Portrait of George Washington

This portrait of George Washington is a replica of one which he painted from life in Philadelphia in September 1795 and which is now owned by the New-York Historical Society. This replica was purchased by the Department of State from James Young, of Washington, D.C., on April 8, 1825. In a letter to President John Quincy Adams dated April 6, 1825, Mr. Young stated that the portrait had been in possession of his family for nearly thirty years; that during that time it had been viewed by Mr. Peale, who "claims to be the painted of it," and by numerous others who had known Washington, who regarded it as "a most faithfull [sic] likeness;" and that it had been sent in the fall of 1824 to the office of the Secretary of State for consideration as to purchase and had since remained there.