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THE STORY 
 
 WASHINGTON COACHEE 
 
 THE POWEL COACH 
 
 WHICH IS NOW AT 
 
 MOUNT VERNON 
 
 WRITTEN AND COMPILED 
 
 BY 
 
 MRS. MARY STEVENS BEALL 
 
 Secretary to the Columbia Historical Society 
 For ROBERT L. BROWNFIELD, of Uniontown, Pa. 
 
 Washington, D. C. 
 
 The Neale Publishing Company 
 1908 
 
'.LiBrtASY of 0:NliA£5S 
 
 I JUN 8 li'J8 
 
 Copyright, 1908 
 
 BY 
 
 Robert L. Brownfield 
 
 \ '/- 
 
 ^%- 
 
 -Tp^'' 
 
Contents. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 A Foreword 5 
 
 The Washington Family Carriage, the Genuine 
 
 AND THE Spurious 7 
 
 History of the Washington Coachee 12 
 
 True History of the Coach Now at Mount 
 
 Vernon 22 
 
 Documentary History in the Washington Coach 
 
 Controversy 36 
 
 The Spurious Washington Coach 51 
 
 True History of the So-called "Washington 
 
 Coach" 59 
 
 Copies of Letters, &c., Concerning the Powel 
 
 ' ' Centennial ' ' Coach 64 
 
 Opinion Rendered by Prof. J. F. Jameson . , 68 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Washington Coachee Frontispiece 
 
 Powel Coach Facing 64 
 
A Foreword. 
 
 A word of explanation seems necessary before present- 
 ing the story of the Washington coachee and the Powel 
 coach, with the Documentary History relating to them. 
 Searching for proof of the authenticity of the coachee, 
 evidence cropped up on every hand of the Powel origin 
 of the coach that superseded the coachee in the restored 
 coach-house at Mount Vernon . If fire and the indifference 
 of former owners have destroyed documentary evidence 
 of the Washington origin of the coachee, the unique posi- 
 tion must be accorded it of being the only vehicle in exist- 
 ence whose claim to having originally belonged to Wash- 
 ington can not be disputed except as a matter of opinion, 
 and against whose claim no proof has ever been advanced. 
 
 When diligent search had failed to discover any testi- 
 mony against the Washington origin of the coachee and 
 much circumstantial evidence to substantiate its claim ; 
 and when an unbroken chronology had been established 
 for the coach from its importation in 1789 for Mrs. Samuel 
 Powel, down to the present time, Mr. R. L. Brown field 
 of Uniontown, Pa., asked permission to lay the facts 
 before the Regent and Vice-Regents of the Mount Vernon 
 Ladies Association. This privilege was accorded, and 
 May 23, 1907, was appointed as the day. 
 
 The Mount Vernon Association was represented by 
 Mrs. Elizabeth B. A. Rathbone, Vice-Regent for Michi- 
 gan, and Mrs. Henry W. Rogers, Vice-Regent for Mary- 
 land. Mr. Brownfield was represented by his son Mr. 
 R. L. Brownfield, Jr., by Mr. Hugh T. Taggart, former 
 United States Attorney, and by Mrs Mary Stevens Beall, 
 
 6 
 
6 
 
 Secretary to the Columbia Historical Society. Mrs. Beall 
 briefly stated the facts in the case which, after discussion, 
 it was agreed should be submitted to Professor J. Franklin 
 Jameson, Director Department of Historical Research, Car- 
 negie Institution, Washington, D. C, and authority was 
 given to Mr. Harrison H. Dodge, Resident Secretary and 
 Superintendent at Mount Vernon, to let Professor Jameson 
 have access to such papers as the Association had, bearing 
 upon the coach, either in seeing the originals or in having 
 copies of the same. 
 
 For the sake of historical accuracy. Professor Jameson 
 consented to perform this task ; the material was placed 
 in his hands December 10, 1907, and his opinion was 
 rendered February 19, 1908. 
 
The Washington Family-Carriage, the 
 Genuine and the Spurious. 
 
 When the restoration of the negro-quarters, outbuild- 
 ings, etc., at Mount Vernon was determined upon, certain 
 of the Vice-Regents pledged their States to carry out desig- 
 nated parts of the plan. Thus Michigan assumed the 
 "restoration of the old coach-house," and in 1894 the 
 Vice-Regent for that State reported its completion at a 
 cost of two hundred and seventy dollars. 
 
 In 1895 the same Vice-Regent reports: 
 
 " Very soon after the adjournment of the Council last 
 year, the earnest search for the ' lost coach ' was rewarded 
 through the zealous interest of Mr. Brown field of Phila- 
 delphia, who not only left no step untaken to recover the 
 Washington coach, but generously presented it to the 
 Association." 
 
 Mr. Brownfield's efforts in this matter were the result 
 of a personal appeal to him. The Mount Vernon Asso- 
 ciation having been informed that a Washington carriage 
 had been sold at Thomas' auction rooms in Philadelphia, 
 about 1892, to a circus company, Mr. Harrison H. Dodge, 
 Resident Secretary and Superintendent at Mount Vernon, 
 wrote to the Commissioners of Pennsylvania to the World's 
 Fair, to ascertain if they knew where the coach was, and 
 if an offer of purchase would be entertained, he having 
 heard the Commissioners had tried to buy it. 
 
 This letter was turned over by Mr. A. B. Farquhar, one 
 of the Commissioners, to Mr. Brownfield, then of Phila- 
 
 7 
 
8 
 
 delphia, now of Uniontown, Pa., with the comment, 
 Ma}^ 28, 1894: " You are one of the Commissioners; you 
 live in Philadelphia; * * * and possibly you could 
 help out Mr. Dodge." Mr. Brownfield began the search 
 at once and exactly one month later was able to write to 
 Mr. Dodge, June 28, 1894: 
 
 ' ' I have the pleasure of informing you that I have 
 found General Washington's coach, bought, paid for it, 
 and will now ask the Mount Vernon Ladies Association 
 to do me the honor of accepting it as a present from me . ' ' 
 
 Mr. Dodge replied by telegraph : 
 
 ' ' Congratulations ; expect me Saturday at noon . ' ' 
 
 Mr. Farquhar wrote, June 29, 1894: 
 
 "Thanks for yours of June 28th but I had already 
 been apprised by the papers of the successful termination 
 of your search for the coach. * * * j ofPer my 
 thanks and congratulations for restoring this intimate 
 connection with the Father of our Country." 
 
 Mrs. Mary G. Forepaugh, answering a letter of inquiry 
 from Mr. Brownfield, had written, June 2, 1894: 
 
 "I would gladly return the coach to the Ladies of 
 Virginia — if I still owned it — but the circus, with all its 
 paraphernalia, was sold after Mr. Forepaugh 's death." 
 
 The purchasers were the Barnum and Bailey Circus 
 Company. 
 
 The Philadelphia Daily Evening Telegraph of June 28, 
 1894, devoted nearly a column to the subject of the secur- 
 ing for Mount Vernon of so interesting a relic as ' ' George 
 Washington's family carriage." 
 
 Mr. Dodge's letter of July 4, 1894, gives the next stage 
 in the progress of affairs and is quoted entire : 
 
" My dear Mr. Brownfield: 
 
 " You will doubtless be pleased to learn that the coach 
 is safely placed in the coach-house at Mount Vernon, 
 where it is exhibited to-day for the first time and attracts 
 the interest and attention of many people. 
 
 ' ' It reached Washington Monday in good condition — I 
 oversaw the unloading from the car and when the wheels 
 were adjusted I enveloped the relic in a cotton carriage 
 cover, then had the old coach (thus masqueraded) 
 dragged by one strong man down to the steamboat, I 
 keeping it close company you may be sure. 
 
 " When it reached our wharf and was being unloaded, 
 the passengers then for the first time discovered this im- 
 portant addition to the attractions and made a great fuss 
 over it. 
 
 ' ' I can not help wondering what the good people of 
 Philadelphia are saying to-day about the absence of the 
 Washington coach from their grand parade. Some of the 
 M. V. Ladies to whom I announced your kind donation, 
 have hastened to mention their gratification at the ' find.' 
 
 " Please be assured of the keen appreciation of your 
 gift by all concerned. When you can pay the promised 
 visit to Mount Vernon, I shall be glad indeed to meet 
 and entertain you." 
 
 On the 6th of July, same year, Mr. Farquhar wrote 
 again to Mr. Brownfield: 
 
 " I have a very pretty letter from Mr. Dodge this morn- 
 ing thanking me for my interest in the coach. I quote 
 literally : 'We never dreamed that it was his [Mr. Brown- 
 field's] intention to donate the coach if found, but this he 
 has done, and now the old equipage rests from its travels 
 and attracts the attention of the many visitors here; I 
 think I wrote you that the coach-house has been recently 
 restored. ' " 
 
 Here is the text of one of the personal letters referred 
 to by Mr. Dodge : 
 
10 
 
 "Ann Arbor, Michigan, 
 
 ''July 14, J 894. 
 " Mr. Robert L. Brownfield, Philadelphia, 
 
 ' ' Dear Sir : I would like to add my personal acknowl- 
 edgments to the official recognition which your generous 
 gift of the ' old coach ' has doubtless received from the 
 Secretary of the Mount Vernon Ladies Association. I 
 made efforts last summer to find one of Washington's 
 coaches to restore to the coach-house, which as Vice- 
 Regent for Michigan I had undertaken to rebuild — but 
 with no result until upon the completion of the coach- 
 house this spring, Mr. Dodge came to my aid and through 
 him your generous co-operation was secured . The success 
 has been most gratifying and I can not thank you enough 
 for your patriotic interest, zeal and generosity. I hope 
 you will visit Mount Vernon during the session of the 
 Annual Council, which takes place next year — or rather 
 opens — on the third Thursday of May, that we may have 
 the pleasure of showing you ' The Coach ' in its old quar- 
 ters and other interesting features of Washington's Old 
 Home. 
 
 " Very gratefully yours, 
 
 "Elizabeth B. A. Rathbone, 
 " Vice-Regent for Michigan, 
 
 '' M. V. L. Association.'" 
 
 An article headed " Washington's Coach " printed in 
 the Sunday Jn^er- Ocean, Chicago, July 29, 1894, from the 
 Detroit Free Press, ends with this statement : 
 
 ' ' The regents of the Association will henceforth accord 
 great honor to Mr. Brownfield's courtesy, * * * and 
 will do everything in their power to attest their gratitude 
 and appreciation." 
 
 On April 24, 1895, Mr. Dodge wrote : 
 
 ' * I regret so much that your long-promised visit to 
 Mount Vernon is still unpaid. The approaching meeting 
 of the Ladies Asso. (May 16) would be an excellent occa- 
 sion for you to avail yourself of to come and personall)'- 
 receive their thanks for your gift of the coach," 
 
11 
 
 The above extracts from letters and newspapers are 
 quoted for the purpose of showing that Mr. Brownfield 
 was asked to find a certain old coach of which the ladies 
 of the Mount Vernon Association had already heard ; and 
 also their reception of the gift. His connection with 
 George Washington's old family carriage was the result 
 of a direct request and was wholly in the interest of the 
 Association, and to aid in collecting the belongings of 
 "Washington and in restoring them to his home at Mount 
 Vernon . There was no thought of personal aggrandize- 
 ment and no advantage, monetary or otherwise, has 
 accrued to him through this connection. 
 
 Shortly after April, 1895, Mr. Brownfield moved to 
 Uniontown, Pa., and never availed himself of the oft- 
 repeated invitations to become the guest of the Regent 
 and Vice-Regents at Mount Vernon. His gift, however, 
 was shown with pride and continued to occupy its place 
 of honor in the coach-house until 1901, when a vehicle 
 that had been exhibited at the Centennial Exposition of 
 1876 as "General Washington's White Chariot" was 
 purchased by the Vice-Regent for Michigan with funds 
 contributed by the Mount Vernon Society of Detroit, and 
 this was installed in the place of the Washington family 
 carriage or coachee, and that once highly prized relic was 
 banished to the stable. 
 
History of the Washington Coachee. 
 
 Until the United States began preparations for the 
 celebration of her first Revolutionary Centennial little 
 regard had been paid to old things. Colonial furnishings 
 that to-day would be accorded an honorable place in a 
 museum, or treasured by the inheritor as a priceless 
 heirloom, were thrown aside in the early part of the 
 nineteenth century as past their day of usefulness. Wash- 
 ington's three coaches, all cream-color, all emblazoned 
 with his coat of arms and enriched with decorated panels 
 and gilding, are known to have passed out of existence 
 early in the last century — one being shot to pieces at the 
 battle of New Orleans; one taken to pieces by Bishop 
 Meade, of which there is credible evidence; and a third 
 taken to pieces by Henry Dunlap, Sr. ; but a less preten- 
 tious vehicle, in a good state of preservation, exists at 
 the present day — this is his coachee, referred to again and 
 again in his diary as the family carriage ; and sold from 
 Mount Vernon after the death of Mrs. Washington. 
 
 Isaac Weld, the traveler, who visited the United States 
 during the last decade of the eighteenth century, 1795- 
 1797, gives the following description:* 
 
 ' ' The carriages made use of in Philadelphia consist of 
 coaches, chariots, coachees and light wagons, the greater 
 part of which are built in Philadelphia. * * * The 
 coachee is a carriage peculiar, I believe, to America. The 
 body of it is rather longer than that of a coach, but of the 
 
 * " History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884," by J. Thomas Scharf and Thompson 
 Westcott. Vol. 1. p. 912. 
 
 12 
 
13 
 
 same shape. In the front it is left quite open down to 
 the bottom and the driver sits on a bench under the roof 
 of the carriage. There are two seats in it for passengers, 
 who sit in it with their faces to the horses. The roof is 
 supported by small props, which are placed at the corners. 
 On each side of the door, above the panels, it is quite 
 open; and, to guard against bad weather, there are cur- 
 tains which are made to let down from the roof, and 
 fasten to buttons on the outside. There is also a leathern 
 curtain, to hang occasionally between the driver and 
 passengers. The only difference between the small wagon 
 and the coachee is that the latter is better furnished, has 
 varnished panels and doors at the side." 
 
 Washington's coachee differs in but one particular, its 
 door is in the rear, the back seat being divided in the 
 middle and folding back, on hinges, against the sides. 
 The upholstering is of thick but pliable leather that looks 
 good enough for another century's wear. The body of 
 the coachee is suspended by stout leathern straps, to 
 wooden C spring;s, which John Philipson in his " The 
 Art and Craft of Coach Building," London, 1897, 
 declares to be " practically the oldest method of suspend- 
 ing carriages on springs." 
 
 The Washington coachee could be driven with two 
 horses, the coachman occupying the front seat; or, if the 
 roads were muddy or the occupants of the vehicle wished 
 to talk unreservedly without the restraining presence 
 of a servant, an additional pair of horses could be 
 attached and the four guided by two postillions, leaving 
 the driver's seat to accommodate two more occupants. 
 There is no trace of gilding or emblazonry on this car- 
 riage, but as it was intended for everyday use and not 
 for state occasions, we are neither surprised nor dis- 
 appointed at its plain, unostentatious appearance. There 
 are evidences here and there of some slight repairs and 
 a whip-socket is unmistakably a later addition. The 
 
14 
 
 wheels are more dished than are those of the present day 
 and the hubs are of wood. The body is painted a warm 
 shade of claret that contrasts well with the tan color of 
 the lining and cushions. 
 
 Washington Irving in his " Life of Washington," 
 Vol. V, p. 19, describing the carriages of the first Presi- 
 dent, says: 
 
 " Besides this modest equipage [the post chaise] there 
 was the ample family carriage which had been brought 
 from Virginia. To this, four horses were put when the 
 family drove out into the countr}-^, the state of the roads 
 in those days requiring it. For the same reason six 
 horses were put to the same vehicle on journeys, and 
 once on a state occasion." 
 
