Weems' name would probably be forgotten today were it not for the tension between the liveliness of his narratives and what "Appletons' Cyclopaedia of American Biography" (1889) called "this charge of a want of veracity is brought against all Weems's writings," adding that "it is probable he would have accounted it excusable to tell any good story to the credit of his heroes." The cherry-tree anecdote illustrates this point. Another dubious anecdote found in the Weems biography is that of Washington's prayer during the winter at Valley Forge.