Author. Known as Parson Weems, he was an itinerant evangelist and bookseller. His largely fictional "History of the Life, Death, Virtues and Exploits of George Washington" (1800) was immensely popular in its day. For its fifth edition (1806) Weems introduced the famous story of young Washington chopping down a cherry tree and then confessing with the words, "I cannot tell a lie, I did it with my little hatchet". This invented anecdote has survived as a folkloric example of the Founding Father's integrity. Weems was born in Maryland. He studied for the ministry in England and was ordained by the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1784. After serving as rector of two Maryland churches he became a full-time travelling bookseller in 1793. Weems followed the success of his Washington book with equally dubious "biographies" of Francis Marion (1809), Benjamin Franklin (1818), and William Penn (1822), and he also wrote such moral tracts as "God's Revenge Against Murder" (1807) and "The Drunkard's Looking Glass" (1812). He died during a bookselling tour of Beaufort, South Carolina, and was later buried at his home in Bel Air, Virginia. Weems' house still exists, but the exact location of his gravesite is no longer known.
Author. Known as Parson Weems, he was an itinerant evangelist and bookseller. His largely fictional "History of the Life, Death, Virtues and Exploits of George Washington" (1800) was immensely popular in its day. For its fifth edition (1806) Weems introduced the famous story of young Washington chopping down a cherry tree and then confessing with the words, "I cannot tell a lie, I did it with my little hatchet". This invented anecdote has survived as a folkloric example of the Founding Father's integrity. Weems was born in Maryland. He studied for the ministry in England and was ordained by the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1784. After serving as rector of two Maryland churches he became a full-time travelling bookseller in 1793. Weems followed the success of his Washington book with equally dubious "biographies" of Francis Marion (1809), Benjamin Franklin (1818), and William Penn (1822), and he also wrote such moral tracts as "God's Revenge Against Murder" (1807) and "The Drunkard's Looking Glass" (1812). He died during a bookselling tour of Beaufort, South Carolina, and was later buried at his home in Bel Air, Virginia. Weems' house still exists, but the exact location of his gravesite is no longer known.
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
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