 Once, when Washington had been ill, his family car- 
 riage was the chosen vehicle in which he took the air, for 
 on May 29, 1790, the Pennsylvania Packet announces: 
 
 " The President of the United States is so far recovered 
 that he rode out in his carriage on Monday last." (May 
 24.) 
 
 For the most part, however, after the purchase of his 
 English coach, the family carriage seems to have been 
 relegated to the background during the presidency. But 
 when the family returned to Mount Vernon it was once 
 more Mrs. Washington's chosen vehicle. Mrs. William 
 Thornton, wife of the architect of the Capitol, while visit- 
 ing Mrs. Washington in 1800, records in her diary: 
 
 ''Aug. 4th — After breakfast Mrs. Lewis, the young 
 ladies [Miss Henley and Miss DandridgeJ and I went in 
 Mrs. Washington's carriage (a coachee and four) and Mr. 
 Lewis & Dr. T [hornton] in ours, to see Mr. Lewis' Hill — 
 where he is going to build, and his farm, & Mill and 
 distillery." 
 
15 
 
 In other records of the period we find references to Mrs. 
 Washington's carriage and we know it was not parted with 
 until after her death in May, 1802, for in the advertise- 
 ment of the auction sale at Mount Vernon to be held July 
 20, 1802, the executors of George Washington offer this 
 " Coachee, with Harness compleat for four horses." A 
 grand-niece of General Washington writes: " I think 
 there is a list of articles sold at that sale and the purchas- 
 ers." The statement is correct for the original records of 
 this sale are in the manuscript collection of W. F. Have- 
 meyer, of New York, who purchased them from one of 
 the Washington heirs. Mr. Lawrence Washington of the 
 Library of Congress is authority for stating that these lists 
 contained the names of all the purchasers, the articles pur- 
 chased and the amount paid for each. 
 
 Being so well and strongly built, the coachee was pur- 
 chased at the auction and even at subsequent sales for use, 
 with no thought of considering it as a relic. Still, the 
 illustriousness of its first possessor always invested it with 
 an interest not attached to ordinary vehicles ; and as it 
 passed from one to another, the story of its being the 
 family carriage of George Washington was always handed 
 on with it, well-authenticated, and as much a part of the 
 old coachee as its antiquated wooden springs, or its unique 
 rear door. At last, however, the very characteristics that, 
 to-day, contribute to its interest as a relic, rendered it un- 
 desirable for daily use and it gradually ceased to be seen 
 on the country roads. 
 
 On December 24, 1907, there died in the city of Wash- 
 ington a venerable lady, Mrs. Ann (George) Reese, whose 
 life had nearly spanned a century, as she was born 
 December 4, 1809. She had a remarkable memory. 
 * * Although she was only three years of age when the war 
 of 1812 began, she could remember the soldiers of the 
 
16 
 
 United States marching away, their wives and sweethearts 
 trailing after them . She was present at the great reception 
 given in Baltimore in 1824 to the Marquis de Lafayette 
 and stood on a housetop waving a handkerchief and cheer- 
 ing the great Frenchman . ' ' She remembered every Presi- 
 dent from John Adams to Theodore Roosevelt, and could 
 distinctly recall the double funeral of Adams and Jefferson 
 in 1826. 
 
 She had a brother older than herself, also now deceased, 
 John Simpers George, who prior and subsequent to 1829 
 owned and lived upon a farm on the Reistertown Road, 
 Baltimore County, Maryland. This Mr. George, who 
 married Miss Mary Whittington, was one of the early 
 purchasers of the Washington coachee. His sister Ann 
 spent much of her time on the farm, and in warm weather 
 was in the habit of sitting in the old carriage with her 
 sewing, her knitting or a book. Marrying on December 
 17, 1829, and going away to her new home, she does not 
 remember to have seen this carriage again, but she has 
 often spoken in the intervening years of her brother's 
 having once owned the Washington family carriage. She 
 was almost blind before her death, but several years ago, 
 before her sight began to fail, and when she was living at 
 3027 Street, Georgetown, D. C, she unhesitatingly 
 identified a photograph of the coachee as a correct represen- 
 tation of the Washington carriage her brother used to own. 
 
 The above facts were given by Mrs. Reese to Miss Cor- 
 delia Jackson of 3010 street, Georgetown, D. C, daugh- 
 ter of Richard Jackson, author of " Chronicles of George- 
 town," as items of interest that Mrs. Reese delighted to 
 recall. 
 
 Living in Pennsylvania during the latter half of the 
 nineteenth century was a showman and collector of curi- 
 osities named Roman Ketterer. Though a German by 
 
17 
 
 birth, he was a patriotic American by adoption, and, Uke 
 many another showman, he cherished the project of per- 
 petuating his memory by founding a great American 
 Revolutionary Museum. Year by year he rigidly put by 
 a certain percentage of his income to purchase relics per- 
 taining to the War for Independence and to the early 
 days of the new Republic. At first he was content to 
 acquire simply old-time belongings ; but growing richer 
 in both money and experience, he began to search for 
 articles having the added value of association. One of 
 his purchases was a colonial carriage from the Heston 
 family because of a tradition that Washington had once 
 ridden in it. Dr. George T. Heston of Newtown, Pa., 
 supplied the following description of this coach bought 
 by Ketterer at the executor's sale of Isaac Heston 's pos- 
 sessions. It was of unknown origin but recorded about 
 1750 ; it had two seats running its entire length, windows 
 of glass, a rear door and a broad step at the back on which 
 two servants stood when the coach was in use. The Doc- 
 tor added that there was another Heston coach, with 
 memories going back to 1710, owned by the Doctor's 
 fourth grandfather, Zebulon Heston, who came to this 
 country from England about the year 1680, bringing the 
 coach, a gift from the Wharton family, with him. That 
 was really the coach of the traditional ride, when Colonel 
 Edward Heston is said to have driven General Washing- 
 ton about the country on a reconnoitering trip before the 
 battle of Trenton. But that venerable carriage dropped 
 to pieces in an old coach-house on the Heston estate, many 
 years before Ketterer purchased the second one. 
 
 Ketterer had succeeded in collecting many quaint, curi- 
 ous, and valuable things when the opportunity for which 
 he had waited so long, came. He heard that the Wash- 
 ington family carriage was being offered for sale by a man 
 named Webster. According to his wife, Ketterer had to 
 
18 
 
 dispose of quite a number of his curios to raise the money 
 for the journey and to buy the coach ; but he did it cheer- 
 fully, as the height of his ambition had always been to 
 possess something once owned by the great Washington . 
 When, at last, he was the carriage's proud possessor, with 
 the story of its owners since 1802, he caused his name to 
 be branded on one of the steps at the back of the coachee — 
 a piece of vanity, if you choose, but invaluable to-day as 
 a certain means of identification . The estimation in which 
 he held this prize may be gathered from the fact that there- 
 after it always headed the list of exhibits on his handbills, 
 and that shortly before his death he refused an offer of 
 $11,000 for his entire collection, as he valued the Wash- 
 ington carriage, alone, at |5,000. 
 
 Needless to say, Ketterer's dream of founding a museum 
 was never realized. After his death in 1891, his collection 
 was sold at auction in Somerton, Pa., where he had lived, 
 and his executor, Martin Van Buren Vanartsdalen of 
 Feasterville, Pa., attaching no value to his box of letters, 
 receipts, broadsides, pamphlets, memoranda and news- 
 paper clippings, claims to have destroyed them after he 
 settled up the estate. Ketterer's widow, Bridget Ketterer, 
 living with their widowed daughter, Mrs. Paul Worthing- 
 ton, at Oxford, Pa., in September of 1903, stated that the 
 box of papers given up to the executor contained, among 
 other things, data for a complete history of the coachee, 
 which Roman Ketterer had always planned to have written, 
 and printed in pamphlet form . The widow and the daugh- 
 ter gave practically the same facts, although interviewed 
 separately. They said Roman owned several carriages, 
 which he sold one after another as he heard of one more 
 interesting historically that was being offered for sale. 
 Neither thought the papers had been destroyed, as Ket- 
 terer had always said that they were ' ' worth money in 
 themselves." 
 
19 
 
 J. J. Ketterer of Somerton, Pa., harnessmaker, identi- 
 fied a photograph of the coachee as a picture of the 
 " Washington Coach " to which he had once done some 
 shght repairing for Roman Ketterer. Alonso Terry, a 
 blacksmith of Trevose, Pa., branded Ketterer 's name on 
 the step of the '* Washington Coach." 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Frank Krusen of Pittsville, Pa., knew 
 Roman Ketterer well . They said the sale of his ' ' Museum ' ' 
 was not properly advertised ; had it been put in a Phila- 
 delphia paper the things would have brought better prices. 
 As it was, two showmen came up to Somerton from that 
 city the day after the sale, having just heard of it, both 
 anxious to purchase the "Washington Carriage." Mr. 
 and Mrs. Krusen both spoke of Roman Ketterer's name 
 being branded on one of the steps, and of his having had 
 satisfactory proof of its Washington origin. 
 
 The coachee and a number of other exhibits were 
 bought by Augustus Egolf of Norristown, Pa., " dealer in 
 old-fashioned clocks, antique furniture, andirons, spin- 
 ning-wheels, etc." Egolf said when Ketterer traveled 
 about the country or exhibited at fairs, he had a gaily- 
 decorated tent hung around with sleigh-bells. It was thus 
 he exhibited the Washington coachee at Norristown in 
 1884 and several years later at the Montgomery County, 
 Pa., Centennial. 
 
 Early in 1892, Egolf sent the coachee to M. Thomas 
 & Sons, auctioneers, 1525 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. 
 While awaiting a purchaser it was borrowed by a Demo- 
 cratic Association to be used in one of their torchlight 
 parades. Mr. Krusen also spoke of the parade and said 
 he rode in the coach. After its return to the auction 
 rooms it was sold to the Adam Forepaugh Shoivs in May of 
 1892 to be used in their production of the American 
 Revolution. Owing to the death of Mr. Forepaugh, this 
 intention was never carried out and the George Wash- 
 
20 
 
 ington coach ee was placed in storage at Lehigh Avenue 
 and Edgemont Street, Philadelphia. 
 
 This was the carriage that Mr. Dodge had heard of, 
 concerning which he wrote to the Pennsylvania Commis- 
 sioners to the World's Columbian Exposition, and which 
 Mr. Brownfield was asked to discover if possible; and 
 this specific request for a circumstantially designated 
 vehicle was the reason for Mr. Brownfield 's action in the 
 matter. 
 
 When the present Mount Vernon coach was substituted 
 for the coachee and the latter stored away in the stable, 
 Mr. Brownfield's good faith was called in question and he 
 was twitted with having * ' imposed a clever fake ' ' upon 
 the Mount Vernon Ladies Association ; and because of 
 their lack of belief in his gift and the rumors set afloat 
 concerning himself, he addressed a letter to the Associa- 
 tion asking permission to remove the coachee from Mount 
 Vernon, as he would not knowingly be a party to a fraud. 
 To this request he received the following reply : 
 
 "Mount Vernon on the Potomac, 
 " Fairfax County, Virginia, 
 
 '' 3Iay 19, 1903. 
 " Mr. Brownfield, 
 
 ' ' Dear Sir : Your letter concerning the interesting 
 old carriage you very generously presented to the Mount 
 Vernon Association, several years ago, has been read 
 before Council, and I have been directed to write to you 
 on the subject. 
 
 " While regretting the loss of this unique old colonial 
 vehicle, the Council feels that it must comply with your 
 wishes, which are based upon a high sense of truth and 
 integrity. 
 
 ' ' With an appreciation of your interest in Mount Ver- 
 non, and your generosity to the Association, I have the 
 honor to be, 
 
 " Yours truly, 
 
 "Elizabeth B. A. Rathbone, 
 
 ' * Vice-Regent for Michigan. ' ' 
 
21 
 
 Mr. Joseph T. McCaddon, former manager and lessee 
 of the Forepaugh Circus, when search was being made to 
 prove the genuineness of the coachee, wrote from Buffalo 
 to Mr. Brownfield, under date of August 17, 1903: 
 
 ' ' The papers you refer to regarding the Washington 
 Carriage are filed away with a mass of old business corre- 
 spondence at our winter quarters, Bridgeport, Conn., and 
 it would be impossible to get access to them until next 
 winter." 
 
 Soon after this a disastrous fire broke out at the winter 
 quarters referred to, not the smallest loss by which was the 
 business papers, etc. , of the circus for many years ; among 
 them the documents relating to the coachee. 
 
 While awaiting the gathering up of the data contained 
 in this sketch, and having his belief in the authenticity of 
 the coachee, Mr. Brownfield removed it from its seclusion 
 in the Mount Vernon stable to a storehouse in Wash- 
 ington, on Wednesday, December 27, 1905. 
 
True History of the Coach Now at 
 Mount Vernon. 
 
 The persistency with which false history chngs to any 
 object for which it has once been manufactured, is no- 
 where better exempHfied than in the story of the coach 
 now exhibited in the restored coach-house at Mount 
 Vernon. 
 
 In 1860 the Prince of Wales, now King of England, 
 made a tour of the United States and Canada, reaching 
 Philadelphia at four o'clock on the afternoon of Octo- 
 ber 9. On the morning of the 10th he visited Girard Col- 
 lege and Fairmount Park, and in the afternoon attended 
 the races at Point Breeze Park. The Public Ledger for 
 October 11, 1860, after describing the races, the visitors, 
 etc., says: 
 
 "The old family carriage of Gen. Geo. Washington 
 was drawn around the grounds by six gray horses. It 
 attracted much attention." 
 
 The Philadelphia Press of the same date goes more into 
 detail. It says: 
 
 "On the ground inside the racecourse, a prominent 
 object was the old carriage said to belong to General 
 Washington, which was drawn by six fine gray horses, 
 decorated with red, white and blue plumes. Mr. Fred- 
 erick Shower, one of the party having the carriage in 
 charge, extended an invitation to the Prince to take a 
 ride in it around the course, but the invitation was 
 politely declined. After the race was over, the old car- 
 riage, with four gentlemen inside, was driven past in 
 
 22 
 
23 
 
 front of the Prince, when the party inside took off their 
 hats. The Prince looked at the carriage as it passed, but 
 made no acknowledgment." 
 
 A niece of WilHam Dunlap, carriage-builder, the then 
 owner of the carriage, is still living in Philadelphia. At 
 the time of the Prince's visit she was a girl of twelve, 
 and distinctly remembers standing on the carriage factory 
 steps to see the old coach brought out on this occasion. 
 She positively asserts, however, that it never belonged to 
 Washington but was built for the Powels and that her 
 family have always so stated. Her grandfather, Henry 
 Dunlap, St., did own a Washington carriage, at one time, 
 but it fell to pieces through old age. This fact and the 
 resemblance of the Powel to the Washington coach are 
 the reasons she assigns for the persistence other people 
 have shown in calling the Powel, the Washington coach. 
 It is to be noticed that the Press item quoted above con- 
 servatively refers to the coach as "said" to belong to 
 General Washington. 
 
 The same year, 1860, John Jay Smith, in a work enti- 
 tled "American Historical and Literary Curiosities," gives 
 a picture of " General Washington's Coach " with this 
 note : 
 
 "A controversy exists whether this picture was taken 
 from the identical carriage; but all agree in stating that, 
 if not the genuine vehicle, it is a fac-simile— two coaches 
 having been imported at the same time and of the same 
 pattern. The one still in existence in possession of Wm. 
 Dunlap, a coach-builder, Pliilada.'" 
 
