Our 20th Century History
The Falls Church Chapter NSDAR was organized on June 7, 1910, with Louise Cable Callender as the organizing regent. It was named for The Falls Church, originally built in 1733 and established in 1734. The chapter had 16 organizing members and 22 charter members.
 |
50th Anniversary of the Falls Church Chapter NSDAR (1960):
Alice Murray Fellows, Genevieve Forbes Morse, Mary Grimsley Barbour (second regent of the chapter), Louise Rixey White, Marie Hirst Yochim
Image from chapter collection. |
 |
Some Falls Church Chapter NSDAR members in the 1960s:
Pat Messer Buffington, Marie Hirst Yochim, Alberta Utz
Image from chapter collection. |
 |
Marie Hirst Yochim
Virginia DAR State Regent 1977-1980, Centennial President General, NSDAR 1989–1992
Image from chapter collection. |
Martha Washington's Will: Falls Church Chapter NSDAR Fight with J.P. Morgan
This piece was written by an unknown chapter member for the 100th-anniversary celebration and newsletter. Edited for the website in November 2019.
 |
| Falls Church Court House circa 1910. Image from Wikipedia Commons. |
Starting in 1913, the Falls Church Chapter NSDAR focused its attention on recovering the lost will of Martha Washington with the goal of placing it on display next to George Washington's will in the Fairfax County Courthouse in Fairfax, Virginia. Those efforts were instrumental in the will's recovery in 1915.
Highly publicized controversy due to the recalcitrance of its owner in possession, millionaire J. P. Morgan, Jr., of New York City. The larger issue was whether the Commonwealth of Virginia could reclaim the historical documents taken by soldiers as prizes of war during the Civil War.
The Commonwealth of Virginia had previously taken legal steps to recover historic relics taken as war loot with little results other than tying up the property in litigation.
Mary Grimsley Barbour, the regent of the Falls Church Chapter NSDAR, took up the fight and, acting on behalf of the National Society, wrote to J. P. Morgan, Jr., demanding the return of the will to Fairfax County.
The will of George Washington was miraculously preserved from the vicissitudes of the same war. It is among the archives of Fairfax County, and is kept in a fireproof apartment of the clerk's office. It is an object of much reverence and interest, and many persons make the pilgrimage to this small Virginia village to see the will of the Father of His Country.
Surely there is no repository as appropriate for the will of Martha Washington as an honored place by her husband's will among the records of that Virginia county in which they lived and died. If this will is in your father's collection of historical papers, I most respectfully and earnestly request you to return it to the people of Fairfax County, and assure you that your generous action in so doing will be acclaimed by our entire Commonwealth.
Yours with great respect,
MARY GRIMSLEY BARBOUR Regent, Falls Church Chapter, D.A.R.
Into this disarray and confusion walked Lieutenant-Colonel David Thomson, commanding the 82nd Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, who had been assigned the courthouse as his headquarters. Some of the troops had preceded him, and when Lieutenant-Colonel Thomson entered, they were shoveling old documents, books, and boxes into a big stove to kindle a fire.
Lieutenant-Colonel Thomson immediately called a halt to the destruction, cleared the room of soldiers and got down on the floor to examine the musty old papers piled in front of the stove. Most of the papers were old deeds, title records and similar items of no special interest. Finally, he came to a riveting document. The opening paragraph read:
"In the name of God Amen: I, Martha Washington, of Mount Vernon--in the County of Fairfax, being of sound mind and capable of disposing of my Worldly Estate, do make Ordain and declare this to be my last will and testament, hereby revoking all other Wills and Testaments by me heretofore Made...."
The final page showed Mrs. Washington's signature under the date of September 2, 1800. Lieutenant-Colonel Thomson took the will home and kept it until his death in 1892, when his daughter, Mary Espy Thomson inherited it. In 1905, she sold it to the elder John Pierpont Morgan who housed it in his private library.
The fight for the return of Martha Washington's will became an intense polarized campaign for the return of the will; it began in 1908 when the commonwealth attorney learned of the location of the will and wrote the two demand letters to the elder Morgan, both of which went unanswered. The matter languished until the death of J. P. Morgan, Sr., in 1913; his son, John Pierpont Morgan, Jr., inherited the will as part of his father's estate.
Since the death of your lamented father the statement has appeared several times in the press that among the valuable papers in his collection was to be found the will of Martha Washington. This will was stolen from the records of Fairfax County during the War Between the States. Its loss has been deeply deplored by the Washington family, the State of Virginia and the County of Fairfax.
Mary Barbour received a response from J. P. Morgan, Jr.'s librarian, Belle da Costa Greene, refusing the demand but offers, instead, to send her photographs of the will. Belle de Caosta Greene also suggested that Fairfax County reciprocate by giving J. P. Morgan, Jr., photographs of the will of George Washington.
Mary Barbour immediately took the letter to the Virginia legislature requesting further action to recover the will. The legislature called upon the governor to make a formal demand for the return of the will and authorized the attorney general of the Commonwealth of Virginia to sue J. P. Morgan, Jr.
 |
| J.P. Morgan Jr., May 10, 1915. Image from Wikipedia Commons. |
In reply to Governor H. C. Stuart’s demand, J. P. Morgan, Jr., wrote that if the commonwealth were to put George Washington’s will on permanent display either at Mount Vernon or in the Library of Congress, he would send Martha’s will for display with George’s will. The governor rejected this offer stating that both wills were part of the official records of Fairfax County and belonged in its courthouse.
In March 1915, the Commonwealth of Virginia filed suit against J. P. Morgan, Jr., before the Supreme Court of the United States. John S. Barbour, the husband of Regent Mary (Grimsley) Barbour, was of counsel to the Commonwealth on the complaint. In answer to the complaint, J. P. Morgan, Jr., consented to transfer the will to the governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia and end the dispute.
On October 18, 1915, the attorney general of Virginia delivered the will to the Fairfax County Courthouse in Fairfax, Virginia, in the presence of the board of supervisors, members of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and a large assembly of citizens.