Washington, George

George (1732-1799), the first president of the United States. He was born on the banks of the Potomac in Westmoreland County, Virginia, February 22, 1732. He died at Mount Vernon, December 14, 1799. In the time of Cromwell the Washingtons were English Royalists, and two of that name, Lawrence and John, emigrated to America after the failure of the king's cause at home. John Washington was the great-grandfather of George. He built the old plantation house in which our hero was born. The house was burned down soon after George's birth. The place of Washington's birth is marked by a slab. George's father, Augustine Washington, removed to a new home on the Rappahannock, opposite Fredericksburg. The Rappahannock home has been destroyed also, but pictures remain to show that it was a large, old-fashioned Virginia farm house, divided by a hall. The house had two large outside chimneys, one at each end.

George Washington's father died when he was about twelve years old. Mary Ball Washington, George's mother, was a second wife. There were two sons, Lawrence and Augustine, by a former marriage. Mary had six children. There were three brothers and two sisters younger than George. Lawrence and Augustine were educated in England, but the widow's means did not permit her to send George abroad. She appears to have been a woman of no little ability and character. She managed her own plantation and brought up her children well, giving them such education as lay within reach. She died in the first year of Washington's administration as president.

The labor on the plantation was done by slaves. George grew up a planter's son, that is to say, a gentleman. When not in school he was at liberty to ride, play, hunt, or amuse himself as he pleased. To work or even to run errands would have been considered beneath his station in life. The plantation was an old-fashioned place. The house had broad verandas and stood among beautiful trees in the midst of well tended gardens. There were cabins for the negroes and great tobacco sheds in which the tobacco was hung up on poles to dry. There were barns, granaries, and storehouses, a tailor shop in which clothes were made up for the slaves, and an outside kitchen where the cooking was done for the family. Bacon was made in the smokehouse. Milk, butter, and eggs were kept in a spring house built over a running brook. Orchards, pastures, and tobacco fields lay on every side. A sort of pastoral simplicity prevailed. The slaves were well treated and were happy and contented. The surrounding forests and streams abounded in game and fish. George learned to hunt deer, bears, wild turkeys, and canvas-back ducks, and to catch fish. The colored boys brought home fresh oysters from the Chesapeake. Wagon roads were few, but the stable was full of riding horses, and the family coach was gotten out on occasion and was drawn by four horses.

George lived an ideal boy's life. He grew up tall, straight, and athletic. He could outrun and outjump every boy in the neighborhood. He had strength of arm. He could fling a pebble across the Rappahannock. He was fond of riding and was never without a good horse. Although unable to send him to England to attend college Mary Washington appears to have taken great pains with her son's training, and to have been proud of his courage, truthfulness, and honesty. In school he studied reading, arithmetic, and writing. He was taught to keep accounts and to draw such legal papers as deeds and leases, a sort of knowledge expected of every gentleman. His exercise books have been preserved. They are models of accuracy and neatness. While still a mere lad he filled one of his blank books with 110 "Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour in Company and Conversation," showing that the question of personal conduct had been impressed on his mind at an early date.

When Augustine Washington died he left the older children plantations. Lawrence Washington received Hunting Creek, afterward renamed Mount Vernon; Augustine received an estate some miles up the Potomac called Bridge's Creek, the old home where George was born. George spent a considerable part of his time with the last brother at Bridge's Creek in order to attend a good school in the vicinity. The older half-brother, Lawrence, married Annie Fairfax, the daughter of William Fairfax, whose estate lay also on the Potomac, midway between the homes of George's two half-brothers. In going back and forth from one plantation to the other George made frequent visits at the Fairfax mansion. In this way he became acquainted with a bachelor cousin, Lord Fairfax, a wealthy English gentleman who owned, it was said, well nigh a fifth of Virginia. The old gentleman and George became fast friends. They made long hunting trips together and camped in the mountains for a week at a time.

As there was no plantation for George, he saw the necessity of doing something for himself. Under the advice of Lord Fairfax he studied geometry and trigonometry and prepared himself for surveying. Lord Fairfax owned large tracts of land over the Blue Ridge Mountains in what is now West Virginia. In 1748 he made George one of a surveying party sent out to make a report on these lands. They cut their own roads, hunted their own food, and camped by wood fires at night. They ate with their hunting knives and used chips for plates. There were flooded streams to cross and many a hardship to endure, but George acquitted himself so well that the old gentleman was delighted and secured George a commission, making him what we should call a county surveyor.

Through this friend's influence he was employed by the planters far and near to run their lines and locate their boundaries. The surveying of that day was slovenly and untrustworthy. George soon won a reputation for good work. It is said that his surveys, still on record, are models of neatness and accuracy. Even though he had never entered public life he would have been a man of local importance. An eminent lawyer, who later had many titles to look up, said that about the only surveys he could depend upon were those made by the young Virginian, George Washington. George spent three years at this kind of work, much of the time in West Virginia. He was tall and straight and had wonderful endurance. He wore a number eleven shoe. He dressed in buckskin like an Indian. He talked little.

