He was truly one of "nature's oddities," said the eminent Bishop William Meade, referring to his clerical subordinate, Mason Locke Weems, better known as Parson Weems, itinerant preacher, book peddler, and writer of moralistic and patriotic pamphlets...

When Mason Locke Weems published his notorious biography of George Washington at the turn of the nineteenth century, he signaled the nationalistic spirit of a new country working to record--and embellish, if need be--a heritage that would unite...

Parson Weems's claim to a small place in American literary history has often seemed to rest on his having retailed the fabulous story of George Washington and the cherry tree. He is more justly regarded as a writer whose The Life of George Washington...

Mason Locke Weems (1759-1825) was an American Episcopal minister, book salesman, and popular writer. Mason Locke Weems was born in Anne Arundel County, Md., on Oct. 1, 1759. He was admitted to the priesthood in 1784, serving in Maryland parishes until...