Colonial Tobias Lear V (1762-1816) penned the only first-hand accounts of the death of George Washington in December of 1799. He was at Mount Vernon helping his friend and mentor, the first President of the United States, by being “…engaged in writing letters, recording military papers…” when he witnessed the death of our young nation’s greatest leader (Lear, Tobias Lear Diary, 1799-1801)