Lock of George Washington's Hair....

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A lock of hair from the Father of our Country...

Lock of George Washington's Hair. Several strands of George Washington's hair, nicely framed in a 3.5" x 2.75" brass mat under glass, together with a color portrait of Washington in his general's uniform and a typed and signed letter of provenance from William Lanier Washington dated February 11, 1921. The letter notes that the lock was first cut "...soon after his inauguration to the Presidency of the United States, and was given to his niece, Jane Washington, who married her half first cousin, Colonel William Augustine Washington. It was incased in a gold brooch and worn by Jane Washington until her death, when it was inherited by her son, Colonel George Corbin Washington, my great grandfather. He gave it to his niece, Frances Washington. Frances Washington was the youngest child of Bushrod Washington, a brother of George Corbin Washington, who, upon the death of her father in 1830, when she was two years old, was taken into the home of her uncle, George Corbin Washington, and reared as one of his own children, and where she remained a member of his household until his death in 1854. George Corbin Washington having but one living child at the time of his death, namely, Colonel Lewis William Washington, divided the relics of General Washington, that he had inherited, between him and Frances Washington, the latter received the above described brooch containing General Washington's hair and other relics. Frances Washington died childless and without direct issue in 1900, and, a few years prior thereto, she gave the relics she had received from George Corbin Washington, including this brooch and hair, to his grandson, major James Barrell Washington, my father. As this lock of hair was of extensive proportions, my father removed some of it from the brooch and divided it into several smaller lots, some of which I inherited, and of which the above is one." A wonderful presentation with excellent provenance.