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An excerpt from The Writings of Washington by Worthington Chauncey Ford describes the history of several of George Washington’s swords. The information includes when Washington acquired the swords, who possessed them after his death, and when and where they have been exhibited and where they are now.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1890
In a portion of a letter, excerpted in Worthing Chauncey Ford’s Writings of George Washington, George Washington tells John Adams that he had read about a sword from an unknown Dutch maker that was intended for him, but pawned in Alexandria. He asks Adams, who is serving as a minister in Holland, to find out what he can about the sword. An annotation from Ford says that the sword was made by Theophilus Alte. Alte sent his son to give the sword to Washington, but the son sold it at a tavern and disappeared. The sword is currently in the possession of Alice Lawrason Riggs.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-18