diff options
Diffstat (limited to '11858-h')
| -rw-r--r-- | 11858-h/11858-h.htm | 8701 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 11858-h/Images/150.png | bin | 0 -> 12205 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 11858-h/Images/Illus0386.jpg | bin | 0 -> 78033 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 11858-h/Images/Illus0388.jpg | bin | 0 -> 33812 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 11858-h/Images/Illus0389.jpg | bin | 0 -> 38182 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 11858-h/Images/Illus0390.jpg | bin | 0 -> 38569 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 11858-h/Images/Illus0391.jpg | bin | 0 -> 65448 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 11858-h/Images/Illus0392.jpg | bin | 0 -> 32989 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 11858-h/Images/Illus0393.jpg | bin | 0 -> 35549 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 11858-h/Images/Illus0394.jpg | bin | 0 -> 73467 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 11858-h/Images/Illus0396.jpg | bin | 0 -> 27400 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 11858-h/Images/Illus0397.jpg | bin | 0 -> 37679 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 11858-h/Images/Illus0398.jpg | bin | 0 -> 33390 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 11858-h/Images/Illus0400.jpg | bin | 0 -> 41333 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 11858-h/Images/Illus0401.jpg | bin | 0 -> 49595 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 11858-h/Images/Illus0402.jpg | bin | 0 -> 49417 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 11858-h/Images/Illus0404.jpg | bin | 0 -> 26756 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 11858-h/Images/Illus0406.jpg | bin | 0 -> 36288 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 11858-h/Images/Illus0407.jpg | bin | 0 -> 31133 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 11858-h/Images/Illus0408.jpg | bin | 0 -> 64785 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 11858-h/Images/Illus0410.jpg | bin | 0 -> 36064 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 11858-h/Images/Illus0412.jpg | bin | 0 -> 31158 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 11858-h/Images/Illus0413.jpg | bin | 0 -> 42310 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 11858-h/Images/Illus0414.jpg | bin | 0 -> 79753 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 11858-h/Images/Illus0416.jpg | bin | 0 -> 77767 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 11858-h/Images/Illus0418.jpg | bin | 0 -> 78395 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 11858-h/Images/Illus0420.jpg | bin | 0 -> 66348 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 11858-h/Images/Illus0422.jpg | bin | 0 -> 38161 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 11858-h/Images/Illus0424.jpg | bin | 0 -> 75628 bytes |
29 files changed, 8701 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/11858-h/11858-h.htm b/11858-h/11858-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..df64f49 --- /dev/null +++ b/11858-h/11858-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,8701 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of George Washington: Farmer, by Paul Leland Haworth</title> +<style type="text/css"> + <!-- + * { font-family: Times;} + P { margin-top: .75em; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + font-size: 14pt; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; } + blockquote {text-align: justify; + margin-left: 15%; + margin-right: 15%;} + IMG { + BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; + BORDER-TOP: 0px; + BORDER-LEFT: 0px; + BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px } + span.pagenum + {position: absolute; left: 1%; right: 91%; font-size: 8pt;} + + pre { font-family: monospace; } + + + div.note { + border-style: dashed; + border-width: 1px; + border-color: #000000; + background-color: #ccffcc; + font-size: .8em; + margin: 10px; + } +th { font-family: sans-serif; background: rgb(204, 204, 153) } +td { font-family: sans-serif; background: rgb(255, 255, 153) } + + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; } + HR { width: 33%; } + hr.full { width: 100%; + size: 5; } + a:link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:visited {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:hover {color:red} + pre.gut {font-size: 9pt;} + // --> + .ind { MARGIN-LEFT: 10%; MARGIN-RIGHT: 10% } + .ctr { TEXT-ALIGN: center } +</style> +</head> +<body> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, George Washington: Farmer, by Paul Leland +Haworth</h1> +<pre class="gut"> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: George Washington: Farmer</p> +<p>Author: Paul Leland Haworth</p> +<p>Release Date: March 31, 2004 [eBook #11858]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: iso-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GEORGE WASHINGTON: FARMER***</p> +<br> +<br> +<center><h3>E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Charlie Kirschner,<br> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team</h3></center> +<br> +<br> +<hr class="full" noshade> +<a name="Illus0386.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="Images/Illus0386.jpg"><img src= +"Images/Illus0386.jpg" width="80%" alt=""></a><br> +<b><i>By permission of the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association</i> +Mount Vernon Stable Built in 1733 Showing also the Powell +Coach.</b></p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h1>GEORGE WASHINGTON:</h1> +<h1>FARMER</h1> +<h3>BEING AN ACCOUNT OF HIS HOME LIFE AND AGRICULTURAL +ACTIVITIES</h3> +<h4><i>By</i></h4> +<h2>PAUL LELAND HAWORTH</h2> +<h5><i>Author of</i></h5> +<h4>THE PATH OF GLORY, RECONSTRUCTION AND UNION AMERICA IN FERMENT, +ETC.</h4> +<br> +<br> +<h3>WITH MANY ILLUSTRATIONS FACSIMILIES OF PRIVATE PAPERS,<br> +AND A MAP OF WASHINGTON'S ESTATE DRAWN BY HIMSELF</h3> +<h4>1915</h4> +<p>"The aim of the farmers in this country (if they can be called +farmers) is, not to make the most they can from the land, which is +or has been cheap, but the most of the labour, which is dear; the +consequence of which has been, much ground has been +<i>scratched</i> over and none cultivated or improved as it ought +to have been: whereas a farmer in England, where land is dear, and +labour cheap, finds it his interest to improve and cultivate +highly, that he may reap large crops from a small quantity of +ground."</p> +<p><i>Washington to Arthur Young, December 5, 1791</i>.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>PREFACE</h2> +<br> +<p>The story of George Washington's public career has been many +times told in books of varying worth, but there is one important +aspect of his private life that has never received the attention it +deserves. The present book is an attempt to supply this +deficiency.</p> +<p>I desire to acknowledge gratefully the assistance I have +received from Messrs. Gaillard Hunt and John C. Fitzpatrick of the +Library of Congress, Mr. Hubert B. Fuller lately of Washington and +now of Cleveland, Colonel Harrison H. Dodge and other officials of +the Mount Vernon Association, and from the work of Paul Leicester +Ford, Worthington C. Ford and John M. Toner.</p> +<p>Above all, in common with my countrymen, I am indebted to heroic +Ann Pamelia Cunningham, to whose devoted labor, despite ill health +and manifold discouragements, the preservation of Mount Vernon is +due. To her we should be grateful for a shrine that has not its +counterpart in the world--a holy place that no man can visit +without experiencing an uplift of heart and soul that makes him a +better American.</p> +<p>PAUL LELAND HAWORTH.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER</h2> +<center><a href="#CHAPTER_I">I. A MAN IN LOVE WITH THE +SOIL.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_II">II. BUILDING AN ESTATE.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_III">III. VIRGINIA AGRICULTURE IN WASHINGTON'S +DAY.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IV">IV. WASHINGTON'S PROBLEM.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_V">V. THE STUDENT OF AGRICULTURE.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VI">VI. A FARMER'S RECORDS AND OTHER +PAPERS.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VII">VII. AGRICULTURAL OPERATIONS AND EXPERIMENTS +BEFORE THE REVOLUTION.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">VIII. CONSERVING THE SOIL.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IX">IX. THE STOCKMAN.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_X">X. THE HORTICULTURIST AND LANDSCAPE +GARDENER.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XI">XI. WHITE SERVANTS AND OVERSEERS.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XII">XII. BLACK SLAVES.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">XIII. THE FARMER'S WIFE.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">XIV. A FARMER'S AMUSEMENTS.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XV">XV. A CRITICAL VISITOR AT MOUNT +VERNON.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">XVI. PROFIT AND LOSS.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">XVII. ODDS AND ENDS.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">XVIII. THE VALE OF SUNSET.</a><br> +<br> +<a href="#INDEX">INDEX.</a></center> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> +<p><a href="#Illus0386.jpg">Mount Vernon Stable, Built in 1733, +Showing also the Powell Coach.</a></p> +<p><a href="#Illus0388.jpg">Mount Vernon, Showing Kitchen to the +Left and Covered Way Leading to It.</a></p> +<p><a href="#Illus0389.jpg">The Washington Family.</a></p> +<p><a href="#Illus0391.jpg">Driveway from the Lodge Gate.</a></p> +<p><a href="#Illus0390.jpg">The Porter's Lodge.</a></p> +<p><a href="#Illus0393.jpg">One of the Artificial Mounds. The Tree +Upon It Was Set Out by Mrs. Grover Cleveland.</a></p> +<p><a href="#Illus0392.jpg">The Seed House. Beyond Lay the +Vegetable Garden.</a></p> +<p><a href="#Illus0394.jpg">The Mount Vernon Kitchen +(restored).</a></p> +<p><a href="#Illus0424.jpg">Map of Mount Vernon Drawn by Washington +and Sent by Him to Arthur Young in 1793.</a></p> +<p><a href="#Illus0397.jpg">Gully on a Field of Union Farm, Showing +Susceptibility to Erosion.</a></p> +<p><a href="#Illus0396.jpg">Looking Across Part of Dogue Run Farm +to "Woodlawn," the Home of Nelly Custis Lewis.</a></p> +<p><a href="#Illus0398.jpg">First Page of Washington's Digest of +Duhamel's Husbandry.</a></p> +<p><a href="#Illus0400.jpg">Dogue Run Below the Site of the +Mill.</a></p> +<p><a href="#Illus0401.jpg">On the Road to the Mill and Pohick +Church.</a></p> +<p><a href="#Illus0402.jpg">Part of Washington's Plan for His +Sixteen-Sided Barn.</a></p> +<p><a href="#Illus0404.jpg">Bill of Lading for "Royal +Gift".</a></p> +<p><a href="#Illus0407.jpg">Experimental Plot, with Servants' +Quarters (restored) in Background.</a></p> +<p><a href="#Illus0406.jpg">West Front of Mansion House, Showing +Bowling Green and Part of Serpentine Drive.</a></p> +<p><a href="#Illus0408.jpg">First Page of the Diary for +1760.</a></p> +<p><a href="#Illus0410.jpg">Part of a Manager's Weekly +Report.</a></p> +<p><a href="#Illus0413.jpg">The Butler's House and Magnolia Set Out +by Washington the Year of His Death.</a></p> +<p><a href="#Illus0412.jpg">Spinning House--Last Building to the +Right.</a></p> +<p><a href="#Illus0414.jpg">Weekly Report on the Work of the +Spinners.</a></p> +<p><a href="#Illus0416.jpg">The Flower Garden.</a></p> +<p><a href="#Illus0418.jpg">A Page from a Cash Memorandum +Book.</a></p> +<p><a href="#Illus0420.jpg">One of Washington's Tavern +Bills.</a></p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page001" id="page001"></a>[pg +001]</span> +<h2>GEORGE WASHINGTON:<br> +FARMER</h2> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> +<br> +<h3>A MAN IN LOVE WITH THE SOIL</h3> +<p>One December day in the year 1788 a Virginia gentleman sat +before his desk in his mansion beside the Potomac writing a letter. +He was a man of fifty-six, evidently tall and of strong figure, but +with shoulders a trifle stooped, enormously large hands and feet, +sparse grayish-chestnut hair, a countenance somewhat marred by +lines of care and marks of smallpox, withal benevolent and +honest-looking--the kind of man to whom one could intrust the +inheritance of a child with the certainty that it would be +carefully administered and scrupulously accounted for to the very +last sixpence.</p> +<p>The letter was addressed to an Englishman, by <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page002" id="page002"></a>[pg 002]</span> name +Arthur Young, the foremost scientific farmer of his day, editor of +the <i>Annals of Agriculture</i>, author of many books, of which +the best remembered is his <i>Travels in France</i> on the eve of +the French Revolution, which is still read by every student of that +stirring era.</p> +<p>"The more I am acquainted with agricultural affairs," such were +the words that flowed from the writer's pen, "the better I am +pleased with them; insomuch, that I can no where find so great +satisfaction as in those innocent and useful pursuits. In indulging +these feelings I am led to reflect how much more delightful to an +undebauched mind is the task of making improvements on the earth +than all the vain glory which can be acquired from ravaging it, by +the most uninterrupted career of conquests."</p> +<p>Thus wrote George Washington in the fulness of years, honors and +experience. Surely in this age of crimson mists we can echo his +correspondent that it was a "noble sentiment, which does honor to +the heart of this truly great man." Happy America to have had such +a philosopher as a father!</p> +<p>"I think with you that the life of a husbandman is the most +delectable," he wrote on another occasion to the same friend. "It +is honorable, it is amusing, <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page003" id="page003"></a>[pg 003]</span> and, with judicious +management, it is profitable. To see plants rise from the earth and +flourish by the superior skill and bounty of the laborer fills a +contemplative mind with ideas which are more easy to be conceived +than expressed."</p> +<p>The earliest Washington arms had blazoned upon it "3 Cinque +foiles," which was the herald's way of saying that the bearer owned +land and was a farmer. When Washington made a book-plate he added +to the old design spears of wheat to indicate what he once called +"the most favorite amusement of my life." Evidently he had no fear +of being-called a "clodhopper" or a "hayseed!"</p> +<p>Nor was his enthusiasm for agriculture the evanescent enthusiasm +of the man who in middle age buys a farm as a plaything and tries +for the first time the costly experiment of cultivating the soil. +He was born on a plantation, was brought up in the country and +until manhood he had never even seen a town of five thousand +people. First he was a surveyor, and so careful and painstaking was +he that his work still stands the test. Later he became a soldier, +and there is evidence to show that at first he enjoyed the life and +for a time had military ambitions. When Braddock's expedition was +preparing <span class="pagenum"><a name="page004" id= +"page004"></a>[pg 004]</span> he chafed at the prospect of inaction +and welcomed the offer to join the general's staff, but the bitter +experiences of the next few years, when he had charge of the +herculean task of protecting the settlers upon the "cold and Barren +Frontiers ... from the cruel Incursions of a crafty Savage Enemy," +destroyed his illusions about war. After the capture of Fort +Duquesne had freed Virginia from danger he resigned his commission, +married and made a home. Soon after he wrote to an English kinsman +who had invited him to visit London: "I am now I believe fixed at +this seat with an agreeable Consort for Life. And hope to find more +happiness in retirement than I ever experienced amidst a wide +bustling world."</p> +<p>Thereafter he quitted the quiet life always with reluctance. +Amid long and trying years he constantly looked forward to the day +when he could lay down his burden and retire to the peace and +freedom of Mount Vernon, there to take up again the task of +farming. As Commander-in-Chief of the Armies of the Revolution and +as first President of the Republic he gave the best that was in +him--and it was always good enough--but more from a sense of duty +than because of any real enthusiasm for the <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page005" id="page005"></a>[pg 005]</span> +rôle of either soldier or statesman. We can well believe that +it was with heartfelt satisfaction that soon after independence was +at last assured he wrote to his old comrade-in-arms the Marquis de +Chastellux: "I am at length become a private citizen on the banks +of the Potomac, where under my own vine and fig-tree free from the +bustle of a camp and the intrigues of a court, I shall view the +busy world with calm indifference, and with serenity of mind, which +the soldier in pursuit of glory, and the statesman of a name, have +not leisure to enjoy."</p> +<p>Years before as a boy he had copied into a wonderful copy-book +that is still preserved in the Library of Congress some verses that +set forth pretty accurately his ideal of life--an ideal influenced, +may we not believe, in those impressionable years by these very +lines. These are the verses--one can not call them poetry--just as +I copied them after the clear boyish hand from the time-yellowed +page:</p> +<blockquote>TRUE HAPPINESS<br> +<br> +These are the things, which once possess'd<br> +Will make a life that's truly bless'd<br> +A good Estate on healthy Soil,<br> +Not Got by Vice nor yet by toil;<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page006" id="page006"></a>[pg +006]</span> Round a warm Fire, a pleasant Joke,<br> +With Chimney ever free from Smoke:<br> +A strength entire, a Sparkling Bowl,<br> +A quiet Wife, a quiet Soul,<br> +A Mind, as well as body, whole<br> +Prudent Simplicity, constant Friend,<br> +A Diet which no art Commends;<br> +A Merry Night without much Drinking<br> +A happy Thought without much Thinking;<br> +Each Night by Quiet Sleep made Short<br> +A Will to be but what thou art:<br> +Possess'd of these, all else defy<br> +And neither wish nor fear to Die<br> + These are things, which once Possess'd<br> + Will make a life that's truly bless'd.</blockquote> +<p>George Washington did not affect the rôle of a +Cincinnatus; he took it in all sincerity and simpleness of heart +because he loved it.</p> +<p>Nor was he the type of farmer--of whom we have too many--content +to vegetate like a lower organism, making scarcely more mental +effort than one of his own potatoes, parsnips or pumpkins. As the +pages that follow will reveal, he was one of the first American +experimental agriculturists, always alert for better methods, +willing to take any amount of pains to find the best fertilizer, +the best way to <span class="pagenum"><a name="page007" id= +"page007"></a>[pg 007]</span> avoid plant diseases, the best +methods of cultivation, and he once declared that he had little +patience with those content to tread the ruts their fathers trod. +If he were alive to-day, we may be sure that he would be an active +worker in farmers' institutes, an eager visitor to agricultural +colleges, a reader of scientific reports and an enthusiastic +promoter of anything tending to better American farming and farm +life.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page008" id="page008"></a>[pg +008]</span> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> +<br> +<h3>BUILDING AN ESTATE</h3> +<p>Augustine Washington was a planter who owned thousands of acres +of land, most of it unimproved, besides an interest in some small +iron works, but he had been twice married and at his death left two +broods of children to be provided for. George, a younger son--which +implied a great deal in those days of entail and +primogeniture--received the farm on the Rappahannock on which his +father lived, amounting to two hundred and eighty acres, a share of +the land lying on Deep Run, three lots in Frederick, a few negro +slaves and a quarter of the residuary estate. He was also given a +reversionary interest in Mount Vernon, bequeathed to his +half-brother Lawrence. The total value of his inheritance was +small, and, as Virginia landed fortunes went, he was left poorly +provided for.</p> +<p>Much of Washington's youth was spent with <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page009" id="page009"></a>[pg 009]</span> +Lawrence at Mount Vernon, and as an aside it may be remarked here +that the main moulding influence in his life was probably cast by +this high-minded brother, who was a soldier and man of the world. +By the time he was sixteen the boy was on the frontier helping Lord +Thomas Fairfax to survey the princely domain that belonged to his +lordship, and received in payment therefor sometimes as much as a +doubloon a day. In 1748 he patented five hundred fifty acres of +wild land in Frederick County, "My Bullskin Plantation" he usually +called it, payment being made by surveying. In 1750 he had funds +sufficient to buy four hundred fifty-six acres of land of one James +McCracken, paying therefor one hundred twelve pounds. Two years +later for one hundred fifteen pounds he bought five hundred +fifty-two acres on the south fork of Bullskin Creek from Captain +George Johnston. In 1757 he acquired from a certain Darrell five +hundred acres on Dogue Run near Mount Vernon, paying three hundred +fifty pounds.</p> +<p>It is evident, therefore, that very early he acquired the "land +hunger" to which most of the Virginians of his day were subject, as +a heritage from <span class="pagenum"><a name="page010" id= +"page010"></a>[pg 010]</span> their English ancestry. In the +England of that day, in fact, no one except a churchman could hope +to attain much of a position in the world unless he was the owner +of land, and until the passage of the great Reform Bill in 1832 he +could not even vote unless he held land worth forty shillings a +year. In Virginia likewise it was the landholder who enjoyed +distinction and consideration, who was sent to the House of +Burgesses and was bowed and scraped to as his coach bumped along +over the miserable roads. The movement to cities did not begin +until after the Industrial Revolution, and people still held the +healthy notion that the country was the proper place in which to +live a normal human existence.</p> +<p>In 1752 Lawrence Washington died. As already stated, he was the +proprietor by inheritance of Mount Vernon, then an estate of two +thousand five hundred acres which had been in the Washington family +since 1674, being a grant from Lord Culpeper. Lawrence had fought +against the Spaniards in the conflict sometimes known as the war of +Jenkins's Ear, and in the disastrous siege of Cartagena had served +under Admiral Vernon, after whom he later named his estate. He +married Anne Fairfax, daughter of Sir William Fairfax, and for her +built</p> +<a name="Illus0388.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="Images/Illus0388.jpg"><img src= +"Images/Illus0388.jpg" width="60%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>Mount Vernon, Showing Kitchen to the Left and Covered Way +Leading to It.</b></p> +<br> +<a name="Illus0389.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="Images/Illus0389.jpg"><img src= +"Images/Illus0389.jpg" width="60%" alt=""></a><br> +<b><i>From a painting by T.P. Rossiter and L.R. Mignot</i> The +Washington Family.</b></p> +<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page011" id="page011"></a>[pg +011]</span> +<p>on his estate a new residence, containing eight rooms, four to +each floor, with a large chimney at each end.</p> +<p>Lawrence Washington was the father of four children, but only an +infant daughter, Sarah, survived him, and she died soon after him. +By the terms of his father's and Lawrence's wills George +Washington, after the death of this child, became the ultimate +inheritor of the Mount Vernon estate, but, contrary to the common +idea, Anne Fairfax Washington, who soon married George Lee, +retained a life interest. On December 17, 1754, however, the Lees +executed a deed granting said life interest to George Washington in +consideration of an annual payment during Anne Lee's lifetime of +fifteen thousand pounds of tobacco or the equivalent in current +money<a name="FNanchor1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1">[1]</a>. Mrs. +Lee died in 1761 and thereafter Washington owned the estate +absolutely. That it was by no means so valuable at that time as its +size would indicate is shown by the smallness of the, rent he paid, +never more than four hundred sixty-five dollars a year. Many +eighty-acre farms rent for that much to-day and even for more.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor1">[1]</a> +From entries in Washington's account book we know that this +equivalent in 1755 was £93.15; during each of the next four +years it was £87.10, and for 1760 it was +£81.5.</blockquote> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page012" id="page012"></a>[pg +012]</span> +<p>Up to 1759 Washington was so constantly engaged in fighting the +French and Indians that he had little time and opportunity to look +after his private affairs and in consequence they suffered. In 1757 +he wrote from the Shenandoah Valley to an English agent that he +should have some tobacco to sell, but could not say whether he did +have or not. His pay hardly sufficed for his personal expenses and +on the disastrous Fort Necessity and Braddock campaigns he lost his +horses and baggage. Owing to his absence from home, his affairs +fell into great disorder from which they were extricated by a +fortunate stroke.</p> +<p>This stroke consisted in his marriage to Martha Custis, relict +of the wealthy Daniel Parke Custis. The story of his wooing the +young widow has been often told with many variations and fanciful +embellishments, but of a few facts we are certain. From a worldly +point of view Mrs. Custis was the most desirable woman in all +Virginia, and the young officer, though not as yet a victor in many +battles, had fought gallantly, possessed the confidence of the +Colony and formed a shining exception to most of the tidewater +aristocracy who continued to hunt the fox and guzzle Madeira while +a cruel foe was harrying <span class="pagenum"><a name="page013" +id="page013"></a>[pg 013]</span> the western border. Matters moved +forward with the rapidity traditional in similar cases and in about +three weeks and before the Colonel left to join Forbes in the final +expedition against Fort Duquesne the little widow had been wooed +and won. After his return from that expedition Washington resigned +his commission and on the 6th of January, 1759, they were married +at her "White House" on York River and spent their honeymoon at her +"Six Chimney House" in Williamsburg.