Evening star. [volume], February 21, 1932, Page 17, Image 83

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
ashington’s Youth
up Rocky Lane—whose cob bled pavement and high stone walls still remind one of
the streets to school. . M ph#l-t ^ ^ ^ Homewr-curk >iu<uo.
Us Boyhood Days and Into the Homes Where
o Manhood Is Traced Amidst Virginia Scenes
in Sacred Memory to His Greatness.
Goolrick
It was at about this time—six months earlier,
to be exact—that Betty Washlngon married
Col. Fielding Lewis, a widower and owner of
Kenmore, which at that time was called “Mill
bank,” not being given the name of Kenmore
until Col. Lewis, bankrupted by work for the
Revolution for which he was never paid, was
forced to sell the estate, and it passed on and
into the hands of the Gordons, who named it
for Kenmore In Scotland. Betty was not of
the type that is called beautiful, but she was
unusually vivacious, lacking her brother’s dig
nity, and was tall and graceful. She bore a
striking resemblance to George, resembling him
so much that when he became a general it was
a trick of hers to throw a military cape over
her shoulder, place a cocked hat upon her
head and come into Kenmore parlor posing as
Washington, much to the amusement of her
guests. She was only 17 when she married,
and Col. Lewis was many years her elder, but
they appear to have been very happy at their
beautiful Kenmore estate. They were married
in old St. George’s Church, and a great recep
tion at Kenmore followed.
Betty was the first of the flock to leave the
Ferry Farm. Mrs. Washington had inherited,
through her father, part of a tract known later
as "Travelers Rest,” two miles below Ferry
Farm, and containing 400 acres, so that there
were now the upper and the lower plantations,
both of which were under George's supervision,
and which he mentions often in his diary. He
was busy, as was his mother, with the farm,
the ferry and the mill.
DUT his work in the wilderness attracted at
tention, and Lord Fairfax did all he could
to aid the young man, who was sturdy, am
bitious and fearless. The Colony needed men
of his type, and before he was 21 he was
offered a commission, which he accepted.
Shortly after he reached 21, on February 30—
there was a February 30 then—he appeared at
Fredericksburg and, according to the court rec
ords, produced a commission before the jus
tices. The men before whom the almost un
known youth took the oath of office were
Richard Tutt, Benjamin Grymes, John Thorn
ton and William Hunter, Gentlemen,” and the
entry reads thus.
‘At a court held on the 30th day of Febru
ary, 1753. appeared George Washington, Esq.,
and produced a commission under the hand
and seal of the Honorable Robert Dinwiddie,
His Majesty’s Lieutenant Governor of the Col
only, dated the 13th day of December, 1752, to
be Major of Militia, Horse and Foot, in the
Counties of Princess Anne. Chesterfield,
Amelia, Norfolk, Nansemond, Isle-of-Wight,
Southampton, Surrey, Prince George and Cum
berland, and took the oath appointed by law,
and signed the Oath of Abjuration, and re
peated and signed the test."
Thus, before he was 21 years old, George
Washington was given entire command of all
of Virginia south of the James River, extend
ing from Norfolk along the seacoast to the
Carolina line, and westward to the Allegheny
Mountains, or whenever in that indefinite and
> unexplored direction the line"ended, Including
the States of Kentucky, rifttfpdrt of Ohio and
other territory. He was, in other words, at 31
military commander of a territory larger than
the present State of Virginia, by far, and in
which there was trouble with the French and
Indians at many places.
Shortly before he received thfa important
command he was made a Mason in the lodge
at Fredericksburg, which was then also the
Grand Lodge of Virginia. The impression
Washington’s office at* Fany Farm, Frtmtentitshirg, Via.
which he bad made upon his fellow citixens I
la clearly shown by the fact that he was under ' ■
31 at the time, and that be took his degrees -
on credit and paid for them later out of his K
■alary as major. He was initiated, raised and j§
passed on November 4, 1743, on the old lodge - IL
building on the Market p)gag, taut the building
which now houses the lodge has the records
of his initiation, the Bible upon which he was
■worn, .much of the paraphernalia used when
he was a member, and a faded lock of his near
red hgir
Washington was not at this time by any
means impressive In appearance. He was 6
feet 3 Inches tall and weighed 165 pounds;
tall, rawboned, muscular. His hair was almost
red, his face pitted from smallpox, and he was
far from being handsome, although later, when
he was a Revolutionary general and weighed
210 pounds, he was a fine specimen of a soldier
and a distinguished-appearing man. But at
the time of which we write his hands were
large and in his way, his feet were very large,
he was awkward and ill at ease in public,
and easily embarrassed. Later he learned even
to be an excellent public speaker, which proves
his will power, for In youth he could not say
even a few words before an audience. When
he came back from one of his expeditions into
the West he stopped at Williamsburg and went
In to hear a session of the Assembly. When
the speaker took occasion to thank him pub
licly for his work Washington arose to answer
but only stood, vividly red of face, his hands
behind him, trying to find words. The situa
tion was relieved when the presiding officer
said:
“Sit down, Maj. Washington, your deeds
speak for you better than words.”
I INTO. George received his commission, all of
the family except Betty lived at the Ferry
Farm. George was next to leave after Betty.
Samuel married and moved to Fredericksburg
In about 1754, and aa ha la mid to have mar
ried live times his life’s history k too compli
cated to investigate. He lived where the pres
ent Fredericksburg Hotel stands, for some yean.
Charles moved to town In 1760, when he mar
ried Mildred Thornton, and with George
Weredon, who afterward became a major
general in the Continental Army, operated the
Rising Sun Tavern and lived in a quaint little
house around the corner, which k still stand
ing. John moved to the Travelers’ Best place
and afterward was given it by bk mother.
