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Document 250645

GEORGE WASHINGTON'S HAIR
With provenance from Congressman Levin Powell, a friend of Washington.
Authenticated strands (there are approximately five of them) of George Washington's hair mounted on an 8½x11 page containing a facsimile reproduction of the following handwritten statement: "Lock of hair of General/George Washington/given to Col Powell by Mrs./Powell who had it from/Mrs. Custis/L. Powell." Beneath is a certification signed in facsimile: "Charles Hamilton." In full: "I certify that the authentication reproduced on this page is an exact copy of the original, written about 1845. It was from the Custis-Powell family that this lock of hair was obtained. The first owner of this hair was probably Eleanor Parke Custis, the granddaughter of Martha Washington by her first marriage. Eleanor was adopted by George Washington and was raised at Mount Vernon. A late owner, Colonel Levin Powell (1738-1810) was an intimate friend of Washington and a Revolutionary War hero. When Colonel Powell ran for congress, in which he was successful, Washington rode ten miles on his old iron-gray charger to cast a vote for his friend at the county poll." Handwriting expert CHARLES HAMILTON (1913-1998) is the author of numerous books on autographs, including Collecting Autographs and Manuscripts, The Book of Autographs, The Signature of America and American Autographs. However Mr. Hamilton got his Eleanors confused. "Mrs. Custis" was not Eleanor Parke Custis but rather her mother, Eleanor Calvert Custis (1757-1811), who was the wife of John Parke Custis (1754-1781). John was the son of Martha Custis Washington, George's wife. Eleanor Calvert married John Custis on February 3, 1774 and they remained married until John's death on November 5, 1781. She remarried in 1783. According to librarians at Mt. Vernon and at Woodlawn Plantation (both in Virginia), it was commonplace for Martha Washington to give as a gift her husband's hair both during his life and after his death. History indicates that this tradition was passed onto the other women in Martha's family, including her granddaughter Eleanor Parke Custis (again, the daughter of Eleanor Culvert and John Parke Custis). Their daughter, however, was not a spinster. She married Lawrence Lewis so she was never a "Mrs. Custis". The only other "Mrs. Custis" could have been Mary Lee Fitzhugh Custis, who married Eleanor and John's other child, George Washington Parke Custis in 1804. (Interestingly George and Mary's daughter became Mrs. Robert E. Lee). The "L. Powell" who wrote and signed the note of original provenance circa 1845 was probably one of the five grandsons of Colonel Levin Powell - four of whom had the name of Levin and one whose name was Llewellyn. THESE STRANDS OF WASHINGTON'S HAIR WERE PART OF THE "BIGGEST FAMOUS HAIR COLLECTION" LISTED IN THE GUINESS 1999 BOOK OF RECORDS. Fine condition. [THE COLORATION OF THE STRANDS IS ENHANCED SO THAT THEY CAN BE SEEN. THEY ARE PALE IN COLOR.]

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