</p> +<p>The young groom and farmer--as he would now have styled +himself--was at this time not quite twenty-seven years old, six +feet two inches high, straight as an Indian and weighed about one +hundred and seventy-five pounds. His bones and joints were large, +as were his hands and feet. He was wide-shouldered but somewhat +flat-chested, neat-waisted but broad across the hips, with long +arms and legs. His skin was rather pale and colorless and easily +burned by the sun, and his hair, a chestnut brown, he usually wore +in a queue. His mouth was large and generally firmly closed and the +teeth were already somewhat defective. His countenance as a whole +was pleasing, benevolent and commanding, and in conversation he +looked one full in the face <span class="pagenum"><a name="page014" +id="page014"></a>[pg 014]</span> and was deliberate, deferential +and engaging. His voice was agreeable rather than strong. His +demeanor at all times was composed and dignified, his movements and +gestures graceful, his walk majestic and he was a superb +horseman<a name="FNanchor2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2">[2]</a>.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor2">[2]</a> +Adapted from a description written by his comrade-in-arms, George +Mercer.</blockquote> +<p>The bride brought her husband a "little progeny" consisting of +two interesting stepchildren; also property worth about a hundred +thousand dollars, including many negro slaves, money on bond and +stock in the Bank of England. Soon we find him sending certificates +of the marriage to the English agents of the Custis estate and +announcing to them that the management of the whole would be in his +hands.</p> +<p>The dower negroes were kept separate from those owned by +himself, but otherwise he seems to have made little distinction +between his own and Mrs. Washington's property, which was now, in +fact, by Virginia law his own. When Martha wanted money she applied +to him for it. Now and then in his cash memorandum books we come +upon such entries as, "By Cash to Mrs. Washington for Pocket Money +£4." As a rule, if there were any purchases to be made, she +let George do it and, if we may judge <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page015" id="page015"></a>[pg 015]</span> from +the long list of tabby colored velvet gowns, silk hose, satin +shoes, "Fashionable Summer Cloaks & Hatts," and similar +articles ordered from the English agents she had no reason to +complain that her husband was niggardly or a poor provider. If her +"Old Man"--for she sometimes called him that--failed in anything +she desired, tradition says that the little lady was in the habit +of taking hold of a button of his coat and hanging on until he had +promised to comply.</p> +<p>He managed the property of the two children with great care and +fidelity, keeping a scrupulous account in a "marble colour'd folio +Book" of every penny received or expended in their behalf and +making a yearly report to the general court of his stewardship. How +minute this account was is indicated by an entry in his cash +memorandum book for August 21, 1772: "Charge Miss Custis with a +hair Pin mended by C. Turner" one shilling. Her death (of "Fitts") +in 1773 added about ten thousand pounds to Mrs. Washington's +property, which meant to his own.</p> +<p>There can be no question that the fortune he acquired by the +Custis alliance proved of great advantage to him in his future +career, for it helped to <span class="pagenum"><a name="page016" +id="page016"></a>[pg 016]</span> make him independent as regards +money considerations. He might never have become the Father of His +Country without it. Some of his contemporaries, including +jealous-hearted John Adams, seem to have realized this, and +tradition says that old David Burnes, the crusty Scotsman who owned +part of the land on which the Federal City was laid out, once +ventured to growl to the President: "Now what would ye ha' been had +ye not married the widow Custis?" But this was a narrow view of the +matter, for Washington was known throughout the Colonies before he +married the Custis pounds sterling and was a man of too much +natural ability not to have made a mark in later life, though +possibly not so high a one. Besides, as will be explained in detail +later, much of the Custis money was lost during the Revolution as a +result of the depreciation in the currency.</p> +<p>Following his marriage Washington added largely to his estate, +both in the neighborhood of Mount Vernon and elsewhere. In 1759 he +bought of his friend Bryan Fairfax two hundred and seventy-five +acres on Difficult Run, and about the same time from his neighbor, +the celebrated George Mason of Gunston Hall, he acquired one +hundred acres next <span class="pagenum"><a name="page017" id= +"page017"></a>[pg 017]</span> that already bought of Darrell. +Negotiations entered into with a certain Clifton for the purchase +of a tract of one thousand eight hundred six acres called Brents +was productive of much annoyance. Clifton agreed in February, 1760, +to sell the ground for one thousand one hundred fifty pounds, but +later, "under pretence of his wife not consenting to acknowledge +her right of dower wanted to disengage himself ... and by his +shuffling behavior convinced me of his being the trifling body +represented." Washington heard presently that Clifton had sold the +land to another man for one thousand two hundred pounds, which +fully "unravelled his conduct ... and convinced me that he was +nothing less than a thorough paced rascal." Ultimately Washington +acquired Brents, but had to pay one thousand two hundred ten pounds +for it.</p> +<p>During the next few years he acquired other tracts, notably the +Posey plantation just below Mount Vernon and later often called by +him the Ferry Farm. With it he acquired a ferry to the Maryland +shore and a fishery, both of which industries he continued.</p> +<p>By 1771 he paid quit rents upon an estate of five thousand five +hundred eighteen acres in Fairfax <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page018" id="page018"></a>[pg 018]</span> County; on two thousand +four hundred ninety-eight acres in Frederick County; on one +thousand two hundred fifty acres in King George; on two hundred +forty in Hampshire; on two hundred seventy-five in Loudoun; on two +thousand six hundred eighty-two in Loudoun Faquier--in all, twelve +thousand four hundred sixty-three acres. The quit rent was two +shillings and sixpence per hundred acres and amounted to +£15.11.7.</p> +<p>In addition to these lands in the settled parts of Virginia he +also had claims to vast tracts in the unsettled West. For services +in the French and Indian War he was given twenty thousand acres of +wild land beyond the mountains--a cheap mode of reward, for the +Ohio region was to all intents and purposes more remote than Yukon +is to-day. Many of his fellow soldiers held their grants so lightly +that he was able to buy their claims for almost a song. The feeling +that such grants were comparatively worthless was increased by the +fact that to become effective they must be located and surveyed, +while doubt existed as to whether they would be respected owing to +conflicting claims, jurisdictions and proclamations.</p> +<p>Washington, however, had seen the land and</p> +<a name="Illus0390.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="Images/Illus0390.jpg"><img src= +"Images/Illus0390.jpg" width="60%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>The Porter's Lodge.</b></p> +<br> +<a name="Illus0391.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="Images/Illus0391.jpg"><img src= +"Images/Illus0391.jpg" width="60%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>Driveway from the Lodge Gate.</b></p> +<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page019" id="page019"></a>[pg +019]</span> +<p>knew it was good and he had prophetic faith in the future of the +West. He employed his old comrade Captain William Crawford to +locate and survey likely tracts not only in what is now West +Virginia and western Pennsylvania, but beyond the Ohio River. +Settlement in the latter region had been forbidden by the King's +proclamation of 1763, but Washington thought that this was merely a +temporary measure designed to quiet the Indians and was anxious to +have picked out in advance "some of the most valuable land in the +King's part." In other words he desired Crawford to act the part of +a "Sooner," in the language of more than a century later.</p> +<p>In this period a number of companies were scrambling for western +lands, and Washington, at one time or another, had an interest in +what was known as the Walpole Grant, the Mississippi Company, the +Military Company of Adventurers and the Dismal Swamp Company. This +last company, however, was interested in redeeming lands about +Dismal Swamp in eastern Virginia and it was the only one that +succeeded. In 1799 he estimated the value of his share in that +company at twenty thousand dollars.</p> +<p>Washington took the lead in securing the rights <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page020" id="page020"></a>[pg 020]</span> of his +old soldiers in the French War, advancing money to pay expenses in +behalf of the common cause and using his influence in the proper +quarters. In August, 1770, he met many of his former officers at +Captain Weedon's in Fredericksburg, and after they had dined and +had talked over old times, they discussed the subject of their +claims until sunset, and it was decided that Washington should +personally make a long and dangerous trip to the western +region.</p> +<p>In October he set out with his old friend Doctor James Craik and +three servants, including the ubiquitous Billy Lee, and on the way +increased the party. They followed the old Braddock Road to +Pittsburgh, then a village of about twenty log cabins, visiting en +route some tracts of land that Crawford had selected. At Pittsburgh +they obtained a large dugout, and with Crawford, two Indians and +several borderers, floated down the Ohio, picking out and marking +rich bottom lands and having great sport hunting and fishing.</p> +<p>The region in which they traveled was then little known and was +unsettled by white men. Daniel Boone had made his first hunting +trip into "the dark and bloody ground of Kaintuckee" only the year +before, <span class="pagenum"><a name="page021" id= +"page021"></a>[pg 021]</span> and scattered along the banks of the +Ohio stood the wigwam villages of the aboriginal lords of the land. +At one such village Washington met a chief who had accompanied him +on his memorable winter journey in 1753 to warn out the French, and +elsewhere talked with Indians who had shot at him in the battle of +the Monongahela and now expressed a belief that he must be +invulnerable. At the Mingo Town they saw a war party of three score +painted Iroquois on their way to fight the far distant Catawbas. +Between the Indians and the white men peace nominally reigned, but +rumors were flying of impending uprisings, and the Red Man's +smouldering hate was soon to burst into the flame known as Lord +Dunmore's War. Once the party was alarmed by a report that the +Indians had killed two white men, but they breathed easier on +learning that the sole basis of the story was that a trader had +tried to swim his horse across the Ohio and had been drowned. In +spite of uncertainties, the voyagers continued to the Great Kanawha +and paddled about fourteen miles up that stream. Near its mouth +Washington located two large tracts for himself and military +comrades and after interesting hunting experiences and inspecting +some enormous sycamores--concerning <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page022" id="page022"></a>[pg 022]</span> which matters more +hereafter--the party turned back, and Washington reached home after +an absence of nine weeks.</p> +<p>Two of Washington's western tracts are of special interest. One +had been selected by Crawford in 1767 and was "a fine piece of land +on a stream called Chartiers Creek" in the present Washington +County, southwest of Pittsburgh. Crawford surveyed the tract and +marked it by blazed trees, built four cabins and cleared a patch of +ground, as an improvement, about each. Later Washington, casting +round for some one from whom to obtain a military title with which +to cover the tract, bought out the claim of his financially +embarrassed old neighbor Captain John Posey to three thousand +acres, paying £11.11.3, or about two cents per acre. +Crawford, now a deputy surveyor of the region, soon after +resurveyed two thousand eight hundred thirteen acres and forwarded +the "return" to Washington, with the result that in 1774 Governor +Dunmore of Virginia granted a patent for the land.</p> +<p>In the meantime, however, six squatters built a cabin upon the +tract and cleared two or three acres, but Crawford paid them five +pounds for their improvements and induced them to move on. To keep +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page023" id="page023"></a>[pg +023]</span> off other interlopers he placed a man on the land, but +in 1773 a party of rambunctious Scotch-Irishmen appeared on the +scene, drove the keeper away, built a cabin so close in front of +his door that he could not get back in, and continued to hold the +land until after the Revolution.</p> +<p>By that time Crawford himself was dead--having suffered the most +terrible of all deaths--that of an Indian captive burnt at the +stake.</p> +<p>The other tract whose history it is worth our while to follow +consisted of twelve hundred acres on the Youghiogheny River, +likewise not far from Pittsburgh. It bore seams of coal, which +Washington examined in 1770 and thought "to be of the very best +kind, burning freely and abundance of it." In the spring of 1773 he +sent out a certain Gilbert Simpson, with whom he had formed a sort +of partnership, to look after this land, and each furnished some +laborers, Washington a "fellow" and a "wench." Simpson managed to +clear some ground and get in six acres of corn, but his wife +disliked life on the borderland and made him so uncomfortable with +her complaints that he decided to throw up the venture. However, he +changed his mind, and after a trip back East returned and, on a +site noticed <span class="pagenum"><a name="page024" id= +"page024"></a>[pg 024]</span> by the owner on his visit, built a +grist mill on a small stream now called Washington's Run that +empties into the Youghiogheny. This was one of the first mills +erected west of the Alleghany Mountains and is still standing, +though more or less rebuilt. The millstones were dug out of +quarries in the neighborhood and the work of building the mill was +done amid considerable danger from the Indians, who had begun what +is known as Dunmore's War. Simpson's cabin and the slave quarters +stood near what is now Plant No. 2 of the Washington Coal and Coke +Company. The tract of land contains valuable seams of coal and with +some contiguous territory is valued at upward of twenty million +dollars.</p> +<p>Washington had large ideas for the development of these western +lands. At one time he considered attempting to import Palatine +Germans to settle there, but after careful investigation decided +that the plan was impracticable. In 1774 he bought four men +convicts, four indented servants, and a man and his wife for four +years and sent them and some carpenters out to help Simpson build +the mill and otherwise improve the lands. Next year he sent out +another party, but Indian troubles and later the Revolution united +with the natural difficulties of the <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page025" id="page025"></a>[pg 025]</span> country to put a stop to +progress. Some of the servants were sold and others ran away, but +Simpson stayed on in charge, though without making any financial +settlement with his patron till 1784.</p> +<p>At the close of the Revolution Washington wrote to President +John Witherspoon of Princeton College that he had in the western +country patents under signature of Lord Dunmore "for about 30,000 +acres, and surveys for about 10,000 more, patents for which were +suspended by the disputes with Great Britain, which soon followed +the return of the warrants to the land office. Ten thousand acres +of the above thirty lie upon the Ohio; the rest on the Great +Kenhawa, a river nearly as large, and quite as easy in its +navigation, as the former, The whole of it is rich bottom land, +beautifully situated on these rivers, and abounding plenteously in +fish, wild-fowl, and game of all kinds."</p> +<p>He could have obtained vast land grants for his Revolutionary +services, but he stuck by his announced intention of receiving only +compensation for his expenses. He continued, however, to be greatly +interested in the western country and was one of the first +Americans to foresee the importance of that region to the young +Republic, predicting that <span class="pagenum"><a name="page026" +id="page026"></a>[pg 026]</span> it would become populated more +rapidly than any one could believe and faster than any similar +region ever had been settled. He was extremely anxious to develop +better methods of communication with the West and in 1783 made a +trip up the Mohawk River to the famous Oneida or Great Carrying +Place to view the possibilities of waterway development in that +region--the future course of the Erie Canal. Soon after he wrote to +his friend the Chevalier de Chastellux: "I could not help taking a +more extensive view of the vast inland navigation of these United +States and could not but be struck by the immense extent and +importance of it, and of the goodness of that Providence which has +dealt its favors to us with so profuse a hand. Would to God we may +have wisdom enough to improve them. I shall not rest contented till +I have explored the Western Country, and traversed those lines or +great part of them, which have given bounds to a new empire."</p> +<p>In partnership with George Clinton he bought, in 1784, a tract +of six thousand acres on the Mohawk, paying for his share, +including interest, one thousand <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page027" id="page027"></a>[pg 027]</span> eight hundred +seventy-five pounds. In 1793 he sold two-thirds of his half for +three thousand four hundred pounds and in his will valued the +thousand acres that remained at six thousand dollars. This was a +speculation pure and simple, as he was never in the region in which +the land lay but once.</p> +<p>On December 23, 1783, in an ever memorable scene, Washington +resigned his commission as Commander of the Continental Army and +rode off from Annapolis to Mount Vernon to keep Christmas there for +the first time since 1774. The next eight months he was busily +engaged in making repairs and improvements about his home estate, +but on September first, having two days before said good-by to +Lafayette, who had been visiting him, he set off on horseback to +inspect his western lands and to obtain information requisite to a +scheme he had for improving the "Inland Navigation of the Potomac" +and connecting its head waters by canal with those of the Ohio. The +first object was rendered imperative by the settlement of squatters +on part of his richest land, some of which was even being offered +for sale by unscrupulous land agents.</p> +<p>With him went again his old friend Doctor Craik. Their equipage +consisted of three servants and six horses, three of which last +carried the baggage, including a marquee, some camp utensils, a few +medicines, "hooks and lines," Madeira, port wine and <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page028" id="page028"></a>[pg 028]</span> cherry +bounce. Stopping at night and for meals at taverns or the homes of +relatives or friends, they passed up the picturesque Potomac +Valley, meeting many friends along the way, among them the +celebrated General Daniel Morgan, with whom Washington talked over +the waterways project. At "Happy Retreat," the home of Charles +Washington in the fertile Shenandoah Valley, beyond the Blue Ridge, +Washington met and transacted business with tenants who lived on +his lands in that region. On September fifth he reached Bath, the +present Berkeley Springs, where he owned two thousand acres of land +and two lots. Here fifteen years before he had come with his family +in the hope that the water would benefit poor "Patey" Custis, and +here he met "the ingenious Mr. Rumney" who showed him the model of +a boat to be propelled by steam.</p> +<p>At Bath the party was joined by Doctor Craik's son William and +by the General's nephew, Bushrod Washington. Twelve miles to the +west Washington turned aside from the main party to visit a tract +of two hundred forty acres that he owned on the Virginia side of +the Potomac. He found it "exceedingly Rich, & must be very +valuable--the lower end of the Land is rich white oak in places +springey ... the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page029" id= +"page029"></a>[pg 029]</span> upper part is ... covered with Walnut +of considerable size many of them." He "got a snack" at the home of +a Mr. McCracken and left with that gentleman the terms upon which +he would let the land, then rode onward and rejoined the +others.</p> +<p>The cavalcade passed on to Fort Cumberland. There Washington +left the main party to follow with the baggage and hurried on ahead +along Braddock's old road in order to fill an appointment to be at +Gilbert Simpson's by the fifteenth. Passing through the dark tangle +of Laurel known as the Shades of Death, he came on September +twelfth to the opening among the mountains--the Great +Meadows--where in 1754 in his rude little fort of logs, aptly named +Fort Necessity, he had fought the French and had been conquered by +them. He owned the spot now, for in 1770 Crawford had bought it for +him for "30 Pistols<a name="FNanchor3"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_3">[3]</a>," Thirty years before, as an enthusiastic +youth, he had called it a "charming field for an encounter"; now he +spoke of it as "capable of being turned to great advantage ... a +very good stand for a Tavern--much Hay may be cut here When the +ground is laid down <span class="pagenum"><a name="page030" id= +"page030"></a>[pg 030]</span> in grass & the upland, East of +the Meadow, is good for grain."</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor3">[3]</a> +Doubtless he meant pistoles, coins, not weapons.</blockquote> +<p>Not a word about the spot's old associations!</p> +<p>The same day he pushed on through the mountains, meeting +"numbers of Persons & Pack horses going in with Ginseng; & +for Salt & other articles at the Markets below," and near +nightfall reached on the Youghiogheny River the tract on which +Gilbert Simpson, his agent, lived. He found the land poorer than he +had expected and the buildings that had been erected indifferent, +while the mill was in such bad condition that "little Rent, or good +is to be expected from the present aspect of her," He was, in fact, +unable to find a renter for the mill and let the land, twelve +hundred acres, now worth millions, for only five hundred bushels of +wheat!</p> +<p>The land had cost him far more than he had received from it. +Simpson had not proved a man of much energy and even had he been +otherwise conditions in the region would have prevented him from +accomplishing much in a financial way, for there was little or no +market for farm produce near at hand and the cost of transportation +over the mountains was prohibitive. During the Revolution, however, +Simpson had in some way or other got hold of some <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page031" id="page031"></a>[pg 031]</span> paper +currency and a few months before had turned over the worthless +bills to Washington. A century later the package was sold at +auction, and the band, which was still unbroken, bore upon it in +Washington's hand: "Given by Gilbt. Simpson, 19 June, 1784."</p> +<p>At Simpson's Washington was met by a delegation from the +squatters on his holdings on Miller's Run or Chartiers Creek, "and +after much conversation & attempts in them to discover all the +flaws they could in my Deed &c." they announced that they would +give a definite answer as to what they would do when Washington +reached the land in dispute.</p> +<p>He drew near the neighborhood on the following Saturday, but the +next day "Being Sunday, and the People living on my Land, +<i>apparently</i> very religious, it was thought best to postpone +going among them till to-morrow." On Monday, in company with +several persons including the high sheriff, Captain Van Swearingen, +or "Indian Van," captain of one of the companies in Morgan's famous +rifle corps, he proceeded to the land and found that, of two +thousand eight hundred thirteen acres, three hundred sixty-three +were under cultivation and forty more were in meadow. On the land +stood twelve cabins and nine <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page032" id="page032"></a>[pg 032]</span> barns claimed by +fourteen different persons, most or all of whom were doughty +Scotch-Irishmen.</p> +<p>Washington was humane enough to see that they had something to +urge in their behalf and offered to sell them the whole tract at +twenty-five shillings an acre, or to take them as tenants, but they +stubbornly refused his offers and after much wrangling announced +their intention to stand suit. Ejectment proceedings were +accordingly brought by Washington's attorney, Thomas Smith of +Carlisle. The case was tried in 1786 before the Supreme Court of +Pennsylvania and resulted in Washington's favor.</p> +<p>In 1796 Washington sold the tract to a certain Matthew Richey +for twelve thousand dollars, of which three thousand one hundred +eighty dollars was to be paid in cash and the rest in three annual +instalments. Richey died in 1798, and Washington's heirs had +difficulties in their attempts to collect the remainder.