Copy if a Gold Medal prevented to Gjeneral Washington by Congress on the Evacuation of Boston

Cewer of the Wishington Family, Atsinal from the Heralds & Mege Londen. 2.Copy of General Washingtons hab.

THE WASHINGTON EVACUATION MEDAL.

THE gold Medal commemorative of the Evacuation of Boston, became the property of George Steptoe Washington, the son of Samuel Washington, who was the General's elder brother. The next owner of the medal was Dr. Samuel Walter Washington, eldest son of George Steptoe Washington. On the decease of the doctor at Hasewood, Virginia, in 1831, his widow became possessed of the relic. She had given it to her only son, George Lafayette Washington, who had married the daughter of her brother, the Rev. Dr. John B. Clemson of Claymont, Delaware. On the recent decease of George Lafayette Washington, the medal became the property of his widow, Mrs. Ann Bull Washington, from whom with proper certificates and vouchers, by the generous co-operation of fifty citizens of Boston, it has now been secured to the permanent ownership of that city, with which it is so gratefully identified, and has been deposited in the Public Library.

Thus it appears that the medal has been transmitted through the descendants, in successive generations, of General Washington's elder brother. They have fully appreciated its intrinsic and symbolic value, and have anxiously taken care for its safety under the risks and perils which have attended its preservation. It is, in itself, a most beautiful and perfect specimen of workmanship of the die and mint, and is without a blemish or any perceptible wear of its sharp outlines. During our civil war its owner, George Lafayette Washington, was residing eleven miles from Harper's Ferry, on the main route to Winchester, where the belligerents held alternate possession. The medal, in its original case of green seal-skin, lined with velvet, was enveloped in wool, and, deposited in a box, was buried in the dry cellar of a venerable mansion where General Washington usually spent many months of the genial portion of the year. The original case, which fell into decay by this exposure, accompanies the medal in its present repository.

The successive owners of this precious heirloom have often been solicited to part with it by private importunity, or for public institutions, but have always declined to do so, having in view that if ever it passed out of their hands it should be to find its resting-place in the City of Boston. The losses to which its owners were subjected during the late war, concurring with the

VOL. XV.

interest of the occasion of the centennial day which it commemorated, combined to induce the measures which have had such a felicitous result.

A member of the Washington family residing in Texas, being aware of the willingness of his kinswoman in Delaware to part with the medal, on the conditions just referred to, addressed a letter, on the 6th of last December, to his Honor, Mayor Cobb, making proposals to bring about the intended object. As the Mayor did not judge it expedient to propose any official action to the city government, he consulted with the Hon. Robert C. Winthrop on the subject, who immediately prepared a subscription paper, which he, with the hearty co-operation of the Mayor and of ex-Mayor the Hon. Otis Norcross, succeeded in having filled to the necessary amount.

While this measure was in progress the Rev. Dr. Clemson, the uncle of the late George Lafayette Washington, and the father of his widow, Mrs. Ann Bull Washington, not being aware of the facts just stated, on February 22, 1876, addressed a letter to the Hon. John C. Park of this city, opening a direct communication between the owner of the medal and those who were interested in its transfer. In this letter Dr. Clemson writes: "I might state that the medal was verbally purchased by Governor Andrew of your State, and on this honored day [the birthday of Washington] was to have been presented to your citizens. But his premature death prevented the consummation.

This medal, of which a description has been given in the pages of the Journal, was the only gold medal given by Congress to General Washington. Between the date of March 25, 1776, when this gift was bestowed by a resolve of Congress, and the year 1786, by votes of the same body, a series of ten more gold medals was struck at the Paris mint, commemorative of the great events and the great men of the War of the Revolution. The French Government presented a set of these in silver, including also one in the same metal, of that which had been given to him in gold, to General Washington. It is asserted that they were prepared substantially under the direction of Lafayette.* This series of eleven, known as the "Washington Medals," on the decease of the childless General, were disposed of with similar treasures under the direction of his administrator, Judge Bushrod Washington, among the heirs-at-law. They afterwards came into the possession of the Hon. Daniel Webster, and, soon after his decease, into the hands of his friend, the Hon. Peter Harvey of Boston. This gentleman, in April, 1874, most generously bestowed them upon the Massachusetts Historical Society, in whose cabinet they are now gratefully treasured. Thus all these Washington Medals" are now in the city of Boston.

At a meeting of the Board of Aldermen, March 20, 1876, the following communication was received:

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, March 20, 1876.

TO THE HONORABLE THE CITY COUNCIL : Gentlemen,- It affords me much pleasure to inform you that the gold medal presented to General George Washington by the American Congress in 1776, commemorative of the evacuation of Boston by the British troops, was recently purchased of the

* A full account of these various Medals appeared in the Journal for October, 1874, (Vol. IX, pp. 27-31,) with an additional article, showing on the authority of Hon. David Humphreys, that although the preparation of this interesting series has been attributed to Lafayette,

yet that those for Wayne, De Fleury and Steward were prepared under the direction of Dr. Benjamin Franklin. The others are said by Wyatt to have been "executed under the direction of Thomas Jefferson."

Washington family by a few of our citizens, to be given by them to the City of Boston and preserved in the Boston Public Library. This most valuable relic, so peculiarly interesting to Boston as commemorating the most important event in her history, has been placed in my hands, and by me transferred to the Trustees of the Public Library, in whose custody it is to remain, in accordance with the wishes of the donors. A copy of the subscription list, with the preamble stating the object of the subscription, is

inclosed herewith.

SAMUEL C. COBB, Mayor.

The large gold medal presented to Washington, by Congress, for his services in expelling the British forces from Boston on the 17th of March, 1776, having remained in the Washington family for a hundred years, is now, owing to the circumstances of its immediate owner, privately offered for sale. The undersigned, feeling deeply that such a memorial should be among the most cherished treasures of our city, and should certainly go nowhere else, hereby agree to be responsible to an amount not exceeding one hundred dollars each, for the purchase of the medal, to be presented to the City of Boston, and preserved forever in the Boston Public Library.

LXXVII. Obv. Similar to LXIV. Bow to the right, with ends of ribbon to the right and left. Bouquet has to the left two maple leaves, two thistles, two blades, and one ear. To the right four rose leaves, one rose, one blade, and two ears.

Rev. Similar to LXXI, but with a bow, at either side of which is a berry. The right hand angle of the bow is more acute and points upwards. Copper. Size 27 m. C.

The

Neither obverse nor reverse of this coin reappear under other combinations. bouquet shows less botanical variety; the rose, thistle, maple, and wheat, alone being represented, while the shamrock of Ireland and other accessories are omitted.

LXXVIII. Obv. Same as LXV.

Rev. Similar to the last, but the bow is smaller and forms an equilateral triangle. Copper. Copper. Size 27 m. C.

This obverse, which recurs here for the third time, represents the three commonest varieties of the Un Sou tokens. The die, showing less evidence of wear, indicates that LXXIII must have been struck at a later time than the one under description.