 The two carriages referred to were those of General 
 Washington and of Mrs. Elizabeth Willing Powel, wife 
 of Mayor Samuel Powel of Philadelphia. They were 
 ordered at the same time and were built in England by 
 David Clarke, a Scotchman, who came over with them 
 and established himself as a carriage builder on Sixth 
 
24 
 
 Street between Chestnut and Market Streets, Philadel- 
 phia. They were identical, except that General Wash- 
 ington's w^as ornamented with four medallions painted 
 by Cipriani and representing the four seasons, one on 
 each side-panel of the coach, and his arms were emblaz- 
 oned on the doors. The Powel coach, on the contrary, 
 had plain panels and the Powel arms, of course, were 
 emblazoned on its doors. Each coach had the high 
 driving seat appropriate to state coaches of that period, 
 draped with the voluminous folds of a handsome 
 hammer-cloth, and when, somewhat later, Washington 
 had an extra set of harness made for his coach, he de- 
 sired Mr. Lear to direct Clarke to make with this harness 
 a postillion's saddle the cloth of which was to match that 
 of the hammer-cloth and be trimmed with the same lace. 
 Each coach had also, beneath the seat and about a foot 
 lower than its floor, a large feed-box capable of containing 
 a bushel or more of oats. The top of this box was its lid, 
 divided in the middle and opening on hinges. 
 
 After the death of Mrs. Martha Washington, in 1802, 
 an auction sale was held at Mount Vernon, beginning 
 on July 20th, to dispose of all " household and kitchen 
 furniture." The executors of General Washington 
 availed themselves of this opportunity of disposing of all 
 the stock, farming implements, camp equipage, horses, 
 harness, one elegant chariot and a coachee, with a " va- 
 riety of other articles too numerous to particularize." 
 This ' ' elegant chariot ' ' was the state coach already 
 described and it was bought at the auction sale by George 
 Washington Parke Custis of Arlington. It afterward 
 became the property of the Right Reverend William 
 Meade, Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in 
 Virginia. The end of this vehicle is graphically given 
 by the Bishop in his " Old Churches, Ministers and 
 Families in Virginia ' ' : 
 
25 
 
 "His old English coach, in which himself and Mrs. 
 Washington not only rode in Fairfax County but traveled 
 through the entire length and breadth of the land, was 
 so faithfully executed, that at the conclusion of that long 
 journey, its builder who came over with it, was proud to 
 be told by the General, that not a nail or screw had 
 failed. It so happened, in a way I need not state, that 
 this coach came into my hands about fifteen years after 
 the death of General Washington. In the course of 
 time, from disuse, it being too heavy for these latter 
 days, it began to decay and give away. Becoming an 
 object of desire to those who delight in relics, I caused it 
 to be taken to pieces and distributed among admiring 
 friends of Washington who visited my house, and also 
 among a number of female associations for benevolent 
 and rehgious objects, which associations, at their fairs 
 and on other occasions, made a large profit by converting 
 the fragments into walking-sticks, picture-frames and 
 snuff-boxes. About two-thirds of one of the wheels thus 
 produced one hundred and forty dollars. There can be 
 no doubt that at its dissolution, it yielded more to the 
 cause of charity than it cost its builder at its first erection. 
 Besides other mementoes of it, I have in my study, in 
 the form of a sofa, the hind seat, on which the General 
 and his lady were wont to sit." 
 
 This entirely disposes of Washington's English-Clarke- 
 built coach of which the Powel coach was a counterpart, 
 ordered, built, and imported at the same time. 
 
 Let us now trace the history of the second coach. 
 Mayor Powel of Philadelphia died in 1793 of yellow 
 fever. His widow, Mrs. Elizabeth Willing Powel, hav- 
 ing no children, adopted her nephew, John Hare, who 
 at her earnest request added Powel to his patronymic. 
 Their residence was at Powelton, now known as West 
 Philadelphia. Mrs. Powel used her coach daily in going 
 to church and in visiting the neighboring gentry. As 
 she and her coachman grew old together she had the 
 high driving-seat removed some time between 1817 and 
 
26 
 
 1825, and the present low coachman's seat with arms 
 like a chair, lest the faithful old man should jolt off. 
 The alteration was done by George Heyberger of Phila- 
 delphia, and his name appears on the springs upon 
 which the seat rests. It is a seat wholly out of keeping 
 with the rest of the carriage and the fashions of the cen- 
 tury in which it was built. Furthermore, in lowering 
 the seat, the ancient feed-box has been utilized as a plat- 
 form upon which to fasten the new seat, thus destroying 
 its usefulness as a feed-box. This, however, did not dis- 
 turb Mrs. Powel, as she no longer used her carriage for 
 long journeys but only for church going and in visiting, 
 consequently there was no need of carrying bushels of 
 oats to feed the horses on the way. Mrs. Powel died in 
 1830, after which time Colonel John Hare Powel, her 
 heir, seldom used the coach, but kept it in the old coach- 
 house at Powelton for about a quarter of a century. 
 During this time he was fairly persecuted by visi- 
 tors insisting that it was General Washington's 
 coach. This he always denied, pointing out the absence 
 of painted medallions and the presence of the Powel coat 
 of arms. Early in the fifties the barn at Powelton was 
 burned by incendiaries. Some time after, the Powels 
 moved from Powelton and Colonel Powel stored the old 
 coach with Wm. Dunlap, a coach builder of Philadelphia, 
 to get it out of the way, not to exhibit it. Finally, in 
 1855, Colonel Powel gave the coach to Dunlap, as " a relic 
 of antiquity." As long as Wm. Dunlap lived he steadily 
 denied the story of its having been Washington's, and 
 always gave the Powels as its original and sole owners 
 until the time it came into his possession; though he 
 seems to have loaned it or rented it to circuses, shows, 
 and parades. About 1871 or 1872 John Wanamaker of 
 Philadelphia rented it for part of his exhibit in a grand 
 street parade, and would have purchased it could the 
 
27 
 
 Dunlaps have furnished conclusive proofs of its having 
 once belonged to Washington. On the contrary, when 
 Mr. Wanamaker and his then partner, Mr. J. R. Hough- 
 ton, looked into the matter, they were convinced that 
 Washington's coach had been taken to pieces by Bishop 
 Meade more than half a century before that date, and 
 that the coach offered by the Dunlaps had originally 
 belonged to the Powels. Numerous other persons in- 
 tended to buy the coach, but each and all declined upon 
 looking carefully into its history. Proofs of many of 
 these futile attempts to turn it into a Washington coach 
 are held by the Powel family and make interesting 
 reading. 
 
 During the early part of the Centennial Exposition in 
 Philadelphia the Dunlap-Powel coach occupied a con- 
 spicuous position in the Main Building, placarded as 
 "Washington's White Chariot," and a colored man 
 dressed in the white and scarlet livery of the General's 
 household was generally on hand to answer questions and 
 sell photographs of it. At a later period it was moved to 
 the Carriage Annex . Two statements were put in evidence 
 by its then owner, Mr. Wm. Wharton, Jr., 308 Walnut 
 Street, to prove its authenticity. 
 
 First Proof. 
 
 " Philadelphia, Pa., 
 
 "May 27, 1876. 
 " Mr. C. Wharton, 
 
 ' * Sir : In answer to your question as to what I know 
 of the old carriage now on exhibition at No. 1203 North 
 Forty-first St., in this city. I answer this — Thirty-four 
 years ago, I went to live with Mr. John Hare Powel. 
 
 ' ' He put me in charge of the house that contained the 
 carriage in question, and said to me, ' I want you to take 
 care of that carriage, as it belonged to General Wash- 
 ington, and you may show it to visitors as such.' He, Mr. 
 Powel, inherited the same from his aunt. Miss Powel, 
 
28 
 
 who had some family connection with the Washington 
 family. I lived in all eight years with Mr. John Hare 
 Powel, and was instructed by him, that both myself and 
 my daughters should show this carriage as having been 
 General Washington's. Many persons came to see it. You 
 may depend upon the truth of this statement. I do not 
 know any person now living who had charge of that car- 
 riage except myself, or who knows as much about it as 
 I do. 
 
 "Signed Elizabeth Steel. 
 
 "Sworn and subscribed before me this 27th day of 
 May, A. D. 1876. Chas H. Lungren, 
 
 "Alderman.'" 
 
 The careful historian notes three palpable misstate- 
 ments in the above — John Hare Powel 's aunt was Mrs. 
 not "Miss" Powel; the Powels were not connections 
 of the Washingtons; a number of John Hare Powel's 
 descendants were living at the time this statement was 
 sworn to, who would surely know more about the matter 
 than a servant would. 
 
 Second Proof. 
 
 " Philadelphia, Pa., 
 
 " June 12, 1876. 
 "Mr. Wharton, 
 
 "Sir: It gives me great pleasure to add my testi- 
 mony, in relation to the carriage sold by me to Mr. Wm. 
 Wharton, Jr. 
 
 " I hereby certify that it is the very identical carriage 
 that I received from Mr. John Hare Powel in the year 
 eighteen hundred and fifty-five. It is the same one that 
 occupied the stone building on the Powel estate and is 
 the one spoken of in her affidavit by Mrs. Steel. 
 
 " Signed Henry Dunlap. 
 " Witnesses 
 
 "C. Wharton [Brother, now deceased, to Wm. 
 
 Wharton.] 
 " E. H. HuLTZ." [Secretary, now deceased, to Wm. 
 Wharton.] 
 
29 
 
 As a matter of fact, the coach from Powelton was 
 deposited with and afterward given to William Dunlap, 
 the father of Henry. In reahty, Mr. Dunlap does not 
 state that the coach in question belonged to Washington 
 or had ever been his property; he simply identifies it as 
 the one that formerly occupied a certain building on the 
 Powel estate, and as the same one sworn to by Mrs. Steel. 
 
 Again the Powels were appealed to by intending pur- 
 chasers and again Mr. Samuel Powel, eldest son of John 
 Hare Powel, stated that it was his great-aunt's coach in 
 which he had often ridden with her when he was a little 
 lad. 
 
 One man, however, attached enough importance to 
 these so-called proofs as to decide upon the purchase of 
 the coach, and that was Benjamin Richardson, a well-to- 
 do farmer of West Morrisania, New York. He had 
 already begun to indulge his desire to be known as a col- 
 lector, by purchasing what he considered curios and relics. 
 That even he was not entirely satisfied as to its former 
 Washington ownership, can be gathered from a post- 
 script to the letter in which he authorizes Mr. S. F. Mer- 
 rill, Superintendent Main Building Annex, Centennial 
 Grounds, to secure the carriage for him. The letter is dated 
 November 28, 1876, and the postscript reads: "I shall 
 have to examine to see that it was Washington's carriage 
 with your assistance." He bought the Centennial coach 
 for $650 and thereafter celebrated the 22d of February 
 by riding in it, dressed in an old Continental uniform. 
 Richardson was known as an eccentric and his champion- 
 ship of the coach was looked upon as a harmless fad, until 
 he procured its admission into one of the great Revolu- 
 tionary commemorative processions in New York, when 
 a vigorous protest was made by historians, and it was not 
 in the great military parade at the celebration of Washing- 
 ton's Inauguration, New York City, April 30, 1889; but 
 
30 
 
 in the Civic and Industrial Parade, next day, it formed 
 part of the exhibit of 1,500 colored men and was men- 
 tioned in the official program as " one of George Washing- 
 ton's coaches (or at least a very old coach, similar to the 
 one owned by Washington) ." 
 
 In 1888 Richardson loaned the coach to the Buckeye 
 Buggy Company of Columbus, Ohio, for their section in 
 the parade celebrating the centennial of the first settle- 
 ment of that State; but the manager of the company 
 freely stated that they had no proof it had ever belonged 
 to Washington, outside of Mr. Richardson's word, and 
 they simply " took it on faith." Later that same year, 
 Richardson died and bequeathed the coach to his daughter, 
 Sarah Jane, and to his granddaughter, Ella Birdsall, now 
 Mrs. Gouverneur of Brooklyn, New York, and "their 
 heirs and assigns forever." Though litigation began 
 immediately over the real estate Richardson left, his 
 heirs appeared to have cared nothing for the coach and 
 other curiosities. When Sarah Richardson died she be- 
 queathed her interest in the coach and relics to Mrs. 
 Michael Karam and to Miss Selina Birdsall, grand- 
 daughters of the late Benjamin Richardson. About 1895 
 or 1896 Michael Karam bought out the interest of Mrs. 
 Gouverneur, who had acted as her grandfather's secretary 
 and knew the history of each so-called relic, and of Mrs. 
 Selina Birdsall Cooper in the coach and curiosities, pay- 
 ing $250 for the coach. Four or five years ago, however, 
 the heirs claimed to have received but $100 for the entire 
 collection including the coach. 
 
 The coach was stored in a barn on Mott Street, New 
 York City, until the owner of the property, Mr. Augustus 
 Frey, dealer in real estate, insurance, stocks, bonds, and 
 commercial paper, sold the land, and the coach having 
 to be moved, Frey proposed that he should try and sell 
 it. He offered it to the " Mount Vernon Association " 
 
31 
 
 for the modest' sum of $10,000. After investigating the 
 matter, they decKned to make the purchase because, to 
 quote Mr. Frey's own words, "they beheve it was the 
 property of a neighbor of General Washington, a Colonel 
 Powel." In June, 1901, however, he succeeded in sell- 
 ing it to the Mount Vernon Society of Detroit, Michigan, 
 for $350, clearing about one hundred dollars on the 
 transaction as he had advanced Mr. Karam $250 or $275 
 and never made any further accounting. Later that 
 same year, Mr. Frey died. The coach was taken to 
 Hoboken for repairs and thence transported by rail and 
 boat to Mount Vernon to be installed in the restored 
 coach-house, where it has ever since been exhibited 
 advertised by a large sign bearing the legend : 
 
 Carriage 
 
 Exhibited at the 
 
 Centennial Exposition, Philadelphia, 
 
 1876, as 
 
 "WASHINGTON'S WHITE CHARIOT." 
 
 a discreetness of wording that has aroused the curiosity 
 of more than one visitor. 
 
 The history of the negotiations between Frey and the 
 Mount Vernon Society of Detroit is given by the Vice- 
 Regent for Michigan in her annual reports. 
 
 1897. 
 
 "The Council may remember that two years ago 
 photographs w^ere sent to Mr. Dodge, of Washington's 
 old state coach. Since that time every effort has been 
 made to find the coach, but it has lain ' perdu ' until 
 quite recently, when a visitor from Harlem, N. Y., gave 
 Mr. Dodge the address of Mr. Frey, whom he asserted 
 had purchased the coach at the sale .of the effects of Cap- 
 tain Benjamin Richardson, a collector of relics, who 
 originally owned it. Mr. Dodge went on to New York and 
 interviewed Mr. Frey and saw the old coach, which he 
 thinks is undoubtedly genuine. Negotiations are pend- 
 
32 
 
 ing for the purchase of the interesting relic, which we 
 fondly hope may be consummated in time for us to wel- 
 come the wanderer home before the adjournment of 
 Council." 
 
 1898. 
 
 "The Vice-Regent reports $25 received from Mr. 
 Henry Fairfield Osborn, for the Coach fund. 
 
 " The State Coach is still a deferred hope. The agent, 
 who denies any personal interest in the matter, has set 
 the price at $10,000, and the Vice-Regent has for six 
 months let him severely alone. The Vice-Regent makes 
 an appeal to the Vice-Regents of other States to assist 
 her in raising the necessary amount for the purchase of 
 the coach." 
 
 1901. 
 
