 Many
Americans admire George Washington because as Commander-in-Chief of the
Continental Army he led the Colonials to a hard fought victory over a vastly
superior British force. Others admire him because as first President
of the United States they proudly proclaim him to be the Father of their
country. This writer once admired Washington for a far more personal
reason. The celebration of the man’s birthday annually guaranteed
a happy holiday for me, free of schoolwork.
But it was in the sixth year of my elementary school experience that
I gained a more meaningful reason to admire George Washington. My
classroom teacher told a little known story about the great man that was
different from all others told.
Her fascinating story follows.
There was a small boy living in the Village of Totowa who was severely
handicapped. Physically deformed, he rarely got out of bed because
his head was so large that he could not control it. Many were the
days that he passed in utter silence and abject loneliness.
Meanwhile, General Washington, while quartered at the Dey family
mansion for several months in the year 1780, was told of the unfortunate
little boy. Thereupon, he visited the child and was, indeed, alarmed
but equally saddened by the grotesque sight before his eyes. Upon
subsequent visits Washington gained the friendship of the boy and spent
much time in conversation with the lad. He also encouraged his many
staff officers and generals to visit the boy. His purpose was clear.
George Washington wanted to bring cheer and comfort into the life of a
small boy who, like himself, knew the pain of isolation, of loneliness
and of despair.
This warm and inspiring story has remained with me through all these
years. I have learned to admire George Washington for many reasons,
but mostly I admire him for this single act of kindness.
But, read on. The facts of the story follow.
Dr. James Thacher, Surgeon to General Washington in that winter
of 1780, upon the Commander's request examined the boy known as Peter Van
Winkle then age 27. The following extract, written below comes from
the good Doctor's daily journal.
| We were invited to visit a curiosity in the neighborhood.
This is a monster in human form. He is 27 years of age; his face,
from the upper part of his forehead to the end of his chin, measures 20
inches, and round the upper part of his head is 21 inches; his eyes and
nose are remarkably large and prominent, chin long and pointed. His
features are course, irregular, and disgusting and his voice is rough and
sonorous. His body is only 27 inches in length, his limbs are small
and much deformed, and he has the use of one hand only. He has never
been able to stand or sit up, as he cannot support the enormous weight
of his head; but he lies constantly in a large cradle, with his head supported
on pillows. He is peculiarly fond of the company of clergymen, taking
great pleasure in receiving religious instruction. |
Peter Van Winkle, the hapless little invalid, by the efforts of Washington,
met many prominent leaders of the Continental Army in that winter of 1780.
He also met the noted Frenchman Marquis de Chastellux, author of a two
volume work, valued by historians today, titled, Travels in North America
- 1780-1782. He described Peter iin much the same manner as the surgeon,
Doctor Thacher but added,
| As he was long accustomed to lie on his right side, his right
arm is in quite a state of atrophy. He is quite not an idiot, but
could never learn anything and has no more reason than a child of five
or six years old, though he is seven and twenty.
George Washington, long beset with the miseries of war, none-the-less
humanely demonstrated a sincere, kind, tender and merciful compassion for
a little handicapped Dutch boy. This singular act of kindness adds
immensely to the brilliant luster and majesty of the man, our founding
father.
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But alas, the story is not yet at end.
In the year 1835, while excavating the ground under the Old First
Church in Acquackanonk, now Passaic, workmen came upon human remains.
The town's undertaker, P.W. Doremus was summoned. Among the several
bodies uncovered was one whose head was most unusually large. A special
casket was prepared and the body was properly reinterred in the graveyard
adjacent to the church.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Paterson Morning Call, February 22, 1950, Washington
And The Big Headed Boy, article by Isaac A. Serven,
President, Captain Abraham Godwin Chapter S.A.R.
Scott, William, W., History of Passaic and Its Environs,
Vol. I., Chapter XIII, page 120., Lewis Historical Publishing
Company, Inc., New York. 1922.
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