</p> +<p>Leaving these legal matters to be disposed of by lawyers, +Washington turned back without visiting his Kanawha or Ohio lands, +and on October fourth reached Mount Vernon, having traveled on +horseback about six hundred eighty miles. One result of his trip +was the formation of the Potomac Company,</p> +<a name="Illus0392.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="Images/Illus0392.jpg"><img src= +"Images/Illus0392.jpg" width="60%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>The Seed House, Beyond Lay the Vegetable Garden.</b></p> +<br> +<a name="Illus0393.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="Images/Illus0393.jpg"><img src= +"Images/Illus0393.jpg" width="60%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>One of the Artificial Mounds. The Tree upon It was Set out by +Mrs. Grover Cleveland.</b></p> +<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page033" id="page033"></a>[pg +033]</span> +<p>but this is a subject that lies without the scope of this +book.</p> +<p>From that time onward he bought occasional tracts of lands in +various parts of the country or acquired them in discharge of +debts. By the death of his mother he acquired her land on Accokeek +Creek in Stafford County, near where his father had operated an +iron furnace.</p> +<p>Washington's landed estate as listed in his will amounted to +about sixty thousand two hundred two acres, besides lots in +Washington, Alexandria, Winchester, Bath, Manchester, Edinburgh and +Richmond. Nine thousand two hundred twenty-seven acres, including +Mount Vernon and a tract on Four Mile Run, he specifically +bequeathed to individuals, as he did some of the lots. The +remaining lots and fifty thousand nine hundred seventy-five acres +(some of which land was already conditionally sold) he directed to +be disposed of, together with his live stock, government bonds and +shares held by him in the Potomac Company, the Dismal Swamp +Company, the James River Company and the banks of Columbia and +Alexandria--the whole value of which he conservatively estimated at +five hundred and thirty thousand dollars. The value of the property +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page034" id="page034"></a>[pg +034]</span> he specifically bequeathed, with his slaves, which he +directed should be freed, can only be guessed at, but can hardly +have been short of two hundred and twenty thousand dollars more. In +other words, he died possessed of property worth three-quarters of +a million and was the richest man in America.</p> +<p>Not all of the land that he listed in his will proved of benefit +to his heirs. The title to three thousand fifty-one acres lying on +the Little Miami River in what is now Ohio and valued by him at +fifteen thousand two hundred fifty-five dollars proved defective. +In 1790 a law, signed by himself, had passed Congress requiring the +recording of such locations with the federal Secretary of State. +Washington's locations and surveys of this Ohio land had already +been recorded in the Virginia land office, and with a carelessness +unusual in him he neglected to comply with the statute. After his +death certain persons took advantage of the defect and seized the +lands, and his executors failed to embrace another opportunity +given them to perfect the title, with the result that the lands +were lost.</p> +<p>The matter rested until a few years ago when some descendants of +the heirs set their heads together <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page035" id="page035"></a>[pg 035]</span> and one of them, Robert +E. Lee, Jr., procured his appointment in 1907 by the court of +Fairfax County as administrator <i>de bonis non</i> of Washington's +estate. It was, of course, impossible to regain the lands--which +lie not far from Cincinnati and are worth vast sums--so the movers +in the matter had recourse to that last resort of such +claimants--Congress--and, with the modesty usually shown by +claimants, asked that body to reimburse the heirs in the sum of +three hundred and five thousand one hundred dollars--that is, one +hundred dollars per acre--with interest from the date of +petition.</p> +<p>Thus far Congress has not seen fit to comply, nor does there +seem to be any good reason why it should do so. The land cost +Washington a mere bagatelle, it was lost through the neglect of +himself and his executors, and not one of the persons who would +benefit by such a subsidy from the public funds is his lineal +descendant. As a mere matter of public policy and common sense it +may well be doubted whether any claim upon government, no matter +how just in itself, should be reimbursed beyond the third +generation. The heirs urge in extenuation of the claim that +Washington refused to accept any compensation <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page036" id="page036"></a>[pg 036]</span> for +his Revolutionary services, but it is answered that it is hardly +seemly for his grand nephews and grand nieces many times removed to +beg for something that the Father of His Country himself rejected. +One wonders whether the claimants would dare to press their claims +in the presence of their great Kinsman himself!</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page037" id="page037"></a>[pg +037]</span> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> +<br> +<h3>VIRGINIA AGRICULTURE IN WASHINGTON'S DAY</h3> +<p>The Virginia of George Washington's youth and early manhood was +an imperial domain reaching from Atlantic tidewater through a +thousand leagues of forests, prairies and mountains "west and +northwest" to the South Sea. Only a narrow fringe along the eastern +coast was settled by white men; the remainder was a terra incognita +into which Knights of the Golden Horseshoe and Indian traders had +penetrated a short distance, bringing back stories of endless +stretches of wolf-haunted woodland, of shaggy-fronted wild oxen, of +saline swamps in which reposed the whitened bones of prehistoric +monsters, of fierce savage tribes whose boast was of the number of +scalps that swung in the smoke of their wigwams. Even as late as +1750 the fertile Shenandoah Valley beyond the Blue Ridge formed the +extreme frontier, while in general the "fall line," where the drop +from the foothills to <span class="pagenum"><a name="page038" id= +"page038"></a>[pg 038]</span> the coastal plain stops navigation, +marked the limit of settlement.</p> +<p>At the time that Washington began to farm in earnest eastern +Virginia had, however, been settled for one hundred fifty-two +years. Yet the population was almost wholly rural. Williamsburg, +the capital, was hardly more than a country village, and Norfolk, +the metropolis, probably did not contain more than five thousand +inhabitants. The population generally was so scattered that, as has +been remarked, a man could not see his neighbor without a telescope +or be heard by him without firing a gun.</p> +<p>A large part of the settled land was divided up into great +estates, though there were many small farms. Some of these estates +had been acquired for little or nothing by Cavalier favorites of +the colonial governors. A few were perfectly enormous in size, and +this was particularly the rule on the "Northern Neck," the region +in which Mount Vernon was situated. The holding of Lord Thomas +Fairfax, the early friend and patron of Washington, embraced more +than a score of modern counties and contained upward of five +million acres. The grant had been made by Fairfax's grandfather, +Lord Culpeper, the coproprietor and Governor of Virginia.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page039" id="page039"></a>[pg +039]</span> +<p>The Virginia plantation of 1760 was much more sufficient unto +itself than was the same plantation of the next century when +methods of communication had improved, articles from the outside +world were easier to obtain, and invention was beginning to become +"the mother of necessity." Many of the large plantations, in fact, +bore no small resemblance to medieval manors. There was the planter +himself residing with his family in the mansion, which corresponded +to the manor house, and lording it over a crowd of white and black +dependents, corresponding to serfs. The servants, both white and +black, dwelt somewhat apart in the quarters, rude log huts for the +most part, but probably as comfortable as those of the Saxon churls +of the time of the Plantagenets. The planter's ownership over the +persons of his dependents was, however, much more absolute than was +that of the Norman lord, for on the manors the serfs could not be +sold off the land, a restriction that did not apply in Virginia +either to black slaves or indentured servants. On the manor, +furthermore, the serf had his own bits of ground, for which he paid +rent in kind, money or service, and the holdings passed from father +to son; on the plantation the slave worked under an overseer on his +master's <span class="pagenum"><a name="page040" id= +"page040"></a>[pg 040]</span> crops only and had nothing that he +could call his own--not even his wife or children. In the matter of +the organization of industries there was a closer resemblance. The +planter generally raised the staple articles of food for his family +and slaves, as did the lord, and a large proportion of the other +articles used or consumed were manufactured on the place. A son of +George Mason, Washington's close friend and neighbor, has left us +the following description of industry at Gunston Hall:</p> +<p>"My father had among his slaves carpenters, coopers, sawyers, +blacksmiths, tanners, curriers, shoemakers, spinners, weavers, and +knitters, and even a distiller. His woods furnished timber and +plank for the carpenters and coopers, and charcoal for the +blacksmith; his cattle killed for his own consumption and for sale, +supplied skins for the tanners, curriers, and shoemakers; and his +sheep gave wool and his fields produced cotton and flax for the +weavers and spinners, and his own orchards fruit for the +distillers. His carpenters and sawyers built and kept in repair all +the dwelling-houses, barns, stables, ploughs, harrows, gates, etc., +on the plantations, and the outhouses of the house. His coopers +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page041" id="page041"></a>[pg +041]</span> made the hogsheads the tobacco was prized in, and the +tight casks to hold the cider and other liquors. The tanners and +curriers, with the proper vats, etc., tanned and dressed the skins +as well for upper as for lower leather to the full amount of the +consumption of the estate, and the shoemakers made them into shoes +for the negroes. A professed shoemaker was hired for three or four +months in the year to come and make up the shoes for the white part +of the family. The blacksmiths did all the iron work required by +the establishment, as making and repairing ploughs, harrows, teeth, +chains, bolts, etc. The spinners, weavers, and knitters made all +the coarse cloths and stockings used by the negroes, and some of +fine texture worn by the white family, nearly all worn by the +children of it. The distiller made every fall a good deal of apple, +peach, and persimmon brandy. The art of distilling from grain was +not then among us, and but few public distilleries. All these +operations were carried on at the home house, and their results +distributed as occasion required to the different plantations. +Moreover, all the beeves and hogs for consumption <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page042" id="page042"></a>[pg 042]</span> or +sale were driven up and slaughtered there at the proper seasons, +and whatever was to be preserved was salted and packed away for +distribution."</p> +<p>Nevertheless the plantation drew upon the outside world for many +articles, especially luxuries, and the owner had to find the +wherewithal to make payment. The almost universal answer to this +problem was--tobacco. It was not an ideal answer, and historians +have scolded the departed planters vigorously for doing the sum in +that way, yet the planters were victims of circumstances. They had +no gold or silver mines from which to draw bullion that could be +coined into cash; the fur trade was of little importance compared +with that farther north; the Europe of that day raised sufficient +meat and grain for its own use, and besides these articles were +bulky and costly to transport. But Europe did have a strong craving +for the weed and, almost of necessity, Virginians set themselves to +satisfying it. They could hardly be expected to do otherwise when a +pound of tobacco would often bring in England more than a bushel of +wheat, while it cost only a sixtieth part as much to send it +thither. It is estimated that prior to the Revolution Virginia +often sent out annually as much as ninety-six thousand <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page043" id="page043"></a>[pg 043]</span> +hogsheads of tobacco. Tobacco took the place of money, and debts, +taxes and even ministers' salaries were paid in it.</p> +<p>The disadvantages of tobacco culture are well known. Of all +crops it is perhaps the most exhausting to the soil, nor was a +large part of Virginia particularly fertile to begin with. Much +land was speedily ruined, but nothing was so cheap and plentiful in +that day as land, so the planter light-heartedly cleared more and +let the old revert to the wilderness. Any one who travels through +the long settled parts of Virginia to-day will see many such old +fields upon which large forest trees are now growing and can find +there, if he will search closely enough, signs of the old tobacco +ridges. Only heroic measures and the expenditure of large sums for +fertilizer could make such worn-out land again productive. +Washington himself described the character of the agriculture in +words that can not be improved upon:</p> +<p>"A piece of land is cut down, and left under constant +cultivation, first in tobacco, and then in Indian corn (two very +exhausting plants), until it will yield scarcely anything; a second +piece is cleared, and treated in the same manner; then a third and +so on, <span class="pagenum"><a name="page044" id="page044"></a>[pg +044]</span> until probably there is but little more to clear. When +this happens, the owner finds himself reduced to the choice of one +of three things--either to recover the land which he has ruined, to +accomplish which, he has perhaps neither the skill, the industry, +nor the means; or to retire beyond the mountains; or to substitute +quantity for quality in order to raise something. The latter has +been generally adopted, and, with the assistance of horses, he +scratches over much ground, and seeds it, to very little +purpose."</p> +<p>The tobacco industry was not only ruinous to the soil, but it +was badly organized from a financial standpoint. Three courses were +open to the planter who had tobacco. He might sell it to some local +mercantile house, but these were not numerous nor as a rule +conveniently situated to the general run of planters. He might +deposit it in a tobacco warehouse, receiving in return a receipt, +which he could sell if he saw fit and could find a purchaser. Or he +could send his tobacco direct to an English agent to be sold.</p> +<p>If a great planter and particularly if situated upon navigable +water, this last was the course he was apt to follow. He would have +his own wharf to which once or twice a year a ship would come +bringing the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page045" id= +"page045"></a>[pg 045]</span> supplies he had ordered months before +and taking away the great staple. If brought from a distance, the +tobacco was rarely hauled to the wharf in wagons--the roads were +too wretched for that--instead it was packed in a great cylindrical +hogshead through which an iron or wooden axle was put. Horses or +oxen were then hitched to the axle and the hogshead was rolled to +its destination.</p> +<p>By the ship that took away his tobacco the planter sent to the +English factor a list of the goods he would require for the next +year. It was an unsatisfactory way of doing business, for time and +distance conspired to put the planter at the factor's mercy. The +planter was not only unlikely to obtain a fair price for his +product, but he had to pay excessive prices for poor goods and +besides could never be certain that his order would be properly +filled.</p> +<p>Washington's experiences with his English agents were probably +fairly typical. Near the close of 1759 he complained that Thomas +Knox of Bristol had failed to send him various things ordered, such +as half a dozen scythes and stones, curry combs and brushes, +weeding and grubbing hoes, and axes, and that now he must buy them +in America at exorbitant prices. Not long afterward he wrote again: +"I have <span class="pagenum"><a name="page046" id= +"page046"></a>[pg 046]</span> received my goods from the Recovery, +and cant help again complaining of the little care taken in the +purchase: Besides leaving out half and the most material half too! +of the Articles I sent for, I find the Sein is without Leads, corks +and Ropes which renders it useless--the crate of stone ware don't +contain a third of the Pieces I am charged with, and only two +things broken, and everything very high Charged."</p> +<p>In September of the same year he ordered, among other things, +busts of Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Charles XII of Sweden, +Frederick the Great, Prince Eugene and the Duke of Marlborough; +also of two wild beasts. The order was "filled" by sending him a +group showing Aeneas bearing his father from Troy, two groups with +two statues of Bacchus and Flora, two ornamental vases and two +"Lyons."</p> +<p>"It is needless for me to particularise the sorts, quality, or +taste I woud choose to have them in unless it is observd," he wrote +a year later to Robert Gary & Company of London apropos of some +articles with which he was dissatisfied, "and you may believe me +when I tell you that instead of getting things good and fashionable +in their several kind, <span class="pagenum"><a name="page047" id= +"page047"></a>[pg 047]</span> we often have articles sent us that +coud only have been used by our Forefathers in the days of +yore--'Tis a custom, I have some reason to believe, with many Shop +keepers, and Tradesmen in London when they know Goods are bespoke +for Transportation to palm sometimes old, and sometimes very slight +and indifferent goods upon us taking care at the same time to +advance 10, 15, or perhaps 20 pr. Ct. upon them."</p> +<p>To his London shoemaker he wrote, November 30, 1759, that the +last two pairs of dog leather pumps scarce lasted twice as many +days. To his tailor he complained on another occasion of exorbitant +prices. "I shall only refer you generally to the Bills you have +sent me, particularly for a Pompadour Suit forwarded last July +amounting to £16.3.6 without embroidery, Lace or Binding--not +a close fine cloth neither--and only a gold Button that woud not +stand the least Wear."</p> +<p>Another time he mentions that his clothes fit poorly, which is +not strange considering that measurements had to be sent three +thousand miles and there, was no opportunity to try the garments on +with a view to alterations. We may safely conclude, therefore, that +however elegant Virginia society of <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page048" id="page048"></a>[pg 048]</span> that day may have been +in other respects, it was not distinguished for well fitting +clothes!</p> +<p>Most Virginia planters got in debt to their agents, and +Washington was no exception to the rule. When his agents, Robert +Gary & Company, called his attention to the fact, he wrote +them, that they seemed in a bit of a hurry considering the extent +of past dealings with each other. "Mischance rather than Misconduct +hath been the cause of it," he asserted, explaining that he had +made large purchases of land, that crops had been poor for three +seasons and prices bad. He preferred to let the debt stand, but if +the agents insisted upon payment now he would find means to +discharge the obligation.</p> +<p>Not all planters could speak so confidently of their ability to +find means to discharge a debt, for the truth is that the profits +of tobacco culture were by no means so large as has often been +supposed. A recent writer speaks of huge incomes of twenty thousand +to eighty thousand pounds a year and asserts that "the ordinary +planter could count on an income of from £3,000 to +£6,000." The first figures are altogether fabulous, "paper +profits" of the same sort that can be obtained by calculating +profits upon the geometrical increase of geese as illustrated +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page049" id="page049"></a>[pg +049]</span> in a well known story. Even the last mentioned sums +were realized only under the most favorable conditions and by a few +planters. Much of the time the price of the staple was low and the +costs of transportation and insurance, especially in time of war, +were considerable. Washington himself had a consignment of tobacco +captured by the French.</p> +<p>The planters were by no means so prosperous as is often supposed +and neither was their life so splendid as has often been pictured. +Writers seem to have entered into a sort of conspiracy to mislead +us concerning it. The tendency is one to which Southern writers are +particularly prone in all that concerns their section. If they +speak of a lawyer, he is always a profound student of the law; of a +soldier, he is the bravest tenderest knight that ever trod shoe +leather; of a lady, she is the most beautiful that ever graced a +drawing-room.</p> +<p>The old Virginia life had its color and charm, though its color +and charm lay in large part in things concerning which the writers +have little or nothing to say. It is true that a few planters had +their gorgeous coaches, yet Martha Washington remembered when there +was only one coach in the whole of Virginia, and throughout her +life the roads were so <span class="pagenum"><a name="page050" id= +"page050"></a>[pg 050]</span> wretched that those who traveled over +them in vehicles ran in imminent danger of being overturned, with +possible dislocation of limbs and disjointing of necks. Virginians +had their liveried servants, mahogany furniture, silver plate, +silks and satins; an examination of the old account books proves +that they often had these and many other expensive things, along +with their Madeira and port wine. But the same books show that the +planter was chronically in debt and that bankruptcy was common, +while accounts left by travelers reveal the fact that many of the +mansion houses were shabby and run down, with rotting roofs, +ramshackle doors, broken windows into which old hats or other +garments had been thrust to keep the wind away. In a word, a +traveler could find to-day more elegance in a back county of +Arkansas than then existed in tidewater Virginia.</p> +<p>The tobacco industry was a culture that required much labor. In +the spring a pile of brush was burned and on the spot thus +fertilized and made friable the seed were sowed. In due course the +ground was prepared and the young plants were transplanted into +rows. Later they must be repeatedly plowed, hoed and otherwise +cultivated and looked after and finally</p> +<a name="Illus0394.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="Images/Illus0394.jpg"><img src= +"Images/Illus0394.jpg" width="60%" alt=""></a><br> +<b><i>By permission of the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association</i> The +Mount Vernon Kitchen (restored).</b></p> +<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page051" id="page051"></a>[pg +051]</span> +<p>the leaves must be cut or gathered and carried to the dry house +to be dried. One man could care for only two or three acres, hence +large scale cultivation required many hands--result, the +importation of vast numbers of indentured servants and black +slaves, with the blighting effects always consequent upon the +presence of a servile class in a community.</p> +<p>Although tobacco was the great staple, some of the Virginia +planters had begun before the Revolution to raise considerable +crops of wheat, and most of them from the beginning cultivated +Indian corn. From the wheat they made flour and bread for +themselves, and with the corn they fed their hogs and horses and +from it also made meal for the use of their slaves. In the culture +of neither crop were they much advanced beyond the Egyptians of the +times of the Pyramids. The wheat was reaped with sickles or cradles +and either flailed out or else trampled out by cattle and horses, +usually on a dirt floor in the open air. Washington estimated in +1791 that the average crop of wheat amounted to only eight or ten +bushels per acre, and the yield of corn was also poor.</p> +<p>So much emphasis was laid upon tobacco that many planters failed +to produce food enough. Some <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page052" id="page052"></a>[pg 052]</span> raised none at all, with +the result that often both men and animals were poorly fed, and at +best the cost of food and forage exhausted most of the profits. A +somewhat similar condition exists in the South to-day with regard +to cotton.</p> +<p>Almost no attention was paid to conserving the soil by rotation +of crops, and even those few planters who attempted anything of the +sort followed the old plan of allowing fields to lie in a naked +fallow and to grow up in noxious weeds instead of raising a cover +crop such as clover. Washington wrote in 1782: "My countrymen are +too much used to corn blades and corn shucks; and have too little +knowledge of the profit of grass land." And again in 1787:</p> +<p>"The general custom has been, first to raise a crop of Indian +corn (maize) which, according to the mode of cultivation, is a good +preparation for wheat; then a crop of wheat; after which the ground +is respited (except for weeds, and every trash that can contribute +to its foulness) for about eighteen months; and so on, alternately, +without any dressing, till the land is exhausted; when it is turned +out, without being sown with grass-seeds, or reeds, or any method +taken to restore it; and another piece is ruined in the same +manner. No more cattle is raised <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page053" id="page053"></a>[pg 053]</span> than can be supported by +lowland meadows, swamps &c. and the tops and blades of Indian +corn; as very few persons have attended to growing grasses, and +connecting cattle with their crops. The Indian corn is the chief +support of the labourers and their horses."