Man bought a fragment of a tent for $1700 from Goodwill, it belonged to George Washington

Discovering unique and historic treasures at a thrift store is always a thrill. In 2022, history buff Richard Dana Moore stumbled upon an antique tent fragment on Goodwill's online thrift store, reports CNN. Initially skeptical, he hesitated to bid for two weeks. He said, "There are a lot of fakes out there. There’s always something that’s not real, that looks to be real.” The piece was claimed to be a fragment of George Washington's war tent.

Moore had found the framed item in the historical documents section of the online thrift store. Surprisingly, the artifact also had a written note claiming that it was displayed at an exposition commemorating the 300th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown in the Virginia Colony. Moore told CNN, "I was like, 'This can't be.' So I was a little bit astonished."

After waiting for two weeks, the man decided to look closely at the torn note and realized that it had aged over the years along with the antique cloth. He said, "I jumped in with both feet. I said, 'Hell with it.' I'm gonna bid on it," he said. Moore bid a little more than $1,700 on the artifact and won. He didn't tell his wife initially and hid it in their house. However, she learned the truth, she agreed with the decision he made after they got to know what it exactly was. It is said to be a piece of George Washington's dining tent, and Moore believes that it would be worth tens of thousands of dollars.  

Moore after buying the artifact, contacted the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia in February 2023. He then sent the artifact to the museum to confirm if it was actually a piece of Washington's war tent. Matthew Skic, curator of exhibitions told the outlet that the fragment was fascinating because it had some of the red wool trim on the edge of it, and "that was telling us that this was likely cut away from the edge of the roof of the dining marquee." The museum then confirmed and wanted to feature it along with the other planned exhibit around Washington’s tent. In a YouTube video by the Museum of the American Revolution, Skic shares more details about the history of the tent and why it is valued. 

According to the museum, Washington's war tent was originally a sleeping and office tent from the Revolutionary War. It was preserved by the Custis and Lee families after the death of George and Martha Washington. This fragment that Moore caught hold of was cut off from the dining tent by a man named John Burns, who saw the tent on display in Norfolk, Virginia at the exposition commemorating the founding of Jamestown. During that time, the tent was on loan from Mary Custis Lee, the great-granddaughter of Martha Washington. However, Lee's father George Washington Parkis Custis, later owned the war tents and used them to host events and then started cutting away pieces of them as souvenirs.

Skic shared that there is much more to be known about the artifact that Moore purchased. Especially about who Burns, the author of the note was. For now, Moore is the only person who has a piece of Washington's tent, and the rest of them are in the Smithsonian and other museums. Moore still can't believe that he bought one of the fragments of the Washington tent. It's not about the money for him but about "breaking away from British rule and the beginnings of our country.” The fragment was put up on public display in February 2024 as part of the museum's exhibit, "Witness to Revolution: The Unlikely Travels of Washington’s Tent." It will be there until January 5, 2025, and then will be returned to Moore.