Lightning Strikes - Origin Story
Lightning strikes and kills a young girl seated across a Mary Ball.
Mary Ball is pregnant when this happens.
She is the future mother of George Washington.
And one more detail:
The fork and knife the girl held when struck?
It melded together.
For ever after, Mary Ball, George Washington's mother, could not endure lightning storms with any calm.
This story is kin to an Origin Story for any super hero
you see in Marvel and DC Comics.
It's a fitting story as an origin story for our first President.
That story is a combination of
G.W.P.Custis’ version of the Lightning Story
and of Willard Sterne Randall’s version.
G.W.P.Custis’ version does not mention Mary Ball is pregnant when that lightning hit.
Willard Sterne Randall adds that detail.
G.W.P.Custis’ version:
He writes:
“One weakness alone belonged to this lofty-minded and intrepid woman [George Washington’s mom, Mary Ball], and that proceeded from a most affecting cause. .
It was a fear of lightning. In early life, a female friend had been killed at her side, while sitting at the table, the knife and fork in the hands of the unfortunate being melted by the electric fluid. .
The matron never recovered from the shock occasioned by this distressing incident. On the approach of a thunder-cloud, she would retire to her chamber, and not leave it again till the storm had passed over.”
Source:
.
See Page 141 of
Recollections and Private Memoirs of Washington. (Washington, D.C.: William H. Moore, 1859)
authored by
George Washington Parke Custis
First,
Who is
.
He is Martha Washington's
grandson.
Martha Dandridge had married Daniel Parke Custis .
This first husband of Martha's
died in 1757.
She had a son by this marriage.
That son married and begot George Washington Parke Custis.
In 1759, Martha Dandridge Custis marries again. She becomes Martha Dandridge Custis Washington.
He becomes George Washington’s
adopted son.
So, You think Parson Weems told some whoppers?
You all know that George Washington
could not tell his Dad a lie
about chopping down a Cherry Tree.
Parson Weems, is the author of the I-cannot-tell-a-lie-I-chopped-down-the-Cherry-Tree story on pages 16 and 17
The Life of George Washington, with Curious Anecdotes, Equally Honorable to Himself and Exemplary to his Young Countrymen. By W.M.L.Weems, formerly Rector of Mount Vernon Parish, published 1809
But this grandson of Mary Washington,
this adopted son of George Washington,
is probably the best competitor
to Parson Weems for legendary stories.
The Guyasuta Whopper
One whopper George Washington Parke Custis told
is the story of Guyasuta's legendary speech
that no bullet
could find its way
to George Washington.
George Washington was invincible.
That speech is repeated everywhere on the internet.
Here is more detail on that.
THE ECHO CHAMBER:
This lightning story gets repeated. You find it everywhere. It almost gives you an impression of a 1000 corroborating sources. But there is only one source for the story. It gets repeated everywhere.
.
. Mary Ball was pregnant with George Washington when lightning struck and killed her friend across the dining table. .
The above story became more detailed in this version, echoed all over the internet, from a New York Times reprint of Chapter One of George Washington, by Willard Sterne Randall, Henry Holt, New York, 1997: .
“When she was pregnant with George Washington, she experienced a shock that may have shaped her relationship with the large child taking shape in her womb. .
.
One summer Sunday afternoon, while the family was having dinner with guests from church, a thunderstorm rolled in. . A bolt of lightning struck the house and traveled down the chimney and hit a young girl who was visiting the Washingtons for Sunday dinner. . The electric current was so strong it fused the knife and fork she was using to cut her meat. . She died instantly. . The lightning hit with such force that it severely jolted the pregnant Mary Washington, who was sitting only a few feet away. .
From that time on, Mary Ball Washington cringed and tried to hide whenever lightning passed overhead, burying her face in her hands. .
For the moment, she recovered, but she became increasingly fearful over the years. . She was so happy a few months later when a strong, sound baby was born that she traveled around the Tidewater showing off George Washington to all his cousins for an entire month, before she even had him baptized.” .
,
No Sources
.
There are no sources given in this Chapter One of George Washington, by Willard Sterne Randall, Henry Holt, New York, 1997.
. .
Criticism
.
The NY Times Review by BENSON BOBRICK of that book by Randall is critical of the dramatic approach author Randall takes: .
” Randall has an eye for the controversial ….. Problems of coherence turn up early……. Even granting such a long chain of hypotheticals, Randall’s ”probably” presumes a lot. …. That’s one kind of problem. .
