University of Virginia Library

GEORGE WASHINGTON,

First President of the United States, was born February 22, 1732,
and died on the 14th of December, 1799, in his 68th year.

The first of the name of Washington to settle in America were two
brothers, John and Lawrence, who emigrated from England to Virginia
in 1657, and purchased land in Westmoreland county, between
the Potomac and Rappahannock rivers. John Washington married
Anne Page of Westmoreland county, became an extensive planter
and a magistrate and member of the House of Burgesses. As Colonel
Washington he led the Virginia militia against the Seneca Indians, and
the grateful people whom he defended named in his honor that district
of Westmoreland county which still bears the name of Washington.

Augustine Washington, grandson of John, was born in 1694 on the
family estate which he in time inherited. He was twice married, his
second wife being Mary, daughter of Colonel Ball, of Virginia, and
their first child, George Washington, born in Westmoreland county.

Not long after the birth of this son Augustine Washington removed
to a family estate in Stafford county, and here the childhood of George
was passed, and he received what instructions could be gathered from
the limited acquirements in reading, writing and arithmetic of one
Hobby, who was one of his father's tenants, and combined the duties
of parish sexton with the swaying of the birch in the little field school
house on the estate.

But in the home circle young Washington had good example and
good instruction in all that constitutes gentle breeding, and from his
ninth year he had the intimate companionship of his eldest half brother,
Lawrence, who had been, as was the custom with the eldest son
of a colonial gentleman, educated in England. There was a difference
of fourteen years in the age of the half brothers, but a warm affection
between them, and George naturally looked upon his cultivated senior
as a pattern after which he should model his own mind and manners.

The death of Augustine Washington in 1743 left the children of his
second marriage to the guardianship of their mother. She was equal to

the trust—prompt to decide and to act, controlled by common sense and by
conscience, she governed her family with a firm hand, and held their love
while exacting their obedience. Through his entire life Washington
acknowledged with love and gratitude how much of what he was he owed
to his mother. He preserved with tender care a manual of instruction
from which she was accustomed to read to her fatherless little ones, and
this manual may now be seen in the archives of Mount Vernon.

When about twelve years of age, Washington went to pass some time
with his brother Lawrence, at Mount Vernon, and to avail himself of better
school facilities, but his education was confined to plain English
branches of study. In the autumn of 1747, he took a final leave of school,
having a good knowledge of mathematics and of surveying, which he put
to practical use.

In March, 1748, he was sent by Lord Fairfax to survey some wild lands
in what was then the western borders of settlement, a difficult task, which he
completed in a month's time. He then received the appointment of public
surveyor, which office he held three years.

For some years the French and English governments had been disputing
the ownership of the North American continent, and each, by diplomacy,
endeavoring to secure the alliance of the Indian tribes. October
30, 1753, George Washington, not yet twenty-two years of age, was sent
by Governor Dinwiddie, of Virginia, on the important embassy of securing
terms of friendship with the Indian sachems along the Ohio, and to
expostulate with the French commander at Venango for his aggressions on
the territory of His Britannic Majesty. The ability with which Washington
executed his difficult mission, which he accomplished so that he was
able to report, January 16, 1754, may be considered the foundation of his
future eminence. From this date he was the rising hope of Virginia.

French and English alike now began preparations for war, and in Virginia
three hundred militia was raised, and Washington made second in
command, with rank of lieutenant-colonel. On the 2d of April he took
the field at the head of only two companies of men, about 150 in all. For
five years following he was in the royal service, and in several battles was
in command. During the engagement known as "Braddock's Defeat,"
he received four bullet-holes through his coat, and two horses were shot
under him. The interest of the Virginians in the French and Indian
war ended with the expulsion of the French from the Ohio Valley, and
Washington resigned his command.

January 17, 1759, he married Mrs. Martha Custis, and having inherited
Mount Vernon at the death of his loved brother, Lawrence, July 26,
1752, they made their home on that estate.

Early in the year of his marriage Washington repaired to Williamsburg
to take the seat in the House of Burgesses to which he had been
elected. By a unanimous vote the house had agreed to greet his installation
with a testimonial of their gratitude for his military exertions in

behalf of Virginia. This was conveyed to him in a graceful speech from
Mr. Robinson, speaker of the House. Washington rose to reply, blushed,
stammered, trembled—and was dumb. "Sit down, Mr. Washington,"
said the Speaker, "your modesty equals your valor, and that surpasses
a force of any language I possess."