 * ' The Vice-Regent for Michigan reports the final out- 
 come of several years of investigation and search for 
 Washington's state coach. The one exhibited at Phila- 
 delphia Centennial of 1876 as Washington's coach was 
 traced to its present owner about three years ago, through 
 the enterprise of our Superintendent, Mr. Dodge. The 
 price asked at the time was $10,000, which put it beyond 
 our reach. Two years of waiting for a purchaser at that 
 price, or possibly a doubt arising as to the ability to 
 prove its authenticity, had so depressing an efi'ect upon 
 the owner that last summer he made overtures to the 
 Vice-Regent for Michigan and offered the coach for 
 $2,500. The purchase was then seriously considered by 
 the Regent and several of the Vice-Regents, and it only 
 failed of consummation because a link was missing in 
 the proof of its having belonged to George Washington. 
 Sworn testimony was not wanting to prove that Mr. John 
 Hare Powel, of Philadelphia, who had inherited the 
 coach from his great-aunt, Mrs. Samuel Powel, said the 
 coach in question belonged to George Washington, but 
 the sequel proved that several persons have been guilty 
 of false swearing. Fortunately our wise Regent and saga- 
 cious Superintendent advised further investigation before 
 
33 
 
 making the purchase, and we were rewarded by obtain- 
 ing a communication from Mr. Robert Hare Powel, son 
 of Mr. John Hare Powel. This letter I will read you in 
 full. While Mr. Powel's letter shows conclusively that 
 the coach in question never belonged to George Washing- 
 ton, he also demonstrates that there is no state coach that 
 was Washington's in existence. Mr. Powel also shows 
 that the Powel coach was a twin brother or sister, so to 
 speak, of the famous ' White Chariot,' having been 
 made upon the same model and at the same time, and 
 from the intimacy existing between the Washingtons 
 and the Powels the probability is great that the General 
 occasionally rode in the Powel coach. The Powel coach 
 can now be obtained for $350, and the Vice-Regent for 
 Michigan only waits for the sanction of the Regent and 
 Vice-Regents to send a check to the owner, which will 
 consummate the purchase." 
 
 1902. 
 ' ' The Michigan State Report is mainly concerned 
 with the consummation of the purchase of the old car- 
 riage which was exhibited in 1876 as ' Washington's 
 White Chariot.' The carriage was purchased in 1901 
 for $350, and was then put in the hands of a carriage 
 maker in New York for necessary repairs. The expense 
 was met by the Vice-Regent for Michigan with funds 
 contributed by the Detroit Mount Vernon Society." 
 
 In a recent interview concerning the present Mount 
 Vernon coach, the Vice-Regent for Michigan revived the 
 claim of its being a Washington carriage, by citing a 
 tradition that had been told to the Association, that at 
 one time during some public function attended by both 
 General AVashington and Mrs. Samuel Powel, their car- 
 riages were accidentally exchanged, and no one was able, 
 at the present day, to state definitely whether the mistake 
 was ever rectified. As Washington's "White Chariot" 
 was as well known as himself, even without the sure 
 identification of his coat of arms, the searcher after truth 
 can not be expected to consider this anecdote seriously. 
 
34 
 
 Now upon what rests the authority for calhng the coach 
 at present exhibited at Mount Vernon, "Washington's 
 White Chariot "? Upon the unsupported affidavit of an 
 illiterate woman, Elizabeth Steel, who claims to have 
 been a servant in the family of Colonel John Hare Powel 
 from 1842 to 1850, but whose sworn statement, in 1876, 
 outside the question of the original owner of the coach, 
 contains three misstatements, easily proved as such. 
 While not denying that she may have been a servant in 
 the dairy, at the farm-house, or about the large dwelling, 
 the Powel family positively assert that no woman was ever 
 employed about the stables or in the coach-house, and 
 describe Elizabeth Steel as being a ' ' talkative old per- 
 son " whose " memory was probably very defective." 
 
 Thus in more than a hundred years one person authori- 
 tatively claims the disputed coach as having belonged to 
 Washington; against scores of historians, magazine and 
 newspaper writers, together with the Powel family who, 
 generation after generation, have courteously and patiently 
 testified to its being a Powel coach . One man of all the 
 intending purchasers accepted the Steel statement as 
 satisfactory, and he is known to have been wanting in 
 judgment, eccentric, and illy balanced mentally. Even 
 he did not consider it sufficient, but declared his inten- 
 tion of seeking proof. 
 
 The coach itself bears none of the identifying marks 
 that history assigns to Washington's coach; there are no 
 painted medallions, no emblazoning on the doors, indeed 
 were they submitted to the searching test of X-rays, the 
 Powel coat of arms, if it has not been sandpapered off, 
 would be found, for that telltale ornamentation was 
 painted off long ago. 
 
 It is respectfully submitted, therefore, that in view of 
 all the facts assembled above, together with the statement 
 
35 
 
 of the Vice-Regent for Michigan in her report for 1901, 
 that the coach offered by Augustus Frey was of Powel and 
 not of Washington origin, that if the Powel coach is to 
 be retained in the Washington coach-house, its ambigu- 
 ous sign should be superseded by one giving its proper 
 designation as a Poiuel coach, that visitors be no longer 
 misled ; while the authenticity of the coachee should in 
 some way be acknowledged, since there is no proof against 
 its claim of having once been a Washington carriage and 
 much circumstantial evidence that the claim is true. 
 
 Chronology of the Powel Coach. 
 
 About 'O^iyS*^ . . . — Imported from England by Mrs. Powel, the 
 wife of Mayor Samuel Powel of Philadel- 
 phia. 
 
 1830 — Mrs. Powel died and the carriage became the 
 
 property of Col. John Hare Powel. 
 
 1855 — Removed from Powelton and stored at the 
 
 carriage factory of Wm. Dunlap, 476 York 
 Road, Philadelphia. 
 
 Some time prior to 1876 — Sold by Henry Dunlap, son of Wm. Dunlap, 
 to Wm. Wharton, Jr. 
 
 Nov. 28, 1876 .... —Sold by Wm. Wharton, Jr., to Capt. Ben- 
 jamin Richardson. 
 
 1888 — Capt. Richardson died, and his daughter 
 
 Sarah Jane and his granddaughter Ella 
 Birdsall, afterward Mrs. Gouverneur, in- 
 herited it. When Sarah Jane Richardson 
 died, she bequeathed her interest in the 
 coach to Mrs. Michael Karam and to 
 Selina Birdsall, afterward Mrs. Joseph 
 Cooper. 
 
 About 1895 or 1896 . . — Michael Karam bought out the interest of 
 Ella Birdsall Gouverneur and of Seline 
 Birdsall Cooper. 
 
 About 1898 — Michael Karam entrusted the sale of the 
 
 coach to Augustus Frey. 
 
 1901 — Augustus Frey sold it to the Mount Vernon 
 
 Society of Detroit, Michigan, and it was 
 deposited by them at Mount Vernon. 
 
 1908 — Still in coach-house at Mount Vernon. 
 
Documentary History In the Washing- 
 ton Coach Controversy. 
 
 " Annals of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania in the Olden 
 Time,'' by John F. Watson, 18^2. 
 
 Vol. I, p. 209. "The most splendid looking carriage 
 ever in Philadelphia, at that time was that used by Gen- 
 eral Washington, while President. There was in it, at 
 least to my young mind, a greater air of stately grandeur 
 than I have ever seen since. It was very large, so much 
 so, as to make four horses an indispensable appendage. 
 It had been previously imported for Governor Richard 
 Penn. It was of a cream color, with much more of gilded 
 carving in the frame than is since used. Its strongest 
 attractions were the relief ornaments on the panels, they 
 being painted medallion pictures of playing cupids, or 
 naked children. That carriage I afterwards saw, in 1804- 
 5, in my store-yard at New Orleans, where it lay an out- 
 cast in the weather ! — the result of a bad speculation in 
 a certain Doctor Young, who had bought it at public sale, 
 took it out to New Orleans for sale, and could find none 
 to buy it, where all were content with plain volantes. 
 
 " It became in time a kind of outhouse, in which fowls 
 roosted ; and in the great battle of New Orleans it stood 
 between the combatants, and was greatly shot-ridden ! Its 
 gooseneck crane has been laid aside for me." 
 
 P. 581. "Washington's coach was presented to him, 
 it is said, by Louis XVI, King of France, as a mark of 
 personal esteem and regard. Others have said it had been 
 brought out for the late Governor Penn. It was cream- 
 colored, globular in its shape, and capacious within; 
 ornamented in the French style, with Cupids supporting 
 festoons and wreaths of flowers beautifully covered with 
 fine glass, very white and dazzling to the eye of youth 
 
 36 
 
37 
 
 and simplicity in such matters. It was drawn sometimes 
 by four, but in common by two, very elegant Virginia 
 bays, with long switch-tails and splendid harness, and 
 driven by a tall and muscular German Fritz. On the 
 death of Washington, this coach found its way to New 
 Orleans, after the purchase of Louisiana and there being 
 found at a plantation in the time of Pakenham's inva- 
 sion, got riddled with shot and destroyed. The chief 
 of its iron work has since been used in the palisade to 
 H. Milne's grave." 
 
 Vol. Ill, p. 128. * "There were two coaches of Wash- 
 ington's, as although Watson and Lossing apparently de- 
 scribe the same coach, they give different statements of 
 its origin and its end. Watson says it was either pre- 
 sented to him by Louis XVI, or was imported for Gover- 
 nor Richard Penn; while Lossing in Mount Vernon and 
 its Associations, says Washington imported it from Eng- 
 land, etc. Watson says it was sold after Washington's 
 death, and as early as 1804-5, he saw it in New Orleans, 
 where it lay neglected and was finally destroyed in the 
 British invasion and part of its iron was reserved for 
 Mr. Watson, and the remainder was used around a grave; 
 while Lossing says the English coach was purchased by 
 the late Mr. Custis of Arlington when the effects of the 
 General was sold after Mrs. Washington's death, and 
 finally became the property of the Rt. Rev. Mr. Meade, 
 who had it taken apart for souvenirs. 
 
 ' ' Washington had three vehicles — one a post-chaise for 
 traveling and the country; one a family coach; and 
 another a chariot for state purposes. All were cream- 
 colored, with three figures on the panels." 
 
 " History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884-," by J. Thos. Scharf 
 and Thompson Westcott, 1884-. 
 
 P. 473. "On the 4th of March, Washington again 
 took the oath of office as President of the United States. 
 * * * He proceeded to the State House in an elegant 
 
 • This work is in 3 vols. The 1st and 2d have been revised by Willis P. Hazard 
 and the 3d entirely written by him, 1898. 
 
38 
 
 white coach, drawn by six superb white horses having on 
 its four sides beautiful designs of the four seasons painted 
 by Cipriani." 
 
 " The First American, His Homes and His Households ,' ' 
 by Leila Herbert, 1900. 
 
 [Opposite p. 44 is a picture of the Franklin House, 
 Franklin Square, New York, with the cream-colored 
 coach before the door. The panels and door show embel- 
 lishments, the driver's seat is so high as to be almost on a 
 level with the top of the coach, and it is draped with the 
 ample folds of a hammer-cloth.] 
 
 P. 59. "The President's fine cream-colored coach 
 arrived while he lived in the Franklin house. Capacious, 
 it was ponderous, but beautiful — the Four Seasons painted 
 on its panels, the Washington coat of arms on the doors. 
 Six shining bay horses drew it when he drove to Federal 
 Hall to deliver his first message to Congress." 
 
 As the Washington coach built by Clarke was taken to 
 pieces for relics some time prior to 1820 and as the art of 
 daguerreotypy was not discovered until 1839 and pho- 
 tography not until many years later, there is probably no 
 authentic picture extant of the Washington coach. The 
 illustration referred to is by Harry Fenn and appears also 
 in Harper's Magazine for October, 1899. A letter to Mr. 
 Fenn in February, 1906, as to his authority for so depict- 
 ing Washington's coach, elicited the following reply: 
 
 " 284 Park St., Upper Montclair, N. J. 
 "Ask me an easier one. The hundreds of drawings 
 that I have made since 1899 has put the Franklin Square 
 drawing into the limbo of the past. And from whence I 
 obtained the authority I can not for the life of me recollect. 
 The most likely explanation is the fact that I was born in 
 
S9 
 
 England and from ten j'-ears up I was forever sketching, 
 and the ' Hammer-cloth ' was so familiar to me as a boy 
 connected with every coach of state, that in making the 
 drawing in question I was fully convinced that the ham- 
 mer-cloth would be the correct thing and any swell coach 
 sent over from England would surely have one. Probably 
 this is the explanation and a very natural one. 
 
 " Cordially, Harry Fenn. 
 
 "Tuesday, 10 p. m." 
 
 As early as 1750 we find entries in Washington's book 
 of expenses for the modest vehicle known as a "pole 
 chair," for which he bought a new set of harness at a 
 cost of 10£ 15s. Ten years later, he records a charge of 
 lis. "ferriage of one Chariot, 6 Horses and 2 Men, 
 driver included " ; and in the same year, 1760, he begins 
 to pay a tax of 1£ 10s. for his chariot and riding-chair. 
 In 1763-he has his riding-chair relined, the work being 
 done by Thomas Boseley. In 1764 and in 1772 the same 
 vehicle has to be repaired, and in 1791 he pays Col. Wil- 
 liam Deakins 18s. for " 12 Glasses for my Carriage made 
 at the New Bremen Glass Manufactory." 
 
 There is a record, also, of two occasions upon which he 
 gave away a carriage. While attending the first Conti- 
 nental Congress in Philadelphia, 1774, he gives 40£ for 
 " a Chaize for my mother " ; and after the death of his 
 nephew, George Augustine Washington, he writes to the 
 widow : ' ' The carriage which I sent to Mount Vernon for 
 your use, I never intended to reclaim, and therefore now 
 making a more formal present of it, it may be sent for 
 whenever it suits your convenience, and be considered as 
 your own." There is also record of his having sold four 
 carriages. Lund Washington, writing to him from Mount 
 Vernon, September 2, 1778, says: " I received from Capt. 
 Lewis 200£ for the Phseton which was the price agreed 
 for before it was delivered." Mr. Mitchell in 1780 sold 
 
40 
 
 Mrs. Washington's old coach to the builders from whom a 
 new one was purchased for her. As the third carriage to be 
 sold was not the personal property of General Washington, 
 the proceeds were turned over to the Government. Ilere 
 are extracts from two letters concerning it : 
 
 " I have sold the old Chariot, which formerly belonged 
 to the Presidents of Congress, for 45£, to Mr. Brock't Liv- 
 ingston. As it had never been in your possession, I had 
 some doubt whether it would be proper for me to dispose 
 of it. But upon consulting with Colo. Hamilton he was 
 fully of opinion that it was proper. The above price is 
 the most I could get, as there was no harness to it, and 
 the Coachmaker demanded 40£ to repair it and make a 
 new sett of common harness." — Tobias Lear to the Presi- 
 dent, New York, September 20, 1790. 
 
 " The sale of the old Charriot was proper, for although 
 the price is small, it will be so much saved for the pub- 
 lic." — Washington to Lear, September 27, 1790, Mount 
 Vernon. 
 
 Particulars of the fourth vehicle to be sold can be gath- 
 ered from the letters of Washington, at Mount Vernon, 
 to Clement Biddle in Philadelphia : 
 
 " Be so good as to ask Mr. Simmons what he has done 
 with my old Coach and make the most you can of it." 
 [August 23, 1797.] 
 
 " I have lately received a letter from a Mr. Small of 
 Philadelphia informing me that the coach I used in the 
 City was yet unsold; — that it was accumulating ex- 
 pense; — and not more than two hundred dollars had 
 been offered for it, when according to his acct. $300 was 
 the value fixed thereon. 
 
