#Early american stain full

Since Washington paid for the teeth it suggests that they were either for his own use or for someone in his family. Jean-Pierre Le Mayeur or whether they were intended for George Washington, is unknown at this time. Washington bought human teeth from African Americansĭeep within one of Washington’s account books is an entry which details Washington’s purchase of nine teeth from “Negroes” for 122 shillings. Whether the teeth provided by the Mount Vernon enslaved persons were simply being sold to dentist Dr. I am positive I left them there, or in the secret drawer in the locker of the same desk.' 6. 'In a drawer in the Locker of the Desk which stands in my study you will find two small (fore) teeth which I beg of you to wrap up carefully, and send inclosed in your next letter to me. Washington hoped that these original teeth could be used within new dentures that were being fitted for his use. In a Christmas Day 1782 letter, Washington wrote to Lund Washington, his distant cousin and the temporary manager of Mount Vernon, requesting that the teeth be wrapped up and sent to him in Newburgh, New York.

the yorktown campaignĪware of his failing dental health, George Washington retained several of his pulled teeth within a locked desk drawer at Mount Vernon.

Clinton’s failure to more rapidly reinforce or rescue Cornwallis led to the complete British defeat at Yorktown on October 19, 1781. What Clinton did not know was that Washington and Rochambeau had just planned out their movement south to trap Cornwallis at Yorktown. Even worse for Clinton and the British, the contents of the packet and Washington’s claim that he would not be in Philadelphia anytime soon convinced the British high command in New York that the American and French forces encamped around New York City would not be marching south to threaten Lord Cornwallis’ isolated command near Yorktown. When Sir Henry Clinton, commander of the British forces in North America, saw this personal letter he was convinced that the other official military correspondence within that same intercepted packet must be genuine. soon.” and that the tooth scrapers should be sent to him outside New York by mail.

Washington’s letter to his dentist pointed out that he had “little prospect of being in Philadelph.

Washington, who always treated his dental troubles as a state secret, was mortified to learn that a mail packet that included a personal letter requesting dental cleaning tools had been intercepted by the British. The two eventually grew quite close, and Le Mayeur was a frequent visitor to Mount Vernon in the years just after the close of the Revolutionary War. Once it was determined that Le Mayeur was sincere in his desire to serve the American cause, General Washington eagerly sought out his services. The French born Le Mayeur, disgusted by derogatory comments made by a British officer against the Franco-American alliance, decided he had had enough and packed up his dental tools and headed off to find the Americans. Le Mayeur had been providing dental services to Sir Henry Clinton, commander of the British forces in the region, and a host of other senior British officers. Jean-Pierre Le Mayeur escaped from British occupied New York City and passed through the nearby American lines. In 1781, a pre-eminent dentist by the name of Dr. During the Revolutionary War, Washington used a French dentist who had been providing dental services to high ranking British officers

#Early american stain full

Throughout his life Washington employed numerous full and partial dentures that were constructed of materials including human, and probably cow and horse teeth, ivory (possibly elephant), lead-tin alloy, copper alloy (possibly brass), and silver alloy. It’s quite possible that some of his dentures, particularly after they had been stained, took on a wooden complexion, but wood was never used in the construction of any of his dental fittings.

One of the most enduring myths about George Washington is that his dentures were made of wood. Contrary to popular mythology, George Washington's dentures were not made of wood Payments to dentists and purchases of toothbrushes, teeth scrapers, denture files, toothache medication, and cleaning solutions are also regularly present in Washington’s communications throughout his life.Ģ. Letters and diary entries later in his life make regular reference to aching teeth, lost teeth, inflamed gums, ill-fitting dentures, and a host of other dental miseries. At age 24, Washington recorded in his diary that he paid 5 shillings to a “Doctr Watson” who removed one of his teeth. Washington was afflicted with dental troubles all his adult lifeĭespite his legendary physical strength and iron constitution, George Washington’s failing teeth were a source of regular suffering throughout his entire life.