During the next sixteen years Washington's time was occupied with his
property interests and in attendance on the sessions of the House of Burgesses,
of which he continued a member. His residence was at Mount
Vernon, and his growing reputation drew about him there many distinguished
guests, whom he entertained with true Virginian hospitality.

His own home life was exceedingly simple. He was an early riser,
often leaving his room before daybreak of a winter's morning. He breakfasted
at seven in summer, and eight in winter, his breakfast usually consisting
of two small cups of tea and three or four "hoecakes." Immediately
after breakfast he mounted his horse and made a personal inspection
of the work on his estate. At two he dined, eating heartily, and
drinking small beer or cider, followed by two glasses of old Madeira. He
took tea, of which he was very fond, early in the evening, and retired for
the night at nine o'clock.

The troubles between the colonists and Great Britain engaged the attention
of the House of Burgesses during the last years of Washington's
attendance on that body, and he was a member of that House which was
dissolved by the royal governor for sympathizing with the colonists of
Massachusetts in regard to the "Boston Port Bill."

He was a delegate from Virginia to the first Continental Congress, in
1774, and continued in his seat until in June, 1775, at the request of his
colleagues he resigned to assume command of the Continental army. July
3, 1775, General Washington took up his headquarters at Cambridge,
Massachusetts, welcomed with unbounded enthusiasm by his troops. The
thoughts of a Cæsar, the ambition of an Alexander, might be supposed to
have swelled his heart that day. But at its close, he wrote to his friend
and neighbor, George William Fairfax, then in England:

"Unhappy it is to reflect that a brother's sword has been sheathed in a
brother's breast, and that the once happy and peaceful plains of America
are to be either drenched with blood or inhabited by slaves. Sad alternative!
But can a virtuous man hesitate in his choice?"

The eight years of the Revolutionary War now ensued, during which
time Washington was constantly at the post of duty assigned him; now
commanding the battle on the fields of Trenton, of Princeton and of Brandywine;
now quelling the factious spirit of subordinate officers who thought
themselves able to command because they could not obey, and anon
encouraging with kind words and little acts of self-sacrifice the drooping
spirits and failing hopes of his sorely-tried army; now appealing to Congress
for munitions of war for bread for his soldiers, and for soldiers to

recruit his thinning ranks, and anon, kneeling in the snowy darkness
of the winter's night at Valley Forge, and appealing to the God of
battles and of right; now rebuking Lee on the field of Monmouth; and
now seated on his white charger at the head of his victorious troops at
Yorktown, receiving from the representative of Cornwallis the sword whose
surrender betokened the downfall of the British cause in America.

April 19, 1783, eight years from the battle of Lexington, cessation of
hostilities between the two armies was proclaimed, and on the 3d of September
following a definite treaty of peace, as between two equal nations,
was concluded and signed in Paris, by the representatives of Great Britain
and of the United States of America. In October, 1783, Congress disbanded
the troops enlisted for the war, and Washington put forth his farewell
address to the army.

December 4, 1783, in the public room of a tavern at the corner of Broadway
and Pearl streets, New York City, Washington, "with a heart full of
love and gratitude," to quote his words, took leave of the officers who had
served under him. Each in turn grasped his hands in farewell, while tears
fell upon their cheeks, and upon the forehead of each of his companions
in arms he left a kiss of farewell.

At noon on the 23d of December, he entered the legislative hall at
Annapolis, and resigned to Congress the authority with which he had
been commissioned eight years before. Accompanied by his wife he at
once set out for their loved Mount Vernon, which they reached on
Christmas Eve, 1783.

Washington now participated little in public affairs except to attend as
delegate the Philadelphia convention in May, 1787, which framed the Federal
Constitution. He was unanimously chosen to preside over this convention,
which duty fulfilled, he returned to Mount Vernon, and to private
life.