 " I intended to have sent his letter to you, but it has 
 been mislaid or lost — I shall beg the favor of you, how- 
 ever, to sell or cause it to be sold for whatever it will 
 fetch. Who limited the price to $300. I know not; — but 
 took it for granted that it had been disposed of many 
 days ago." [November 25, 1797.] 
 
41 
 
 " If you conceive any advantage will result from a 
 delay in the sale of the old Coach until the Spring it will 
 be quite agreeable to me that it should be postponed. — To 
 avoid the accumulating expense of House Room, and the 
 injury such articles sustain by lying and often by neglect 
 and tossing about was my inducement to the disposal of it 
 now. — But it rests with you to choose the time." [Janu- 
 ary 29, 1798.] 
 
 " I have already left it to your own judgment to fix a 
 period for selling the old Coach, and I repeat it, you will 
 have perceived, however, that the expenses thereon are 
 accumulating; whilst in all probability the carriage is 
 growdng worse and worse in its appearance. The account 
 which has been exhibited for keeping it (if the charge is 
 not unusual) must be paid. — To me it appears very 
 high." [March 3, 1798.] 
 
 " I am sorry to find that the old Coach is likely to find 
 so bad a market. — This was shipped by Mr. Dandridge 
 at the time I left Philadelphia. — As the case now is, it 
 will be better to break it up for the old Iron — than keep 
 it longer on expenses." [June 17, 1798.] 
 
 ' ' For my Sentiments respecting the old Coach * * * 
 I refer to my last of the above date, — 17th June." [July 
 29, 1798.] 
 
 " Much has been said of Washington's equipages, when 
 at New York, and of his having four, and sometimes six 
 horses before his carriage, wath servants and outriders in 
 rich livery. Such style we would premise was usual at 
 the time both in England and the Colonies. * * * It 
 does not appear, however, that Washington ever indulged 
 in it through ostentation. When he repaired to the Hall 
 of Congress, at his inauguration, he was drawn by a single 
 pair of horses in a chariot presented for the occasion, on 
 the panels of which were emblazoned the arms of the 
 United States. ' ' [" Life of Washington ' ' by Washington 
 Irving, Vol. V, p. 19.] This was perhaps the "two- 
 horse phaeton" of Jacob Hiltzheimer's diary and the 
 ' ' post-chaise ' ' whose first mention by Washington in his 
 diary is: " December 2, 1789. [at New York.] — Exer- 
 cised in the Post-Chaise with Mrs. Washington to-day." 
 
42 
 
 " Speaking of Carriages, — I have left my Coach to 
 receive a thorough repair against I return (which I expect 
 will happen before the first of December) and I request 
 you will visit Mr. Clarke (into whose hands it is com- 
 mitted) often, to see it well done; and that I may not be 
 disappointed in the time allowed him for the completion, 
 which is by the 25th of November." — Washington to Lear, 
 September S, 1790. 
 
 In the Washington correspondence, Library of Con- 
 gress, may be found the following letters : 
 
 " Philadelphia 13th September 1790. 
 " The Hon'ble 
 
 ' ' George Washington 
 "Sir: 
 
 ' ' Your favor of the 9th Instant I have received — with 
 Respect to Mr. Morris's Coach, he has no Coat of Arms 
 thereon, but a Cypher on Doors, back & front, with 
 a Chryst over the Cypher, and no enclosure — the ground 
 colour of your Coach being White, the silver in our 
 opinion will have but a bad effect — Should you prefer 
 continuing the seasons as already on the carriage, on the 
 Doors, front, & Back, Your Chryst painted on the four 
 quarter Pannels, all enclosed within the original Ovals, 
 which corresponds with the mouldings of the Coach, 
 would in our opinion look well, but should you prefer 
 having your Cypher & Chryst in Silver, in place of the 
 Seasons, it would look extremely well within the original 
 Mouldings, & on a deep Silver Grey or purple Ground, 
 and in our Opinion preferable to the other. 
 
 ' ' Inclosed we hand you a draft of a Cypher done in the 
 same Manner with that of Mr. Morris's, also a pattern of 
 the Cloth for the lining of the Coach, which we hope will 
 meet with your approbation — Should you prefer the 
 silver Cypher & Chryst, we would recommend having the 
 Cypher only on front. Doors & Back, &the Chryst on the 
 four quarter pannels with Ovals reversed from what they 
 now are, by this we mean having the oval o this way — 
 every attention in our power will also be paid to the har- 
 ness, & we would recommend the following to make the 
 
43 
 
 Coach uniform — a pair of plated handles to the Doors, 
 plated Brass buckles & plated mouldings round the roof 
 — there being no Glass or Frame in front of the Coach, 
 would wish to know if we are to fix one in — We have 
 the honor to be 
 
 ' ' With the greatest Respect 
 "Sir 
 
 " Your Obed't Servants 
 
 "Daniel and Francis Clark." 
 
 ^ ^ Repairs for the Coach. 
 
 Taking out the Creans and reasing higher & ^ £7100 
 
 a pair of new Shafts \ 
 
 A new iron Coach box Sett 3. 15. 
 
 A new RufF Leather & new Conish .... 4. 12. 6 
 
 Hnning the Boady with 113^ yards of Super- ) «f,, , o ^ 
 
 fine Cloath at 37 — 6 pr yard ) "" '"^l oqko 
 
 Leaces Glass string &c' a 8. 14. f • ^^- ^- "^ 
 
 making and putting in Do 8. 10. Oj 
 
 A new fulle trimed hamer Cloath 12. 0. 
 
 repairs wanted to the boady & 2 pair of new hinges .... 2. 0. 
 
 A pair of new double insid foulding Steps 5. 10. 
 
 4 new bands to the hoobs of the wheels 0. 10. 
 
 Painting the Boady and high Varnishing 5. 10. 
 
 Boarder rond all the pannels from £8. to £115 
 
 Ornaments & Coats of Arms 4. 10. 
 
 Gilding the frame work Solid 6. 0. 
 
 Painting Carriage and wheels 2. 10. 
 
 Picking in Do 1. 10. 
 
 8 Vinison Winds 22. 10. 
 
 Gilding the Springs 2. 5. 
 
 A sett of Silke festoon Curtains with fringes ) 8 0" 
 
 and tosals to all the insid of the Ruff . . ) 
 
 " To Mes'rs. D. & Francis Clark 
 
 " Philadelphia. 
 "Sir, 
 
 " From the best judgment I can form of the repairs and 
 alterations to make in my old Coach (under the statement 
 and opinions given in your letter of the 13th instant) I 
 feel most inclined to give you the following directions 
 for your procedure that no delay or disappointment may 
 happen. 
 
 " The coulour is to be as at present; — but to be neatly 
 painted and highly varnished. — 
 
 "The Seasons (which are now on the carriage) is to 
 be continued on the doors, front and back — and my crest 
 
44 
 
 without any cipher is to be on the four quarter panels ; 
 all to be enclosed with the original ovals. — If it is thought 
 best that the crest should be painted (as Silver does not 
 show on a light ground) they may be painted. — But quere, 
 whether if some ornamental painting within the Oval, and 
 around the Silver crests, (the colours of which should 
 form a contrast to the silver and not be inconsistent with 
 other parts of the work) might not look well. This is 
 only suggested, for you may have painted, or silver crests 
 put on according to your own judgment of the propriety 
 & uniformity. — 
 
 " The Seasons if they should require it (and a masterly 
 hand can be employed) must be repaired, — or at least 
 freshened in their appearance to make them correspond 
 with the fresh painting of the Coach, & as festoons were 
 on the coach before, ought they not to be there again if 
 the seasons &c. are retained. — I approve of the pattern 
 sent as lining for the Coach and desire you may use it. — 
 Plated handles to the doors — plated brace buckles, and 
 plated mouldings around the roof should be added to 
 make one part correspond with the other. — A Glass in 
 front must unquestionably be provided. — In all other 
 respects you are to observe the directions which were 
 given when I saw you in Philadelphia. — 
 
 " I am, &c. 
 
 "Geo. Washington. 
 
 '' Mount Vernon 
 
 " September 17th 1790." 
 
 "I have paid several visits to Mr. Clarke since my arrival, 
 and find he is at work on the Coach and harness, which 
 he assures me shall be completed by the middle of Novem- 
 ber; and from appearances I have no doubt of it. He 
 has applied to me for the crest of your arms which he 
 says you directed him to put on the Coach and harness, 
 and I have accordingly furnished him with it, from an 
 impression of the seal which I have in my possession . — 
 He wishes to know if you would have the motto of your 
 Arms over the crest, or only a wreath round the plate on 
 which it is painted similar to those round the Seasons." — 
 Lear to Washington, Philadelphia, October 24-, 1790. 
 
45 
 
 Most of Washington's equipages were built in England 
 and several were imported through the firm of " Robert 
 Gary, Esqr. & Co. of London," a house that handled all 
 of his exported tobacco and attended to much of his 
 English business ; but there came a time when the coach- 
 makers of Philadelphia could compete with their foreign 
 fellow-craftsmen and we are not surprised to find the 
 General seeking the aid of a trusted friend, John Mitchell 
 of Philadelphia, in the selection and purchase of an 
 American-built coach. Washington was one of those 
 rare characters who knew exactly what he wanted and 
 could state his requirements in precise terms, from the 
 qualifications of a general to the color of a hair-ribbon, 
 from the rotation of crops to be observed on his farm to 
 the style of a silver plate for the door of his pew in old 
 Christ Church, Alexandria. Accordingly his instructions 
 for this new vehicle were minute; and Mr. Mitchell 
 seems to have been both zealous and particular; witness 
 the following correspondence : 
 
 Washington to Mitchell. 
 
 " Headquarters, Morris Town, 
 
 20 March, 1780. 
 "D'r Sir, 
 
 " You will do me a favor by enquiring & letting me 
 know as soon as possible, if any good coach maker in 
 Phila. or German Town (Bringhurst for instance) will 
 engage to make me a genteel plain chariot with real 
 [lead?] Harness for four horses to go with two postilions — 
 I wish to know the terms and in how short a time it can 
 be done — I also beg to know if the harness could be soon 
 had without the carriage. That the workmen may be at 
 no loss to fix a just price on these things on acc't of the 
 fluctuating & uncertain state of our curr'y he may make 
 his estimates in specie which shall either be paid him 
 immediately upon delivery of the work — or in paper 
 money at the difference of exchange then prevailing — 
 
46 
 
 be it little or much — this will put the matter upon so 
 clear & unequivocal a footing that he can be at no loss in 
 fixing prices nor be under the smallest inducem't to ask 
 an enormous price in order to g'd. against the evil conse- 
 quences of depreciation. * * * 
 
 "P. S. I beg the favor of you to enquire further 
 whether nails & other kind of mounting, & trimmings, 
 necessary to the lining and finishing of a chariot could 
 be had in any of the shops — or from any of the coach 
 makers in Phila. — there is a good workman at Springfield 
 (in this State) but he has not this kind of furniture by 
 him necessary to compleat a char't." 
 
 Mitchell to Washington. 
 
 "Phila. 25 March, 1780. 
 "D'r. Sir 
 
 "Your Excellency's favors of the 17th & 20th were 
 delivered to me yesterday, have made particular Inquiry 
 at the several Coach Makers and have found a Neat Gen- 
 teel Chariot which is near finished, and can be compleated 
 with Harness for four Horses in two or three Weeks, the 
 price is Two Hundred & Ten Pounds in Gold or the 
 Value thereof in current money. I can not procure one 
 under this sum from any of the workmen here & believe 
 it is the low^est price, the man who has it has promised to 
 wait a Week for your Excellency's answer. 
 
 ' ' I believe all the Necessary Furniture and Lining can 
 be procured here for a Chariot if you chuse to have one 
 made, but doubt much if it will be cheaper. I can not 
 ascertain what the Furniture &c. will cost, as some part 
 must be made here, and others bought at Different places. 
 
 Washington to Mitchell. 
 
 " Head Quarters, Morristown, 30 March, 1780 
 "D'r. Sir 
 
 ' ' Your Letter of the 25th did not come to my hands till 
 j^esterday afternoon . 
 
 " I will take the chariot at the price of Two hundred 
 and ten pounds in gold, provided you have examined it 
 
47 
 
 yourself with a critical eye or will get some good judge or 
 judges to do it and they shall be of opinion that it is made 
 in the present taste — well fashioned — composed of sea- 
 soned wood well put together — and also that it has, or is 
 to have a proper lining &c. * * * I wish you had 
 mentioned the maker's name of the one ofl'ered you — if 
 it is a common sale chariot, & the workman does not stand 
 much upon his character, it may be of little worth from 
 the slightness of it. 
 
 " In case you should purchase, please to have my arms 
 and crest properly disp'd. of on the chariot. I send them 
 for this purpose. * * * " 
 
 Although the gentlemen who accompanied Mr. Mitchell 
 to examine this chariot critically, agreed that ' ' it was good 
 work & neatly finished in the present Taste, the wood 
 * * * well seasoned," they judged it to be too small 
 for a man built on the generous proportions of the General, 
 who stood six feet three inches, in his stockings, for the 
 dimensions were " 3 feet 4 Inches high from the seat to 
 the top, and 3 feet 6 Inches wide in the inside. ' ' Hearing 
 of a somewhat larger carriage, Mr. Mitchell hastens to 
 examine that and writes : 
 
 "Phila, 4- April 1780 
 
 ******* 
 
 ' ' This day I went to Germantown & have prevailed on 
 Mr. Bringhurst to let you have a Chariot he has in hand 
 — it appears to be good Work & well seasoned timber, 
 the size is 3 feet 6i Inches high & 3 feet 10 Inches wide — 
 & will have a very good second Cloth or better if to be got 
 this will be ready in Six weeks, the former in Ten days, 
 the price is the same. Mr. Craner [?] is the maker of the 
 first; Mr. Barret Paints both." 
 
 On April 8, 1780, Washington writes further instruc- 
 tions : 
 
 ' ' It may not be amiss to ornament the' mouldings with 
 a light airy gilding — this will add a little to the expence 
 
48 
 
 and much to the appearance. — The Harness I would have 
 stout and strong, at the same time neatly made and orna- 
 mented and of good leather." 
 
 Mitchell reports progress on April 17, 1780, 
 
 '*as the Chariot will be at the Painter's next week, 
 wou'd wish your Excellency to inform me of the Colour 
 you wou'd chuse it to be, also whether you wou'd chuse 
 the Leading Harness to hook to the Wheel Horses Har- 
 ness, or by a swingle tree fixed to the Pole — and if you 
 wou'd chuse brass boxes to the Hubs of the Wheels." 
 
 On the 26th of June, 1780, Mitchell writes: 
 
 " the Chariot will be finished on Thursday or Friday 
 next, & I believe will please your Lady." — Finally on 
 the 19th of July he reports: " I sold the old chariot to 
 Mr. Bringhurstfor £27. 10., hard money, which I deducted 
 out of the price of the new chariot. I have the money 
 awaiting your "commands." 
 
 Washington had made timely provision for paying for 
 this carriage, as on April 15, 1780, he wrote to Lund 
 Washington at Mount Vernon : "I have ordered a chariot 
 to be made in Phila. — The price £210 in specie, or Paper 
 equivalent." In May, Lund Washington forwarded 
 £218. 0. 6 to Mr. Mitchell, and July 26, 1780, Washington 
 closed the entire transaction by writing to Mr. Mitchell : 
 
 ' ' I thank you for the trouble you have had about the 
 chariot. The sum for which the old one sold and w'ch 
 you sa}^ lyes in your hands, you will be so good as to pay 
 to Mrs. Washington's order." 
 
