The reason
for examining a possible relationship between George Washington and Thomas Posey is that the author of the recent biography
of Thomas Posey, John Thornton Posey, suggested that "One can assume that General Washington read the affidavit detailing
this occurrence with a gleam of approval in the eye for the young major's vigilant and astute handling of such unmiliary
conduct" [as the plundering of the goods and livestock of the inhabitants, to say nothing of the murder of Dumond]. If
we are to judge Washington's reaction to the accounts preserved in his papers, we should be aware of the
connections between these two men.
Thomas
Posey wrote a short autobiography, in which the only reference tohis parentage is the comment that he: "descended from respectable
parents." He makes no reference to any family members.
Likewise,
there is no reference to Thomas Posey in the family of John Posey, the neighbor and friend of George Washington.
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A
History of Rockbridge County, Virginia By Oren Frederic
Morton Staunton, Va.: McClure Co., 1920.
232
A HISTORY OF ROCKBRIDGE COUNTY, VIRGINIA
"General Thomas Posey, senator from Louisana and
in 1813 governor of Indiana Territory, was reared in this county and married into the Mathews family. Posey was the only man
to whom George Washington ever gave a portrait of himself, or to whom he ever made a gift of realty." |