Trivia Junction

A Compendium of trivia I find interesting
...for the curious

George Washington Assassination Attempt, the truth ...

The year was 1776. The location was Fraunces Tavern in New York City. Gen. George Washington was seated with his top officers for dinner. A waitress whispered to Washington, “The peas have been poisoned. Someone is trying to assassinate you.”

Washington grabbed the bowl of peas, raced to the window and threw the peas into the courtyard. A flock of chickens rushed to the peas and started pecking away. Immediately, the chickens fell over dead.

Alas, this tale, like that of the cherry tree, is untrue. Although the poisoned-pea story still appears in history books, in reality it's just another bit of invented history intended to glorify Washington.

Fraunces Tavern is a real place that now exists as a museum and restaurant. The tavern was owned by Samuel Fraunces, who was of mixed French and African ancestry. The tavern was a combination restaurant and inn. Whenever Washington was in New York, the Fraunces Tavern was where he stayed.

After the war, Washington hired Samuel Fraunces to supervise his domestic staff and to direct the social functions of his presidency. Some historians say Fraunces was the closest person to Washington during his years in office.

The poisoned-pea myth originated from a real plan to kill Washington. Thomas Hickey, who had been one of Washington's guards, was part of a group of Loyalist New Yorkers who secretly plotted to eliminate Washington. The plot was found out, and Hickey was hanged for treason on June 28, 1776.

My favorite way to serve green peas is in combination with asparagus and artichoke hearts, a Spanish dish. Colonists grew both asparagus and green peas. Washington probably never tasted artichokes; they were virtually unknown in North America until the followers of Junipero Serra introduced them into California.

Prior | Tell us what you think | Next

Add to Your Social Bookmarks: Del.icio.us Digg Furl Reddit Simpy Spurl Y! MyWeb - StumbleUpon