 The constantl}'- recurring assurance that the wood of 
 the new carriage was well seasoned has reference to a 
 most vexatious experience Washington had had some 
 years previous. 
 
49 
 
 " In 1768, AVashington ordered from London a chariot, 
 to be made in the newest taste, handsome, genteel, and 
 light, of the best and fully seasoned wood, and by a cele- 
 brated workman. Some months later the coach was 
 shipped from London, with a full account from its maker 
 of its many noticeable features, and with a warrant of 
 being of the highest workmanship. The facts did not 
 correspond to the glowing description, and Washington 
 soon had good reason to complain of having been imposed 
 upon, even after making some allowances for a difference 
 of climate. The wood proved to be so exceedingly green, 
 instead of seasoned, that the panels slipped out of the 
 mouldings before the coach had been two months in use, 
 and splitting from end to end, could not be repaired." — 
 " George Washington," by W. C. Ford, 1900, Vol. I, p. 
 121. 
 
 It was in this unsatisfactory carriage that Mrs. Wash- 
 ington drove to Morristown in 1780 and which Mr. Mit- 
 chell sold to Bringhurst for ' ' £27 . 10 . , hard money, ' ' Mrs. 
 Washington returned to Mount Vernon in the newly 
 completed chariot, for which she had waited in Philadel- 
 phia for some three or four weeks. The price of the old 
 chariot, after deducting the cost of a Marseilles quilt and 
 repairs to Washington's watch, was placed in her hands 
 by Mr. Mitchell, agreeably to instructions received from 
 the General.* 
 
 ClaypooWs ^^ American Daily Advertiser," Philadelphia, 
 Tuesday, March 7, 1797 ; also 8, 9 and 10. 
 
 " Sale of Elegant Furniture. 
 
 " On Friday next the 10th instant, at 1 o'clock, will 
 be sold at public Auction, at the House of the late Presi- 
 dent of the L^nited States, in Market street, 
 
 "A Quantity of Valuable Household Furniture, 
 belonging to General Washington, among which are, a 
 
 •"New England Historical and Genealogical Register," Vol. 54, pp. 266-269; 
 422-425. 
 
50 
 
 number of Elegant Chairs with Sattin Bottoms, sattin 
 Window Curtains, a Beautiful Cut Glass Lustre, and a 
 very complete Mahogany Writing Desk, also a Coach and 
 Phaeton. 
 
 " Footman & Co., 
 
 "Auctioneers.^^ 
 
 " Washington Federalist," June ^4-, 1802. 
 
 "For Sale 
 
 "At Mount Vernon, 
 
 " On the 20th day of July, and to continue until all is 
 
 disposed of, for cash, the Household & Kitchen Furniture, 
 
 consisting of almost every description, some valuable 
 
 Prints and Pictures, also a pipe of choice Old Madeira 
 
 Wine. Notice is further given, that all persons having 
 
 claims against the estate of Mrs. Martha Washington, 
 
 late of Fairfax county, deceased, are requested to exhibit 
 
 them to the subscribers, with vouchers therefor, and every 
 
 one indebted to the same are desired to make immediate 
 
 payment. 
 
 "Thomas Peter, ) 77. ± 
 <<r^ 117 Ti ri \ -bjxecutors. 
 
 G. W. P. CusTis, S 
 
 "The executors of General Washington will avail 
 themselves of the above opportunity, and offer for sale on 
 six months credit a number of valuaUe cattle the greater 
 part of them from imported stock, about five hundred 
 head of Sheep, and nearly the same number of Hogs, 
 together with one elegant Chariot & Coachee, with Har- 
 ness compleat for four horses ; also four carriage and two 
 riding Horses, with a number of Farming Utensils, Camp 
 Equipage, and a variety of other articles too numerous to 
 particularize. 
 
 " The Executors. 
 
 "June 24th, 1802." 
 
The Spurious Washington Coach. 
 
 *' Annals of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania in the Olden 
 Time," by John F. Watson, 184-2, 1st and 2d vols, 
 revised and 3d vol. loritten by Willis P. Hazard, 1898. 
 
 [Watson knew what he was writing about and gave 
 the end of the white coach in New Orleans, degraded to 
 a hen-house, and riddled with shot at the battle; but 
 Hazard, while confirming these statements, adds:] 
 
 "' I have seen this Carriage. It was brought from 
 New Orleans and exhibited on Chestnut Street as a curi- 
 osity. Every one who was desirous of sitting where 
 Washington had sat, paid twenty-five cents for the privi- 
 lege. It was then stored away in a coach-factory and 
 was again exhibited in 1876, at the Centennial Exhibi- 
 tion. It is now at the Permanent Exhibition." 
 
 [Could any one who saw the alleged ' ' Washington 
 Coach" exhibited at the Centennial Exposition, believe 
 for a moment that it had been used as a hen-house, had 
 stood out-of-doors in all kinds of weather, been riddled 
 with bullets, completely destroyed, deprived of its goose- 
 neck crane, and the rest of its iron work used to fence a 
 grave?] 
 
 The Powel coach, existing to the present day, has been 
 photographed many times ; but all the photographs of this 
 equipage, and they are many, whether they are truthfully 
 labeled as the Powel coach, or falsely as the Washington 
 coach, show the low driving seat without a hammer-cloth 
 
 51 
 
52 
 
 but protected at the side with arms like a chair. The 
 panels in these pictures are plain and the doors are 
 unemblazoned, because when the Powel coach was put 
 forward as the Washington coach, the telltale ' ' Powel arms 
 had to be covered with paint." [Miss M. E. Powel to 
 R. L. Brownfield, July 25, 1895.] It thus appears in a 
 lithographic reproduction of a photograph taken in 1872, 
 when on the 2 2d of February the United Order of 
 American Mechanics celebrated the 140th anniversary of 
 the birthday of the Father of his Country by a proces- 
 sion in the city of New York in which the fraudulent 
 coach was one of the greatest attractions. The legend 
 under the picture gives Mr. William Dunlap as its custo- 
 dian, thus innocently identifying it as the Powel coach. 
 It appeared again on September 1, 1888, as part of the 
 Buckeye Buggy Company's exhibit in the Columbus, 
 Ohio, Centennial celebration of the settlement of that 
 State, and was borrowed by that firm from Capt. Ben- 
 jamin Richardson of 514 East 116th Street, New York 
 City. His grandson, a lad, dressed in continental uniform, 
 sat with the driver. The photograph shows the now 
 familiar low driving seat, undraped, also the plain panels 
 and doors. 
 
 Correspondence Between R. L. Brownfield and Buckeye 
 Buggy Company. 
 
 " Columbus, Ohio. 
 '' 5 \ 14.\ 1903. 
 " Mr. R. L. Brownfield, 
 
 " 85 West Main Street, Uniontown, Pa., 
 " Dear Sir: Yours of the 27th was just given to me 
 to answer. In reply would be glad to accommodate you 
 in any way that we can but as a matter of fact we have 
 nothing whatever, to prove that the carriage we had on 
 exhibition formerly belonged to Geo. Washington.* We 
 
 • Centennial celebration of the first settlement of Ohio, September 1, 1888. 
 
53 
 
 simply took it on faith and asked no questions. We have 
 no printed matter or anything that relates to the carriage 
 except a large photograph of the carriage with horses 
 hitched to it as it appeared in the parade. * * * 
 
 " Alfred L. Willson, 
 " Prest. Buckeye Buggy Company." 
 
 '' 6 \ 27, 1903. 
 
 " Dear Sir: Referring to your letter of May 14th in 
 
 reference to the George Washington coach, will say that 
 
 we have just run across photograph of the coach and 
 
 herewith mail it to you under separate cover. * * * 
 
 "F. L. Hughes, 
 *' Vice-Prest. Buckeye Buggy Co." 
 
 [Photograph of Fair Grounds, Columbus, Ohio. 
 Description : frame cottage in which General Grant was 
 born, brought to the Grounds for exhibition purposes. 
 Same coach as one exhibited at Centennial, also Lafay- 
 ette's coach. Baker's Art Gallery.] 
 
 Legend Under a Picture Published by A. 0. Crane, Boston, 
 Massachusetts. 
 
 " Gen. Washington's Carriage 
 "(Nearly 100 years old.) 
 *.'A correct representation, as it appeared in the proces- 
 sion of the United Order of American Mechanics, in New 
 York, Feb. 22, 1872, on the 140th birthday of the Father 
 of his Country. * * * The carriage was built during 
 Washington's first Presidential term, and is still rever- 
 ently preserved by its present owner, in charge of Mr. 
 William Dunlap, of the Phoenix Coach Works, Phila- 
 delphia." 
 
 [Dunlap's custodianship identifies this as the same 
 carriage shown at the Centennial Exposition ; it follows, 
 therefore, that the panels and doors are plain and the 
 driver's seat is much below the top of the coach, and 
 without the hammer-cloth.] 
 
64 
 
 Correspondence in Relation to the Coach Exhibited at the 
 Centennial Exposition as Washington's Coach. 
 
 " Philadelphia, May 7, 1903. 
 *' Mr. R. L. Brownpield, 
 " Uniontown, Pa., 
 
 ' ' Dear Sir : Your letter of May 4th came duly to 
 hand, and, I have to say, that Mr. Wanamaker is absent 
 in Europe at the present time, and the subject of which 
 you write was a matter of which his former partner, Mr. 
 John R. Houghton, was quite familiar some years ago. 
 
 " It appears that the firm procured the loan of what 
 was at that time believed to be the ' Washington Coach,' 
 and exhibited it in a street parade. The same coach was 
 afterwards exhibited in the Centennial Exposition of 1876. 
 
 ' * I have referred the matter to the gentleman men- 
 tioned above, who believes that the coach to which you 
 refer, is the same that was exhibited in '76. He received 
 letters from Newport, R. I., stating that the coach be- 
 longed to the Powel Estate; that it never belonged to 
 Gen. Washington, but that Gen. Washington being a 
 guest of the Powel family, on several occasions, rode from 
 their home in what is now West Philadelphia, over to 
 Christ Church in it. 
 
 ' ' The coach is exactly like the ' Washington coach , ' 
 but the original coach was taken to Virginia, possibly 
 more than a century ago, and parts of it placed in a 
 church somewhere in that State, but where, we do not 
 know of any one now living that can give any correct 
 information about it. 
 
 " Very respectfully yours, 
 
 "H. S. Jones, 
 
 " Secretary J 
 " with John Wanamaker." 
 
 " Philadelphia, May 11th, 1903. 
 " Mr. R. L, Brownfield, 
 " Uniontown, Pa. 
 " Dear Sir: I have your letter of May 9th, and, in 
 reply, would say that I have no additional information 
 concerning the Powel Coach of which you wrote me, than 
 
55 
 
 that which was forwarded by Mr. Jones, and the extracts 
 from Miss Mary E. Powel's letter to you, which you have 
 enclosed to me. 
 
 ' ' I believe that the coach which was exhibited at the 
 Centennial Exposition in 1876 was never owned by 
 George Washington. 
 
 " When I was in partnership with Mr. John Wana- 
 maker about 1871 or 1872, there was a parade in Phila- 
 delphia, at which time I rented the coach from Mr. 
 Dunlap, who then had it in his possession. 
 " Very respectfully yours, 
 
 "J. R. Houghton." 
 
 "Philadelphia, Sept. 20th, 1894.. 
 " Mr. R. L. Brownfield, 
 
 "15 Michigan Ave., Chicago. 
 "Dear Sir: Your favor of the 18th received and 
 noted. In reference to the Washington Carriage we 
 would say that the last knowledge we had of it was in 
 1876, when it was exhibited at the Centennial Exhibition. 
 After the close of the Exhibition, we understood it was 
 bought by a New York party for exhibition at a museum 
 in that city. The carriage did not belong to us, but was 
 owned by William Dunlap, an old Philadelphia carriage 
 maker now deceased. 
 " Yours truly, 
 
 " Wm. D. Rodgers, Son & Co. 
 " Carriage Builders 
 
 "919 & 921 Walnut street." 
 
 " New York, May 18, 1903. 
 "Mr. R. L. Brownfield, &c, 
 
 "Dear Sir: Your favor of May 16th received and as 
 regards the question whether the coach which has been 
 exhibited was ever owned by Washington, would say that 
 evidence seems to be against it. 
 
 " The coach was exhibited as the Washington Coach at 
 different times and among these Wood's Museum. Mr. 
 Dunlap also had it, at one time, in his repository but he 
 admitted that it was not Washington's Coach, in fact, I 
 do not think that he exhibited it as a Washington Coach, 
 
56 
 
 but called it the Powel Coach and I am inclined to believe 
 it is a Powel Coach. 
 
 * ' Yours very truly, 
 
 "Trade News Publishing Co. 
 
 " W. N. Fitzgerald, 
 
 ''Editor." 
 
 The World on Wheels. Ezra M. Stratton. 
 
 P. 416. '* Probably the only old coach of American 
 manufacture in existence to-day is the one still preserved 
 in a good state, in the city of Philadelphia, falsely repre- 
 sented as having belonged to our Gen. George Washing- 
 ton at one time, and palmed off as such on more than 
 one public occasion since, in the city of New York, backed 
 by the entire press ! We have the strongest reasons for 
 believing Washington never owned this coach, and never 
 even rode in it ; and yet the managers of some Sanitary 
 Fairs have charged their dupes a fee for the privilege 
 of sitting a few moments on the cushions where the illus- 
 trious Washington once did — not. 
 
 ' ' We have already shown what became of Washington's 
 imported coach. [Same account as that given in Watson's 
 " Annals of Philadelphia."] It now remains to give the 
 history of the one here engraved from a photograph, taken 
 expressly for this volume in February, 1872. Our 
 authority is Mr. Charles Perrie, an aged carriage-maker 
 of the city of Philadelphia. He tells us, and is endorsed 
 by others, that ' this coach was built in 1790, by David 
 Clarke,' who was a Scotchman and had a shop on Sixth, 
 between Chestnut and Market Streets, Philadelphia, to the 
 order of Samuel Powel of that city. After his death, it 
 became the property of his widow, who retained it until 
 she died, when it fell into the hands of Col. John Hare 
 Powel, a nephew of Mrs. Samuel Powel.' It cost as near 
 as our informant recollected, about $800. For a long time 
 this carriage, 'as a willful mistake,' was exhibited as 
 Washington's in Wood's Museum. At a later period, it 
 ' ornamented ' the repository of William Dunlap, who 
 likewise gave us the history of this coach. It has since 
 been disposed of to a Mr. Wharton." 
 
57 
 
 [In the accompanying illustration the panels and door 
 are without ornamentation and the driver's seat is so low 
 that the reins come in almost a straight line from the 
 horses' heads to the driver's hands. There is no hammer- 
 cloth.] 
 
 In the " Report of the Centennial Celebration of Wash- 
 ington's Inauguration, New York City, April 30, 1889," 
 under the head of ' ' Civic and Industrial Parade ' ' occurs 
 this paragraph : 
 
 " Colored Centennial Committee, commanded by George 
 W. Lattimore, 1500. An organization of several associa- 
 tions and committees, some uniformed, accompanying 
 one of George Washington's coaches (or at least a very 
 old coach, similar to one owned by Washington) , drawn 
 by four horses." 
 
 A year later, on the evening of March 4, 1890, Mr. 
 George W. W. Houghton, editor of The Huh, read a 
 paper before the New York Historical Society entitled 
 " The Coaches of Colonial New York." In this paper he 
 gave the true history of the Powel coach and criticised the 
 Centennial Committee for admitting it into the parade as 
 Gen. Washington's coach. This provoked much inquiry 
 and research and drew forth, among others, the following 
 letter : 
 
 ''November IJ,., 1900. 
 " Dear Mr. Hare: 
 
 ' ' In answer to your inquiry with regard to the genuine- 
 ness of what is known as the Washington coach, I write 
 you this to tell you what my father, the late Samuel 
 Powel, of Newport and of Philadelphia, has always told 
 me with regard to that matter. 
 
