Note
Mordecai Gist (b1742 - d1792), was a General during the American Revolution leading Maryland troops in campaigns is New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia and South Carolina. He became the first Vice-president of the Maryland Society of the Sons of Cincinnati. He died in Charleston, S.C. Family tradition holds that Gist was presented this tray by George Washington as a token of appreciation. Original deed of gift reads "Sheffied silver card tray presented to Gen. Mordicai Gist by Geo. Washington." HSCC newsletter, Vol. 10, No. 1, January 1961, references a letter received with the tray which reads "At the instruction of Dorothy Ward Myers, Executrix of the Estate of Dairy W. Gist, the Society is hereby presented with a tray that was given to General Mordecai Gist by George Washington after the Revolutionary War. According to Mr. Norton Spence, who is associated with Caldwell's in Philadelphia, an authority on antique silver, this tray is English Sheffield and was made around 1773. It has been in the Gist family for over 175 years. It is requested that the tray bear a card with the following: "Presented to the Carroll County Historical Society by the Heirs of Richard Mordecai Gist and Daisy Ward Gist, his wife."