About this time, wealthy Virginians began to look toward the Ohio Valley as a place of investment. In 1749 the Ohio Company was founded for the purpose of acquiring land and trading with the Indians. It was composed of London merchants and Virginia land speculators. George II made the company a grant of 600,000 acres on the southeastern bank of the Ohio. Hostilities soon arose between French traders, English traders, and Indians. With the first rumors of hostility Washington was made an adjutant-general of the district in which he lived. He began to study military tactics. He raised companies of militia and drilled them in the manual of arms. This work came all the more easy to him because when a boy he was very fond of leading his companions in mock battles, so much so that his playmates called him sometimes Captain George.

In 1751 Lawrence, the half-brother who lived at Mount Vernon, was taken ill. George went with him to the West Indies in hopes that the climate might prove of benefit. This was the only foreign voyage that George ever took. He formed a very poor opinion of the people of the West Indies, saying that they were shiftless and extravagant, that they would not work, and that they never would be out of debt. While absent he contracted the smallpox. He bore pock marks to the time of his death. Lawrence's health did not improve. He returned to Mount Vernon and died leaving his wife and daughter in George's care. George was made heir to the estate in case the daughter should die before she came of age. In this way he became the owner of Mount Vernon, the place he called home for the rest of his life.

In the fall of 1752, Dinwiddy, governor of Virginia, gave Washington a major's commission. In the fall of 1753 he was sent with a message to the French commander on Lake Erie. In reality he was sent to learn the intentions of the French, and to warn them not to intrude further on soil considered. British. The Frenchman was polite but returned an evasive answer. Washington came back convinced that the French intended to have and to hold the Ohio Valley. He was absent eleven weeks. The trip was hard and dangerous. He narrowly escaped drowning. A treacherous Indian guide very nearly took his life.

In the spring of 1754 Colonel Frye was sent with a force of 400 men to dispossess the French who had begun to build a fort on the site of what is now the city of Pittsburg. This they called Fort Duquesne. Colonel Frye died. The charge of the expedition fell on Washington who was second in command. He advanced within a few miles of Fort Duquesne, and, hearing that it had been fortified too strongly for him to expect to take it, he threw up earthworks at a place called Great Meadows. This he called Fort Necessity, but hearing that a party of Frenchmen had set out to attack him, he took the French party by surprise, killed their captain and nine men, and took a number of prisoners. Out of fifty in the French party, but eleven escaped. Washington was now besieged by an overwhelming French force and, thinking discretion the better part of valor, surrendered on condition that he be permitted to march back to Virginia unmolested. The next year Washington accompanied Braddock on his fatal expedition. He did all he could to save Braddock from defeat and to protect the retreat. On his return to Virginia Washington was employed in organizing troops for the defense of the frontier against the French and Indians.

In the meantime Washington had made the acquaintance of a beautiful widow, Martha Custis. He himself was now a wealthy man, the owner of Mount Vernon with all its buildings and slaves. Mrs. Custis was a wealthy widow. She also had estates and slaves to work them. January 6, 1759, they were married and took up their home at Mount Vernon. They had no children, but Mrs. Custis had a son and a daughter, Nellie, by her former marriage. The son grew up and married, but he and his wife died young. Washington brought their children home to Mount Vernon and adopted them as his own. A number of nephews and nieces were also members of his family, so that, although Washington had no children of his own, Mount Vernon never lacked for little folks. Mrs. Custis, now Mrs. Washington, is the Martha Washington of the White House, the Martha Washington for whom the Martha Washington geranium and rose have been named.

Washington and his wife were much attached to each other. They lived an ideal life for sixteen years. During the forenoon Mrs. Washington superintended her house, seeing that the Aunt Chloes and Dinahs did their work properly and that food and clothing were provided for the army of slaves. Washington rose at four o'clock and spent the forenoon in the saddle. He superintended the building of fences, the digging of ditches, the ploughing of fields, the planting of trees, the building of cabins and other improvements throughout his own and his wife's extensive estates. In the afternoon he wrote letters and posted his books. He was a careful bookkeeper. He kept a separate account for his horses, cattle, tobacco, slaves, and other important items. He was so strict in small money matters that he had the reputation of being mean, even parsimonious. Twice a year he sent his London agent an order for ploughs, hoes, spades, books, furniture, spices, wines, medicines, and clothing, not forgetting to order toys for the Custis children, including a "fashionably dressed doll-baby" for Miss Custis, then four years old.

The mansion at Mount Vernon was the scene of frequent social gatherings. Suppers, music, and dancing were prominent features. Major Washington and his beautiful wife were welcome visitors in the best homes of Virginia and Maryland. In season, fox hunting, fishing, and duck hunting were the chief outdoor sports. The slaves of the Custis and Washington plantations married back and forth. This is a fitting place to state that, in his will, Washington left directions that upon the death of himself and wife all his slaves were to be set free.