Another is a narrative style that occasionally tries artificially to dramatize an already dramatic life… .
Other characterizations similarly lack restraint. Washington is described as a ”sycophant at the feet of Lord Fairfax,” for example, and as ”the first modern American corporate executive” in his conduct of the war.” .
.
What does
say about this story?
. Douglas Southall Freeman looks at the story told by George Washington Parke Custis above, and relegates the story to a footnote doubting parts of the story’s authenticity: .
“It would be easy to load these pages with the spurious anecdotes and the dubious traditions of Mary Ball … … Some actual unpleasant occurrence may underlie the sensational yarn in G.W.P.Custis, 141, that Mary Washington’s fear of thunderstorms had its origin in the death by lightning of a friend who was sitting beside her at the dining table. As related, authenticity of the incident is discredited by the statement that the knife and fork in the hands of the stricken friend were melted by the bolt of lightning. “ .
.
Source:
.
George Washington A Biography Volume 1 Young Washington, by Douglas Southall Freeman, Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1948, New York, page 45 .
.
Questions arise on Douglas Southall Freeman’s view.
Is the story true? Are parts of the story true?
. Neither G.W.P.Custis nor does Freeman mention Mary Ball is pregnant with George Washington. Was Mary Ball pregnant during the lightning strike? Neither mention the stricken girl’s name. .
But, Douglas Southall Freeman does consider the possibility that, ” Some actual unpleasant occurrence may underlie the sensational…” .
According to Douglas Southall Freeman, (page 46 of George Washington A Biography Volume 1 Young Washington, by Douglas Southall Freeman, Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1948, New York):. “Mary Ball knew she was definitely pregnant by June 1731.” .
If the lightning struck, maybe it struck that summer? .
So… have we proved or disproved all or parts of this story? .
.
.
That is our lead story.
Various links and research is listed below.
Compiled, researched by Jim Moyer, 10/13/2015, 2/14/2017, 2/26/2017, 1/29/2018, 2/10/2019, 2/12/2022, 2/13/2022
MYTHS TOO EXCITING NOT TO TELL
. Myths and Fake News are getting a lot of attention these days. .
Parson Weems, is the author of the I-cannot-tell-a-lie-I-chopped-down-the-Cherry-Tree story on pages 16 and 17? .
Myths have a good pedigree. .
John Milton’s Paradise Lost is where we have the story of the Eve offering Adam an apple. . The Bible doesn’t say what the fruit is. Some scholars think it was the pomegranate. .
.
Just look at this title, by a Parson no less:
. The Life of George Washington, with Curious Anecdotes, Equally Honorable to Himself and Exemplary to his Young Countrymen. By W.M.L.Weems, formerly Rector of Mount Vernon Parish, published 1809
.
.
. .
.
See more detail on this
George Washington was born 10am, 11 February 1731/2 Old Style, Julian Calendar, as written in the family Bible. .
.
The correction to the calendar was first introduced by the Pope in 1582.
.
This change by the Pope was finally adopted by England and fully implemented in 1752.
.
The New Style, Gregorian Calendar really makes GW born 22 February 1732, baptized later on 5 April 1732. See Calendar Changes. .
.
.
.
.
.
RESEARCH .
Mount Vernon Ladies Association who owns rights to family Bible - .
.
The story of young George Washington, by Whipple, Wayne, Published 1915, Philadelphia, Henry Altemus company . GEORGE WASHINGTON BIRTHPLACE, National Monument Virginia, by J. Paul Hudson, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE HISTORICAL HANDBOOK SERIES No. 26, Washington, D. C, 1956 .
.
.
The Mother of Washington And Her Times BY MRS. ROGER A. PRYOR, COPYRIGHT, 1903, BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. Set up, elect retyped, and published October, 1903. Reprinted November, 1903. Norwood Press, J. S. Gushing & Co. Berwick f Smith Co.Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. .
.
Title: Legends of the Skyline Drive and the Great Valley of Virginia, Author: Carrie Hunter Willis and Etta Belle Walker, Release Date: June 29, 2010 [EBook #33018. See pages 35-36 .
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This story first posted in 2015 is reposted Sunday 2/13/2022
Sunday Word 2
February is the month for Presidents and Mattress sales. In particular, we'd like to present a legendary Origin Story, kin to origin stories for a Marvel Comics or DC Comics hero. This Origin Story is of our George Washington. Lightning is a good way to startle a new life.
Stay tuned for Sunday Word 1 which is tracking 1758 in this year of 2022. . . .
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