Returning to her Warren County roots, Linda Monk brought along a small section of a historic tree, one planted about 250 years ago.

Monk presented a gavel carved from a holly tree planted by George Washington to the Ashmead chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, meeting at Main Street Market Saturday morning.

The former resident, now a constitutional scholar who lives in North Carolina, is a big fan of the Revolutionary War general and first president.

“George Washington planted a number of trees at his Mount Vernon estate, and whenever any of these trees meet their demise they have a special woodcarver there make something out of it,” Monk said as she handed the gavel and stand to Ashmead regent Dr. Mary Landin, who rapped it a few times for practice.

Monk specially chose the holly gavel over ash or other woods. “When I found out Ashmead’s birthday was in December, I thought it would make a special gift,” she said.

Monk, who grew up in Warren County, is a Harvard-trained lawyer, U.S. history and Constitutional scholar and an award-winning writer.

She spoke at Ashmead’s regular monthly meeting about Washington’s role in the drafting of the U.S. Constitution during the summer of 1783.

People know him for leading the Revolutionary War troops and serving as the nation’s first president, she said, but not for presiding over what came to be known as the Constitutional Convention.

“That’s where Washington gave us the greatest gift, in my opinion,” Monk said.

He didn’t do a perfect job, however, she said — he opposed the Bill of Rights, which some states said must be added to the Constitution before they would ratify it.

The Ashmead chapter of the DAR stages a Constitution celebration on the steps of the Old Court House each Sept. 17 in honor of the signing of the document. The Bill of Rights was added in 1791.

Ashmead’s new gavel is one of several connections Vicksburg shares with the first president, including the George Washington Ball house, owned by Ashmead member Betty Bullard and named for a relative of Washington’s mother who ran a stagecoach inn here.

Separately, a maroon sash Washington is said to have worn at his first inauguration is displayed in the Jefferson Davis room of the Old Court House Museum because the Confederate president is also believed to have worn it.