</p> +<p>As for the use of fertilizer, very little was attempted, for, as +Jefferson explained, "we can buy an acre of new land cheaper than +we can manure an old one." It was this cheapness of land that made +it almost impossible for the Virginians to break away from their +ruinous system--ruinous, not necessarily to themselves, but to +future generations. Conservation was then a doctrine that was +little preached. Posterity could take care of itself. Only a few +persons like Washington realized their duty to the future.</p> +<p>In the matter of stock as well as in pure agriculture the +Virginians were backward. They showed to best advantage in the +matter of horses. Virginia gentlemen were fond of horses, and some +owned fine animals and cared for them carefully. A Randolph of +Tuckahoe is said to have had a favorite dapple-gray named +"Shakespeare" for whom he built a special stable with a sort of +recess next the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page054" id= +"page054"></a>[pg 054]</span> stall in which the groom slept. +Generally speaking, however, even among the aristocracy the horses +were not so good nor so well cared for as in the next century.</p> +<p>Among the small farmers and poorer people the horses were apt to +be scrubs, often mere bags of bones. A scientific English +agriculturist named Parkinson, who came over in 1798, tells us that +the American horses generally "leap well; they are accustomed to +leap from the time of foaling; as it is not at all uncommon, if the +mare foal in the night, for some part of the family to ride the +mare, with the foal following her, from eighteen to twenty miles +next day, it not being customary to walk much. I think that is the +cause of the American horse having a sort of amble: the foal from +its weak state, goes pacing after the dam, and retains that motion +all its life. The same is the case with respect to leaping: there +being in many places no gates, the snake or worm-fence (which is +one rail laid on the end of another) is taken down to let the mare +pass through, and the foal follow: but, as it is usual to leave two +or three rails untaken down, which the mare leaps over, the foal, +unwilling to be left behind, follows her; so that, by the time it +is one week old, <span class="pagenum"><a name="page055" id= +"page055"></a>[pg 055]</span> it has learned to leap three feet +high; and progressively, as it grows older, it leaps higher, till +at a year old, it will leap its own height."</p> +<p>Sheep raising was not attempted to any great extent, partly +because of the ravages of wolves and dogs and partly because the +sheep is a perverse animal that often seems to prefer dying to +keeping alive and requires skilled care to be made profitable. The +breeds were various and often were degenerated. Travelers saw +Holland or rat-tailed sheep, West Indian sheep with scant wool and +much resembling goats, also a few Spanish sheep, but none would +have won encomiums from a scientific English breeder. The merino +had not yet been introduced. Good breeds of sheep were difficult to +obtain, for both the English and Spanish governments forbade the +exportation of such animals and they could be obtained only by +smuggling them out.</p> +<p>In 1792 Arthur Young expressed astonishment when told that +wolves and dogs were a serious impediment to sheep raising in +America, yet this was undoubtedly the case. The rich had their +foxhounds, while every poor white and many negroes had from one to +half a dozen curs--all of which canines were likely to enjoy the +sport of sheep killing. Mr. Richard <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page056" id="page056"></a>[pg 056]</span> Peters, a well informed +farmer of Pennsylvania, said that wherever the country was much +broken wolves were to be found and bred prodigiously. "I lay not +long ago at the foot of South Mountain, in York county, in this +State, in a country very thickly settled, at the house of a Justice +of the Peace. Through the night I was kept awake by what I +conceived to be a jubilee of dogs, assembled to bay the moon. But I +was told in the morning, that what disturbed me, was <i>only</i> +the common howling of wolves, which nobody there regarded. When I +entered the <i>Hall of Justice</i>, I found the 'Squire giving +judgment for the reward on two wolf whelps a countryman had taken +from the bitch. The <i>judgment-seat</i> was shaken with the +intelligence, that the wolf was coming--<i>not to give +bail</i>--but to devote herself or rescue her offspring. The animal +was punished for this <i>daring contempt</i>, committed in the face +of the court, and was shot within a hundred yards of the +tribunal."</p> +<p>Virginians had not yet learned the merits of grass and pasture, +and their cattle, being compelled to browse on twigs and weeds, +were often thin and poor. Many ranged through the woods and it was +so difficult to get them up that sometimes they would <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page057" id="page057"></a>[pg 057]</span> not be +milked for two or three days. Often they gave no more than a quart +of milk a day and were probably no better in appearance than the +historian Lecky tells us were the wretched beasts then to be found +in the Scottish Highlands.</p> +<p>Hogs received even less care than cattle and ran half wild in +the woods like their successors, the famous Southern razor-backs of +to-day, being fed only a short period before they were to be +transformed into pork. Says Parkinson:</p> +<p>"The real American hog is what is termed the wood-hog: they are +long in the leg, narrow on the back, short in the body, flat on the +sides, with a long snout, very rough in their hair, in make more +like a fish called a perch than anything I can describe. You may as +well think of stopping a crow as those hogs. They will go a +distance from a fence, take a run, and leap through the rails, +three or four feet from the ground, turning themselves sidewise. +These hogs suffer such hardships as no other animal could endure. +It is customary to keep them in the woods all winter, as there is +no thrashing or fold-yards; and they must live on the roots of +trees, or something of that sort, but they are poor beyond any +creature that I ever saw. That is probably the cause why +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page058" id="page058"></a>[pg +058]</span> American pork is so fine. They are something like +forest-sheep. I am not certain, with American keeping and +treatment, if they be not the best: for I never saw an animal live +without food, except this; and I am pretty sure they nearly do +that. When they are fed, the flesh may well be sweet: it is all +young, though the pig be ten years old."</p> +<p>"The aim of the farmers in this country (if they can be called +farmers)," wrote Washington to Arthur Young in 1791, "is, not to +make the most they can from the land, which is or has been cheap, +but the most of the labour, which is dear; the consequence of which +has been, much ground has been <i>scratched</i> over and none +cultivated or improved as it ought to have been: whereas a farmer +in England, where land is dear, and labour cheap, finds it his +interest to improve and cultivate highly, that he may reap large +crops from a small quantity of ground."</p> +<p>No clearer statement of the differences between American and +European agriculture has ever been formulated. Down to our own day +the object of the American farmer has continued to be the same--to +secure the largest return from the expenditure of a given amount of +labor. But we are on the threshold of a revolution, the outcome of +which means <span class="pagenum"><a name="page059" id= +"page059"></a>[pg 059]</span> intensive cultivation and the +realization of the largest possible return from a given amount of +land.</p> +<p>That Washington saw the distinction so clearly is of itself +sufficient proof that he pondered long and deeply upon agricultural +problems.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page060" id="page060"></a>[pg +060]</span> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> +<br> +<h3>WASHINGTON'S PROBLEM</h3> +<p>"No estate in United America," wrote Washington to Arthur Young +in 1793, "is more pleasantly situated than this. It lies in a high, +dry, and healthy country, 300 miles by water from the sea, and, as +you will see by the plan, on one of the finest rivers in the world. +Its margin is washed by more than ten miles of tide water; from the +beds of which and the innumerable coves, inlets, and small marshes, +with which it abounds, an inexhaustible fund of mud may be drawn as +a manure, either to be used separately or in a compost....</p> +<p>"The soil of the tract of which I am speaking is a good loam, +more inclined, however, to clay than sand. From use, and I might +add, abuse, it is become more and more consolidated, and of course +heavier to work....</p> +<p>"This river, which encompasses the land the distance above +mentioned, is well supplied with various <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page061" id="page061"></a>[pg 061]</span> kinds +of fish at all seasons of the year; and, in the spring, with great +profusion of shad, herring, bass, carp, perch, sturgeon, etc. +Several fisheries appertain to the estate; the whole shore, in +short, is one entire fishery."</p> +<p>The Mount Vernon estate, amounting in the end to over eight +thousand acres, was, with the exception of a few outlying tracts, +subdivided into five farms, namely, the Mansion House Farm, the +Union Farm, the Dogue Run Farm, Muddy Hole Farm and the River +Farm.</p> +<p>On the Mansion House Farm stood the owner's residence, quarters +for the negroes and other servants engaged upon that particular +estate, and other buildings. The land in general was badly broken +and poor in quality; much of it was still in woodland.</p> +<p>The River Farm lay farthest up the Potomac, being separated from +the others by the stream known as Little Hunting Creek. Visitors to +Mount Vernon to-day, traveling by trolley, cross this farm and +stream. It contained more tillable ground than any other, about +twelve hundred acres. In 1793 it had an "overlooker's" house of one +large and two small rooms below and one or two rooms above, +quarters <span class="pagenum"><a name="page062" id= +"page062"></a>[pg 062]</span> for fifty or sixty negroes, a large +barn and stables gone much to decay.</p> +<p>Muddy Hole Farm lay across Little Hunting Creek from the River +Farm and back of the Mansion House Farm and had no frontal upon the +Potomac. It contained four hundred seventy-six acres of tillable +soil and had in 1793 a small overlooker's house, "covering for +about 30 negroes, and a tolerable good barn, with stables for the +work-horses."</p> +<p>Union Farm lay just below the Mansion House Farm and contained +nine hundred twenty-eight acres of arable land and meadow. In 1793 +it had, in Washington's words, "a newly erected brick barn, equal, +perhaps, to any in America, and for conveniences of all sorts, +particularly for sheltering and feeding horses, cattle, &c. +scarcely to be exceeded any where." A new house of four rooms was +building, and there were quarters for fifty odd negroes. On this +farm was the old Posey fishery and ferry to Maryland.</p> +<p>Dogue Run Farm, of six hundred fifty acres, lay back of Union +Farm and upon it in 1793 stood the grist mill and later a +distillery and the famous sixteen-sided "new circular barn, now +finishing on a new construction; well calculated, it is conceived, +for <span class="pagenum"><a name="page063" id="page063"></a>[pg +063]</span> getting grain out of the straw more expeditiously than +the usual mode of threshing." It had a two-room overseer's house, +covering for forty odd negroes, and sheds sufficient for thirty +work horses and oxen. Washington considered it much the best of all +his farms. It was this farm that he bequeathed to Nelly Custis and +her husband, Lawrence Lewis, and upon it they erected "Woodlawn," +which is shown in the photograph herewith reproduced.</p> +<p>Not long since I rambled on foot over the old estate and had an +opportunity to compare the reality, or what remains of it, with +Washington's description. I left the Mansion House, often visited +before, and strolled down the long winding drive that runs between +the stunted evergreens and oaks through the old lodge gate and +passed from the domain, kept trim and parklike by the Association, +out upon the unkempt and vastly greater part of the old Mount +Vernon.</p> +<p>It was early morning, about the hour when in the long past the +master of the estate used to ride out on his tour of inspection. +The day was one of those delicious days in early autumn when earth +and sky and air and all things in nature seem kindly allied to help +the heart of man leap up in gladness and to <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page064" id="page064"></a>[pg 064]</span> enable +him to understand how there came to be a poet called Wordsworth. +Meadow-larks were singing in the grass, and once in an old hedgerow +over-grown with sweet-smelling wild honeysuckle I saw a covey of +young quails. These hedgerows of locust and cedar are broken now, +but along the old road to the mill and Pohick Church and between +fields the scattered trees and now and then a bordering ditch are +evidences of the old owner's handiwork.</p> +<p>Then and later I visited all the farms, the site of the old +mill, of which only a few stones remain, the mill stream, the +fishery and old ferry landing. I walked across the gullied fields +and examined the soil, I noted the scanty crops they bear to-day +and gained a clearer idea of what Washington's problem had been +than I could have done from a library of books.</p> +<p>Truly the estate is "pleasantly situated," though even to-day it +seems out of the world and out of the way. One must go far to find +so satisfying a view as that from the old Mansion House porch +across the mile of shining water to the Maryland hills' crowned +with trees glorified by the Midas-touch of frost. The land does lie +"high" and "dry," but we must take exception to the word "healthy." +In the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page065" id="page065"></a>[pg +065]</span> summer and fall the tidal marshes breed a variety of +mosquito capable of biting through armor plate and of infecting the +devil himself with malaria. In the General's day, when screens were +unknown, a large part of the population, both white and black, +suffered every August and September from chills and fever. The +master himself was not exempt and once we find him chronicling that +he went a-hunting and caught a fox and the ague.</p> +<p>What he says as regards the fisheries is all quite true and in +general they seem to have been very productive. Herring and shad +were the chief fish caught and when the run came the seine was +carried well out into the river in a boat and then hauled up on the +shelving beach either by hand or with a windlass operated by +horse-power. There were warehouses and vats for curing the fish, a +cooper shop and buildings for sheltering the men. The fish were +salted down for the use of the family and the slaves, and what +surplus remained was sold. Now and then the landing and outfit was +rented out for a money consideration, but this usually happened +only when the owner was away from home.</p> +<p>At the old Posey fishery on Union Farm the industry is still +carried on, though gasoline engines <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page066" id="page066"></a>[pg 066]</span> have been substituted +for the horse-operated winch used in drawing the seines. Lately the +industry has ceased to be very productive, and an old man in charge +told me that it is because fishermen down the river and in +Chesapeake Bay are so active that comparatively few fish manage to +get up so far.</p> +<p>The Mount Vernon estate in the old days lacked only one quality +necessary to make it extremely productive, namely, rich soil! Only +ignorance of what good land really is, or an owner's blind pride in +his own estate, can justify the phrase "a good loam." On most of +the estate the soil is thin, varying in color from a light gray to +a yellow red, with below a red clay hardpan almost impervious to +water. To an observer brought up on a farm of the rich Middle West, +Mount Vernon, except for a few scattered fields, seems extremely +poor land. For farming purposes most of it would be high at thirty +dollars an acre. Much of it is so broken by steep hills and deep +ravines as scarcely to be tillable at all. Those tracts which are +cultivated are very susceptible to erosion. Deep gullies are +quickly worn on the hillsides and slopes. At one time such a gully +on Union Farm extended almost completely across a large field and +was deep enough to hide a horse, but <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page067" id="page067"></a>[pg 067]</span> Washington filled it up +with trees, stumps, stones, old rails, brush and dirt, so that +scarcely a trace of it was left. In places one comes upon old +fields that have been allowed to revert to broom sedge, scrub oak +and scrub pine. One is astonished at the amount that has never been +cleared at all. Only by the most careful husbandry could such an +estate be kept productive. It never could be made to yield bumper +crops.</p> +<p>The situation confronting "Farmer Washington" was this: He had a +great abundance of land, but most of it on his home estate was +mediocre in quality. Some of that lying at a distance was more +fertile, but much of it was uncleared and that on the Ohio was +hopelessly distant from a market. With the exception of Mount +Vernon even those plantations in Virginia east of the Blue Ridge +could not be looked after in person. He must either rent them, +trust them to a manager, or allow them to lie idle. Even the Mount +Vernon land was distant from a good market, and the cost of +transportation was so great that he must produce for selling +purposes articles of little bulk compared with value. Finally, he +had an increasing number of slaves for whom food and clothing must +be provided.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page068" id="page068"></a>[pg +068]</span> +<p>His answer to the problem of a money crop was for some years the +old Virginia answer--tobacco. His far western lands he left for the +most part untenanted. Those plantations in settled regions but +remote from his home he generally rented for a share of the crop or +for cash. The staple articles that he produced to feed the slaves +were pork and corn, eked out by herring from the fishery.</p> +<p>From his accounts we find that in 1759 he made thirty-four +thousand one hundred sixty pounds of tobacco; the next year +sixty-five thousand thirty-seven pounds; in 1763, eighty-nine +thousand seventy-nine pounds, which appears to have been his banner +tobacco crop. In 1765 the quantity fell to forty-one thousand seven +hundred ninety-nine pounds; in 1771, to twenty-nine thousand nine +hundred eighty-six pounds, and in 1773 to only about five thousand +pounds. Thereafter his crop of the weed was negligible, though we +still find occasional references to it even as late as 1794, when +he states that he has twenty-five hogsheads in the warehouses of +Alexandria, where he has held it for five or six years because of +low prices.</p> +<p>He tried to raise a good quality and seems to have</p> +<a name="Illus0396.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="Images/Illus0396.jpg"><img src= +"Images/Illus0396.jpg" width="60%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>Looking across part of Dogue Run Farm to "Woodlawn," the Home of +Nelly Custis Lewis).</b></p> +<br> +<a name="Illus0397.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="Images/Illus0397.jpg"><img src= +"Images/Illus0397.jpg" width="60%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>Gully on a Field of Union Farm, Showing Susceptibility to +Erosion.</b></p> +<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page069" id="page069"></a>[pg +069]</span> +<p>concentrated on what he calls the "sweet scented" variety, but +for some reason, perhaps because his soil was not capable of +producing the best, he obtained lower prices than did some of the +other Virginia planters, and grumbled at his agents +accordingly.</p> +<p>He early realized the ruinous effects of tobacco on his land and +sought to free himself from its clutches by turning to the +production of wheat and flour for the West India market. Ultimately +he was so prejudiced against the weed that in 1789 we find him in a +contract with a tenant named Gray, to whom he leased a tract of +land for ten pounds, stipulating that Gray should make no more +tobacco than he needed for "chewing and smoaking in his own +family."</p> +<p>Late in life he decided that his land was not congenial to corn, +in which he was undoubtedly right, for the average yield was only +about fifteen bushels per acre. In the corn country farmers now +often produce a hundred. He continued to raise corn only because it +was essential for his negroes and hogs. In 1798 he contracted with +William A. Washington to supply him with five hundred barrels +annually to <span class="pagenum"><a name="page070" id= +"page070"></a>[pg 070]</span> eke out his own crop. Even this +quantity did not prove sufficient, for we find him next year trying +to engage one hundred barrels more.</p> +<p>Before this time his main concern had come to be to conserve his +soil and he had turned his attention largely to grass and live +stock. Of these matters more hereafter.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page071" id="page071"></a>[pg +071]</span> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> +<br> +<h3>THE STUDENT OF AGRICULTURE</h3> +<p>Washington took great pains to inform himself concerning any +subject in which he was interested and hardly was he settled down +to serious farming before he was ordering from England "the best +System now extant of Agriculture," Shortly afterward he expressed a +desire for a book "lately published, done by various hands, but +chiefly collected from the papers of Mr. Hale. If this is known to +be the best, pray send it, but not if any other is in high esteem." +Another time he inquires for a small piece in octavo, "a new system +of Agriculture, or a speedy way to grow rich."</p> +<p>Among his papers are preserved long and detailed notes +laboriously taken from such works as Tull's <i>Horse-Hoeing +Husbandry</i>, Duhamel's <i>A Practical Treatise of Husbandry, The +Farmer's Compleat Guide,</i> Home's <i>The Gentleman Farmer</i>, +and volumes of Young's <i>Annals of Agriculture</i>.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page072" id="page072"></a>[pg +072]</span> +<p>The abstracts from the <i>Annals</i> were taken after the +Revolution and probably before he became President, for the first +volume did not appear until 1784. From the handwriting it is +evident that the digests of Tull's and Duhamel's books were made +before the Revolution and probably about 1760. In the midst of the +notes on chapter eight of the <i>Compleat Guide</i> there are +evidences of a long hiatus in time--Mr. Fitzpatrick of the +manuscript division of the Library of Congress thinks perhaps as +much as eight or ten years. A vivid imagination can readily +conceive Washington's laying aside the task for the more important +one of vindicating the liberties of his countrymen and taking it up +again only when he had sheathed the sword. But all we can say is +that for some reason he dropped the work for a considerable time, +the evidence being that the later handwriting differs perceptibly +from that which precedes it.</p> +<p>As most of Washington's agricultural ideas were drawn from these +books, it is worth while for us to examine them. I have not been +able to put my hands on Washington's own copies, but in the library +of the Department of Agriculture I have examined the works of Tull, +Duhamel and Young.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page073" id="page073"></a>[pg +073]</span> +<p>Tull's <i>Horse-Hoeing Husbandry</i> was an epoch-making book in +the history of English agriculture. It was first published in 1731 +and the third edition, the one I have seen and probably the one +that Washington possessed, appeared in 1751. Possibly it was the +small piece in octavo, "a new system of Agriculture, or a speedy +way to grow rich" concerning which he wrote to his agent. It deals +with a great variety of subjects, such as of roots and leaves, of +food of plants, of pasture, of plants, of weeds, of turnips, of +wheat, of smut, of blight, of St. Foin, of lucerne, of ridges, of +plows, of drill boxes, but its one great thesis was the careful +cultivation by plowing of such annuals as potatoes, turnips, and +wheat, crops which hitherto had been tended by hand or left to +fight their battle unaided after having once been planted.</p> +<p>Duhamel's book was the work of a Frenchman whose last name was +Monceau. It was based in part upon Tull's book, but contained many +reflections suggested by French experience as well as some +additions made by the English translator. The English translation +appeared in 1759, the year of Washington's marriage. It dealt with +almost every aspect of agriculture and stock raising, advocated +horse-hoeing, <span class="pagenum"><a name="page074" id= +"page074"></a>[pg 074]</span> had much to say in favor of turnips, +lucerne, clover and such crops, and contained plates and +descriptions of various plows, drills and other kinds of +implements. It also contained a detailed table of weather +observations for a considerable time, which may have given +Washington the idea of keeping his meteorological records.</p> +<p>Young's <i>Annals</i> was an elaborate agricultural periodical +not unlike in some respects publications of this sort to-day except +for its lack of advertising. It contains records of a great variety +of experiments in both agriculture and stock raising, pictures and +descriptions of plows, machines for rooting up trees, and other +implements and machines, plans for the rotation of crops, and +articles and essays by experimental farmers of the day. Among its +contributors were men of much eminence, and we come upon articles +by Mr. William Pitt on storing turnips, Mr. William Pitt on deep +plowing; George III himself contributed under the pen name of +"Ralph Robinson." The man who should follow its directions even +to-day would not in most matters go far wrong.