By an Associate.

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Concluding the narrative that began here.

A Brief Afterword, Written in the Year 2020.

This Memoir, though in its day it was much read, never had the success of Weems’ Life of George Washington, and by the time of the Civil War it had been largely forgotten. When it was decided to investigate the unusual phenomena at Washington’s tomb, however, this book seemed to be the only one that offered any clues that might eventually point to a solution of the mystery. Since copies of the original are now scarce and expensive, it was thought that making it available in this economical form might encourage further research.

The grave of Washington was measured many times in the nineteenth century, and the measurements vary by no more than an inch. In all cases, they document a ledger, inscribed with the simple epitaph george washington slept here, that was approximately twenty-five feet long. The earliest photographs of the tomb confirm the measurements, at least as well as we can judge by comparing the ledger with other objects in the tomb.

Some time after the First World War, however, visitors to Mount Vernon began to notice that the ledger did not seem to be quite as big as the guide books said it ought to be. By the 1950s, the shrinking had attracted the attention of a few researchers, but the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association was reluctant to allow any examination for fear of damaging the precious relics. The shrinking accelerated in the late twentieth century, however, and by the twenty-first it was so rapid that the Ladies’ Association finally decided to allow a scientific and archaeological investigation, in the hope of stabilizing the structure.

The investigators could not find anything to account for the shrinking. They could only report that the grave was covered by a ledger that appeared to be made of native stone with no unusual properties; that there was nothing to indicate that the stone had been replaced; and that the tomb, when opened, proved to contain the skeletal remains of a male approximately four feet nine inches in height.

the end.