 " My father's great-aunt, Mrs. Elizabeth Powel, the 
 wife of Samuel Powel, of Philadelphia, was an intimate 
 friend of General George Washington. When the Wash- 
 
58 
 
 ington coach was ordered, Mrs. Powel also ordered a sim- 
 ilar coach in the same order. To make this history as 
 brief as possible, the Powel coach was not destroyed and 
 came down to her descendants, who parted with it many 
 years ago, as it had become entirely antiquated and use- 
 less, but the Washington coach for some reason or other 
 was destroyed. 
 
 " During the exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876, when 
 the Powel coach was exhibited for the Washington coach, 
 my father was asked to state the genuineness of the 
 coach. He stated at that time, with many regrets, that 
 it was his great-aunt's coach that was exhibited and not 
 the Washington coach, which had been destroyed. In 
 spite of this the coach has always been known as the 
 Washington coach ; I have very little doubt, however, 
 that General Washington may have frequently driven in 
 the coach. 
 
 " In corroboration of this hypothesis, I may add that 
 Mrs. Powel constantly entertained General Washington 
 in Philadelphia, and the intimacy of their acquaintance 
 is attested by numerous ' relics ' now owned by my late 
 father's estate, including some thirty letters from Gen. 
 Washington to Mrs. Powel. 
 
 "I may add, by way of further interest, that Mrs. 
 Elizabeth Powel adopted my father's father, John Hare 
 Powel, who changed his name from Hare to Powel at her 
 solicitude, she having no children. 
 " Yours truly, 
 
 "Robert J. Hare Powel. 
 
 " Montgomery Hare, Esq." 
 
 [Mrs. Powel, before her marriage, was Miss Elizabeth 
 Willing, of Philadelphia; and her husband. Mayor Sam- 
 uel Powel, died in 1793 of yellow fever.] 
 
True History of the So-called <^ Wash- 
 ington Coach." 
 
 " 25 Bowery Street, Newport, R. I. 
 
 " July 25, 1895. 
 "R. L. Brownfield, Esq., 
 
 " Dear Sir: My uncle, Mr. John Hare Powel, has 
 handed me your letter respecting the so-called ' Washing- 
 ton Coach ' for reply. 
 
 '' In brief— If you will look into Bishop Meade's book 
 on Virginia families (any large library will give you its 
 exact title) you will find an account of the General's 
 coach which the Bishop destroyed.— This Poiuel coach, 
 which for half a century (nearly) has figured as the 
 General's, was built at the same time as the General's; in 
 England, I think; and with the exception of four copper, 
 decorative panels is an exact facsimile of the one destroyed. 
 Mrs. Powel and General and Mrs. Washington were inti- 
 rnate friends. Their carriages were ordered at the same 
 time and of the same maker. Mrs. Bowel's coach was 
 blazoned on the door with the Powel arms, they are prob- 
 ably to be found there yet under the paint. I think the 
 coach was originally yellowish white or cream (possibly 
 from age) when I first remember it. Mrs. Powel had the 
 high seat removed and the present coachman's seat put 
 on ; for, as she and her coachman grew old together, she 
 feared he might jolt off." 
 
 [Down to the close of the 18th century it does not 
 appear to have been the custom for a builder to stamp, 
 paint or engrave his name on the vehicles he turned out. 
 Clarke's name does not appear on any part of the Mount 
 Vernon coach, but stamped on the two springs of the 
 
 59 
 
60 
 
 driver's seat is the legend — "Geo. Heyberger, Phila." 
 Now George Heyberger appears in the Philadelphia 
 directory from 1817 to 1825 inclusive. He was a " coach- 
 spring maker," living at No. 50 Coats Street and having 
 his place of business in Emlen's Court. His father was 
 a blacksmith, living at 351 North Front Street from 1802 
 to 1822, when he died. His smithy in 1802 and '3 was 
 at 21 Artillery Lane and after that on Noble Street. 
 
 The original high seat of the Powel coach was, there- 
 fore, removed and the present low seat on springs substi- 
 tuted by George Heyberger of Philadelphia some time be- 
 tween 1817 and 1825. The name of " William Dunlap, 
 coachmaker," does not appear in the Philadelphia 
 directory until 1843 and Col. John Hare Powel gave him 
 the Powel coach about 1855.] 
 
 " When General Washington returned to Mount Ver- 
 non from Phila. he sold Mrs. Powel his horses, and he had 
 at various times ridden in the Powel carriage; (I hold 
 the receipt for $1,000.00 signed by Mr. Lear) . One horse 
 proved defective and the General sent a pair of handsome 
 sconce looking glasses as a 'make weight.' You will 
 see a pair illustrated in Lossing's 'Mt. Vernon.' Mrs. 
 Powel (MissE. Willing) was my grandfather's, Col. John 
 Hare Powel's, aunt, and after her death in 1830 — up to 
 which time she used this carriage (and my father told me 
 that he, a child, frequently drove in it to visit the neigh- 
 boring gentry, &c.) — the carriage remained in the stable 
 at Powelton and my grandfather was persecuted by visi- 
 tors insisting that it was Gen. W's own coach. This the 
 family for almost a century, have always denied and to go 
 into the details of the various efforts made to buy and sell 
 it, of which I have several, would be too long for a letter, 
 besides no one believes us when they want to sell it and 
 frequently buyers are equally indignant. In the fifties, 
 the dear old carriage appeared here in a circus and I 
 remember my father's being much upset by seeing it 
 unexpectedly and the remembrances it brought him. My 
 grandfather stored the carriage with Mr. Dunlap to get 
 
61 
 
 it out of the way, not to show it. Finally he gave it to 
 Mr. D., who had built him many carriages, as a relic of 
 antiquity — and after the coach-builder's death, his family 
 sold it. It has figured in circuses, shows, at the Cen- 
 tennial, &c. Mr. Wanamaker wished to buy it, but 
 declined after writing to one of the family. Mr. John 
 Austin Stevens would not have .admitted it into one of 
 the great Revolutionary commemorative processions in 
 N. Y. some 12 or 15 years back, had he known in time 
 and it was not in the Washington procession a few years 
 ago. 
 
 " I should add that the coach's owners at the Centen- 
 nial presented an affidavit signed by a former servant, 
 which was not true — she, a very old woman, may have 
 believed it herself. At that time various persons, intend- 
 ing to purchase the coach, had received information from 
 my father (the late Samuel Powel, eldest son of Col. 
 J. H. Powel,) exactly in accord with this present letter. 
 ' ' I am truly yours 
 
 " Mary Edith Powel." 
 
 [In an earlier letter, Miss Powel writes : ] 
 
 "A person named Steel or Steele was employed at one 
 time at Powelton , I believe, but am not sure — perhaps in 
 the farmhouse or dairy — or in the large dwelling — but I 
 consider it very unlikely indeed that Col. Powel ever 
 employed any woman in any capacity about the barns, 
 stables, or even in the old coach-house where the carriage 
 of which you write, stood. 
 
 "A long time after, I remember seeing a talkative old 
 person at the door of the Academy of Natural Sciences, 
 and much later, about thirty years ago, I recall hearing 
 some members of our family say that she had made mis- 
 takes about the carriage and that probably her memory 
 was very defective." [July 22, 1893.] 
 
 [In a later letter occurs this paragraph : ] 
 
 '* I have promised Mr. Dodge at Mt. Vernon to write 
 him as full an account as possible of our old family coach, 
 now in honorable retreat at that place. It is interesting 
 
62 
 
 being, with very small exceptions, a duplicate of the coach 
 destroyed by Bishop Meade, ordered and bought from 
 the same maker when Gen. W. ordered and bought his. 
 "When Gen. Washington was the guest of Mayor and Mrs. 
 Powel, he frequently rode in it and this is the origin of 
 the world's calling it ' Gen. M^'s own carriage,' but Col. 
 Powel always stated these facts about it." [November 
 12, 1903.] 
 
 " My uncle. Col. Powel, was a lad of sixteen or so when 
 Powelton was sold. The barn was burned by incendiaries 
 some time previous to our leaving, but our own coach 
 was kept in ' the old coach-house ' and that was not burned, 
 altho' I am not sure if the coach had already, at that 
 date, been removed to Dunlap's or no." [November 
 21, 1903.] 
 
 There is testimony of three Washington coaches being 
 destroyed: first, the one shot to pieces at the battle of 
 New Orleans; the second, taken to pieces by order of 
 Bishop Meade; and a third that was likewise taken to 
 pieces by Henry Dunlap, Sr., coach-builder of Philadel- 
 phia. Mrs. Amelia C. Clark of 456 Franklin Street, 
 Philadelphia, Pa., testifies in a sworn statement of Sep- 
 tember 26, 1907, that her grandfather, Henry Dunlap, 
 Sr., owned such a carriage; it was " built in France and 
 was of peculiar construction . ' ' When it was ' ' put out 
 of use as the result of old age, it was dismembered or 
 taken apart " for relics. " Mrs. Mary Dunlap, widow of 
 Henry Dunlap, Sr., before her death, presented two of 
 the four copper medallions from the panels to the United 
 States Government." A third medallion is at present the 
 property of Lewis Dunlap (great-grandson of Henry 
 Dunlap, Sr.) , who resides on Colona Street, Philadelphia, 
 Pa. Of the fourth medallion, the Dunlap family have 
 no knowledge. Mrs. Clark owns the cushion from the 
 back seat of this same coach. Henry Dunlap, Sr., died 
 September 15, 1835, of old age. Henry Dunlap, Jr., 
 July 6, 1887, of senile asthenia. 
 
63 
 
 Application to the National Museum for any informa- 
 tion they could give concerning the ' ' two medallions 
 given to the United States Government ' ' elicited the 
 following : 
 
 "Replying to your inquiry addressed to Mr. A. H.Clark, 
 I beg to say that the National Museum has a panel which 
 is said to have belonged to Washington's coach, but the 
 files contain no information as to its history other than 
 that given on the label, a copy of which is enclosed. 
 There is no other in the Museum." [R. Rathbun, Assist- 
 ant Secretary in charge of National Museum, to Mrs. M. 
 S. Beall, Oct. 25, 1907.J 
 
 Copy of Enclosed Label : 
 
 " Painted Panel. — From State coach used by General 
 Washington when President. Body, cream color; quar- 
 ter panels, with the four seasons painted by Capriani 
 [Cipriani] . This panel was presented to the National 
 Institute by Mrs. Mary Dunlap, of Georgetown, D. C. 
 92,537. 
 
 Transferred from the Patent Office in 1883." 
 
 The medallion in the National Museum representing 
 three naked children gathering flowers corresponds in 
 every detail with the one owned by Mr. Lewis Dunlap 
 which represents three- naked children gathering grapes. 
 In 1903 Mrs. Beall was shown a medallion at the National 
 Museum, differing in many respects from the two 
 described above, and told it w^as from Washington's 
 state coach and had been presented to the Government by 
 Bishop Meade. 
 
Copies of Letters, &c., Concerning the 
 Powel " Centennial " Coach. 
 
 "International Exposition 
 
 " 1876 
 
 " United States Centennial Commission. 
 
 " Philadelphia, Nov. 27, 1876. 
 
 " Benj. Richardson: 
 
 " Your favor of 17th inst. was duly rec'd. The 'Coach' 
 is not sold yet and only $700 is offered, which sum the 
 party owning it has thus far refused to accept — I am now 
 inclined to think that if you offered $650 I might induce 
 him to let it go for a good purpose . 
 
 "I think the Buffalo party would give $800. but I 
 told him that nothing less than $1000. would buy it. 
 
 ' ' If you still think favorable of buying it I will try 
 and close it to you for $650. 
 
 " In haste S. F. Merrill, Sup. 
 
 " M. B. Annex. 
 "Cen. Grounds." 
 
 " New York, Nov. 28th 1876. 
 
 " To Mr. Merrill 
 
 "Dear Friend: Your favour of 27th Came Duly to 
 hand & I am pleased to hear from you & thank you for 
 your good feelings towards Charitys & Bind my self by 
 this letter to Pay $650. as Requested by you & you will 
 Please write me when you have Closed it & I Can Come 
 
 64 
 
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65 
 
 on Rightaway you will please use all Exertions to S3cure 
 the Carridge and am 
 
 ' ' Yours Very Truly 
 
 *' Benjamin Richardson 
 
 ' ' I shall have to Examine to see that 
 it was Washington's Carridge 
 with your Assistance." 
 
 Extract from Will of Benj. Richardson. 
 
 " I give, devise & bequeath to my daughter Sarah Jane 
 & to my granddaughter Ella Birdsall in equal parts my 
 homestead No. 514 E. 116th Street & the six lots on 115th 
 St. in N. Y. City used herewith, together with all the 
 house hold furniture, beds, bedding, crockery, furniture, 
 & curiosities, & also the ' Washington Coach ' to them, 
 their heirs & assigns forever " &c., &c., &c. 
 
 " Brooklyn, N. Y., July 12, 1907. 
 " To Whom it May Concern : 
 
 " I desire to state that the so-called ' Washington 
 Coach ' now on exhibition at Mount Vernon, Va., by the 
 Ladies' Association of the Union was formerly my prop- 
 erty, I having inherited itfrom Mr. Benjamin Richardson, 
 who purchased it during or immediately after the close of 
 the Philadelphia Centennial of 1876. 
 
 ' ' While I have always believed that the coach was one 
 time the property of General George Washington, it is 
 a positive fact that I never had any reliable or absolute 
 proof that General Washington either owned or ever used 
 this Coach. 
 
 "(Signed) Ella T. Gouverneur. 
 
 " Witnesseth: 
 
 " Jno. J. Harman." 
 
 Statement of Michael Karam, made at New York City. 
 
 "Tuesday, August 27th, 1907, 
 * * To whom it may concern : — 
 
 " I, Michael Karam, do hereby certify that I was at one 
 time the owner of the coach now in possession of the 
 
66 
 
 Ladies' Association of the Union and on exhibition at 
 Mt. Vernon, Va., which coach is known as * Washing- 
 ton's Chariot.' This is the same coach that was pur- 
 chased by the late Mr. Benjamin Richardson in 1876 
 from or through a Mr. Merrill, who was at that time con- 
 nected with the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. 
 Mr. Richardson bequeathed this coach jointly, with a 
 number of other relics, to his daughter, Sarah Jane Rich- 
 ardson and Ella Birdsall, his grand-daughter, now Mrs. 
 Gouvernor [sic] of William sburgh, Brooklyn, N.Y. Sarah 
 Jane Richardson bequeathed her interest jointly, in this 
 coach and other relics, to my wife, who was a grand- 
 daughter of Benjamin Richardson, and to Selina Birdsall, 
 my wife's sister, who later became Mrs. Joseph Cooper. 
 I then' bought out both Mrs. Cooper's and Mrs. Gouver- 
 nor's [sic] interest in the coach. I tried to sell the coach to 
 the Mt. Vernon Association, through Mr. Dodge, Super- 
 intendent of the Association, but failed to do so on 
 account of not having any proofs to offer that General 
 George Washington either owned, used or ever heard of 
 the coach. Later a gentleman named Frey, at whose 
 barn I had the coach stored, endeavored to dispose of the 
 coach to John Wanamaker of Philadelphia, also to the 
 Daughters of the American Revolution. Frey acted as 
 my agent in calling upon these latter people, but he failed 
 to make a sale on account of not having any legitimate 
 proof to offer that the coach had ever been owned, used, 
 or was ever known of by General George Washington. 
 Frey later told me that he had a customer for the coach, 
 but he never told me who the party was, and, without any 
 authority from me to sell it to unknown parties, he dis- 
 posed of the coach, afterwards refusing to tell me to 
 whom, and, always stating that I should not worry 
 about collecting the money on the sale of the coach, as 
 he had safe-guarded my interest in the sale. He had 
 advanced me money on the sale of the coach, something 
 like $250.00 or $275.00. I can not recall the exact 
 amount. 
 
 " The only evidence that Mr. Richardson could ever 
 advance to prove that General George Washington ever 
 owned, used, or was even aware of the existence of the 
 
67 
 
 coach was the affidavit made by Henry Dunlap, June 
 12th, 1876, and the affidavit made by EHzabeth Steele [sic] 
 on May 27th, 1876. These papers, with a number of news- 
 paper and magazine clippings, fell into my possession at 
 the time that I bought out the interest of Mrs. Cooper 
 and Mrs. Gouvernor, [sic] and these papers were turned 
 over to Frey at the time that I delegated him to act as my 
 agent. I never later heard to whom he sold the coach, 
 but did know that through some person's purchase, it 
 came into the possession of the Ladies Association of the 
 Union. 
 
 [seal] " (Signed) Michael Karam 
 
 " Witnesseth. 
 
 **J. 0. SCHWAUD." 
 
 '' County of N. Y. 
 ' ' State of New York 
 
 " On this 27th., day of August 1907, before me per- 
 sonally came Michael Karam, to me personally known 
 and known to me to be the individual described in and 
 who executed the foregoing instrument, and acknowledged 
 to me that he executed the same. 
 
 "E. D. Junior 
 [seal] "Notary Public, Kings Co. 
 
 " Certificate filed New York Co." 
 
Opinion Rendered by Professor J. F. 
 Jameson. 
 
 ' ' Carnegie Institution of Washington 
 
 ' Depaetment of Historical Research 
 
 " J. Franklin Jameson 
 
 " Director 
 
 "My dear Mrs. Be all: 
 
 Washington, D. C. 
 
 " February 19, 1908. 
 
 ' ' You have been exceedingly patient in not calling upon 
 me for an earlier report respecting the matter of the Wash- 
 ington carriages. I conclude that you have believed that 
 I was doing the best I could, and this has been the case. 
 I could not touch the matter until the end of December 
 and had then only a short time to give to it. At the first 
 of this month I was able to take it up again, and from 
 time to time to do something about it. I inclose here- 
 with a survey of the evidence, of which I am also send- 
 ing a copy to Mr. Dodge at Mt. Vernon. I likewise 
 return your very interesting papers and all the various 
 affidavits, letters and photographs which you handed to 
 me in connection with the matter. I am obliged to you 
 for smoothing my pathway by the collection of so much 
 material, and am only sorry that it has not been possible 
 to come to a conclusion more completely gratifying to 
 Mr. Brownfield and to you. 
 
 '' Believe me, 
 
 '* Very truly yours, 
 
 "J. F. Jameson. 
 
 "Mrs. Mary Stevens Beall." 
 
69 
 
 " Carnegie Institution of Washington 
 
 " Department of Historical Research 
 "J. Franklin Jameson 
 
 "Director «' WASHINGTON, D. C. 
 
 " February 19, 1908. 
 * ' Dear Madam : 
 
 ' ' I have been asked to act as a referee with regard to 
 two carriages for each of which the claim is made that it 
 once belonged to General Washington. I owe to all who 
 are interested an apology for having been so long in fur- 
 nishing the following statement ; but I must plead that I 
 have many duties, am burdened heavily with my regular 
 work, and can only devote small portions of time, sepa- 
 rated sometimes by long intervals, to anything of this 
 sort. I may also plead that I indicated beforehand that 
 this would be the case. In studying the matter I have 
 been much assisted by the evidences which you have been 
 so kind as to bring forward ; I have also been permitted 
 by the kindness of Mr. Dodge to examine the papers that 
 are preserved at Mt. Vernon; and I have, so far as my 
 time permitted, made examination of such other materials 
 as I thought likely to be useful. 
 
 " Of the two carriages in question, one is a coachee pre- 
 sented to the Mt. Vernon Ladies Association in 1894 by 
 Mr. R. L. Brownfield, and now in a storage warehouse 
 in Washington. The coach now at Mt. Vernon was pre- 
 sented in 1901. What I shall mainly do, in discussing 
 them, is to comment on the value of the various evidences, 
 considered from the point of view of one whose business 
 it has been, in former times, to teach the principles of 
 historical criticism, and always to practice them. I think 
 that the clearest mode of procedure will be, first of all, to 
 take up those data for which evidence of a conclusive or 
 highly reliable character can be adduced and only later to 
 discuss the less founded assertions made on behalf of one 
 or the other of the carriages. 
 
 " It is clear from the evidences which you have accumu- 
 lated that General Washington, first and last, possessed 
 many different carriages. His own letters of 1780 to 
 John Mitchell of Philadelphia show him obtaining at 
 that time a coach, concerning which, however, there is no 
 evidence to identify it with any of those of a later time. 
 
70 
 
 " His letter to Lear, September 5, 1790, the letter of 
 Daniel and Francis Clark, September 13, 1790, Wash- 
 ington's letter to them of September 17, and Lear's letter 
 of October 24, 1790, quoted by you on pages 8-12 of your 
 * Documentary History,' show that Washington on go- 
 ing to Mt. Vernon had left a coach to be repaired by Clark. 
 He calls it an old coach, and neither his letters nor those 
 of the firm of Clark give any evidence that it was built 
 by them. The letters show conclusively that the coach 
 had paintings of the four seasons on the doors and front 
 and back, not in the four quarter panels, and that there 
 had been oval moldings in the latter panels. He ordered 
 the four seasons to be continued in their existing places, 
 and ordered that his crest should be painted in the ovals 
 on the quarter panels. Some of these data are perhaps 
 worth remembering. At all events, we are to attribute a 
 much higher value to any of General Washington's state- 
 ments about his coaches than we can assign to most of the 
 evidences which have been brought forward. It was pre- 
 sumably this coach which made with so great success the 
 southern trip of 1791, as described in Custis's ' Recollec- 
 tions,' page 424, though some of the details in that passage 
 are imaginary. 
 
 "There seems to be indisputable evidence, pages 172 
 and 173 of your ' Documentary History,' that a coach of 
 General Washington was offered for sale in Philadelphia 
 in March, 1797, and that ' one elegant Chariot and Coachee ' 
 were offered for sale at Mt. Vernon in 1802, by his execu- 
 tors. 
 
 "We must accept as solid Bishop Meade's statement 
 in his ' Old Churches, Ministers and Families of Virginia,' 
 that a coach of General Washington's fell into his hands 
 about 1814 and was by him taken to pieces and dispersed. 
 There is nothing to identify this coach with those previ- 
 ously mentioned. 
 
 " I think that we may also accept certain of the state- 
 ments made by Watson in his ' Annals of Philadelphia.' 
 He describes a coach with medallions of playing cupids on 
 the panels, which he had known in Philadelphia as Gen- 
 eral Washington's and which he saw in 1804 or 1805 in 
 his own store-yard at New Orleans. Watson kept a store 
 
71 
 
 in New Orleans from 1804 to 1806. He began to write 
 his book in 1820 and this statement is in his first edition, 
 that of 1830. His statement that it had been imported 
 for Governor Richard Penn is not to be regarded, being 
 hearsay. His statement in a footnote that the old coach 
 stood between the combatants in the great battle of New 
 Orleans and was riddled with shot, is to my mind worth- 
 less. At the time of the battle Watson was cashier in a 
 bank in Gepnantown, and could not know this except on 
 hearsay. It is just the sort of legendary statement which, 
 as every student of history knows, would be likely to 
 spring up in any such case. Any movable object known 
 to have been in or near New Orleans in 1814 would be 
 fabled to have had some sort of connection with the battle. 
 The statement about the battle is not in the original 
 edition of Watson but was subsequently inserted. While 
 speaking of Watson, I may add that nothing which you 
 have quoted from the third volume has an}'' independent 
 value. 
 
 ' ' I may also remark that no pictures of General Wash- 
 ington 's coach have any value whatever. There is not 
 the slightest evidence that any one of them was ever 
 made in sight of a coach belonging to him. Mr. Fenn's 
 picture is proved by his own statement to be worthless. 
 Lossing, in his book on Mount Vernon, page 234 or 235, 
 pictures the General's coach with a crest on the doors, 
 not inclosed in ovals, and with the four seasons on the 
 quarter panels. General Washington's own statements 
 show all this to be fanciful. Lossing also shows Venetian 
 blinds in the front of the coach, where the General's own 
 statements show him to have been determined to have 
 glass; and I think he generally got what he wanted. 
 While speaking of Lossing, I may add that he says in 
 his first edition, ' Clarke built the coach in England, 
 came over with it and another precisely like it (which 
 was imported by Mrs. Powel of Philadelphia) , and settled 
 in business in that city.' In his edition of 1866 one 
 can see that the text has been changed, by alterations of 
 the stereotype plate, in such a manner as to omit the 
 reference to Mrs. Powel and the statement that the coach 
 was built in England. 
 
72 
 
 " In Lossing's first edition he says that it was this 
 English-built coach which was bought by Custis and 
 passed from him to Bishop Meade. As he was writing 
 fifty years later than the events, he may have had no 
 basis whatever for this statement. 
 
 *' On pages 35 and 36 of your " Documentary History " 
 you cite a sworn statement, dated September 26, 1907, and 
 made by a [grand] daughter of Henry Dunlap, Sr., coach 
 builder of Philadelphia, to the effect that her [grand] father 
 took to pieces for relics a coach which belonged to General 
 Washington. As her [grand] father died in 1835 I lay no 
 stress upon this statement, though without disputing that 
 she believed it to be true. But there is in the National 
 Museum a panel, painted apparently on copper, of an 
 oval shape, representing three naked children gathering 
 flowers, and this is labelled as having come from the 
 family of Henry Dunlap. It came from the Patent 
 Office in 1883, as you say. The old Patent Office label 
 which is still upon it indicates it to have gone from the 
 Dunlap family into the possession of John Garden, a 
 collector who, I believe, had a sort of museum in Wash- 
 ington, and to have passed from his hands into the Pat- 
 ent Office. The label also declares that the panel was 
 identified by Mr. Custis. There would appear to be 
 pretty good evidence that in this we have a genuine por- 
 tion of a Washington coach. 
 
 " Having perhaps somewhat cleared the ground by 
 segregating the above and separately considering such 
 trustworthy evidences as I have seen respecting real 
 coaches of Washington, I shall proceed to discuss the 
 coach now held at Mt. Vernon, bearing a discreet label 
 which shows no more than that the carriage was exhibited 
 at the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia in 1876, as 
 Washington's chariot. I do not suppose it to be neces- 
 sary to go into a history of its possession since 1876. You 
 seem abundantly to show by Michael Karam's statement 
 of August 27, 1907, by Mrs. Gouverneur's of July 12 of 
 that year, by the clause of Benjamin Richardson's will 
 and by his letter of November 28, 1876, and that of S. F. 
 Merrill dated November 27, 1876, that this coach is the 
 one exhibited at Philadelphia, in the last-named year. 
 
73 
 
 The letter of Mr. J. R. Houghton shows it to have been 
 in the possession of William Dunlap of Philadelphia in 
 1872. A letter of Samuel W. Dewey of Philadelphia, 
 dated December 24, 1859, preserved at Mt. Vernon, shows 
 that William Dunlap had then had it in his custody for 
 six years, and that Samuel Powel of Philadelphia was 
 the owner. I can see no reason to doubt the statements 
 made by Miss Mary Edith Powel in her letter of July 5, 
 1895, quoted by you, and those of Mr. Robert J. Hare 
 Powel in his letter of November 14, 1900, to the effect 
 that this coach was originally the property of Mrs. Eliza- 
 beth Powel of Philadelphia and not of General Wash- 
 ington. Since General Washington, in 1790, speaks of 
 his coach as old, I do not put much faith in statements 
 which imply that Washington and Mrs. Powel procured 
 identical coaches at the same time, either from England 
 or in America ; for though they were in a sense neigh- 
 bors in 1790, they were not in previous times. 
 
 ' ' The copper medallion at the National Museum is an 
 oval, about ten inches by eight. One of the holes by 
 which it was fastened can be seen. The screws must 
 have been large enough to make a considerable impression 
 upon the doors, front and back, if the four medallions 
 there placed were subsequently removed. But the coach 
 at Mt. Vernon shows no traces of any such screw holes, 
 nor of any oval moldings in the quarter panels. On the 
 other hand, one can plainly see on the doors, in a strong 
 light, the evidence that some painting of smaller size was 
 once there. 
 
 " The only evidence to show that the coach now at Mt. 
 Vernon was once the property of General Washington is 
 the deposition of Elizabeth Steele, [sic] an ancient serving- 
 woman, who testified in 1876 of matters relating to the 
 period 1842-1850. No rules of historical evidence would 
 permit one to attach serious value to her statements when 
 contradictory to those made explicitly by members of the 
 family in the letters referred to above. I should think 
 that in connection with those letters there was some force 
 in the presence of the name of George Heyberger, on the 
 iron work of the seat, in connection with the statements 
 about Mrs. Powel' s alterations of her vehicle, though I 
 
74 
 
 will mention that there was a George Heyberger, [*] black- 
 smith, in Philadelphia as early as 1800. 
 
 " All things considered, then, I am forced to conclude 
 that there is no evidence that the coach now exhibited at 
 Mt. Vernon was ever the property of General Washington. 
 On the other hand, I am bound to say that I see no evi- 
 dence that the coachee formerly presented by Mr. Brown- 
 field has any connection with Washington, either. Mr. 
 Brownfield's letter of May 9, 1907, preserved at Mt. Ver- 
 non, says that Forepaugh's widow assured him that the 
 coach had been the General's, but that as her husband's 
 papers had been destroyed by fire the proofs contained in 
 them were lost. Such statements have no worth. In 
 the narrative which you have sent me, the one typewritten 
 on blue paper, I see that the coach has been traced back 
 into the possession of a certain Roman Ketterer, who died 
 in 1891 . How long he had possession of it, is not shown. 
 The only evidence which you adduce, toward bridging 
 the long gap from 1802, when we know that the coachee 
 belonging to Washington was offered for sale, to 1891, 
 when we know that Roman Ketterer died possessed of a 
 coachee, is the evidence of Mrs. Ann Reese, a lady of 
 eighty-eight [sic] years, who testifies that previous to 1829 
 her brother had a coachee which had belonged to General 
 Washington. The rules of historical evidence would for- 
 bid us to attach more than a very slight value to such 
 recollections. Even if we considered them perfectly solid, 
 we have still the gap from 1829 to 1891, toward bridging 
 which you bring forward nothing but Mrs. Reese's identi- 
 fication of a photograph. Under such circumstances old 
 ladies always identify old photographs ; and most photo- 
 graphs of ancient coaches look very much alike. 
 
 "Accordingly, I am forced to conclude that we have 
 no serious evidence to show that either of these carriages 
 belonged to General Washington, while we also have 
 much to show that the coach now at Mt. Vernon belonged 
 instead to Mrs. Powel. 
 
 " Believe me, with high regard, 
 
 " Very truly yours, 
 
 "J. F. Jameson. 
 
 " Mrs. Mary Stevens Beall." 
 
 * George H. Heyberger, the blacksmith, who died in 1822, was the father of 
 George Heyberger, the coach spring maker, whose name appears in the Philadelphia 
 directory from 1817 to 1825 inclusive.— M. S. Beall. 
 
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