</p> +<p>As one looks over these publications he realizes that the +scientific farmers of that day were discussing many problems and +subjects that still interest <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page075" id="page075"></a>[pg 075]</span> those of the present. +The language is occasionally quaint, but the principles set down +are less often wrong than might be supposed. To be sure, Tull +denied that different plants require different sorts of food and, +notes Washington, "gives many unanswerable Reasons to prove it," +but he combats the notion that the soil ever causes wheat to +degenerate into rye. This he declares "as ridiculous as it would be +to say that an horse by feeding in a certain pasture will +degenerate into a Bull." And yet it is not difficult to discover +farmers to-day who will stubbornly argue that "wheat makes cheat." +Tull also advocated the idea that manure should be put on green and +plowed under in order to obtain anything like its full benefit, as +well as many other sound ideas that are still disregarded by many +American farmers.</p> +<p>Washington eagerly studied the works that have been mentioned, +and much of his time when at Mount Vernon was devoted to +experiments designed to ascertain to what extent the principles +that were sound in England could be successfully applied in an +American environment.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page076" id="page076"></a>[pg +076]</span> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> +<br> +<h3>A FARMER'S RECORDS AND OTHER PAPERS</h3> +<p>Washington was the most methodical man that ever lived. He had a +place for everything and insisted that everything should be kept in +its place. There was nothing haphazard about his methods of +business. He kept exact accounts of financial dealings.</p> +<p>His habit of setting things down on paper was one that developed +early. He kept a journal of his surveying experiences beyond the +Blue Ridge in 1748, another of his trip to Barbadoes with his +brother Lawrence in 1751-52, another of his trip to Fort Le Boeuf +to warn out the French, and yet another of his Fort Necessity +campaign. The words are often misspelled, many expressions are +ungrammatical, but the handwriting is good and the judgments +expressed, even those set down when he was only sixteen, are the +mature judgments of a man.</p> +<p>A year after his marriage he began a formal diary, which he +continued until June 19, 1775, the <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page077" id="page077"></a>[pg 077]</span> time of his appointment +to command the army of the Revolution. He called it his +<i>Diary</i> and later <i>Where, & how my time is Spent</i>. In +it he entered the happenings of the day, his agricultural and other +experiments, a record of his guests and also a detailed account of +the weather.</p> +<p>His attention to this last matter was most particular. Often +when away from home he would have a record kept and on his return +would incorporate it into his book. Exactly what advantages he +expected to derive therefrom are not apparent, though I presume +that he hoped to draw conclusions as to the best time for planting +crops. In reading it I was many times reminded of a Cleveland +octogenarian who for fifty-seven years kept a record twice a day of +the thermometer and barometer. Near the end of his life he brought +the big ledgers to the Western Reserve Historical Society, and I +happened to be present on the occasion. "You have studied the +subject for a long time," I said to him. "Are there any conclusions +you have been able to reach as a result of your investigation?" He +thought a minute and passed a wrinkled hand across a wrinkled brow. +"Nothing but this," he made answer, "that Cleveland weather is only +constant in its inconstancy."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page078" id="page078"></a>[pg +078]</span> +<p>We would gladly exchange some of these meteorological details +for further information about Washington's own personal doings and +feelings. Of the latter the diaries reveal little. Washington was +an objective man, above all in his papers. He sets down what +happens and says little about causes, motives or mental +impressions. When on his way to Yorktown to capture Cornwallis he +visited his home for the first time in six weary years, yet merely +recorded: "I reached my own Seat at Mount Vernon (distant 120 Miles +from the Hd. of Elk) where I staid till the 12th."</p> +<p>Not a word of the emotions which that visit must have +roused!</p> +<p>For almost six years after 1775 there is a gap in the diary, +though for some months of 1780 he sets down the weather. On May I, +1781, he begins a new record, which he calls a <i>Journal</i>, and +he expresses regret that he has not had time to keep one all the +time. The subjects now considered are almost wholly military and +the entries reveal a different man from that of 1775. The grammar +is better, the vocabulary larger, the tone more elevated, the man +himself is bigger and broader with an infinitely wider +viewpoint.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page079" id="page079"></a>[pg +079]</span> +<p>From November 5, 1781, for more than three years there is +another blank, except for the journal of his trip to his western +lands already referred to. But on January 1, 1785, he begins a new +<i>Diary</i> and thenceforward continues it, with short +intermissions, until the day of his last ride over his estate.</p> +<p>A few of the diaries and journals have been lost, but most are +still in existence. Some are in the Congressional Library and there +also is the Toner transcript of these records. The transcript makes +thirty-seven large volumes. The diary is one of the main sources +from which the material for this book is drawn.</p> +<p>The original of the record of events for 1760 is a small book, +perhaps eight or ten inches long by four inches wide and much +yellowed by age. Part of the first entry stands thus:</p> +<p>"January 1, Tuesday</p> +<p>"Visited my Plantations and received an Instance of Mr. French's +great Love of Money in disappointing me of some Pork because the +price had risen to 22.6 after he had engaged to let me have it at +20 s."</p> +<p>On his return from his winter ride he found Mrs. Washington +"broke out with the Meazles." Next <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page080" id="page080"></a>[pg 080]</span> day he states with +evident disgust that he has taken the pork on French's own +terms.</p> +<p>The weather record for 1760 was kept on blank pages of <i>The +Virginia Almanac</i>, a compendium that contains directions for +making "Indico," for curing bloody flux, for making "Physick as +pleasant as a Dish of Chocolate," for making a striking sun-dial, +also "A Receipt to keep one's self warm a whole Winter with a +single Billet of Wood." To do this last "Take a Billet of Wood of a +competent Size, fling it out of the Garret-Window into the Yard, +run down Stairs as hard as ever you can drive; and when you have +got it, run up again with it at the same Measure of Speed; and thus +keep throwing down, and fetching up, till the Exercise shall have +sufficiently heated you. This renew as often as Occasion shall +require. <i>Probatum est</i>."</p> +<p>This receipt would seem worth preserving in this day of dear +fuel. As Washington had great abundance of wood and plenty of +negroes to cut it, he probably did not try the experiment--at least +such a conclusion is what writers on historical method would call +"a safe inference."</p> +<p>There is in the almanac a rhyme ridiculing</p> +<a name="Illus0398.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="Images/Illus0398.jpg"><img src= +"Images/Illus0398.jpg" width="30%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>First Page of Washington's Digest of Duhamel's +Husbandry.</b></p> +<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page081" id="page081"></a>[pg +081]</span> +<p>physicians and above the March calendar are printed the touching +verses:</p> +<blockquote>"Thus of all Joy and happiness bereft,<br> +And with the Charge of Ten poor Children left:<br> +A greater Grief no Woman sure can know,<br> +Who,--with Ten Children--who will have me now."</blockquote> +<p>Also there are some other verses, very broad and "not quite the +proper thing," as Kipling has it. But it must not be inferred that +Washington approved of them.</p> +<p>Washington also kept cash memorandum books, general account +books, mill books and a special book in which he recorded his +accounts with the estate of the Custis children. These old books, +written in his neat legible hand, are not only one of our chief +sources of information concerning his agricultural and financial +affairs, but contain many sidelights upon historical events. It is +extremely interesting, for example, to discover in one of the +account books that in 1775 at Mount Vernon he lent General Charles +Lee--of Monmouth fame--£15, and "to Ditto lent him on the +Road from Phila to Cambridge <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page082" id="page082"></a>[pg 082]</span> at different times" +£9.12 more, a total of £24.12. In later years Lee +intrigued against Washington and said many spiteful things about +him, but he never returned the loan. The account stood until 1786, +when it was settled by Alexander White, Lee's executor.</p> +<p>In the Cash Memorandum books we can trace Washington's military +preparations at the beginning of the Revolution. Thus on June 2, +1775, being then at Philadelphia, he enters: "By Expences bringing +my Horses from Baltimore," £2.5. Next day he pays thirty +pounds for "Cartouch Boxes &c. for Prince Wm. Comp." June 6, +"By Covering my Holsters," £0.7.6; "By a Cersingle," +£0.7.6; "By 5 Books--Military," £1.12.0. He was +preparing for Gage and Howe and Cornwallis and whether the +knowledge contained in the books was of value or not he somehow +managed for eight years to hold his opponents at bay and ultimately +to win. At Cambridge, July tenth, he spends three shillings and +four pence for a "Ribbon to distinguish myself," that is to show +his position as commander; also £1.2.6 for "a pair of +Breeches for Will," his colored body servant.</p> +<p>A vast number of papers bear witness to his interest +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page083" id="page083"></a>[pg +083]</span> in agriculture and with these we are particularly +concerned. He preserved most of the letters written to him and many +of these deal with farming matters. During part of his career he +had a copying press and kept copies of his own important letters, +while many of the originals have been preserved, though widely +scattered. When away from home he required his manager to send him +elaborate weekly reports containing a meteorological table of each +day's weather, the work done on each farm, what each person did, +who was sick, losses and increases in stock, and other matters of +interest. Scores of these reports are still in existence and are +invaluable. He himself wrote--generally on Sunday--lengthy weekly +letters of inquiry, direction, admonition and reproof, and if the +manager failed in the minutest matter to give an account of some +phase of the farm work, he would be sure to hear of it in the +proprietor's next letter.</p> +<p>Washington's correspondence on agricultural matters with Arthur +Young and Sir John Sinclair, eminent English agriculturists, was +collected soon after his death in a volume that is now rare. In it +are a number of letters written by other American farmers, +including Thomas Jefferson, relative to agriculture <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page084" id="page084"></a>[pg 084]</span> in +their localities. These letters were the result of inquiries made +of Washington by Young in 1791. In order to obtain the facts +desired Washington sent out a circular letter to some of the most +intelligent farmers in the Middle States, and the replies form +perhaps our best source of information regarding agricultural +conditions in that period.</p> +<p>Because of this service and of his general interest in +agricultural matters Washington was elected a foreign honorary +member of the English Board of Agriculture and received a diploma, +which is still preserved among his papers.</p> +<p>Some of Washington's other agricultural papers have been printed +in one form and another, but a great number, and some the most +interesting, can still be consulted only in manuscript.</p> +<p>Washington bequeathed his books and papers, along with his +Mansion House, to his nephew, Bushrod Washington, an associate +justice of the Federal Supreme Court. Judge Washington failed to +appreciate fully the seriousness of the obligation thus incurred +and instead of safeguarding the papers with the utmost jealousy +gave many, including volumes of the diary, to visitors and friends +who expressed a desire to possess mementoes of the <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page085" id="page085"></a>[pg 085]</span> +illustrious patriot. In particular he permitted Reverend William +Buel Sprague, who had been a tutor in the family of Nelly Custis +Lewis, to take about fifteen hundred papers on condition that he +leave copies in their places. The judge also intrusted a +considerable portion to the historian Jared Sparks, who issued the +first considerable edition of Washington's writings. Sparks +likewise was guilty of giving away souvenirs.</p> +<p>Bushrod Washington died in 1829 and left the papers and letter +books for the most part to his nephew John Corbin Washington. In +1834 the nation purchased of this gentleman the papers of a public +character, paying twenty-five thousand dollars. The owner reserved +the private papers, including invoices, ciphering book, rules of +civility, etc., but in 1849 sold these also to the same purchaser +for twenty thousand dollars. The papers were kept for many years in +the Department of State, but in the administration of Theodore +Roosevelt most of them were transferred to the Library of Congress, +where they could be better cared for and would be more +accessible.</p> +<p>Bushrod Washington gave to another nephew, John Augustine +Washington, the books and relics <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page086" id="page086"></a>[pg 086]</span> in the dining-room of +the Mansion House. In course of time these were scattered, some +being bought for the Boston Athenaeum, which has decidedly the +larger part of Washington's library; others were purchased by the +state of New York, and yet others were exhibited at the Centennial +Exposition and were later sold at auction. Among the relics bought +by New York was a sword wrongly said to have been sent to the +General by Frederick the Great.</p> +<p>One hundred and twenty-seven of his letters, mostly to William +Pearce, his manager at Mount Vernon during a portion of his +presidency, were bought from the heirs of Pearce by the celebrated +Edward Everett and now belong to the Long Island Historical +Society. These have been published. His correspondence with Tobias +Lear, for many years his private secretary, are now in the +collection of Thomas K. Bixby, a wealthy bibliophile of St. Louis. +These also have been published. The one greatest repository of +papers is the Library of Congress. Furthermore, through the +unwearying activities of J. M. Toner, who devoted years to the +work, the Library also has authenticated copies of <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page087" id="page087"></a>[pg 087]</span> many +papers of which it does not possess the originals.</p> +<p>All told, according to Mr. Gaillard Hunt, who has them in +charge, the Washington manuscripts in the Library of Congress is +the largest collection of papers of one person in the world. The +collection contains about eighteen thousand papers in his own hand, +press copies, or drafts in the writing of his secretaries, and many +times that number of others. As yet all except a small part are +merely arranged in chronological order, but soon it is to be +sumptuously bound in royal purple levant. The color, after all, is +fitting, for he was a King and he reigns still in the hearts of his +countrymen.</p> +<p>Benjamin Franklin knew the great men of earth of his time, the +princes and kings of blood royal. Near the close of his life he +wrote in his will: "My fine crabtree walking-stick with a gold +head, curiously wrought in the form of a cap of Liberty, I give to +my friend, and the friend of mankind, General Washington. If it was +a sceptre, he has merited it, and would become it."</p> +<p>And thus Thackeray, who knew the true from the false, the dross +from pure gold: "Which was the <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page088" id="page088"></a>[pg 088]</span> most splendid spectacle +ever witnessed, the opening feast of Prince George in London or the +resignation of Washington? Which is the noble character for ages to +admire--yon fribble dancing in lace and spangles, or yonder hero +who sheathes his sword after a life of spotless honor, a purity +unreproached, a courage indomitable, and a consummate victory? +Which of these is the true gentleman? What is it to be a gentleman? +Is it to have lofty aims, to lead a pure life, to keep your honor +virgin; to have the esteem of your fellow-citizens, and the love of +your fireside; to bear good fortune meekly; to suffer evil with +constancy; and through evil or good to maintain truth always? Show +me the happy man whose life exhibits these qualities, and him will +we salute as gentleman, whatever his rank may be; show me the +prince who possesses them, and he may be sure of our love and +loyalty."</p> +<p>'Tis often distance only that lends enchantment, but it is +Washington's proud pre-eminence that he can bear the microscope. +Having read thousands of his letters and papers dealing with almost +every conceivable subject in the range of human affairs, I yet feel +inclined, nay compelled, to bear witness to the greatness of his +heart, soul and understanding. <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page089" id="page089"></a>[pg 089]</span> He was human. He had his +faults. He made his mistakes. But I would not detract a line from +any eulogium of him ever uttered. Words have never yet been penned +that do him justice.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page090" id="page090"></a>[pg +090]</span> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> +<br> +<h3>AGRICULTURAL OPERATIONS AND EXPERIMENTS BEFORE THE +REVOLUTION</h3> +<p>A detailed account of all of Washington's agricultural +experiments would require several hundred pages and would be +tedious reading. All that I shall attempt to do is to give some +examples and point the way for any enthusiast to the mass of his +agricultural papers in the Library of Congress and elsewhere.</p> +<p>At the outset it should be stated that he worked under extremely +different conditions from those of to-day. Any American farmer of +the present who has a problem in his head can have it solved by +writing to the nearest government experiment station, a good farm +paper, an agricultural college, the department of agriculture, or +in some favored districts by consulting the local county "agent." +Washington had no such recourse. There was not an agricultural +college or agricultural paper in the whole <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page091" id="page091"></a>[pg 091]</span> +country; the department of agriculture was not created until near +the end of the next century; county "agents" were as unthought of +as automobiles or electric lights; there was not a scientific +farmer in America; even the Philadelphia Society for the Promotion +of Agriculture was not founded until 1785. In his later years our +Farmer could and did write to such foreign specialists as Arthur +Young and Sir John Sinclair, but they were Englishmen unfamiliar +with American soils and climate and could rarely give a weighty +answer propounded to them by an American. If Washington wished to +know a thing about practical farming, he usually had to find it out +for himself.</p> +<p>This state of affairs accounts for his performing some +experiments that seem absurd. Thus in the fall of 1764 we find him +sowing "a few Oats to see if they would stand the winter." Any +country boy of to-day could tell him that ordinary oats sown under +such conditions in the latitude of Mount Vernon would winter kill +too badly to be of much use, but Washington could not know it till +he had tried.</p> +<p>In another category was his experiment in March, 1760, with +lucerne. Lucerne is alfalfa. It will probably be news to most +readers that alfalfa--the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page092" +id="page092"></a>[pg 092]</span> wonderful forage crop of the West, +the producer of more gold than all the mines of the Klondike--was +in use so long ago, for the impression is pretty general that it is +comparatively new; the fact is that it is older than the Christian +era and that the name alfalfa comes from the Arabic and means "the +best crop." Evidently our Farmer had been reading on the subject, +for in his diary he quotes what "Tull speaking of lucerne, says." +He tried out the plant on this and several other occasions and had +a considerable field of it in 1798. His success was not large with +it at any time, for the Mount Vernon soil was not naturally suited +to alfalfa, which thrives best in a dry and pervious subsoil +containing plenty of lime, but the experiment was certainly worth +trying.</p> +<p>In this same year, 1760, we find him sowing clover, rye, grass, +hope, trefoil, timothy, spelt, which was a species of wheat, and +various other grasses and vegetables, most of them to all intents +and purposes unknown to the Virginia agriculture of that day.</p> +<p>He also recorded an interesting experiment with fertilizer. +April 14, 1760, he writes in his diary:</p> +<p>"Mixed my composts in a box with the apartments <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page093" id="page093"></a>[pg 093]</span> in the +following manner, viz. No. 1 is three pecks of earth brought from +below the hill out of the 46 acre field without any mixture. In No. +2 is two pecks of sand earth and one of marle taken out of the said +field, which marle seemed a little inclined to sand. 3 has 2 pecks +of sd. earth and 1 of river sand.</p> +<p>"4 has a peck of Horse Dung</p> +<p>"5 has mud taken out of the creek</p> +<p>"6 has cow dung</p> +<p>"7 has marle from the Gulleys on the hillside, wch. seem'd to be +purer than the other</p> +<p>"8 sheep dung</p> +<p>"9 Black mould from the Gulleys on the hill side, wch. seem'd to +be purer than the other</p> +<p>"10 Clay got just below the garden</p> +<p>"All mixed with the same quantity and sort of earth in the most +effective manner by reducing the whole to a tolerable degree of +fineness and rubbing them well together on a cloth. In each of +these divisions were planted three grains of wheat, 3 of oats, and +as many of barley, all of equal distances in Rows and of equal +depth done by a machine made for the purpose. The wheat rows are +next the numbered side, the oats in the middle, and the barley +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page094" id="page094"></a>[pg +094]</span> on the side next the upper part of the Garden. Two or +three hours after sowing in this manner, and about an hour before +sunset I watered them all equally alike with water that had been +standing in a tub abt two hours exposed to the sun."</p> +<p>Three weeks later he inspected the boxes and concluded that Nos. +8 and 9 gave the best results.</p> +<p>The plows of the period were cumbersome and did their work +poorly. Consequently in March, 1760, Washington "Fitted a two Eyed +Plow instead of a Duck Bill Plow", and tried it out, using his +carriage horses in the work. But this new model proved upon the +whole a failure and a little later he "Spent the greater part of +the day in making a new plow of my own Invention." Next day he set +the new plow to work "and found She answerd very well."</p> +<p>A little later he "got a new harrow made of smaller and closer +teethings for harrowing in grain--the other being more proper for +preparing the ground for sowing."</p> +<p>Much of his attention in the next few years was devoted to wheat +growing, for, as already related, he soon decided gradually to +discontinue tobacco and it was imperative for him to discover some +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page095" id="page095"></a>[pg +095]</span> other money crop to take its place. We find him +steeping his seed wheat in brine and alum to prevent smut and he +also tried other experiments to protect his grain from the Hessian +fly and rust. Noticing how the freezing and thawing of the ground +in spring often injured the wheat by lifting it out of the ground, +he adopted the practice of running a heavy roller over the wheat in +order to get the roots back into the ground and he was confident +that when the operation was performed at the proper time, that is +when the ground was soft and the roots were still alive, it was +productive of good results.</p> +<p>In June, 1763, he "dug up abt. a load of Marle to spread over +Wheat Land for experiment." In 1768 he came to the conclusion that +most farmers began to cut their wheat too late, for of course +cradling was a slow process--scarcely four acres per day per +cradler--and if the acreage was large several days must elapse +before the last of the grain could be cut, with the result that +some of it became so ripe that many of the kernels were shattered +out and lost before the straw could be got to the threshing floor. +By careful experiments he determined that the grain would not lose +perceptibly in size and weight if the wheat were cut comparatively +green. <span class="pagenum"><a name="page096" id="page096"></a>[pg +096]</span> In wheat-growing communities the discussion as to this +question still rages--extremists on one side will not cut their +wheat till it is dead ripe, while those on the other begin to +harvest it when it is almost sea-green.