During his nearly seventy-seven years, Jared Sparks was a schoolteacher, a Unitarian minister, an editor, a history professor, and a college president. He is best remembered, however, as the editor of the writings of George Washington. Sparks was a man of boundless energy who embarked upon numerous literary projects and was highly respected by his contemporaries for his learning and culture. He left a veritable library of historical material, having written or edited over sixty volumes. Although methods of editing have changed since his day, Sparks remains important as a pioneer in the collecting and publishing of historical documentary material.

Born on 10 May 1789, in Willington, Connecticut, Jared Sparks was the illegitimate son of Eleanor Orcutt. Seven months after her son's birth, she married Joseph Sparks, a local farmer whose name young Jared took. When Sparks was six years old, he was sent to live with his mother's childless...