Steven Williams And the Alliance Defense Fund: Williams Promoted A Forgery ("George Washington's Prayer Book" Not Written By George Washington: A Literary Charade)

(Update 12/19/2004: I've removed a link at the request of the parents' organization. Update 12/14/2004: link removed part.))

One of the items assigned by Steven Williams is "George Washington's Prayer Book" It turns out that, while published in 1891, it was revealed to be a fraud at some point before the publication of Steiner's publication of Religious Beliefs of Our Presidents in 1936. It is not now recognized by the Library of Congress or the definitive edition of George Washington's papers.

Nonetheless, Mr. Williams included this item in his suit.

From Religous Beliefs of Our Presidents, by Franklin Steiner, which was originally was published in 1936 and has been re-published in a modern edition

Some 30 years ago it was proclaimed that in his youth he [Washington] composed a prayer book for his own use, containing a prayer for five days, beginning with Sunday and ending with Thursday. The manuscript of this prayer book was said to have been found among the contents of an old trunk. It was printed and facsimiles published. Clergymen read it from the altar, one of them saying it contained so much "spirituality" that he had to stop, as he could not control his emotions while reading it.

Yet, while this prayer book was vociferously proclaimed to have been written by Washington, there was not an iota of evidence that he ever had anything to do with it, or that it even ever belonged to him. A little investigation soon pricked the bubble. Worthington C. Ford, who had handled more of Washington's manuscripts than any other man except Washington himself, declared that the penmanship was not that of washington. Rupert Hughes (Washington, vol. 1, p. 658) gives facsimile specimens of the handwriting in the prayer book side by side with known specimens of Washington's penmanship at the time the prayer book was supposed to have been written. A glance proves that they are not by the same hand.

Then in the prayer book manuscript all of the words are spelled correctly, while Washington was a notoriously poor speller. But the greatest blow it received was when the Smithsonian Institute refused to accept it as a genuine Washington relic. That Washington did not compose it was proved by Dr. W.A. Croffutt, a newspaper correspondent of the Capital, who traced the source of some of the prayers to an old prayer brook in the Congressional Library printed, in the reign of James the First.

Even the Rev. W. Herbert Burk, rector of the Episcopal Church of Valley Forge, although a firm believer in Washington's religiosity, thus speaks of these prayers: "At present, the question is an open one, and its settlement will depend on the discovery of the originals, or upon the demonstration that they are the work of Washington."

Comments

[Jon Rowe, Esq.]

Thanks. The more I look into it, the more my I believe that Washington was nothing more than a (small d) deist.

[liz]

November 27, 2004:

• Was Williams Proselytizing to the Heathen?

December 10, 2004:

• Read The Easter Assignment Yourself


• Why Did Williams Avoid Resolving Grievance with School the Normal Way?


• Many Parents Object to Williams Proselytizing in Class


• Williams is Presenting a Forgery as George Washington's Work


• Armed Guards Stationed at School after Threats on Behalf of Williams


• Alliance Defence Fund Uses Big Lie Technique


• Is the Evangelical Mr. Williams Teaching Evolution or Creationism?

January 2, 2004:

• Nat Hentoff's Column Inaccurate


• Mainstream Media Fail to Factcheck Alliance Defense Fund's Mendacious Claims


• L.A. Times Blows Chance to Investigate Williams & ADF's Claims


• Parents Speak Up to Balance the Story

The massive media machine that is the Alliance Defence Fund is opposed by....We the Parents, a small, unfunded group of Stevens Creek School parents who are seeking to tell their view of the Williams suit.

If you would like to help offset the costs of the Alliance Defense Fund attack on this school, you can make a tax-deductible donation through the Stevens Creek Parent Teachers' Organization or by mailing a check to:

Stevens Creek Parent Teacher's Organization Stevens Creek Elementary School 10300 Ainsworth Drive, Cupertino, CA 95014

[Robert R. Larimer Jr]

You may wish to read George Washington's Prayer Journal, written in his own hand, in which he specifically honors Jesus Christ as God and Savior. History will not be denied.

[Liz]

Mr Larimer, let me repeat:

Yet, while this prayer book was vociferously proclaimed to have been written by Washington, there was not an iota of evidence that he ever had anything to do with it, or that it even ever belonged to him. A little investigation soon pricked the bubble. Worthington C. Ford, who had handled more of Washington's manuscripts than any other man except Washington himself, declared that the penmanship was not that of Washington. Rupert Hughes (Washington, vol. 1, p. 658) gives facsimile specimens of the handwriting in the prayer book side by side with known specimens of Washington's penmanship at the time the prayer book was supposed to have been written. A glance proves that they are not by the same hand.

Wishing something is so doesn't make it so.