This reminds me of a nasty message I received from someone who was upset that I made a statement about being related to George Washington. At first he politely asked a question, but the next message showed just how ignorant this person is. He said that George Washington had NO Negroes in his family line. I guess he had me mixed up with the person who said they were a direct descendant of Washington. My truth comes from the DNA test that I took (through family tree DNA), my research, and those who contacted me (DNA cousins), once the results were released. Nothing that I stated changes George Washington, or his accomplishments. It is what it is!! Anita -- Paul Finkelman <[log in to unmask]> wrote: my recollection was not that he was the "father of his country" because he may not have been able to father children, but rather, the sign on Inns dating back to that period "George Washington slept here" had a larger meaning (wink wink). But, we should remember that the founders were neither puritans (except maybe John Adams in spirit) nor Victorians. What we know of Jefferson, Hamilton, Burr, and Franklin illustrates that. Paul Finkelman President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law and Public Policy Albany Law School 80 New Scotland Avenue Albany, New York 12208-3494 518-445-3386 [log in to unmask] >>> [log in to unmask] 05/21/07 9:55 PM >>> When I was in school in the 60's the worm was starting to turn regarding our attitudes toward historical figures. I recall the rather cutesy remark, "We all know that George Washington fathered more than just our country." Wink. Wink. Well. He most probably did not father anyone or anything except this country....if you happen to accept him as the grand patriarch of the hagiography of yesteryear. This is a minor example of how stuff gets started, is bandied about classrooms without a shred of evidence and works its way into history. DF Mills York County, VA ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jurretta Heckscher" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Monday, May 21, 2007 5:00 PM Subject: Re: Anne Pemberton's query > Anne Pemberton's query is interesting as a manifestation of a certain kind > of persistent historical folklore. Among Americans, at least, who are (or > used to be) taught to see major national figures as impossibly heroic, > there is a compensatory counter-stream of popular stories attributing > various types of sexual misconduct to them. (I imagine the same goes for > other "rulers" in other societies.) > > For instance, one friend of mine, who attended high school several decades > ago, swears her U.S. history teacher taught her some particularly lurid > tale (whose details, alas, I've forgotten) involving GW and some salacious > escapade. She was amazed when I told her I thought the story was wildly > improbable. I found it interesting that her decades-long belief in the > story hadn't seemed to cause her to question GW's place in history: > instead, against all the heroic mythology, the tale apparently functioned > for her as a balancing assertion that GW could misbehave like any other > man.