What exactly did happen on the "Fatal First?"

[Donna McCreary]

Hi Donna. It's the version in Katherine Helm's book. Is her book considered a reliable source?

Katherine Helm's book is, and is not, reliable. I love it for the stories from the Lexington years. Katherine had access to the letters and stories from family members. If we can trust their memories, we can trust the story. Take the hooped skirt incident for example. . . Elizabeth Humphreys Norris was the "Elizabeth" who sat up with Mary sewing willow weeds into the hems of the dresses. Elizabeth wrote a letter detailing the incident. However, when one reads Elizabeth's letter, and then reads the story in Helm's book, we find that Katherine added to the story.

Regarding the Douglas and the "fatal first" story . . . I have never found referance to it in any of the sources used by Katherine. She was not there. Her mother Emilie was not there. So who first told the story?