Over the years, the Preservation team has found several hidden messages throughout the Mansion from Mount Vernon’s longest-serving superintendent, Harrison Howell Dodge.
Back in the Preservation lab, Preservation Conservator Riley Morris carefully extracted the bottle’s message and slowly attempted to unroll the paper. When Architectural Research Manager Caroline Spurry saw the first scrawl of ink, she immediately recognized the handwriting.
There was no doubt that it belonged to Harrison Howell Dodge.
Who Was Dodge?
Harrison Howell Dodge, a D.C. clerk with a reputation for meticulous account-keeping, was only in his late 20s when he was appointed superintendent of Mount Vernon in 1885. Over the next 52 years, he would spearhead significant efforts to care for George Washington’s estate, as well as work to restore the home and property to its appearance during Washington’s lifetime.
Dodge, whose leadership touched nearly every aspect of the estate, kept a diary every year he served as superintendent. The diaries, now held in the Archives of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, contain a trove of institutional information: everything from weather reports, restoration updates, noteworthy visitors, and attendance at Mount Vernon during the superintendent’s lengthy tenure.
But, Mount Vernon preservationists have come to discover that Dodge’s record-keeping was not confined to his diaries.
Harrison Howell Dodge. Photographer unknown, 1932. (MVLA)
Message in a Bottle
When the document from the medicine bottle was initially assessed, its brittleness was apparent, so Mount Vernon enlisted the services of Virginia paper conservator Carol Ann Small to conduct the process of unfurling it.
Normally, Small would humidify the paper in order to roll it open, but concerns that this would potentially corrode or blur the ink required another approach. Instead, Small set out to gradually unroll the note by hand over the course of two months. Having successfully done so, she then strengthened and mended the sheet using Japanese paper—a thin translucent conservation paper made from the bark of mulberry trees—and wheat starch paste.
What Did the Letter Say?
With the letter conserved and strengthened, its contents could finally be read. Instead of a single message, the letter actually contained two notes from Dodge, exactly 39 years apart. The notes describe two work campaigns completed on the Mansion, in 1893 and 1932, and listed the people involved in them.
Note #1
July 27, 1893
History of repairs to foundation of Mount Vernon Mansion –
The Mount Vernon Ladies Asscn at the Council held at Mt Vernon June 1893 authorized and directed the Supt. H.H. Dodge to overhaul the foundation timbers and strengthen the framework as far as possible.
The sills were found, upon examination, to be badly rotted.
Captain Bernard R. Green, Civil Engineer, was employed to thoroughly inspect and supervise work of reconstruction.
Mr. F.W Pilling, Architect & builder, took immediate direction of work.
Jesse Murray, carpenter &
W.H. Burgess, bricklayer
Saml Dodson, laborer
were the workmen employed.Work began Wednesday July 19, 1893
Harrison H. Dodge
Resident Secty & Supt.
The unrolling of Dodge's letter was a monthslong process. (MVLA)
With the letter conserved and strengthened, its contents could finally be read. The earliest note was dated July 27, 1893. (MVLA)
Note #2
July 27, 1932
Reinforced foundation, covering with copper to keep down Termites, and substituting new curbing next the house (Acquia Creek Sandstone) –
Architect in charge, Prof. C.W. Killam, of Harvard
Contractor, Mr. F.F Gillen, Washington
Mason, A.C. Howard, AlexandriaAttest
Harrison H. Dodge, Supt
Dodge's second note, from July 27, 1932, concerned the installation of copper termite shields. (MVLA)
Mansion Revitalization Project
The work described in these notes (the removal of deteriorated sills, the reinforcement of the foundation, and the installation of a termite shield) relates directly to today’s Mansion Revitalization Project—the very project which led to the notes’ discovery.
Our team has confirmed that the work Dodge described in the notes is still in place but that age has caught up with it. Although the Dodge-era repairs to the Mansion’s framing were accomplished using the best techniques available at the time, some of those repairs are now more than a century old and have outlived their useful life.
With the Mansion Revitalization Project, the Preservation team is proceeding holistically to restore the Mansion’s first-floor framing and foundation masonry, undoing much of the work that Dodge and his crew carried out to stabilize the Mansion long ago.
What Are the Pills?
While a fragment of the bottle’s label still exists, its corroded state leaves no hint as to what substance it once contained. No analysis of the pills within the bottle has been completed, but one theory is that they could be desiccants—substances used as drying agents. Dodge might’ve included such pills to help preserve the note for future researchers. The Preservation team jokes that they might be aspirin left by Dodge to allay the stresses he knew were part of caring for the Mansion.
