Sparks likewise was guilty of giving away souvenirs.
Bushrod Washington died in 1829 and left the papers and letter books for the most part to his nephew John Corbin Washington.

In 1834 the nation purchased of this gentleman the papers of a public character, paying twenty-five thousand dollars.

The owner reserved the private papers, including invoices, ciphering book, rules of civility, etc., but in 1849 sold these also to the same purchaser for twenty thousand dollars.

The papers were kept for many years in the Department of State, but in the administration of Theodore Roosevelt most of them were transferred to the Library of Congress, where they could be better cared for and would be more accessible.
Bushrod Washington gave to another nephew, John Augustine Washington, the books and relics in the dining-room of the Mansion House.

In course of time these were scattered, some being bought for the Boston Athenaeum, which has decidedly the larger part of Washington's library; others were purchased by the state of New York, and yet others were exhibited at the Centennial Exposition and were later sold at auction.
Among the relics bought by New York was a sword wrongly said to have been sent to the General by Frederick the Great.
One hundred and twenty-seven of his letters, mostly to William Pearce, his manager at Mount Vernon during a portion of his presidency, were bought from the heirs of Pearce by the celebrated Edward Everett and now belong to the Long Island Historical Society.