Democratic Sentinel, Volume 9, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 March 1885 — Washington Manuscripts. [ARTICLE]

Washington Manuscripts.

Very few people have ever had the temerity to charge George Washington with havimr written poetry, but a Mr. James H. Sanderson, of San Jose, Cal , writes that he is in possession of an o;d scrap-book, inherited from his father, George Sanderson, who lived and died in Wytheville, Va., which cont ins a manuscript poem of hexameter \ erse in the veritable handwriting of Washington, and entitled: “An Ode to Fame.” On the subject ot Washington manuscripts the most valuable find of recent date has been made by Zimmerman, a dealer in antique furniture in this city. They have been in the possession of a poor family near Alexandria for the last seventy-five years. They consist of several manuscript letters of George Washington, and a memorandum in his own handwriting, which latter doubtless possesses considerable value, as it supplies a missing link in the records of the First Auditor’s office in the Treasury Department. It comprises a list of furniture and fittings bought for the Executive Mansion between 1789 and 1796, the period of the Presidential residence in New York. The memorandum shows the first purchases ever made for the mansion, of which none of the departments contain a record. The chirography is unquestionably Washington’s. It is headed “Sundries bo’t on acc’t of G. W. ” The first item is “A large writing desk for President's office, $121.” It takes three closely written pages of foolscap to set forth all the articles. Among them are “Farmer Bassett, 2 dogs, weight 35 pounds, to guard President’s house;” “A Franklin stove for Mrs. Washington’s dressingroom;” “An eight-plate stove for the President’s room;” “Crimson damask to enlarge the state dining-room windows;” “13 patent lamps to illuminate the President’s house;” “Cotton to cover parlor and state furniture;” “One lot of furniture from Cragin;” 13 footstoves to be placed under the state din-ing-table. ” The most astonishing purchases are in the line of mirrors, the various lots aggregating 122. There is an extraordinary frequency of “lustres” in the itemized bill—these being bright beads of glass to suspend irom chandeliers. One item records the amount paid for “duties and freight on ornaments presented to French officers;’ another for “one box imported ivory chess.” Numerous household implements are charged, such as “half a dozen pair and irons,” “one cooking stove,” “one cop-per-plated kettle for kitchen,” “one brass wash kettle,” “two large washboilers,” “one dozen kitchen knives andforks.” Tapestry, carpets, curtains, and stoves appear in great pro usion. According to this paper there must have been purchased during that period at least 1,000 “patent lamps” for the President’s liouse, mainly intended, no doubt, for illumination purposes. Among the other manuscript recovered by Zimmerman is a paper marked “Lands owned by G. W.,” showing that the Father of his Country had six farms, ranging in extent from seventytwo to 620 acres. Some of these tracts are marked “sandy,” and others “bottom” or “sandy and hummock.” There is also a letter from Washington to a “Samuel Lawson, Esq.,” offering to purchase a certain negro man. Washington explains that he wants *the negro not so much to work himself but to “look after the other hands.” In other words he was in need of a “nigger driver”— Washington letter.