to London. 1t was given out
for publication by the British govern
ment and was printed in the London
Daily Advertiser of September 2, ITS.
But when the September issue of the
Gentelmen's Magazine of London ap-
reared it contained Harrison's letter
with an additional paragraph, which
was not in the Daily Advertiser. This
is the paragraph upon which the story
is based.
Mr.. Fitzpatrick points out that the
Harrison letter upon its arrival In Lon
don was Immediately duplicated ver-
batim ad literatim in five different off,
cial files of the British government and
photostat fac-similes of these official
records are now in the Library of Con-
gress. No such paragraph is found in
any of them.
MARY Gibbons Affair" a Forgery.
The next of the four root charges"
referred to by Mr. Fitzpatrick is known
as the Mary Gibbons affair."" which
is characterized as clumsy Tory forg-
cry. 1t Is based upon pamphlet pub
lished in London in 1776, the greater
part of which is shown to be "delib-
crate forgery"
I'm the forged portion" continues Mr..
Fitzpatrick, lis the story of Mary Glib
bons and George Washington.
The third charge is that Washington
was the father of a certain illigitimate
boy child. After explaining how this
erroneous story gained currency, Mr..
Fitzpatrick continues
The final evidence in rebuttal of this
'illigitimate' charge, If further evidence
is really needed, came to view recently
in manuscript acquired by the Library
of Congress. This is a genealogical ac-
count of the Washington family, pre-
pared prior to the year 1850 by Lund
Washington, son of Robert and grand
son of Townsend Washington. In 1t is
the complete story without reference to
scandal involving George Washington
of an indiscretion committed by Lund
Washington, the erstwhile manager of
Mount Vernon.
Names, dates and persons are cir
cumStantially given and the entire
story parallels with exact detail, geo.
UrapfNicallv and chrOnolo0ically the in