This happy life, however, came to an end. The Stamp Act, the Boston Tea Party, Concord, and Lexington stirred Virginia to the very center. June 15, 1775, the Continental Congress elected George Washington commander-in-chief of the army. Without even returning to his home, he sent "Dear Patsy," that is to say, "Wife Martha," a letter bidding her goodbye. July 2 he rode to Cambridge and under a famous tree, since known as the Washington elm, took command of the patriot army. The evacuation of Boston, the disasters of Long Island, the capture of the Hessians at Trenton, the dark winter at Valley Forge, the friendship of Lafayette, the jealousy of Charles Lee, the battle of Monmouth, and the surrender of Yorktown belong to the history of the American Revolution.

Washington is the central figure. Others were faint-hearted, but Washington never despaired. Others were ready to quit, but he never gave up. His military tactics have won for him the name of "The American Fabius." When he could not fight he ran away. When the enemy stopped pursuing he came back again. When the British commanders thought they had him trapped he always had some surprise in store for them. When they felt secure he swept down upon them, as at Trenton. The German Von Moltke called Gen. Washington one of the world's great strategists. Few military commanders have contended against greater odds, or, even making allowance for American patriotism, with more difficult material.

After the surrender at Yorktown Washington took up his headquarters at Newburg on the Hudson River. When the British had actually sailed from New York he called his officers before him, embraced them, and bade them farewell. He then presented himself before the Congress at Annapolis. He submitted an account of the moneys that had passed through his hands, with a statement of expenses incurred in the maintenance of his official family, in all over $74,000, detailed to the last penny. He refused all compensation for his own services, resigned his commission, and retired to Mount Vernon.

It would be difficult to find a parallel instance. It is not often that a great military leader lays down the command of an army without reserving to himself a dollar or a shred of authority. This was not a difficult thing for Washington to do. He had not fought for money, or even for glory, but for the independence of his native country. All through the war his own wishes were to be at home with his family, where he had comfort and abundance. For a man of his character and domestic tastes to return to Mount Vernon was the most natural for Washington to do, but none the less, it is the act that in the eyes of the world made him great.

Washington was not allowed to remain long at home, however. He was soon called upon to serve in the great convention that framed the Constitution of the United States. He did very little talking in the convention, but his opinion of what was just and fair to the various colonies had weight. In the question of the adoption of the Constitution it is probable that Washington's reputation for unselfishness, and the simple fact that he approved it, had more influence with the colonists to induce them to accept it than all the arguments of the newspapers and public speakers of the day.

When the Constitution went into effect, Washington was the unanimous choice of the electoral college for the presidency. On his way to New York where the Congress was in session he was the recipient of much attention. At Trenton an arch was thrown over a bridge over which he must pass. It was adorned with laurel leaves and flowers from the conservatories. An inscription of leaves and flowers formed these words: "The defender of the mothers will be the protector of the daughters." A group of little girls carrying baskets of flowers strewed the way in front of him, singing an ode composed for the occasion. On the 23d of April, 1789, he appeared on the street gallery of the old city hall of New York, then occupying the site of the present federal custom house. He took the oath of office in the presence of an immense concourse of people and delivered an impressive address to the members of the two houses.

During Washington's eight years of office, many important questions came up for settlement. He formed a cabinet of able men, making Alexander Hamilton secretary of the treasury, Henry Knox secretary of war, Thomas Jefferson secretary of state, and Edmund Randolph attorney-general. At the close of his second term of service, he refused to accept the office for a third term. His example, through its repetition by Jefferson, has become an unwritten law.

It would be pleasant to say that Washington was treated with respect by all during the presidential administration. As a matter of fact, however, there were two political parties bitterly opposed to each other. Washington was the object of many a venomous attack. He was accused of being monarchical in his tendencies. The fact that he was aristocratic in his notions and thought it well to ride in a carriage drawn by six horses and to preserve many of the forms with which English monarchs surround themselves made a very unfavorable impression on the yeomen element. In their ignorance or ill-will demagogues even ventured to assail his honesty of administration. Washington was glad to retire again to Mount Vernon.

Washington and his wife resumed, so far as possible, their old life at Mount Vernon. The old neighbors and the friends of their youth were all dead. Lord Fairfax never lost his admiration for Washington, but he stood staunchly by King George. When, at the age of ninety, he heard the cries, "Cornwallis is taken," he said to his negro attendant, "Come, Joe, carry me to bed, for I am sure it is high time for me to die."

Washington was a member of the commission that located the proposed national capital. He chose a site that might be seen from Mount Vernon. The city was named for him. He admitted to Martha Washington that the honor gave him pleasure. December 12, 1799, he caught cold from riding in a storm of sleet and rain. Two days later he passed away. Martha Washington survived him two years. Their stone coffins rest side by side in the same vault at Mount Vernon. To this day boats plying up and down the beautiful Potomac toll their bells softly when they pass the tomb of Washington.

See Mount Vernon; Lafayette; Braddock; Trenton; Valley Forge; Randolph; Edmund; Paine; Thomas; Potomac