This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!
Parson Weems and the Washington Legends
The article traces Mason Locke Weems the Dumfries minister turned bookseller and pamphleteer whose Life of Washington popularized legends like the cherry tree tale. It explains how Weems woven myth into fact, shaping a national image of Washington that persists despite missing archival support. It notes Weems' career from minister to publisher and his connections to the Washington circle through the Ewall family.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Elmo Scott Watson
Kate Washington
Washington
George Washington
Mason Locke Weems
Weems
David Weems
Anne Arundel County
Maryland
Hester Hill Weems
Kent County School
Chestertown
England
William Locke
University of Edinburgh
America
William Smith
Kent County College
Washington College
High Episcopal
Westminster
Mathew Carey
Philadelphia
Carey
Atlantic Seaboard
Fanny Ewall
Col
Jesse Ewall
Potomac River
Dumfries
Mount Vernon
Benjamin Franklin
Ewall
M. L. Weems
Mt. Vernon Parish
Mount Vernon Parish
Virginia
General Washington
Wahington
George
John Biden
T. B. Jansen and Company of
New York
Parson Weems of the
Cherry Tree
Harold Kellock
Century Company
Kello
Albert J. Beveridge
John Marshall
Parson Weems