Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, November 14, 1993                   TAG: 9311140016
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: E-6   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: STAFFORD                                LENGTH: Medium

EXPERT SAYS SKELETON NOT A WASHINGTON

The child buried in what would have been the first president's back yard apparently was premature, Smithsonian Institution forensic expert Douglas W. Owsley said.

The child probably was born to tenant farmers who took over the Ferry Farm property from Washington's family in the early 1800s, Owsley said.

Owsley excavated the grave in July, finding bone fragments, pins from a burial shroud and nails from a tiny coffin.

A team of archaeologists found the grave in 1990, and officials wondered if it might be the burial place of Mildred Washington, George's youngest sister.

The Washington family lived at Ferry Farm from 1738 to 1774.

Records show that Mildred died there in 1740 when she was 16 months old. She was the only Washington to be buried at Ferry Farm, now a historical site operated by Stafford County. The Washington house no longer stands.

But the recovered remains apparently belong to a much younger child. "This was a baby, not a toddler," Owsley said.

And the bones are well-preserved, indicating they were buried long after 1740.

The gravesite was a favored place, close to the house and overlooking the Rappahannock River. A field stone marked the spot.

Those facts tended to support the idea the grave might belong to the Washington child, even though a survey by Washington showed her grave farther from the house.

Archaeologists may take a second look for the Washington grave, but scientists said at the time of the excavation that chances are slim the site could be found.