I Cannot Tell a Lie: The True Story of George Washington's African American Descendants

by Linda Allen Bryant

THE FIRST PRESIDENTDocumented national history states that the nation's first president had no children. But the oral history of the descendants of this African American family tells a different story.

THE CONTROVERSYMany people will believe the story of George Washington fathering a slave son. Others will find it difficult, if not impossible, to believe that Washington had an intimate relationship with a slave named Venus. Their fateful union during the era of antebellum slavery produced a son, West Ford.

THE SECRETAs time and space distanced the Ford family from its beginnings at Mount Vernon, each generation continued to walk a precarious line, bearing the weight of their heritage and battling issues of skin color, status, and identity. Linda Allen Bryant, a descendant of West Ford, pens her family's narrative history in I Cannot Tell a Lie. Their genealogy is rich in adventure, love, tragedy, sacrifice and courage-a story that will haunt you long after you turn the last page.

488 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 2001

Reviews

[Janilyn Kocher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating family history. I appreciate all the details. I wish a DNA test would be done to confirm. I checked while reading the book and one hasn’t been done that I can discern form scouring online sources.

[MB · Rating 3 out of 5]

for my family history research