$2,000
Estimate: $1,000 - $1,500
American Furniture, Decorative & Folk Art
Auction: April 19, 2016 11:00:00 AM EDT
Bearing fabric label, hand inscribed in ink, "Benj Harrison..."
H: 34 3/8 in.Provenance: Property Deaccessioned by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association.
The chairs were presented to the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association in 1896 by Ella Bassett Washington (Mrs. Lewis William Washington), Vice Regent for West Virginia (1870-1898). Mrs. Washington was the great granddaughter of George Washington's only sister and great granddaughter of Martha Washington's sister as well as a cousin to the Harrison family.
According to tradition, the chairs were owned by Benjamin Harrison V (1726-1791) of Berkeley Plantation, Charles City County, Virginia. It is more likely that the pair were used by his son, William Henry Harrison (1773-1841) of Washington, D.C.
Ella Bassett Washington (1834-1898)
Ella Bassett Washington served as Vice Regent for West Virginia from 1870 to 1898. She was married at her family home, Clover Lea Plantation in Hanover County, Virginia, in 1860 to Colonel Lewis William Washington. Colonel Washington was the great grandson of George Washington's brother. The couple lived at Beall Air Plantation, Jefferson County, West Virginia. Mrs. Washington's important diary of 1864 records life at her parent's plantation during the Civil War, as well as her dealings with George Armstrong Custer, a West Point classmate of her stepson, for protection during the conflict.