A few months before the disbanding of the army the "Society of the
Cincinnati" was formed, and Washington was made its President-General,
an office which he held until his death. The objects of the association
were to promote cordial friendship among the soldiers of the Revolutionary
army, and to extend aid to such members of the society as might
need it. To perpetuate the association it was provided in the constitution
that the eldest male descendant of a member should be entitled to wear
the "Order" and enjoy the privileges of the society. The "Order," or
badge, consists of a gold eagle suspended upon a ribbon, on the breast of
which is a medallion, with a device representing Cincinnatus receiving
the Roman Senators.

History repeated itself upon the day when, on the 14th of March, 1789,
Charles Thompson, Secretary of Congress, waited on Washington to
inform him that he was chosen under the new Constitution as the first
President of the United States. The soldier-farmer-statesman was found
making the daily tour of his fields.

Accepting the office, Washington made immediate preparations for his
journey to the seat of government. His first duty was to his mother.
Toward evening of the day on which he accepted the highest dignity of
the nation, he rode from Mount Vernon to Fredericksburg, and knelt
beside the chair of her to whom he owed the qualities which made him
worthy of the honor bestowed upon him.

It was a touching interview, and, as both felt, their last meeting on
earth, for the venerable lady was now past eighty years of age, and suffering
from an incurable disease. She gave him a mother's blessing, and sent
him to fullfil the high destinies to which Heaven had called him. Before
his return to Virginia her death occurred, in August, 1789.

April 6, Washington left Mount Vernon for New York, accompanied, as
far as Alexandria, by a cavalcade of his neighbors and friends. At every
step of his journey he was greeted with demonstrations of reverence and
love. At Georgetown he was received with honors; at Baltimore he was
feasted; near Philadelphia he rode under a triumphal arch of laurel, and
little Angelica Peall, concealed among the foliage, placed upon his head
a civic crown of laurel, while from the assembled multitude went up a
shout of: "Long live George Washington! long live the Father of his
Country." When he crossed the Delaware at Trenton, scene of his victories
and defeats in his struggle with Cornwallis, he passed under an arch,
supported by thirteen pillars, which had been erected by the women of
New Jersey and bore the words: "The defender of the mothers will be
the protector of the daughters." At Elizabethtown, he was met by a committee
from the two houses of Congress, and by a deputation of civil and
military officers. They had in waiting a magnificent barge manned by
thirteen pilots in white uniforms. In this the president-elect was conveyed
to New York, where every display had been made in honor of his coming.

April 30, 1789, the inauguration took place, the chancellor of New York
State, Robert R. Livingston administering the oath. The bible used was
then and is now the property of the St. John Lodge of Free Masons of
New York City. When the ceremony was ended, President Washington
proceeded at once to the Senate Chamber and pronounced a most impressive
inaugural address, and the new government was ready to enter upon
its duties.

In the fall of 1792, he was elected to a second term as President of the
United States, and served four years longer. Then, declining another
re-election, he took leave of the people in a farewell address, issued to the
country September 17, 1796. In this address he appealed to the people
as the sovereign power in a Republican form of government, to preserve
the Union as the only hope for the continuance of their liberties and the
national prosperity.

His career as President had been a most honorable one, calmly pursued
amid trying difficulties, and though often obstructed by the hostile criticisms
of that factious spirit which is yet the curse of American politics.

Under his administrations the government had been put in
motion, its financial, domestic and foreign policies established, and
its strength maintained and augmented.

The remaining years of Washington's life were passed on his estate
at Mount Vernon. Here, in 1798, he was found at the time of
threatened war between the United States and France, when Adams
appointed him commander-in-chief of the American armies, and the
commission was borne to Mount Vernon by the secretary of war in
person. Washington was in the fields, superintending his grain harvest,
and thither Secretary McHenry repaired. Washington read his
commission, and, without hesitation, answered: "The President may
command me without reserve." Happily the storm-cloud passed
over, and his patriotism did not again call him from Mount Vernon.

December 12, 1799, Washington was exposed to a storm of sleet,
and took a cold which, on the following day, merged into something
like an attack of membranous croup. All that love and skill could
do to save him was powerless, and death ensued between ten and
eleven o'clock on the night of the 14th.

Fitted for all the uses of life, this great man was ready for death.
To his friend and physician, Dr. Craik, he said: "I die hard, but I
am not afraid to go." And his last words were: " 'Tis well."