George Washington racked up a hefty bill of late fees at a New York City Library, spanning over two centuries. The estate of George Washington made good on an overdue book the nation’s first president
Borrowed and failed to return, organizers replaced “The Law of Nations” book with a copy of the same edition, one of two books the president checked out 221 years ago.
“It’s maybe not be the book Washington checked out, but it is a dead ringer of the book Washington checked out,” said Jim Rees of the Mount Vernon Estates and Gardens.
The two books were logged in the charging ledger dated October 5th. The librarian wrote both titles of the books and simply signed in the name columns noted the books and signed the name as President.
Washington had taken the oath of President just six months earlier at Federal Hall, a time when New York was the nation’s capitol.
Historians say Washington had a reputation for honesty and likely forgot he had borrowed the books. “Must been the pressures of the presidency that prevented him from returning them,” Rees said. Several fourscores later, the estimated total in library fines was $300,000 — a whole lot of money, whether paid in Washingtons or Benjamins. But the tab won’t have to be paid because the library abolished all fines, wiping the slate clean for one of the country’s founding fathers.
The New York Society Library discovered the two overdue books when librarians were updating and digitizing their records.
Credit : Wis News
Picture Credit : Google