In either case, we would like to think he had future researchers in mind!
One theory about the bottle's pills is that they could be desiccants—substances used as drying agents. (MVLA)
But Wait, There’s More
As it turns out, the medicine bottle was only one of several hidden notes Dodge placed around the Mansion.
Front Parlor
In 2018, while working on a multi-year restoration of the Mansion’s Front Parlor, the Architecture team temporarily removed several of the room’s panels for conservation. Upon doing so, they discovered a note from Dodge written in pencil along a narrow wood fill running the full height of the panel.
Like the medicine bottle note, it described previous conservation work, when it was completed, and by whom.
In 2018, the Architecture team discovered a note from Dodge written in pencil along a narrow wood fill running the full height of a panel in the Front Parlor. (MVLA)
West Front
Also during the Front Parlor restoration, from the interior, the Preservation team saw the bottom of a post that was replaced in the 1930s. As was done with replacements at that time, the post was painted white to flag it as a later addition.
In 2023, when removing the two bottom courses of siding from the west front exterior, the team found another Dodge note, written directly on that same post. On top of the white paint, again in pencil, Dodge wrote the key details about the post’s replacement.
In 2023, when removing the two bottom courses of siding from the west front exterior, the team found another Dodge note. (MVLA)
Second-Floor Passage Ceiling
Mount Vernon staff always ends up learning valuable information from Dodge’s notes, particularly if a formal report no longer exists for a project.
In 2019, the Preservation team was working to replaster the ceiling of the second-floor passage. Although staff knew the ceiling had been replastered once before, in the 20th century, preliminary research had not revealed an exact date.
It was helpful then that they discovered a handwritten note from Dodge on Mount Vernon letterhead, tacked to the side of one of the ceiling joists. Again, it described the work done, when it was completed (1921), and by whom.
A handwritten note from Dodge on Mount Vernon letterhead was found tacked to the side of a ceiling joist. The “Helper” listed, Thomas Quander, was a descendant from one of the families enslaved at Mount Vernon in the 19th century. (MVLA)
Piazza Pillar
During the 2022 exterior restoration, while preparing to install interior support frames inside the piazza’s pillars, carpenters loosened the east panel from every pillar. Inside of the third pillar (from the south), the Preservation team discovered the 10 penciled names of the craftsmen who had previously worked on the pillars and the date that the work was completed (September 1893). “A discovery such as this is great,” Spurry says, “because we knew from putting together our master chronology when the pillars were constructed and when 19th-century work was accomplished, but here we have corroboration in Dodge’s hand.” Like old friends, all of the names had previously been spotted in the documentary record.
Dodge's note was discovered while preparing to install pillar support frames during the 2022 exterior restoration. (MVLA)
Inside of the piazza's third pillar (from the south), the Preservation team discovered the 10 penciled names of the craftsmen who had previously worked on the pillars. (MVLA)
Why Leave Hidden Notes?
As noted above, Dodge was a meticulous record-keeper during his tenure as superintendent, and many written reports of the restoration efforts he spearheaded are held in the Archives of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association.
So, the question becomes, why did Dodge also leave notes hidden inside the Mansion? Perhaps it was Dodge’s way of safeguarding important information for posterity.
“Scribing information directly on material used in a repair permanently ties that information to the work, right where it occured,” Spurry explains.
The practice is not atypical in preservation. At Mount Vernon, when carpenters need to replace deteriorated wood in the Mansion or outbuildings, the new wood is marked with a copper tag stamped with the year of installation. Likewise, if a windowpane is replaced, a corner of the new pane is etched with the year of its installation.
When carpenters need to replace deteriorated wood in the Mansion or outbuildings, the new wood is marked with a copper tag stamped with the year of installation—as demonstrated by this photo from Mount Vernon's wash house. (MVLA)
Looking Ahead
“I’m sure we'll keep finding these kinds of messages,” says Curator of Preservation Collections Lily Carhart.
In the meantime, Dodge’s notes have inspired today’s preservationists to leave behind signatures of their own on new material used in our restoration work. During 2022 work on the Mansion’s east front, members of the Mount Vernon team signed a piece of the piazza’s entablature, and Regent Margaret Nichols signed one of the small wooden pieces used in the entablature.
In this way, Harrison Howell Dodge’s legacy lives on—not that it needed any extra help.
During 2022 work on the Mansion’s east front, MVLA Regent Margaret Nichols signed one of the small wooden pieces used in the entablature. (MVLA)
Historic Preservation
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