</p> +<p>In 1763 Washington entered into an agreement with John Carlyle +and Robert Adams of Alexandria to sell to them all the wheat he +would have to dispose of in the next seven years. The price was to +be three shillings and nine pence per bushel, that is, about +ninety-one cents. This would not be far from the average price of +wheat to-day, but, on the one side, we should bear in mind that +ninety-one cents then had much greater purchasing power than now, +so that the price was really much greater, and, on the other, that +the cost of raising wheat was larger then, owing to lack of +self-binders, threshing machines and other labor-saving +devices.</p> +<p>The wheat thus sold by Washington was to be delivered at the +wharf at Alexandria or beside a boat or flat on Four Mile Run +Creek. The delivery for 1764 was 257-1/2 bushels; for 1765, +1,112-3/4 bushels; for 1766, 2,331-1/2 bushels; for 1767--a bad +year--1,293-1/2 bushels; for 1768, 4,994-1/2 bushels <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page097" id="page097"></a>[pg 097]</span> of +wheat and 4,304-1/2 bushels of corn; for 1769, 6,241-1/2 bushels of +wheat.</p> +<p>Thereafter he ground a good part of his wheat and sold the +flour. He owned three mills, one in western Pennsylvania, already +referred to, a second on Four Mile Run near Alexandria, and a third +on the Mount Vernon estate. This last mill had been in operation +since his father's day. It was situated near the mouth of the +stream known as Dogue Run, which was not very well suited for the +purpose as it ran from the extreme of low water in summer to +violent floods in winter and spring. Thus his miller, William A. +Poole, in a letter that wins the sweepstakes in phonetic spelling, +complains in 1757 that he has been able to grind but little because +"She fails by want of Water." At other times the Master sallies out +in the rain with rescue crews to save the mill from floods and more +than once the "tumbling dam" goes by the board in spite of all +efforts. The lack of water was partly remedied in 1771 by turning +the water of Piney Branch into the Run, and about the same time a +new and better mill was erected, while in 1797 further improvements +were made. During the whole period flatboats and small <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page098" id="page098"></a>[pg 098]</span> +schooners could come to the wharf to take away the flour. Corn and +other grains were ground, as well as wheat, and the mill had +considerable neighborhood custom, the toll exacted being +one-eighth. Only a few stones sticking in a bank now remain of the +mill.</p> +<p>Washington divided his flour into superfine, fine, middlings and +ship stuff. It was put into barrels manufactured by the plantation +coopers and much of it ultimately found its way to the West India +market. A tradition--much quoted--has it that barrels marked +"George Washington, Mount Vernon," were accepted in the islands +without any inspection, but Mr. J.M. Toner, one of the closest +students of Washington's career, contended that this was a mistake +and pointed to the fact that the Virginia law provided for the +inspection of all flour before it was exported and the placing of a +brand on each barrel. However this may be, we have Washington's own +word for it, that his flour was as good in quality as any +manufactured in America--and he was no boaster.</p> +<p>That his flour was so good was in large measure due to the +excellent quality of the wheat from which it was made. By careful +attention to his seed and</p> +<a name="Illus0400.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="Images/Illus0400.jpg"><img src= +"Images/Illus0400.jpg" width="60%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>Dogue Run below the Site of the Mill.</b></p> +<br> +<a name="Illus0401.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="Images/Illus0401.jpg"><img src= +"Images/Illus0401.jpg" width="60%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>On the Road to the Mill and Pohick Church.</b></p> +<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page099" id="page099"></a>[pg +099]</span> +<p>to cultivation he succeeded in raising grain that often weighed +upward of sixty pounds to the bushel. After the Revolution he +wrote: "No wheat that has ever yet fallen under my observation +exceeds the wheat which some years ago I cultivated +extensively."</p> +<p>His idea of good cultivation in these years was to let his +fields lie fallow at certain intervals, though he also made use of +manure, marl, etc., and in 1772 tried the experiment of sowing two +bushels of salt per acre upon fallow ground, dividing the plot up +into strips eight feet in width and sowing the alternate strips in +order that he might be able to determine results.</p> +<p>He imported from England an improved Rotheran or patent plow, +and, having noticed in an agricultural work mention of a machine +capable of pulling up two or three hundred stumps per day, he +expressed a desire for one, saying: "If the accounts are not +greatly exaggerated, such powerful assistance must be of vast +utility in many parts of this wooden country, where it is +impossible for our force (and laborers are not to be hired here), +between the finishing of one crop and preparations for another, to +clear ground fast enough to afford the <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page100" id="page100"></a>[pg 100]</span> proper +changes, either in the planting or farming business."</p> +<p>These were his golden days. He was not so rich as he was later +nor so famous, but he was strong and well and young, he had +abundant friends, and his neighbors thought well enough of him to +send him to the Burgesses and to make him a vestryman of old Pohick +Church; if he felt the need of recreation he went fishing or +fox-hunting or attended a horse race or played a game of cards with +his friends, and he had few things to trouble him seriously. But +fussy kings and ministers overseas were meddling with the liberties +of subjects and were creating a situation out of which was to come +a mighty burden--a burden so Atalantean that it would have +frightened most men, but one that he was brave enough and strong +enough to shoulder and with it march down to immortality.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page101" id="page101"></a>[pg +101]</span> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> +<br> +<h3>CONSERVING THE SOIL</h3> +<p>The Revolution rudely interrupted Washington's farming +experiments, and for eight long years he was so actively engaged in +the grim business of checkmating Howe and Clinton and Cornwallis +that he could give little time or thought to agriculture. For more +than six years, in fact, he did not once set foot upon his beloved +fields and heard of his crops, his servants and his live stock only +from family visitors to his camps or through the pages of his +manager's letters.</p> +<p>Peace at last brought him release. He had left Mount Vernon a +simple country gentleman; he came back to it one of the most famous +men in the world. He wasted no time in contemplating his laurels, +but at once threw himself with renewed enthusiasm into his old +occupation. His observation of northern agriculture and +conversations with other farmers had broadened his views and he was +more than ever <span class="pagenum"><a name="page102" id= +"page102"></a>[pg 102]</span> progressive. He was now thoroughly +convinced of the great desirability of grass and stock for +conserving the soil and he was also wide awake to the need of +better tools and methods and wished to make his estate beautiful as +well as useful.</p> +<p>Much of his energy in 1784-85 was devoted to rebuilding his +house and improving his grounds, and to his trip to his Ohio +lands--all of which are described elsewhere. No diary exists for +1784 except that of the trip to the Ohio, but from the diary of +1785 we learn that he found time to experiment with plaster of +Paris and powdered stone as fertilizers, to sow clover, orchard +grass, guinea grass and peas and to borrow a scow with which to +raise rich mud from the bed of the Potomac.</p> +<p>The growing poverty of his soil, in fact, was a subject to which +he gave much attention. He made use of manure when possible, but +the supply of this was limited and commercial fertilizers were +unknown. As already indicated, he was beginning the use of clover +and other grasses, but he was anxious to build up the soil more +rapidly and the Potomac muck seemed to him a possible answer to the +problem. There was, as he said, "an inexhaustible fund" of it, but +the task of getting it on the land was a <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page103" id="page103"></a>[pg 103]</span> heavy +one. Having heard of a horse-power dredge called the +<i>Hippopotamus</i> that was in use on the Delaware River, he made +inquiries concerning it but feared that it would not serve his +purpose, as he would have to go from one hundred to eight hundred +or a thousand yards from high water-mark for the mud--too far out +for a horse to be available. Mechanical difficulties and the cost +of getting up the mud proved too great for him--as they have proved +too great even down to the present--but he never gave up the idea +and from time to time tried experiments with small plots of ground +that had been covered with the mud. His enthusiasm on the subject +was so great that Noah Webster, of dictionary fame, who visited him +in this period, says that the standing toast at Mount Vernon was +"Success to the mud!"</p> +<p>Every scientific agriculturist knows that erosion is one of the +chief causes of loss in soil fertility and that in the basins and +deltas of streams and rivers there is going to waste enough muck to +make all of our land rich. But the cost of getting this fertility +back to the soil has thus far proved too great for us to undertake +the task of restoration. It is conceivable, however, that the time +may come when we <span class="pagenum"><a name="page104" id= +"page104"></a>[pg 104]</span> shall undertake the work in earnest +and then the dream of Washington will be realized.</p> +<p>The spring and summer of 1785 proved excessively dry, and the +crops suffered, as they always do in times of drought. The wheat +yield was poor and chinch bugs attacked the corn in such myriads +that our Farmer found "hundreds of them & their young under the +blades and at the lower joints of the Stock." By the middle of +August "Nature had put on a melancholy look." The corn was +"<i>fired</i> in most places to the Ear, with little appearance of +yielding if Rain should now come & a certainty of making +nothing if it did not."</p> +<p>Like millions of anxious farmers before and after him, he +watched eagerly for the rain that came not. He records in his diary +that on August 17th a good deal of rain fell far up the river, but +as for his fields--it tantalizingly passed by on the other side, +and "not enough fell here to wet a handkerchief." On the +eighteenth, nineteenth and twenty-second clouds and thunder and +lightning again awakened hopes but only slight sprinkles resulted. +On the twenty-seventh nature at last relented and, to his great +satisfaction, there was a generous downpour.</p> +<p>The rain was beneficial to about a thousand grains <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page105" id="page105"></a>[pg 105]</span> of +Cape of Good Hope wheat that Washington had just sown and by the +thirty-first he was able to note that it was coming up. For several +years thereafter he experimented with this wheat. He found that it +grew up very rank and tried cutting some of it back. But the +variety was not well adapted to Virginia and ultimately he gave it +up.</p> +<p>In this period he also tried Siberian wheat, put marl on sixteen +square rods of meadow<a name="FNanchor4"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_4">[4]</a>, plowed under rye, and experimented with +oats, carrots, Eastern Shore peas, supposed to be strengthening to +land, also rib grass, burnet and various other things. He planted +potatoes both with and without manure and noted carefully the +difference in yields. At this time he favored planting corn in rows +about ten feet apart, with rows of potatoes, carrots, or peas +between. He noted down that his experience showed that corn ought +to be planted not later than <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page106" id="page106"></a>[pg 106]</span> May 15th, preferably by +the tenth or perhaps even as early as the first, in which his +practice would not differ much from that of to-day. But he came to +an erroneous conclusion when he decided that wheat ought to be sown +in August or at the latter end of July, for this was playing into +the hands of his enemy, the Hessian fly, which is particularly +destructive to early sown wheat. Later he seems to have changed his +mind on that point, for near the end of his life he instructed his +manager to get the wheat in by September 10th. Another custom which +he was advocating was that of fall and winter plowing and he had as +much of it done as time and weather would permit. All of his +experiments in this period were painstakingly set down and he even +took the trouble in 1786 to index his agricultural notes and +observations for that year.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor4">[4]</a> +"On sixteen square rod of ground in my lower pasture, I put 140 +Bushels of what we call Marle viz on 4 of these, No. Wt. corner +were placed 50 bushels--on 4 others So. Wt. corner 30 bushels--on 4 +others So. Et. corner 40 bushels--and on the remaining 4-20 +bushels. This Marle was spread on the rods in these proportions--to +try first whether what we have denominated to be Marie possesses +any virtue as manure--and secondly--if it does, the quantity proper +for an acre." His ultimate conclusion was that marl was of little +benefit to land such as he owned at Mount Vernon.</blockquote> +<p>Many of his experiments were made in what he called his +"Botanical Garden," a plot of ground lying between the flower +garden and the spinner's house. But he had experimental plots on +most or all of his plantations, and each day as he made the rounds +of his estate on horseback he would examine how his plants were +growing or would start new experiments.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page107" id="page107"></a>[pg +107]</span> +<p>The record of failures is, of course, much greater than of +successes, but that is the experience of every scientific farmer or +horticulturist who ventures out of the beaten path. Even Burbank, +the wizard, has his failures--and many of them.</p> +<p>One of Washington's successes was what he called a "barrel +plough." At that time all seed, such as corn, wheat and oats had to +be sown or dropped by hand and then covered with a harrow or a hoe +or something of the kind. Washington tried to make a machine that +would do the work more expeditiously and succeeded, though it +should be said that his plans were not altogether original with +him, as there was a plan for such a machine in Duhamel and another +was published by Arthur Young about this time in the <i>Annals of +Agriculture</i>, which Washington was now perusing with much +attention. Richard Peters also sent yet another plan.</p> +<p>Washington's drill, as we should call it to-day, consisted of a +barrel or hollow cylinder of wood mounted upon a wheeled plow and +so arranged that as the plow moved forward the barrel turned. In +the barrel, holes were cut or burnt through which the corn or other +seed could drop into tubes that ran down to the ground. By +decreasing or increasing <span class="pagenum"><a name="page108" +id="page108"></a>[pg 108]</span> the number of holes the grain +could be planted thicker or thinner as desired. To prevent the +holes from choking up he found it expedient to make them larger on +the outside than on the inside, and he also found that the machine +worked better if the barrel was not kept too full of seed. Behind +the drills ran a light harrow or drag which covered the seed, +though in rough ground it was necessary to have a man follow after +with a hoe to assist the process. A string was fastened to this +harrow by which it could be lifted around when turning at the ends +of the rows, the drill itself being managed by a pair of +handles.</p> +<p>Washington wrote to a friend that the drill would not "work to +good effect in land that is very full either of stumps, stones, or +large clods; but, where the ground is tolerably free from these and +in good tilth, and particularly in light land, I am certain you +will find it equal to your most sanguine expectation, for Indian +corn, wheat, barley, pease, or any other tolerably round grain, +that you may wish to sow or plant in this manner. I have sown oats +very well with it, which is among the most inconvenient and unfit +grains for this machine.... A small bag, containing about a peck of +the seed you are sowing, is hung to the nails on the right handle, +and <span class="pagenum"><a name="page109" id="page109"></a>[pg +109]</span> with a small tin cup the barrel is replenished with +convenience, whenever it is necessary, without loss of time, or +waiting to come up with the seed-bag at the end of the row."</p> +<p>As Washington says, the drill would probably work well under +ideal conditions, but there were features of it that would incline, +I have no doubt, to make its operator swear at times. There was a +leather band that ran about the barrel with holes corresponding to +those in the barrel, the purpose of the band being to prevent the +seeds issuing out of more than one hole at the same time. This band +had to be "slackened or braced" according to the influence of the +atmosphere upon the leather, and sometimes the holes in the band +tended to gape and admit seed between the band and the barrel, in +which case Washington found it expedient to rivet "a piece of sheet +tin, copper, or brass, the width of the band, and about four inches +long, with a hole through it, the size of the one in the +leather."</p> +<p>Washington was, however, very proud of the drill, and it must +have worked fairly well, for he was not the man to continue to use +a worthless implement simply because he had made it. He even used +it to sow very small seed. In the summer of <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page110" id="page110"></a>[pg 110]</span> 1786 +he records: "Having fixed a Roller to the tale of my drill plow, +& a brush between it and the barrel, I sent it to Muddy Hole +& sowed turnips in the intervals of corn<a name= +"FNanchor5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5">[5]</a>."</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor5">[5]</a> +Another passage from his papers in which he mentions using his +drill plow is also illustrative of the emphasis he placed upon +having the seed bed for a crop properly prepared. The passage +describes his sowing some spring wheat and is as follows: "12th [of +April, 1785].--Sowed sixteen acres of Siberian wheat, with eighteen +quarts, in rows between corn, eight feet apart. This ground had +been prepared in the following manner: 1. A single furrow; 2. +another in the same to deepen it; 3. four furrows to throw the +earth back into the two first, which made ridges of five furrows. +These, being done some time ago, and the sowing retarded by +frequent rains, had got hard; therefore, 4. before the seed was +sown, these ridges were split again by running twice in the middle +of them, both times in the same furrow; 5. after which the ridges +were harrowed; and, 6. where the ground was lumpy, run a spiked +roller with a harrow at the tail of it, which was found very +efficacious in breaking the clods and pulverizing the earth, and +would have done it perfectly, if there had not been too much +moisture remaining from the late rains. After this, harrowing and +rolling were necessary, the wheat was sown with the drill plough on +the reduced ridges eight feet apart, as above mentioned, and +harrowed in with the small harrow belonging to the plough. But it +should have been observed, that, after the ridges were split by the +middle double furrows, and before they were closed again by the +harrow, a little manure was sprinkled in."</blockquote> +<p>No man better understood the value of good clean seed than did +he, but he had much trouble in satisfying his desires in this +respect. Often the seed he bought was foul with weed seeds, and at +other times it would not grow at all. Once he mentions having +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page111" id="page111"></a>[pg +111]</span> set the women and "weak hands" to work picking wild +onions out of some Eastern Shore oats that he had bought.</p> +<p>He advocated planting the largest and finest potatoes instead of +the little ones, as some farmers out of false ideas of economy +still make the mistake of doing, and he followed the same principle +that "the best will produce the best" in selecting all seed.</p> +<p>He also appreciated the importance of getting just the right +stand of grain--not too many plants and not too few--upon his +fields and conducted investigations along this line. He laboriously +calculated the number of seed in a pound Troy of various seeds and +ascertained, for example, that the number of red clover was 71,000, +of timothy 298,000, of "New River Grass" 844,800 and of barley +8,925. Knowing these facts, he was able to calculate how much ought +to be sowed of a given seed to the acre.</p> +<p>The spectacle of the former Commander of the Armies of a +Continent engaging in such minute labor is ridiculous or sublime, +according to the viewpoint!</p> +<p>In the spring of the year that he helped to frame the Federal +Constitution he "Sowed the squares No. 2 & 4 at this place +[Dogue Run] with oats in the <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page112" id="page112"></a>[pg 112]</span> following +manner--viz--the East half of No. 2 with half a Bushel of Oats from +George Town--and the west half with a Bushel of Poland Oats--The +east half of No. 4 with half a bushel of the Poland Oats and the +west half with a bushel of the George Town Oats. The objects, and +design of this experiment, was to ascertn. 3 things--1st. which of +these two kinds of Oats were best the George Town (which was a good +kind of the common Oats)--2d. whether two or four bushels to the +Acre was best--and 3d. the difference between ground dunged at the +Rate of 5 load or 200 bushels to the Acre and ground undunged."</p> +<p>This experiment is typical of a great many others and it +resulted, of course, in better yields on the manured ground and +showed that two bushels of seed were preferable to four. But if he +ever set down the result of the experiment as regards the +varieties, the passage has escaped me.</p> +<p>While at Fredericksburg this year visiting his mother and his +sister Betty Lewis he learned of an interesting method of raising +potatoes under straw and wrote down the details in his diary. A +little later when attending the Federal Convention he kept his eyes +and ears open for agricultural information. <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page113" id="page113"></a>[pg 113]</span> He +learned how the Pennsylvanians cultivated buckwheat and visited the +farm of a certain Jones, who was getting good results from the use +of plaster of Paris. With his usual interest in labor-saving +machinery he inspected at Benjamin Franklin's a sort of ironing +machine called a mangle, "well calculated," he thought, "for Table +cloths & such articles as have not pleats & irregular +foldings & would be very useful in large families."</p> +<p>This year he had in wheat seven hundred acres, in grass five +hundred eighty acres, in oats four hundred acres, in corn seven +hundred acres, with several hundred more in buckwheat, barley, +potatoes, peas, beans and turnips.</p> +<p>In 1788 he raised one thousand eighty-eight bushels of potatoes +on one plantation, but they were not dug till December and in +consequence some were badly injured by the frost. An experiment +that year was one of transplanting carrots between rows of corn and +it was not successful.</p> +<p>He worked hard in these years, but, as many another industrious +farmer has discovered, he found that he could do little unless +nature smiled and fickle nature persisted in frowning. In 1785 the +rain seemed to forget how to fall, and in 1786 how to <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page114" id="page114"></a>[pg 114]</span> stop +falling. Some crops failed or were very short and soon he was so +hard up that he was anxious to sell some lands or negroes to meet +debts coming due. In February, 1786, in sending fifteen guineas to +his mother, he wrote:</p> +<p>"I have now demands upon me for more than £500, three +hundred and forty odd of which is due for the tax of 1786; and I +know not where or when I shall receive one shilling with which to +pay it. In the last two years I made no crops. In the first I was +obliged to buy corn, and this year have none to sell, and my wheat +is so bad I can neither eat it myself nor sell it to others, and +tobacco I make none. Those who owe me money cannot or will not pay +it without suits, and to sue is to do nothing; whilst my expenses, +not from any extravagance, or an inclination on my part to live +splendidly, but for the absolute support of my family and the +visitors who are constantly here, are exceedingly high."</p> +<p>To bad crops were joined bad conditions throughout the country +generally. The government of the Confederation was dying of +inanition, America was flooded with depreciated currency, both +state and Continental. In western Massachusetts a rebellion broke +out, the rebels being largely discouraged debtors. <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page115" id="page115"></a>[pg 115]</span> A +state of chaos seemed imminent and would have resulted had not the +Federal Convention, of which Washington was a member, created a new +government. Ultimately this government brought order and financial +stability, but all this took time and Washington was so financially +embarrassed in 1789 when he traveled to New York to be inaugurated +President that he had to borrow money to pay the expenses of the +journey.