Presidents and First Ladies Trivia

[Anita]

(03-24-2023 05:06 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  Thank you, Anita! Very interesting.

Here is what it says in Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow. (p. 808)

"Washington had a horror of being buried alive, and around ten o’clock he conveyed this to Lear: “Have me decently buried and do not let my body be put into the vault in less than three days after I am dead.” Lear promised to honor his wish, which consoled Washington, making his breathing a trifle easier. This fear of premature burial was common at the time..."

Who knows!

Fear of being buried alive was a common belief of the the time so it's not surprising that Washington wasn't taking any chances when he made his request. It worked out that it also gave family and friends time to gather before he was placed in the vault.

This is from the Mt. Vernon website. " George Washington wasn't the only member of the family to worry about being buried too soon. His nephew, United States Supreme Court Justice Bushrod Washington, who inherited Mount Vernon from his uncle, was even more explicit about what he wanted done after his death and took the step of confiding them to his doctor:

My desire is that when the event happens, the sheet on which I am then laying may be employed as a Winding Sheet and at once thrown round my Person and tied about my middle with a Pocket [sic] Handkerchief--the common Practice of washing the Body is to be avoided- my thumbs are not to be tied together--nor anything put on my face or any restraint upon my Person by Bandages, &c. My Body is to be placed in an entirely plain coffin with a flat Top and a sufficient number of holes bored through the lid and sides--particularly about the face and head to allow Respiration if Resuscitation should take place and having been kept so long as to ascertain whether decay may have occurred or not, the coffin is to be closed up.5"

Also from the Mt. Vernon site is the incredible story of "At least one friend wanted to help the process of “resuscitation” along after George Washington’s death in 1799. William Thornton was a physician, trained in the best medical schools in Europe, who also designed the Library Company of Philadelphia (1789), the United States Capitol (1792), and a number of important homes in the DC area, including the Octagon, Woodlawn, and Tudor Place. He was appointed one of three commissioners for the new federal city (1793-1828) and was named first superintendent of the U.S. Patent Office in 1802. Twenty years after Washington’s death, Thornton wrote that when the former president was suffering through his final illness, a family member invited Thornton to Mount Vernon to see if he could help. Thornton left for the estate, in the “fullest confidence of being able to relieve him by tracheotomy.” He was shocked to discover that Washington had died before his arrival and was now “laid out a stiffened Corpse. My feelings at that moment I cannot express! I was overwhelmed with the loss of the best friend I had on Earth.” But Thornton had a backup plan:

Go here to read his plan! https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washi...ck-to-life