Today in Johnson City History, Monday, June 23, 2025
George writes Martha, tragedy on the water, Unicoi County marriages and more
Friday, June 23, 1775: Two hundred and fifty years ago today, according to www.mountvernon,org, we learn that “George Washington wrote this letter to his wife, Martha, before departing Philadelphia for the American camp in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The letter reveals the private side of Washington, a side rarely seen in his daily correspondence. After his death in 1799, Martha Washington destroyed all the letters written between herself and George Washington. Three letters survived the destruction, including this letter and another that were found in a desk drawer by Martha's granddaughter Martha Parke Curtis Peter.