Following George Washington’s death on December 14, 1799, Alexandria held major public funeral services at the Old Presbyterian Meeting House. The city’s Episcopal rector and Reverend Dr. James Muir, the Meeting House’s third minister and Chaplain of Washington’s Masonic Lodge, jointly led the local commemorations. Services were held at the Presbyterian Meeting House because the roads to Christ Church were impassable due to winter conditions. Washington’s burial at Mount Vernon on December 18, 1799, was a major public event featuring a military escort, cannon fire, Masonic rites, and a formal procession. Many Alexandrians traveled the nine-mile journey to pay their respects. Public mourning continued into the following year, culminating in a final commemorative service on Washington’s birthday, February 22, 1800. Today, a memorial plaque marks Reverend Muir’s final resting place—thirteen feet beneath the north aisle of the Meeting House sanctuary, near where the original pulpit once stood.
