The Fairfax Clerk’s office has, since at least the 1970s, published a pamphlet version of the wills of George and Martha Washington, two of the Historic Records Center's most treasured documents and perhaps its best known. These "Washington Will" booklets always began with an introduction by the Clerk of the Court addressing the wills' historical context, the clerk's role in them, and the part played by the Fairfax Courthouse in their recordation and preservation.
Over time, that introduction grew longer and more interpretive. When Fairfax County elected Chris Falcon as the new Clerk of the Court, in 2023, as a lawyer and not a historian, he felt it would be proper to have a professional historian write the opening interpretation, followed by a separate clerk’s introduction. Center for Mason Legacies Director George D. Oberle III, a George Mason University associate professor of history and the university's history librarian, graciously agreed to provide this analysis, despite his numerous campus obligations and activities. In addition to his contribution, this latest booklet contains additional original images that add to its value for readers wanting to better understand the wills before proceeding to read the transcriptions. (The booklet can be read online; print copies are available at no charge from the Court's Historic Records Center.)
Covering the magnitude and importance of our first president’s last will and testament in a few paragraphs is no small feat. George did an amazing job. I’m so excited we get to put his work into the hand of Fairfax County residents and visitors and I hope they enjoy it as much as we do.
March 05, 2025