Cause of Washington's Death

Feb. 1920

George Washington probably died of diphtheria, instead of acute laryngitis, as is commonly believed, according to an article by Dr. R. B. Hemenway. Dr. Hemenway outlined briefly the means used to cure ills during the time of Washington.

"It is probable that Washington's life was cut short more by excess of treatment than by disease," the article reads. "It is sometimes said that he died of acute laryngitis, but we believe that it is now generally agreed his disease was diphtheria."


Site of the White House

The site for the president's palace, as the first maps name it, was selected by President Washington and Major L'Enfant when they laid out the federal city in 1792. They purposed to have the president's house and the capitol reciprocally close to the long vista formed by Pennsylvania avenue, and they also laid out a parklike connection between the two great buildings. The plans for the house, selected by Washington and Jefferson as the result of a competition in which L'Enfant took part, were drawn by James Hoban, a native of Dublin.


Prominent in Many Things

A close study of the life, letters and documents of Washington will show that he was prominent also as a business man, a farmer, a philosopher and a statesman and in his knowledge of human nature.