</p> +<p>After having set the wheels of government in motion he made an +extended trip through New England and whenever public festivities +would permit he examined into New England farm methods and took +copious notes. On the first day up from New York he saw good crops +of corn mixed with pumpkins and met four droves of beef cattle, +"some of which were very fine--also a Flock of Sheep.... We +scarcely passed a farm house that did not abd. in Geese." His +judgment of New England stock was that the cattle were "of a good +quality and their hogs large, but rather long legged." The shingle +roofs, stone and brick chimneys, stone fences and cider making all +attracted his attention. The fact that wheat in that section +produced an average of fifteen bushels per acre and often twenty or +twenty-five <span class="pagenum"><a name="page116" id= +"page116"></a>[pg 116]</span> was duly noted. On the whole he seems +to have considered the tour enjoyable and profitable in spite of +the fact that on his return through Connecticut the law against +Sabbath traveling compelled him to remain over Sunday at Perkins' +Tavern and to attend church twice, where he "heard very lame +discourses from a Mr. Pond."</p> +<p>About 1785 Washington had begun a correspondence with Arthur +Young and also began to read his periodical called the <i>Annals of +Agriculture</i>. The <i>Annals</i> convinced him more than ever of +the superiority of the English system of husbandry and not only +gave him the idea for some of the experiments that have been +mentioned, but also made him very desirous of adopting a regular +and systematic course of cropping in order to conserve his soil. +Taking advantage of an offer made by Young, he ordered (August 6, +1786) through him English plows, cabbage, turnip, sainfoin, +rye-grass and hop clover seed and eight bushels of winter vetches; +also some months later, velvet wheat, field beans, spring barley, +oats and more sainfoin seed. He furthermore expressed a wish for "a +plan of the most complete and useful farmyard, for farms of about +500 acres. In this I mean to comprehend the barn, and every +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page117" id="page117"></a>[pg +117]</span> appurtenance which ought to be annexed to the +yard."</p> +<p>Young was as good as his word. Although English law forbade the +exportation of some of these things--a fact of which Washington was +not aware--he and Sir John Sinclair prevailed upon Lord Grenville +to issue a special permit and in due course everything reached +Mount Vernon. Part of the seeds were somewhat injured by being put +into the hold of the vessel that brought them over, with the result +that they overheated--a thing that troubled Washington whenever he +imported seeds--but on the whole the consignment was in fair order, +and our Farmer was duly grateful.</p> +<p>The plows appeared excessively heavy to the Virginians who +looked them over, but a trial showed that they worked "exceedingly +well."</p> +<p>To Young's plan for a barn and barnyard Washington made some +additions and constructed the barn upon Union Farm, building it of +bricks that were made on the estate. He later expressed a belief +that it was "the largest and most convenient one in this country." +It has now disappeared almost utterly, but Young's plan was +subsequently engraved in the <i>Annals</i>.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page118" id="page118"></a>[pg +118]</span> +<p>In return for the exertions of Young and Sinclair in his behalf +Washington sent over some American products and also took pains to +collect information for them as to the state of American +agriculture. His letters show an almost pathetic eagerness to +please these good friends and it is evident that in his farming +operations he regarded himself as one of Young's disciples. He was +no egotist who believed that because he had been a successful +soldier and was now President of the United States he could not +learn anything from a specialist. The trait was most commendable +and one that is sadly lacking in many of his countrymen, some of +whom take pride in declaring that "these here scientific fellers +caint tell me nothin' about raisin' corn!"</p> +<p>Young and Sir John Sinclair were by no means his only +agricultural correspondents. Even Noah Webster dropped his legal +and philological work long enough in 1790 to propound a theory so +startlingly modern in its viewpoint that it is worthy of +reproduction. Said he:</p> +<p>"While therefore I allow, in its full extent, the value of +stable manure, marl, plaster of Paris, lime, ashes, sea-weed, +sea-shells & salt, in enriching land, I believe none of them +are absolutely necessary, but <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page119" id="page119"></a>[pg 119]</span> that nature has provided +an inexhaustible store of manure, which is equally accessible to +the rich and the poor, & which may be collected & applied +to land with very little labor and expense. This store is the +<i>atmosphere</i>, & the process by which the fertilizing +substance may be obtained is vegetation."</p> +<p>He added that such crops as oats, peas, beans and buckwheat +should be raised and plowed under to rot and that land should never +be left bare. As one peruses the letter he recalls that scientists +of to-day tell us that the air is largely made up of nitrogen, that +plants are able to "fix it," and he half expects to find Webster +advocating "soil innoculation" and speaking of "nodules" and +"bacteria."</p> +<p>Throughout the period after the Revolution our Farmer's one +greatest concern was to conserve and restore his land. When looking +for a new manager he once wrote that the man must be, "above all, +Midas like, one who can convert everything he touches into manure, +as the first transmutation toward gold; in a word, one who can +bring worn-out and gullied lands into good tilth in the shortest +time." He saved manure as if it were already so much gold and hoped +with its use and with judicious rotation of crops to accomplish his +object. "Unless <span class="pagenum"><a name="page120" id= +"page120"></a>[pg 120]</span> some such practice as this prevails," +he wrote in 1794, "my fields will be growing worse and worse every +year, until the Crops will not defray the expense of the culture of +them."</p> +<p>He drew up elaborate plans for the rotation of crops on his +different farms. Not content with one plan, he often drew up +several alternatives; calculated the probable financial returns +from each, allowing for the cost of seed, cultivation and other +expenses, and commented upon the respective advantages from every +point of view of the various plans. The labor involved in such work +was very great, but Washington was no shirker. He was always up +before sunrise, both in winter and summer, and seems to have been +so constituted that he was most contented when he had something to +do. Perhaps if he had had to engage in hard manual toil every day +he would have had less inclination for such employment, but he +worked with his own hands only intermittently, devoting his time +mostly to planning and oversight.</p> +<p>One such plan for Dogue Run Farm is given on the next page. To +understand it the reader should bear in mind that the farm +contained five hundred</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page121" id="page121"></a>[pg +121]</span> +<blockquote> +<table border="1" width="60%"> +<tr align="center"> +<th>No. of Fields</th> +<th>1793</th> +<th>1794</th> +<th>1795</th> +<th>1796</th> +<th>1797</th> +<th>1798</th> +<th>1799</th> +</tr> +<tr align="center"> +<td>3</td> +<td>Corn and Potatoes</td> +<td>Wheat</td> +<td>Buckwheat for Manure</td> +<td>Wheat</td> +<td>Clover or Grass</td> +<td>Clover or Grass</td> +<td>Clover or Grass</td> +</tr> +<tr align="center"> +<td>4</td> +<td>Clover or Grass</td> +<td>Corn and Potatoes</td> +<td>Wheat</td> +<td>Buckwheat for Manure</td> +<td>Wheat</td> +<td>Clover or Grass</td> +<td>Clover or Grass</td> +</tr> +<tr align="center"> +<td>5</td> +<td>Clover or Grass</td> +<td>Clover or Grass</td> +<td>Corn and Potatoes</td> +<td>Wheat</td> +<td>Buckwheat for Manure</td> +<td>Wheat</td> +<td>Clover or Grass</td> +</tr> +<tr align="center"> +<td>6</td> +<td>Clover or Grass</td> +<td>Clover or Grass</td> +<td>Clover or Grass</td> +<td>Corn and Potatoes</td> +<td>Wheat</td> +<td>Buckwheat for Manure</td> +<td>Wheat</td> +</tr> +<tr align="center"> +<td>7</td> +<td>Wheat</td> +<td>Clover or Grass</td> +<td>Clover or Grass</td> +<td>Clover or Grass</td> +<td>Corn and Potatoes</td> +<td>Wheat</td> +<td>Buckwheat for Manure</td> +</tr> +<tr align="center"> +<td>1</td> +<td>Buckwheat for Manure</td> +<td>Wheat</td> +<td>Clover or Grass</td> +<td>Clover or Grass</td> +<td>Clover or Grass</td> +<td>Corn and Potatoes</td> +<td>Wheat</td> +</tr> +<tr align="center"> +<td>2</td> +<td>Wheat</td> +<td>Buckwheat for Manure</td> +<td>Wheat</td> +<td>Clover or Grass</td> +<td>Clover or Grass</td> +<td>Clover or Grass</td> +<td>Corn and Potatoes</td> +</tr> +</table> +</blockquote> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page122" id="page122"></a>[pg +122]</span> +<p>twenty-five arable acres divided into seven fields, each of +which contained about seventy-five acres.</p> +<p>Of this rotation he noted that it "favors the land very much; +inasmuch as there are but three corn crops [i.e. grain crops] taken +in seven years from any field, & the first of the wheat crops +is followed by a Buck Wheat manure for the second Wheat Crop, wch. +is to succeed it; & which by being laid to Clover or Grass +& continued therein three years will a ford much Mowing or +Grassing, according as the Seasons happen to be, besides being a +restoration to the Soil--But the produce of the sale of the Crops +is small, unless encreased by the improving state of the fields. +Nor will the Grain for the use of the Farm be adequate to the +consumption of it in this Course, and this is an essential object +to attend to."</p> +<p>In a second table he estimated the amount of work that would be +required each year to carry out this plan of rotation, assuming +that one plow would break up three-fourths of an acre per day. This +amount is hardly half what an energetic farmer with a good team of +horses will now turn over in a day with an ordinary walking plow, +but the negro <span class="pagenum"><a name="page123" id= +"page123"></a>[pg 123]</span> farmer lacked ambition, the plows +were cumbersome, and much of the work was done with plodding oxen. +The table follows:</p> +<a name="150.png"></a> +<p class="ctr"><img src="Images/150.png" width="80%" alt=""><br> +<b>PLANTING CHART.</b></p> +<br> +<p>He estimated that seventy-five acres of corn would yield, at +twelve and a half bushels per acre, 937-1/2 bushels, worth at two +shillings and sixpence per bushel £117.3.9. In this field +potatoes would be planted between the rows of corn and would +produce, at twelve and a half bushels per acre, 937-1/2 bushels, +worth at one shilling per bushel £46.17.6. Two fields in +wheat, a total of one hundred fifty acres, at ten bushels per acre, +would yield one thousand five hundred bushels, worth at five +shillings per <span class="pagenum"><a name="page124" id= +"page124"></a>[pg 124]</span> bushel three hundred seventy-five +pounds. Three fields in clover and grass and the field of buckwheat +to be turned under for manure would yield no money return. In other +words the whole farm would produce three thousand three hundred +seventy-five bushels of grain and potatoes worth a total of +£539.1.3.</p> +<p>A second alternative plan would yield crops worth +£614.1.3; a third, about the same; a fourth, £689.1.3; +a fifth, providing for two hundred twenty-five acres of wheat, +£801.11.0; a sixth, £764. Number five would be most +productive, but he noted that it would seriously reduce the land. +Number six would be "the 2d. most productive Rotation, but the +fields receive no rest," as it provided for neither grass nor +pasture, while the plowing required would exceed that of any of the +other plans by two hundred eighty days.</p> +<p>On a small scale he tried growing cotton, Botany Bay grass, +hemp, white nankeen grass and various other products. He +experimented with deep soil plowing by running twice in the same +furrow and also cultivated some wheat that had been drilled in rows +instead of broadcasted.</p> +<p>In 1793 he built a new sixteen-sided barn on the</p> +<a name="Illus0402.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="Images/Illus0402.jpg"><img src= +"Images/Illus0402.jpg" width="50%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>Part of Washington's Plan for His Sixteen-Sided Barn.</b></p> +<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page125" id="page125"></a>[pg +125]</span> +<p>Dogue Run Farm. The plan of this barn, drawn by Washington +himself, is still preserved and is reproduced herewith. He +calculated that one hundred and forty thousand bricks would be +required for it and these were made and burnt upon the estate. The +barn was particularly notable for a threshing floor thirty feet +square, with interstices one and a half inches wide left between +the floor boards so that the grain when trodden out by horses or +beat out with flails would fall through to the floor below, leaving +the straw above.</p> +<p>This floor was to furnish an illustration of what Washington +called "the almost impossibility of putting the overseers of this +country out of the track they have been accustomed to walk in. I +have one of the most convenient barns in this or perhaps any other +country, where thirty hands may with great ease be employed in +threshing. Half the wheat of the farm was actually stowed in this +barn in the straw by my order, for threshing; notwithstanding, when +I came home about the middle of September, I found a treading yard +not thirty feet from the barn-door, the wheat again brought out of +the barn, and horses treading it out in an open exposure, liable to +the vicissitudes of the weather."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page126" id="page126"></a>[pg +126]</span> +<p>I think we may safely conclude that this was one of those rare +occasions when George lost his temper and "went up in the air!"</p> +<p>Under any conditions treading or flailing out wheat was a slow +and unsatisfactory process and, as Washington grew great quantities +of this grain, he was alert for a better method. We know that he +made inquiries of Arthur Young concerning a threshing machine +invented by a certain Winlaw and pictured and described in volume +six of the <i>Annals</i>, and in 1790 he watched the operation of +Baron Poelnitz's mill on the Winlaw model near New York City. This +mill was operated by two men and was capable of threshing about two +bushels of wheat per hour--pretty slow work as compared with that +of a modern thresher. And the grain had to be winnowed, or passed +through a fan afterward to separate it from the chaff.</p> +<p>Finally in 1797 he erected a machine on plans evolved by William +Booker, who came to Mount Vernon and oversaw the construction. Next +April he wrote to Booker that the machine "has by no means answered +your expectations or mine," At first it threshed not quite fifty +bushels per day, then fell to less than twenty-five, and ultimately +got out <span class="pagenum"><a name="page127" id= +"page127"></a>[pg 127]</span> of order before five hundred bushels +had been threshed, though it had used up two bands costing between +eight and ten pounds. Booker replied that he had now greatly +improved his invention and would come to Mount Vernon and make +these additions, but whether or not he ever did so I have failed to +discover.</p> +<p>By 1793 the burden of the estate had become so heavy that +Washington decided to rent all of it except the Mansion House Farm +and accordingly he wrote to Arthur Young telling his desire in the +hope that Englishmen might be found to take it over. One man, +Parkinson, of whom more hereafter, came to America and looked at +one of the farms, but decided not to rent it. Washington's +elaborate description of his land in his letter to Young, with an +accompanying map, forms one of our best sources of information +regarding Mount Vernon, so that we may be grateful that he had the +intention even though nothing came of it. The whole of Mount Vernon +continued to be cultivated as before until the last year of his +life when he rented Dogue Run Farm to his nephew, Lawrence +Lewis.</p> +<p>As a public man he was anxious to improve the general state of +American agriculture and in his last <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page128" id="page128"></a>[pg 128]</span> annual message to +Congress recommended the establishment of a board of agriculture to +collect and diffuse information and "by premiums and small +pecuniary aids to encourage and assist a spirit of discovery and +improvement." In this recommendation the example of the English +Board of Agriculture and the influence of his friend Arthur Young +are discernible. It would have been well for the country if +Congress had heeded the advice, but public opinion was not then +educated to the need of such a step and almost a century passed +before anything of much importance was done by the national +government to improve the state of American agriculture.</p> +<p>In farming as in politics Washington was no standpatter. +Notwithstanding many discouragements, he could not be kept from +trying new things, and he furnished his farms with every kind of +improved tool and implement calculated to do better work. At his +death he owned not only threshing machines and a Dutch fan, but a +wheat drill, a corn drill, a machine for gathering clover seed and +another for raking up wheat. Yet most of his countrymen remained +content to drop corn by hand, to broadcast their wheat, to tread +out their grain and <span class="pagenum"><a name="page129" id= +"page129"></a>[pg 129]</span> otherwise to follow methods as old as +the days of Abel for at least another half century.</p> +<p>He was the first American conservationist. He realized that man +owes a duty to the future just as he owes a debt to the past. He +deplored the already developing policy of robber exploitation by +which our soil and forests have been despoiled, for he foresaw the +bitter fruits which such a policy must produce, and indeed was +already producing on the fields of Virginia. He was no misanthropic +cynic to exclaim, "What has posterity ever done for us that we +should concern ourselves for posterity?" His care for the lands of +Mount Vernon was evidence of the God-given trait imbedded in the +best of men to transmit unimpaired to future generations what has +been handed down to them.</p> +<p>His agricultural career has its lessons for us, even though we +should not do well to follow some of his methods. The lessons lie +rather in his conception of farming as an honorable occupation +capable of being put on a better and more scientific basis by the +application of brains and intelligence; in his open-minded and +progressive seeking after better ways. Many of his experiments +failed, it is true, but for <span class="pagenum"><a name="page130" +id="page130"></a>[pg 130]</span> his time he was a great Farmer, +just as he was a great Patriot, Soldier and Statesman. Patient, +hard-working, methodical, willing to sacrifice his own interests to +those of the general good, he was one of those men who have helped +raise mankind from the level of the brute and his whole career +reflects credit upon human nature.</p> +<p>Peace hath its victories no less renowned than war, and the +picture of the American Cincinnatus striving as earnestly on the +green fields of Mount Vernon as he did upon the scarlet ones of +Monmouth and Brandywine, is one that the world can not afford to +forget.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page131" id="page131"></a>[pg +131]</span> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> +<br> +<h3>THE STOCKMAN</h3> +<p>A various times in his career Washington raised deer, turkeys, +hogs, cattle, geese, negroes and various other forms of live stock, +but his greatest interest seems to have been reserved for horses, +sheep and mules.</p> +<p>From his diaries and other papers that have come down to us it +is easy to see that during his early married life he paid most +attention to his horses. In 1760 he kept a stallion both for his +own mares and for those of his neighbors, and we find many entries +concerning the animal. Successors were "Leonidas," "Samson," +"Steady," "Traveller" and "Magnolia," the last a full-blooded +Arabian and probably the finest beast he ever owned. When away from +home Washington now and then directed the manager to advertise the +animal then reigning or to exhibit him in public places such as +fairs. Mares brought to the stallion were kept upon pasture, and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page132" id="page132"></a>[pg +132]</span> foal was guaranteed. Many times the General complained +of the difficulty of collecting fees.</p> +<p>During the Revolution he bought twenty-seven worn-out army mares +for breeding purposes and soon after he became President he +purchased at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, thirteen fine animals for the +same use. These last cost him a total of £317.17.6, the price +of the highest being £25.7.6 and of the cheapest +£22.10. These mares were unusually good animals, as an +ordinary beast would have cost only five or six pounds.</p> +<p>In November, 1785, he had on his various Mount Vernon farms a +total of one hundred thirty horses, including the Arabian already +mentioned. Among the twenty-one animals kept at the Mansion House +were his old war horses "Nelson" and "Blewskin," who after bearing +their master through the smoke and dangers of many battles lived in +peace to a ripe old age on the green fields of Virginia.</p> +<p>In his last days he bought two of the easy-gaited animals known +as Narragansetts, a breed, some readers will recall, described at +some length by Cooper in <i>The Last of the Mohicans.</i> A +peculiarity of these beasts was that they moved both legs on a side +forward at the same time, that is, they were <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page133" id="page133"></a>[pg 133]</span> +pacers. Washington's two proved somewhat skittish, and one of them +was responsible for the only fall from horseback that we have any +record of his receiving. In company with Major Lewis, Mr. Peake, +young George Washington Custis and a groom he was returning in the +evening from Alexandria and dismounted for a few moments near a +fire on the roadside. When he attempted to mount again the horse +sprang forward suddenly and threw him. The others jumped from their +horses to assist him, but the old man got up quickly, brushed his +clothes and explained that he had been thrown only because he had +not yet got seated. All the horses meanwhile had run away and the +party started to walk four miles home, but luckily some negroes +along the road caught the fugitives and brought them back. +Washington insisted upon mounting his animal again and rode home +without further incident. This episode happened only a few weeks +before his death.</p> +<p>Like every farmer he found that his horses had a way of growing +old. Those with which he had personal associations, like "Blueskin" +and "Nelson," he kept until they died of old age. With others he +sometimes followed a different course. In 1792 we find his manager, +Whiting, writing: "We have several <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page134" id="page134"></a>[pg 134]</span> Old Horses that are not +worth keeping thro winter. One at Ferry has not done one days work +these 18 Months. 2 at Muddy hole one a horse with the Pole evil +which I think will not get well the other an Old Mare was not +capable of work last summer. Likewise the Horse called old Chatham +and the Lame Horse that used to go in the Waggon now in a one horse +Cart. If any thing could be Got for them it might be well but they +are not worth keeping after Christmas." No doubt a sentimental +person would say that Washington ought to have kept these old +servants, but he had many other superannuated servants of the human +kind upon his hands, so he replied that Whiting might dispose of +the old horses "as you judge best for my interest."</p> +<p>Now and then his horses met with accidents. Thus on February 22, +1760, his horse "Jolly" got his right foreleg "mashed to pieces," +probably by a falling limb. "Did it up as well as I could this +night." "Saturday, Feb. 23d. Had the Horse Slung upon Canvas and +his leg fresh set, following Markleham's directions as well as I +could." Two days later the horse fell out of the sling and hurt +himself so badly that he had to be killed.</p> +<p>Of Washington's skill as a trainer of horses his friend De +Chastellux writes thus: "The weather <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page135" id="page135"></a>[pg 135]</span> being fair, on the 26th, +I got on horseback, after breakfasting with the general--he was so +attentive as to give me the horse he rode, the day of my arrival, +which I had greatly commended--I found him as good as he is +handsome; but above all, perfectly well broke, and well trained, +having a good mouth, easy in hand, and stopping short in a gallop +without bearing the bit--I mention these minute particulars, +because it is the general himself who breaks all his own horses; +and he is a very excellent and bold horseman, leaping the highest +fences, and going extremely quick, without standing upon his +stirrups, bearing on the bridle, or letting his horse run +wild,--circumstances which young men look upon as so essential a +part of English horsemanship, that they would rather break a leg or +an arm than renounce them."</p> +<p>Comparatively few farmers in Virginia kept sheep, yet as early +as 1758 Washington's overseer at Mount Vernon reported sixty-five +old sheep and forty-eight lambs; seven years later the total number +was one hundred fifty-six. The next year he records that he "put my +English Ram Lamb to 65 Ewes," so that evidently he was trying to +improve the breed. What variety this ram belonged to he does not +say. Near the end of his career he had some <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page136" id="page136"></a>[pg 136]</span> of +Bakewell's breed, an English variety that put on fat rapidly and +hence were particularly desirable for mutton.</p> +<p>During his long absences from home his sheep suffered +grievously, for sheep require a skilled care that few of his +managers or overseers knew how to give. But sheep were an important +feature of the English agriculture that he imitated, and he +persisted in keeping them. In 1793 he had over six hundred.</p> +<p>"Before I left home in the spring of 1789," he wrote to Arthur +Young, "I had improved that species of my stock so much as to get +5-1/4 lbs of Wool as the average of the fleeces of my whole +flock,--and at the last shearing they did not yield me 2-1/2 +lbs.