150 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1891. 



and relics of George Wasliiugtoii, including also the original will of 

 John Washington, the founder of the family in Ameri(;a. (0) Silver- 

 mounted glass Hute, presented to President James Madison. (10) vSix 

 medals in silver and bronze struck in Holland in 1782-'83 to commem- 

 orate the success of the Americans in the Revolutionary war. (11) 

 Manuscripts, early publications, and objects pertaining to the early his- 

 tory of Kentucky and of the Shenandoah Valley. (12) Collection of 

 8;")5 official seals of European governments and institutions. (13) Medals 

 and diplomas awarded the Fnited States Government by the Paris Ex- 

 position. (14) Six additional medals of the series struck by order of the 

 corporation of the city of London, England, to commemorate important 

 events, including the passage of the reform bill, the onening of London 

 Bridge, etc. 



The routine work on the collections has consisted in the preparation 

 of labels and arranging the objects for exhibition. Very little could 

 be done in making a detailed catalogue, for uj)wards of three thousand 

 individual objects have been received, and without any assistant the 

 curator has found it impossible to keep up with the work. Each ac- 

 cession, however, of which fifty-six have been received during the year, 

 has been carefully i3reserved in its identity, so that there will l)e little 

 difficulty in cataloguing the specimens hereafter. 



The systematic card catalogue of the collection has been carried along, 

 as also the alphabetical card catalogue of the several accessions, which 

 number about eight hundred. 



In December, 1890, the curator spent four days in Virginia and West 

 Virginia, for the special purpose of examining some collections of papers 

 and other jiersonal relics of Gen. Washington in possession of some of 

 the Washington family residing in Fauquier County, Va., and in 

 Charlestown, W. Va., and a large number of interesting papers were 

 secured as a loan to the National Museum. They attracted much 

 attention while on exhibition, but were withdrawn after several months 

 by the owners and sold at auction in Philadelphia. Among the inter- 

 esting places so numerous in the Shenandoah Valley, the curator vis- 

 ited the old town of Strasburg, a place settled upwards of a hundred 

 years ago by Germans from Pennsylvania (and still bearing evidence 

 of its German origin), and also the region about Winchester, Charles- 

 town, and Harpers Ferry. 



The present condition of the several parts of the historical collections 

 is as follows : 



PERSONAI^ RELICS OP EMINENT MEN. 



It is intended to exhibit relics of each President of the United States, 

 also of eminent soldiers, statesmen, explorers, and inventors, men emi- 

 nent for scientific attainments, etc. 



The large collections of relics of Washington and Grant have acted 

 as strong magnets to attract other accessions to this department, so 



