Evening star., 1935-10-06
By Rex Collier.
0HE Supreme Court has

questions of late-but none so
l. momentous as that raised by
o company of Union soldiers when
they raided the court house, at Fair
fax, Va, in 1862 and stole" Martha
Washington's will.
How that war time incident almost
precipitated another Civil War half a
century later as the outgrowth OF a
bitter battle between proud Virginia
and the aristocratic John Pierpont
Morgans-.father and sons revealed
in an old legal report just come to
light.
The only existing copy of the report
Is in the capitol at Richmond. 1t
was lent recently to former Gov. John
Garland Pollard, now chairman of
the United States Board of Veterans
Appeals, who, as attorney general of
Virginia, led gallant fight to wreSt
Martha's will from the Morgans, into
whose hands 1t had come by devious
channels.
Pollard, with the aid of the report,
has given the writer vivid account
of the controversy, which reached the
Supreme Court as the case of THE
Commonwealth of Virginia versus
John Pierpont Morgan"
That suit was stepped in adventure,
sentiment and a variety of heavy
emotions.
The story begins with the capture
c
"The Blenkers," notorious for their
wanton vandalism. The raiders broke
into the clerks Office at the court
house, opened the safes and strewed
their contents over the floor in quest
Of valuables.
Into this scene of disarray and con-
fusion walked Lieut.. Col. David
Thomson, commanding the 82d
Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry,
who had been assigned the court house
as his headquarters.
Some of Col. Thomson's men had
preceded him to ready the place up"
They were shoveling old documents,
books and boxes into big stove to
kindle fire when the colonel entered
the room.
Col. Thomson Immediately called
halt to these activities, cleared the
room of soldiers and got down on the
floor to examine the musty old papers
piled In front of the stove.
Most of the papers were old deeds,
title records and the like, of no spe-
cial interest. Finally he came to a
document, the opening phrase Of
which electrified him. He read:
I'm the name of God Amen: !,
Martha Washington, Of Mount Ver-
non, In the County of Fairfax, being
OF sound mind and capable of dis
posing of my worldly estate, do make,
ordain and declare this to be my last
will and testament, hereby revoking
all other wills and testaments by me
heretofore made " :"
He pored over the will for some
time and, examining the final page,
found Mrs. Washington's quaint sig
nature affixed to it under date of Sep
i. tember 2, 1900, with notations anent
its recording as of June 81, 1902.
Col. Thomson retained possession
Of the will until his death, 80 years
later. Just before he died he gave the
document to his daughter, Mary Espy
Thomson, with the comment that she
could keep it or dispose of it in any
way she might see fit.
MEANWHILE authorities Of Fairfax
80 County had been conducting
widespread investigation in an effort
to ascertain If the will had been de-
stroyed or, as was frequently rumored,
had been stolen and taken North.
From time to time there were pub
lished reports or advices by mail to
the effect that Martha Washington's
will was in possession of sundry per-
sons in scattered localities. Definite
proof of the Wills existence always
was lacking.
The report recently reviewed by Pol
lard points out that In 1908 r. Wal
ton Moore, now Assistant Secretary
Of State, learned that the elder Nor
gan had purchased the will from Miss
Thomson and had added 1t to his COL
lection Of historical manuscripts in
the Morgan library. Moore, resident
Of Fairfax and leading attorney
there, notified C. v. Ford, Common
wealth's attorney, and the latter
brought the matter to the attention
Of the County Board of Supervisors.
Ford wrote two letters to Morgan,
asking for return of the document on
the ground that it was the legal prop
erty Of Fairfax County and had been
stolen by vandals during the war.
Morgan failed to reply to either COM
munication.
In 1918, after the death of the elder
Morgan, the Fairfax Chapter of the
Daughters of the American Revolu-
tion sent the following appeal to his
son:
"Since the death Of your lamented
father the statement has appeared
several times in the press that among
the valuable papers in his collection
was to be found the will of Martha
Washington. This will was stolen from
the records of Fairfax County during
the Civil War It's loss has been deep
ly deplored by the Washington family,
the State of Virginia and the County
of Fairfax.
1.-THE will of George Washington
was miraculously preserved from the