Don Breininger, president of the Weisenberg-Lowhill Historical Society, welcomed the 50 people who attended the group's annual banquet and 10th anniversary cele-bration at the Seipstown Grange.

Alida Phillips presented a plaque to Gloria Zimmerman, who donated the buildings and property, formerly her father's Zimmerman's Hotel, in Werleys Corner.

The site became the historical society's headquarters. The plaque will be placed on an outside wall next to the place where her father enjoyed sitting inside looking out the window.

"Thank you, Gloria," Phillips said.

Elaine Bogert introduced the evening's speaker, Jeff Finegan, who wrote a book about George Washington from the viewpoint of his slave, William Lee.

Finegan has researched Washington during the last 20 years and became a document collector.

Biographies of Washington touch on his relationship to slavery but it was never the prime interest in the books, as is the one he wrote called, "Colonel Washington and Me." It was a three-year project written for Young Readers.

Washington bought 1,000 acres of land that eventually became Arlington Cemetery.

In his will he granted "to my mulatto servant William, calling himself William Lee, his immediate freedom."

What did the man mean to Washington that his will picks out a man he owns to give him freedom? Finegan asked.

His book is written from William's perspective.

Washington's father, grandfather and great-grandfather came from England.

At one time, King George said George Washington was the only Washington who was not loyal to the crown.

Finegan said he visited the Washington ancestral home in Great Britain.

Washington traveled to Barbados to visit his brother, Lawrence, and was exposed to small pox, but was unaffected.

"William could read and write," Finegan said. "We put words in his mouth but everything is historically accurate," Finegan said. A woman at Mount Vernon edited the book and liked the idea of Washington and the enslaved people as a subject.

When Washington was 11 years old, his father died. In the 18th century and, at that young age, Washington became a slave owner.

He fought with the British against the French and Indians and later with the French against Britain in a fight for freedom.

Col. John Lee died and Washington bought two of his slaves. William immediately became Washington's valet.

Little did either of the men know that Washington would go through the pages of history with William at his side for eight years.

William saw the Declaration of Independence and asked, "If all men are created equal, how can I be a slave."

He was at the Constitutional Convention, but if slavery had not been kept, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida intended to form their own country.

Washington was the finest horseman of his age, Finegan said. In order to keep up, William became the second finest.

The two often went on fox hunts together.

They always moved fastest in battle. William carried Washington's telescope and he had it handy when Washington put out his hand.

At the end of the day, William cataloged all correspondence, including secret dispatches.

When Washington dined with his generals before a battle, William was the only non-military person present.

At the time of Washington's death, he owned 124 slaves his own and dowry slaves who came with his marriage to the widow Martha Custis.

He could free his own but not the dowry slaves.

Washington's were freed in 1801 and Martha died in 1802.

Washington stated in his will: "I give him (William) his freedom because of his service to me and because of his attachment to me."

In 1799, he was sick in bed. He called Martha and asked her to bring the two wills he had written.

He looked at them and wanted one burned. The second was the one freeing the slaves and left him a legacy. Washington was the only one of the Founding Fathers who freed all his slaves but it depended on Martha.

"William is an eyewitness to history," Finegan said.

There is a picture of William as an older man talking to kids. In the picture, the landscape was as it actually had been.

He could stay at Mount Vernon, and did. He died in 1810. William is buried in the slave burial ground, which has unmarked graves.

However, modern technology has located the graves and there is a ceremony held there each year.

After two terms as this country's first president, Washington watched the handing over of power to John Adams, the first man to willingly give up power.

He laid the cornerstone for the Capitol in the city named after him.

The White House was modeled after a house in Ireland and Mount Vernon. He staked the northeast corner of the White House.

When Washington, D.C. was burned in the War of 1812, bricks from the interior walls were taken to Mount Vernon and used to rebuild the slave quarters and orangery which had burned earlier.

For more information, go to colonelwashingtonandme.com.