![]() ![]() ![]() But how did John Marshall come to own it? Marshall probably came upon Washington’s diary among his father’s possessions. John Marshall had accumulated considerable wealth and property. Trained as a banker, he served as executor of his father’s complex will. Marshall was one of John Marshall’s five sons. Institutional records reveal that in 1859 it was given by James K. ![]() The story of how the best object was acquired has largely been forgotten. In gratitude, John Marshall presented the society a copy of his biography, The Life of George Washington, inscribed by the author “to the Virginia Historical and Philosophical Society.” In 1831, when concerned Virginians created a “society” to preserve the records of their illustrious predecessors who had helped found the nation, they elected as the institution’s president a Founding Father. The story of the first object has often been told. The other is the diary that President Washington kept in 1790 – 91 during his first term. The first object is a copy of Marshall’s biography of Washington. Both the first object acquired by the Virginia Historical Society and arguably one of the best objects in the VMHC collection are tied to a special relationship that existed between John Marshall and George Washington. ![]()
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