At Macon, Ga., last week, a colored man named George,
who was the favorite body-servant of General Washington,
died at the advanced age of 95 years. Up to
within a few hours of his dissolution he was in full
possession of all his faculties, and could distinctly
recollect the second installation of Washington, his
death and burial, the surrender of Cornwallis, the
battle of Trenton, the griefs and hardships of Valley
Forge, etc. Deceased was followed to the
grave by the entire population of Macon.
On the Fourth of July, 1830, and also of 1834 and
1836, the subject of this sketch was exhibited in
great state upon the rostrum of the orator of the
day, and in November of 1840 he died again. The
St. Louis Republican of the 25th of that month
spoke as follows:
“Another Relic of the revolution
gone.”
“George, once the favorite body-servant of General
Washington, died yesterday at the house of Mr. John
Leavenworth in this city, at the venerable age of
95 years. He was in the full possession of his
faculties up to the hour of his death, and distinctly
recollected the first and second installations and
death of President Washington, the surrender of Cornwallis,
the battles of Trenton and Monmouth, the sufferings
of the patriot army at Valley Forge, the proclamation
of the Declaration of Independence, the speech of
Patrick Henry in the Virginia House of Delegates,
and many other old-time reminiscences of stirring interest.
Few white men die lamented as was this aged negro.
The funeral was very largely attended.”
During the next ten or eleven years the subject of
this sketch appeared at intervals at Fourth-of-July
celebrations in various parts of the country, and
was exhibited upon the rostrum with flattering success.
But in the fall of 1855 he died again. The California
papers thus speak of the event:
Died, at Dutch Flat, on the 7th of March, George (once
the confidential body-servant of General Washington),
at the great age of 95 years. His memory, which
did not fail him till the last, was a wonderful storehouse
of interesting reminiscences. He could distinctly
recollect the first and second installations and death
of President Washington, the surrender of Cornwallis,
the battles of Trenton and Monmouth, and Bunker Hill,
the proclamation of the Declaration of Independence,
and Braddock’s defeat. George was greatly
respected in Dutch Flat, and it is estimated that
there were 10,000 people present at his funeral.
The last time the subject of this sketch died was
in June, 1864; and until we learn the contrary, it
is just to presume that he died permanently this time.
The Michigan papers thus refer to the sorrowful event:
