Stories and legends are vastly overlooked and an under-regarded part of history. They have been around since the beginning of time. Bible stories (and indeed stories connected with all religions) abound and are treasured. Aesop’s Fables predate Empires, and are never out of print. 

Nobody seriously believes the “absolute truths” of Noah collecting a male-and-female everything, Greek gods meddling in the Trojan War or rabbits running foot races with turtles. Nevertheless, these stories, these legends and fables have withstood the test of time for a reason: they contain life-lessons, truths and moral decisions that guide our lives even today. If we look for them.

Mason Weems (1759-1825) or “Parson” Weems, as he was known in his own time), was medically trained as a youth, relinquished medicine for the pulpit, and then relinquished that in part, to become a book seller and author. He wrote an effusive biography of George Washington, which in the very early 19th century consisted of a collection of recollections and anecdotes connected with the famous man who died in 1799. It became a best-seller for three generations. Abraham Lincoln was known to have read it when he was a youngster.

Most importantly, Weems compiled the book from recollections of people he interviewed, and the unquestioned purpose was to to tell the “story” of a fine man, worthy of emulation.

Weems was mildly connected to Washington via his wife, the former Fanny Craik, a niece of Dr. James Craik, one of GW’s oldest friends. They had met when they were in the early twenties – even before the French and Indian War. The friendship was a close one, and Dr. Craik was in attendance when the Great General died. 

According to Author Jim Bish, whose book I Can’t Tell A Lie: Parson Weems and the Truth About George Washington’s Cherry Tree, Prayer at Valley Forge and Other Anecdotes, is an exhaustive search into the lineage of practically everyone GW ever said hello to. Truth? Well perhaps like everything else, pieces of truth.

Bish is a dedicated and relentless pursuant of genealogy, and those who relish that pursuit will seldom find anyone more meticulous and knowledgeable. His challenges are formidable. First and foremost, the huge distances and primitive transportation options in the 17th and 18th century. Five or ten miles of travel was a journey. Then there were the convoluted family “connextions”. Life expectancy was short, especially among women. Birth control was non-existent (except for the obvious). Thus multiple marriages and inter-family marriages between widows and widowers resulted in a plethora of step- and half- siblings, inlaws and “removals” with an even larger plethora of surnames. You definitely need the scorecards that Bish is happy to provide.

The care and detail that Bish has taken in creating the minutiae of family trees and map locations in the Virginia of Washington’s youth is truly outstanding, albeit a little mind-boggling. Dedicated genealogists owe him a round of hearty applause.

Of course there are “ah, buts” involved, as one might expect, since modern historians and biographers look with amusement at the good Parson and his effusive verbiage. Author Bish can verbiage himself very nicely as he tries to bolster bits and pieces into “surely,” “likely” and “must have” connections.

Much of the youthful George Washington connections come via his mother, Mary Ball, who married Augustine Washington, a much older widower, when she was in her twenties. Poor Mary had a rough childhood. Her mother (a second-or-third wife of a much older man) was widowed when little Mary was still a toddler. She remarried shortly thereafter, and died when Mary was twelve or so. The bottom line was that she was the decades-younger step- or half-sister, or ditto niece-cousin in a family that paid scant attention to her. She had no full-blood-kin of her own. 

Author Bish relies on various visits Mary Ball made to her distant kin as a young mother. Making occasional visits “back then” was an ordeal, especially with small children in tow. That “Little George” played with some of his Ball-relatives (with a variety of surnames, by the way) is likely enough. That their childhood memories are spot-on some sixty years later does leave room for pause. And since GW, personally, was not around to confirm or deny some of the famous stories, we need to acknowledge the ah-but-pause.

Bish also relies on the equally effusive recollections of George Washington Parke Custis, GW’s step-grandson, written when GWP was elderly and Weems was long dead. Washington died when GWP was 18. He never met Weems. Grain of salt needed here.

While it is well documented that the mature Planter-General-President Washington was a genial Mount Vernon host to a variety of his relatives (as well as his wife’s), most of those relationships were mainly via siblings. A few stray cousins and their descendants pop up on occasion, either in person or through correspondence, but GW is equally well-known for his polite-but-aloof nature. Familiarity was not in his persona. And he “likely” would have cringed at speculation into his personal life. 

Did little GW take a whack out of his father’s cherry tree? We know for a fact that he was a little boy at some point, and that a child-sized tool was a common gift in the 18th century. But we have no indication that GW ever talked about it. “Is possible.”

And was he seen on his knees in prayer at Valley Forge? GW was a conventionally religious man, a church goer and a vestryman, true enough. But the Age of Enlightenment was different than the Second Great Awakening. More salt needed. Weems’ contributing sources were “probably” looking to perpetuate glory (via their own inclinations).

Anyone who has ever attended a class reunion some twenty or thirty or more years after graduation will “undoubtedly” recognize the amazing-but-common truth: no two people remember the same event the same way.

I Can’t Tell A Lie may be too complicated for the casual reader. But the serious devotees of genealogy, whether their own or their “American” forefather ancestry, will find it fascinating and worth their time! Well done, Mr. Bish!

I Can’t Tell A Lie: Parson Weems and the Truth about George Washington’s Cherry Tree, Prayer at Valley Forge, and Other Anecdotes – 2023 – $24.95

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8376943281