From the time he presented to the court his
commission as commander of all of Southern
Virginia. George was busy with military affairs
in his district. He went on several missions
for the Colony, and with Braddock to Pitts
burgh, and his career began to be a crowded
one. When he was 27 he married the widow,
Martha Dandridge Custis, daughter of Col.
John Dandridge of tile White House on the
Pam unity River, and as he had become the
possessor of Mcunt Vernon after the death of
Lawrence. Washington’s widow, they traveled
to that place on their honeymoon, stopping at
the historic Pltzhugh Manor, Chatham, opposite
Fredericksburg, for several days. It was from
the manor of his father-in-law, Col. Dandridge,
that he took the name for his residence when
he became President, changing the name of
the executive mansion from ‘‘The Palace" to
‘ The White House." . *
For years after his marriage he made fre
quent visits to his mother, who, from 1760 until
1774, lived alone on the Ferry Farm with her
slaves and servants. He tells frequently of visits
there and of looking over the plantation, which
still belonged to him and remained In his
possession until It was sold to Hugh Mercc.
His actual life at the Ferry Farm ceased, ho'
ever, In about 1753, when he first moved to
Mount Vernon.
It was because of her life at Ferry Fai. i
that Mrs. Washington and George, who wt.a
devoted to each ether, had frequent small mi*,
understandings. He had married a wealth /
woman, he owned Mount Vernon, and he w« s
now himself wealthy. George insisted that his
mother should live somewhere else, and in bette
style, as did her other children, but she wr s
an independent lady and she continued to live
simply where she wis.
She was a frequent visitor to Fredericks hurt,
during the residence of the family and then or
herself alone at Ferry Farm, over a period of
36 years, and her itinerary was always the samr
She drove in a buggy, ferried aeraa,'and would
■top sometimes at Thomas Thom ton’s tavern
She always went to Hugh Mercer’s apothecar *
shop, where George, for yean, kept a desk tv
use whefi be wag lathe town, and then si./
would go to the IQsing dun Tavern to see >:
Charles or Samuel were about and to get he ;
mail from George Weedon, master of the posn,
and to talk to any ladles and gentlemen who
might be about, for the place was a kind of
social center. Here she always had her jug
filled if It had run dry, and then she would
dine with or visit Betty, at Kenmore, before
going back to her duties at Ferry Farm.
She was a handsome old lady, erect, self
reliant and bntlnrasHlre. In the long struggle
at the Ferry Farm, and the earlier residences,
she had learned to economise, and she con
tinued to live frugally. It was not'until age
was beginning to tell an her, and the Revolution
was almost certain, in 1774, that she moved
into a small house in Fredericksburg, which
George and Charles had built for her upon a
part of Kenmore tract. From her back door to
Kenmore a walkway was built, and along this
she planted boxwood, some of which now stands
close to her quaint little home, reaching almost
as high as the roof. She worked in her flower
garden daily, and on nice afternoons walked to
Meditation Rocks, a ledge projecting over a
small valley on the edge of Kenmore, where
sne read ner Birne.
The little house where Mrs. Washington live-?
until her death in 1789 is a spot where one may
summon a mental picture of the old lady and
her surroundings. It is strongly built, with
an outdoor kitchen with big pot-hooks In a
wide fireplace, and is a smaller reproduction of
the house on Ferry Farm. Her furniture was
of her era and was simple. She served her
visitors ginger cakes and wine, and, while the
was dignified, she was entertaining and did not
lack vivacity or humor, and all the towns
people, and those nearby, were friends and
admirers of hers. George visited her often, but
he usually spent the nights at Kenmore or
with Charles. On one of his last visits to his
home town he took her over to see the Ferry
Farm at her urging, and they looked at the
farm and house and even the old mill an the
run. and probably talked of bygone days.
She admired George Immensely, and once said
of him, "George was always a good boy.” In
politics she was unalterably opposed to him.
believing that rebellion was treason and cling
ing with Tory tenacity to the King. After
George became commander of the Continental
Annies some one spoke of the great honor given
him and her only reply was, "I am afraid the
King will catch George and hang him yet.”
^ Washington and Rochambeau passed through
fire town with their staffs on their way to
Yorktown and called upon Mrs. Washington.
After the surrender the First Peace ball was
held at Fredericksburg in the did Assembly
Han, and all of the prominent French and
American officers and the ladies and gentle
men of the nearby plantations and the town
were present. This was on November 11, lfftl,
strangely enough the same day and month as
the World War armistice. General Washington
brought all the officers in groups to see his
mother and next day Lafayette came again
to see her, with George. She served ginger
cakes, wine and fruit and said to Lafayette:
"It is hard to realize you are a great general.
Why, you are nothing but a boy.” Lafayette
spoke to her afterward with the deepest re
spect.
She went to the Peace Ball with the marquis
as her escort, and enjoyed It greatly, but left
at 10 o’clock saying It was time for her “to
be abed.’’ She also attended the second Peace
Ball at Fredericksburg in 1783, after the treaty
with England was signed.
Washington’s connection with all these places
was very intimate, lb a speech which is spread
upon the minutes of the City Council, he caned
Fredericksburg “the home of my growing in
fancy," infancy then meaning one under 21
years of age. He also wrote that he must stop
playing cards with these young fellows at tna
Rising Bun Tavern, ae they were too sharp for
him and always won his money; and he must :
have tlMbgtt- thorn capable, for be selected ,
flee tHhpfhrpaeralt In his army.