Mason Locke Weems, 1759 - 1825, is pretty much remembered for one thing. He’s the guy who came up with that tall tale about George Washington and the Cherry Tree. Recent scholarship suggests Parson Weems, for he was a man of the cloth as well as an itinerant bookseller, may have had more connects to Clan Washington than long thought, but there’s simply no historical foundation for the “I cannot tell a lie, Pa” storyline of Boy George with axe in hand standing next to a felled fruit tree. At which, Weems reports, "Run to my arms, you dearest boy," cried his father in transports, "run to my arms; glad am I, George, that you killed my tree; for you have paid me for it a thousand fold. Such an act of heroism in my son is more worth than a thousand trees, though blossomed with silver, and their fruits of purest gold." When in transports, Gus Washington always talked like he was stoned as a goat. I mention the Parson because he has a remarkable connect to another American president, this one in the 20th Century.
© 2024 John Oliver
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