11 Facts About George Watterston

George Watterston was an American attorney and writer who was the third Librarian of the United States Congress from 1815 to 1829.

When George Watterston was eight, his family moved to Washington DC, where his father worked to help build the new national capital city.

George Watterston received a private education and graduated from the Charlotte Hall Military Academy in St Mary's County, Maryland.

George Watterston became a lawyer, and at first practiced in Hagerstown, Maryland.

George Watterston published the novel Glencarn; or The Disappointments of Youth ; a play, The Child of Feeling ; and a poem, The Scenes of Youth.

George Watterston gave the collection's books bookplates and labels and kept them organized according to Jefferson's basic classification scheme.

George Watterston opposed the election of President Andrew Jackson and upon Jackson's election was replaced in 1829.

George Watterston campaigned to construct the Washington Monument and became secretary of the Washington National Monument Society.

In 1820, George Watterston owned four enslaved people, but only one in 1830.

Ten years later, George Watterston owned five slaves, and in the final census before his death, owned one 18-year old black woman and a young girl.

George Watterston died in 1854, and was buried in the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, DC, where his widow would join him a decade later.