Brooch

Brooch
America, 1800-20
Hair, gold, glass, pearl
Gift of Mrs. Edmund Bridge 

This brooch allegedly contains locks of hair from President George Washington and Governor Caleb Strong of Massachusetts (1745-1819). The donor was the great-granddaughter of Josiah Bartlett, a member of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts.  

After Washington died in 1799, Bartlett, along with Paul Revere and John Warren, wrote to Martha Washington requesting a piece of her late husband’s hair for the Grand Lodge as an “invaluable relique of the Hero and Patriot.” Martha Washington granted their request. Perhaps the Bartlett family kept an additional piece as a family heirloom.