--By procuring (if I am able) good rams and giving the +necessary attention, I hope to get them up again for they are with +me, as you have declared them to be with you, that part of my stock +in which I most delight."</p> +<p>In 1789, by request, he sent Young "a fleece of a midling size +and quality." Young had this made up into cloth and returned it to +the General.</p> +<p>In 1793 we find our Farmer giving such instructions to Whiting +as to cull out the unthrifty sheep <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page137" id="page137"></a>[pg 137]</span> and transform them into +mutton and to choose a few of the best young males to keep as rams. +Whiting, however, did not manage the flock well, for the following +February we find Pearce, the new manager, writing:</p> +<p>"I am sorry to have to inform you that the stock of sheep at +Both Union and Dogue Run farms are Some of them Dicing Every +Week--& a great many of Them will be lost, let what will be +done--Since I came I have had shelters made for them & Troughs +to feed them In & to give them salt--& have attended to +them myself & was In hopes to have saved those that I found to +be weak, but they were too far gone--and Several of the young +Cattle at Dogue Run was past all Recovery when I come & some +have died already & several more I am afraid must die before +spring, they are so very poor and weak."</p> +<p>Washington, according to his own account, was the first American +to attempt the raising of mules. Soon after the Revolution he asked +our representative in Spain to ascertain whether it would be +possible "to procure permission to extract a Jack ass of the best +breed." At that time the exportation of these animals from Spain +was forbidden by law, but Florida Blanca, the Spanish minister of +state, brought <span class="pagenum"><a name="page138" id= +"page138"></a>[pg 138]</span> the matter to the attention of the +king, who in a fit of generosity proceeded to send the American +hero two jacks and two jennets. One of the jacks died on the way +over, but the other animals, in charge of a Spanish caretaker, +reached Boston, and Washington despatched an overseer to escort +them to Mount Vernon, where they arrived on the fifth of December, +1785. An interpreter named Captain Sullivan was brought down from +Alexandria, and through him the General propounded to the caretaker +many grave inquiries regarding the care of the beasts, the answers +being carefully set down in writing.</p> +<p>"Royal Gift," as he was duly christened, probably by the negro +groom, Peter, who seems to have considered it beneath his dignity +to minister to any but royalty, was a large animal. According to +careful measurements taken on the porch at Mount Vernon he was +fifteen hands high, and his body and limbs were very large in +proportion to his height; his ears were fourteen inches long, and +his vocal cords were good. He was, however, a sluggish beast, and +the sea voyage had affected him so unfavorably that for some time +he was of little use. In letters to Lafayette and others Washington +commented facetiously upon the beast's failure to appreciate +"republican</p> +<a name="Illus0404.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="Images/Illus0404.jpg"><img src= +"Images/Illus0404.jpg" width="60%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>Bill of Lading for "Royal Gift".</b></p> +<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page139" id="page139"></a>[pg +139]</span> +<p>enjoyment." Ultimately, however, "Royal Gift" recovered his +strength and ambition and proved a valuable piece of property. He +was presently sent on a lour of the South, and while in South +Carolina was in the charge of Colonel William Washington, a hero of +the Cowpens and many other battles. The profits from the tour +amounted to $678.64, yet poor "Royal Gift" seems to have +experienced some rough usage on the way thither, arriving lame and +thin and in a generally debilitated condition. The General wrote to +the Colonel about it thus:</p> +<p>"From accounts which I have received from some gentlemen in +Virginia he was most abominably treated on the journey by the man +to whom he was entrusted;--for, instead of moving him slowly and +steadily along as he ought, he was prancing (with the Jack) from +one public meeting or place to another in a gate which could not +but prove injurious to an animal who had hardly ever been out of a +walk before--and afterward, I presume, (in order to recover lost +time) rushed him beyond what he was able to bear the remainder of +the journey."</p> +<p>No doubt the beast aroused great curiosity along the way among +people who had never before set eyes upon such a creature. We can +well believe that the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page140" id= +"page140"></a>[pg 140]</span> cry, "General Washington's jackass is +coming!" was always sufficient to attract a gaping crowd. And many +would be the sage comments upon the animal's voice and +appearance.</p> +<p>In 1786 Lafayette sent Washington from the island of Malta +another jack and two jennets, besides some Chinese pheasants and +partridges. The animals landed at Baltimore in November and reached +Mount Vernon in good condition later in the month. To Campion, the +man who accompanied them, Washington gave "30 Louis dores for his +trouble." The new jack, the "Knight of Malta," as he was called, +was a smaller beast than "Royal Gift," and his ears measured only +twelve inches, but he was well formed and had the ferocity of a +tiger.</p> +<p>By crossing the two strains Washington ultimately obtained a +jack called "Compound," who united in his person the size and +strength of the "Gift" with the courage and activity of the +"Knight." The General also raised many mules, which he found to be +good workers and more cheaply kept in condition than horses.</p> +<p>Henceforward the peaceful quiet of Mount Vernon was broken many +times a day by sounds which, <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page141" id="page141"></a>[pg 141]</span> if not musical or +mellifluous, were at least jubilant and joyous.</p> +<p>Evidently the sounds in no way disturbed the General, for in +1788 we find him describing the acquisitions in enthusiastic terms +to Arthur Young. He called the mules "a very excellent race of +animals," cheap to keep and willing workers. Recalling, perhaps, +that a king's son once rode upon a mule, he proposes to breed heavy +ones from "Royal Gift" for draft purposes and lighter ones from the +"Knight" for saddle or carriage. He adds: "Indeed in a few years, I +intend to drive no other in my carriage, having appropriated for +the sole purpose of breeding them, upwards of twenty of my best +mares."</p> +<p>Ah, friend George, what would the world not give to see thee and +thy wife Martha driving in the Mount Vernon coach down Pennsylvania +Avenue behind four such long-eared beasts!</p> +<p>In all his stock raising, as in most other matters, Washington +was greatly hampered by the carelessness of his overseers and +slaves. It is notorious that free negroes will often forget or fail +to water and feed their own horses, and it may easily be believed +that when not influenced by fear, slaves would neglect <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page142" id="page142"></a>[pg 142]</span> the +stock of their master. Among the General's papers I have found a +list of the animals that died upon his Mount Vernon estate from +April 16, 1789, to December 25, 1790. In that period of about +twenty months he lost thirty-three horses, thirty-two cattle and +sixty-five sheep! Considering the number of stock he had, a fifth +of that loss would have been excessive. During most of the period +he was away from home looking after the affairs of the nation and +in his absence his own affairs suffered.</p> +<p>Hardly a report of his manager did not contain some bad news. +Thus one of January, 1791, states that "the Young black Brood Mare, +with a long tail, which Came from Pennsylvania, said to be four +Years old next spring ... was found with her thigh broke quite in +two." This happened on the Mansion House farm. On another farm a +sheep was reported to have been killed by dogs while a second had +died suddenly, perhaps from eating some poisonous plant.</p> +<p>Dogs, in fact, constituted an ever present menace to the sheep +and it was only by constant watchfulness that the owner kept his +negroes from overrunning the place with worthless curs. In 1792 he +wrote to his manager: "I not only approve of your killing +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page143" id="page143"></a>[pg +143]</span> those Dogs which have been the occasion of the late +loss, & of thinning the Plantations of others, but give it as a +positive order that after saying what dog, or dogs shall remain, if +any negro presumes under any pretence whatsoever, to preserve, or +bring one into the family, that he shall be severely punished, and +the dog hanged.--I was obliged to adopt this practice whilst I +resided at home, and from the same motive, that is for the +preservation of my Sheep and Hogs.... It is not for any good +purpose Negroes raise, and keep dogs; but to aid them in their +night robberies; for it is astonishing to see the command under +which the dogs are."</p> +<p>After the Revolution, in imitation of English farmers, he made +use of hurdles in pasturing sheep and milk cows. Thereby he secured +more even distribution of the manure, which was one of his main +objects in raising stock.</p> +<p>Washington's interest in cattle seems to have been less intense +than was the case with some other kinds of stock. He always had a +great number of cows, bulls, oxen and calves upon his farms--in +1793 over three hundred "black cattle" of all sorts. He was +accustomed to brand his cattle with the letters "G.W.," the +location of the brand on the body indicating <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page144" id="page144"></a>[pg 144]</span> the +farm on which the beast was raised. To what extent he endeavored to +improve the breed of his cattle I am unable to say, but I have +found that as early as 1770 he owned an English bull, which in July +he killed and sold to the crew of the British frigate +<i>Boston</i>, which lay in the Potomac off his estate. In 1797 he +made inquiries looking toward the purchase of an improved bull calf +from a cattle breeder named Gough, but upon learning that the price +was two hundred dollars he decided not to invest. Gough, however, +heard of Washington's interest in his animals, and being an admirer +of the General, gave him a calf. An English farmer, Parkinson, who +saw the animal in 1798, describes him in terms the reverse of +enthusiastic, and of this more hereafter.</p> +<p>A large part of the heavy work on all the farms was done by +oxen. In November, 1785, there were thirteen yoke of these beasts +on the Mount Vernon estate and the number was sometimes still +larger. In 1786 Washington recorded putting "a Collar on a large +Bull in order to break him to the draft.--at first he was sulky and +restive but came to by degrees." The owner always aimed to have +enough oxen broken so that none would have to be worked +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page145" id="page145"></a>[pg +145]</span> too hard, but he did not always succeed in his aim. +When they attained the age of eight years the oxen were usually +fattened and killed for beef.</p> +<p>The management of the milk cows seems to have been very poor. In +May, 1793, we find the absent owner writing to his manager: "If for +the sake of making a little butter (for which I shall get scarcely +anything) my calves are starved, & die, it may be compared to +stopping the spigot, and opening the faucit." Evidently the making +of butter was almost totally discontinued, for in his last +instructions, completed only a few days before his death, he wrote: +"And It is hoped and will be expected, that more effectual measures +will be pursued to make butter another year; for it is almost +beyond belief, that from 101 Cows actually reported on a late +enumeration of the Cattle, that I am obliged to <i>buy butter</i> +for the use of my family."</p> +<p>In his later years he became somewhat interested in the best +methods of feeding cattle and once suggested that the experiment be +tried of fattening one bullock on potatoes, another on corn, and a +third on a mixture of both, "keeping an exact account of the time +they are fatting, and what is eaten of each, and of hay, by the +different steers; that a judgment may <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page146" id="page146"></a>[pg 146]</span> be +formed of the best and least expensive mode of stall feeding beef +for market, or for my own use."</p> +<p>During his early farming operations his swine probably differed +little if at all from the razor-backs of his neighbors. They ranged +half wild in the woods in summer and he once expressed the opinion +that fully half the pigs raised were stolen by the slaves, who +loved roast pork fully as well as did their master. In the fall the +shoats were shut up to fatten. More than a hundred were required +each year to furnish meat for the people on the estate; the average +weight was usually less than one hundred forty pounds. Farmers in +the Middle West would to-day have their Poland Chinas or Durocs of +the same age weighing two hundred fifty to three hundred pounds. +Still the smallness of Washington's animals does not necessarily +indicate such bad management as may at first glance appear. Until +of considerable size the pigs practically made their own living, +eating roots and mast in the woods, and they did not require much +grain except during fattening time. And, after all, as the story +has it, "what's time to a hawg?"</p> +<p>In his later years he seems to have taken more interest in his +pigs. By 1786 he had decided that <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page147" id="page147"></a>[pg 147]</span> when fattening they +ought to be put into closed pens with a plank floor, a roof, +running water and good troughs. A visitor to Mount Vernon in 1798 +says that he had "about 150 of the Guinea kind, with short legs and +hollow back," so it is evident that he was experimenting with new +breeds. These Guinea swine were red in color, and it is said that +the breed was brought to America from west Africa by slave traders. +It was to these animals that Washington fed the by-products of his +distillery.</p> +<p>In the slaughtering of animals he tried experiments as he did in +so many other matters. In 1768 he killed a wether sheep which +weighed one hundred three pounds gross. He found that it made sixty +pounds of meat worth three pence per pound, five and a half of +tallow at seven and a half pence, three of wool at fifteen pence, +and the skin was worth one shilling and three pence, a total of +£1.3.5. One object of such experiments was to ascertain +whether it was more profitable to butcher animals or sell them on +the hoof.</p> +<p>Washington also raised chickens, turkeys, swans, ducks, geese +and various other birds and beasts. In 1788 Gouverneur Morris sent +him two Chinese pigs and with them "a pair of Chinese geese, which +are <span class="pagenum"><a name="page148" id="page148"></a>[pg +148]</span> really the foolishest geese I ever beheld; for they +choose all times for setting but in the spring, and one of them is +even now [November] actually engaged in that business." Of some +golden pheasants that had been brought from China the General said +that before seeing the birds he had considered that pictures of +them must be "only works of fancy, but now I find them to be only +Portraits."</p> +<p>The fact is that his friends and admirers sent him so many +feathered or furred creatures that toward the end of his life he +was the proprietor of a considerable zoo.</p> +<p>Notwithstanding mismanagement by his employees and slaves, +Washington accumulated much valuable domestic stock. In his will, +made the year of his death, he lists the following: "1 Covering +horse, 5 Cob. horses--4 Riding do--Six brood mares--20 working +horses and mares,--2 Covering jacks & 3 young ones 10 she +asses--42 working mules--15 younger ones. 329 head of horned +cattle. 640 head of Sheep, and the large stock of hogs, the precise +number unknown." He further states that his manager believes the +stock worth seven thousand pounds, but he conservatively sets it +down at fifteen thousand six hundred fifty-three dollars.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page149" id="page149"></a>[pg +149]</span> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2> +<br> +<h3>THE HORTICULTURIST AND LANDSCAPE GARDENER</h3> +<p>Washington's work as a horticulturist prior to the educating +influences of the Revolution was mostly utilitarian. That he had a +peach orchard as early as 1760 is proven by an entry in his diary +for February 22: "Laid in part, the Worm of a fence round the Peach +orchard." Just where this orchard stood I am not quite certain, but +it was probably on the slope near the old tomb.</p> +<p>He learned how to propagate and "wed" his own trees and in 1763 +was particularly active. On March 21st he recorded that he had +"Grafted 40 cherries, viz 12 Bullock Hearts, 18 very fine May +Cherry, 10 Coronation. Also grafted 12 Magnum Bonum Plums. Also +planted 4 Nuts of the Mediterranean Pame in the Pen where the +Chestnut grows--sticks by East. Note, the Cherrys and Plums came +from Collo. Masons Nuts from Mr. Gr[een's.] Set out 55 cuttings of +the Madeira Grape."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page150" id="page150"></a>[pg +150]</span> +<p>A little later he grafted quinces on pear and apple stocks; also +he grafted "Spanish pairs," "Butter pears," "Bergamy Pears," +"Newtown Pippins," "43 of the Maryland Red Strick," etc., and +transplanted thirty-five young crab scions. These scions he +obtained by planting the pumice of wild crab apples from which +cider had been made. They were supposed to make hardier stocks than +those grown from ordinary seeds.</p> +<p>He grafted many cherries, plums, etc., in March, 1764, and yet +again in the spring of 1765, when he put English mulberry scions on +wild mulberry stocks. In that year "Peter Green came to me a +Gardener." In 1768 and 1771 he planted grapes in the inclosure +below the vegetable garden and in March, 1775, he again grafted +cherries and also planted peach seeds and seeds of the "Mississippi +nut" or pecan.</p> +<p>Long before this he had begun to gather fruits from his early +trees and vines. Being untroubled by San Jose scale and many other +pests that now make life miserable to the fruit grower, he grew +fine products and no doubt enjoyed them.</p> +<p>His esthetic sense was not yet fully developed, but he was +always desirous of having his possessions <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page151" id="page151"></a>[pg 151]</span> make a +good appearance, and by 1768 was beginning to think of beautifying +his grounds. In that year he expressed a wish that he later carried +out, namely to have about his mansion house every possible specimen +of native tree or shrub noted for beauty of form, leaf or +flower.</p> +<p>Even amid the trials of the Revolution this desire was not +forgotten. In 1782 he directed Lund Washington, his manager, to +plant locusts and other ornamental trees and shrubs at the ends of +the house. He wrote that such trees would be more likely to live if +taken from the open fields than from the woods because the change +of environment would be less pronounced. To what extent the work +was carried I have been unable to ascertain, for, as elsewhere +stated, very little of his correspondence with his manager during +these years survives.</p> +<p>He returned from the Revolution with a strong desire to beautify +his estate, a desire in part due no doubt to seeing beautiful homes +elsewhere and to contact with cultured people, both Americans and +foreigners. One of his first tasks was to rebuild and enlarge his +house. From a small house of eight rooms he transformed Mount +Vernon into the present large mansion, ninety-six feet and four +inches <span class="pagenum"><a name="page152" id="page152"></a>[pg +152]</span> long by thirty-two feet in depth, with two floors and +an attic, an immense cellar and the magnificent portico overlooking +the Potomac. The plans and specifications he drew with his own +hands, and those who have visited the place will hardly deny that +the mansion fits well into its setting and that, architects tell +us, is a prime consideration. The flagstones for the floor of the +portico he imported from Whitehaven, England, and these still +remain in place, though many are cracked or broken.</p> +<p>The portico runs the entire length of the house, is over +fourteen feet deep and its floor is one hundred twenty-four feet +ten and one-half inches above high water-mark, according to +calculations made by Washington himself. From it one commands miles +of the Potomac and of the Maryland shore and there are few such +noble prospects in America. Washington owned a telescope and spy +glasses and with them could watch the movements of ships and boats +on the river. The portico was a sort of trysting place for the +family and visitors on summer afternoons and evenings, and some of +the thirty or so Windsor chairs bought for it are still in +existence.</p> +<p>This was the second time our Farmer reconstructed his house, as +in 1758-60 he had made numerous</p> +<a name="Illus0406.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="Images/Illus0406.jpg"><img src= +"Images/Illus0406.jpg" width="60%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>West Front of Mansion House, Showing Bowling Green and Part of +Serpentine Drive.</b></p> +<br> +<a name="Illus0407.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="Images/Illus0407.jpg"><img src= +"Images/Illus0407.jpg" width="60%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>Experimental Plot, with Servants' Quarters (restored) in +Background.</b></p> +<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page153" id="page153"></a>[pg +153]</span> +<p>alterations<a name="FNanchor6"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_6">[6]</a>. In 1758 he paid John Patterson +£328.0.5 for work done upon it, and the whole house was +pretty thoroughly renovated and remodeled in preparation for the +reception of a new mistress. In March, 1760, we find the owner +contracting with William Triplett "to build me two houses in front +of my house (plastering them also) and running walls to them from +the great house and from the great house to the washouse and +kitchen also." By the "front" he means the west front, as that part +toward the river is really the rear of the mansion. Hitherto the +house had stood detached and these walls were the originals of the +colonnades, still a noticeable feature of the building.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor6">[6]</a> +In 1775 a Frenchman was engaged to panel the main hall and apply +stucco ornaments to the ceilings of the parlor and +dining-room.</blockquote> +<p>Owing to the absence of a diary of his home activities during +1784 we can not trace in detail his work that year upon either his +house or grounds, but we know such facts as that he was ordering +materials for the house and that he had his French friend +Malesherbes and others collecting vines and plants for him.</p> +<p>With January 1, 1785, he began a new diary, and <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page154" id="page154"></a>[pg 154]</span> from +it we ascertain that on the twelfth, on a ride about his estate, he +observed many trees and shrubs suitable for transplanting. +Thereafter he rarely rode out without noticing some crab, holly, +magnolia, pine or other young tree that would serve his purpose. He +was more alive to the beauties of nature than he had once been, or +at least more inclined to comment upon them. On an April day he +notes that "the flower of the Sassafras was fully out and looked +well--an intermixture of this and Red bud I conceive would look +very pretty--the latter crowned with the former or vice versa." He +was no gushing spring poet, but when the sap was running, the +flowers blooming and the birds singing he felt it all in his +heart--perhaps more deeply than do some who say more about it.</p> +<p>On January 19th of this year he began laying out his grounds on +a new plan. This plan, as completed, provided for sunken walls or +"Haw has!" at the ends of the mansion, and on the west front a +large elliptical lawn or bowling green such as still exists there. +Along the sides of the lawn he laid out a serpentine drive or +carriage way, to be bordered with a great variety of shade trees on +each side and a "Wilderness" on the outside. At the extreme west, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page155" id="page155"></a>[pg +155]</span> where the entrance stood, the trees were omitted so +that from the house one could see down a long vista, cut through +the oaks and evergreens, the lodge gate three-quarters of a mile +away. On each side of the opening in the lawn stood a small +artificial mound, and just in front of the house a sun-dial by +which each day, when the weather was clear, he set his watch. A +sun-dial stands on the same spot now but, alas, it is not the +original. That was given away or sold by one of the subsequent +owners.</p> +<p>This same spring our Farmer records planting ivy, limes and +lindens sent by his good friend Governor Clinton of New York; +lilacs, mock oranges, aspen, mulberries, black gums, berried +thorns, locusts, sassafras, magnolia, crabs, service berries, +catalpas, papaws, honey locusts, a live oak from Norfolk, yews, +aspens, swamp berries, hemlocks, twelve horse chestnut sent by +"Light Horse Harry" Lee, twelve cuttings of tree box, buckeye nuts +brought by him the preceding year from the mouth of Cheat River, +eight nuts from a tree called "the Kentucke Coffee tree," a row of +shell bark hickory nuts from New York, some filberts from "sister +Lewis." His brother John sent him four barrels of holly seeds, +which he sowed in the semicircle north of the front <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page156" id="page156"></a>[pg 156]</span> gate; +in the south semicircle, from the kitchen to the south "Haw ha!"; +and from the servants' hall to the north "Haw ha!"</p> +<p>Nor did he neglect more utilitarian work, for in April he +grafted many cherries, pears and other fruit trees. Such work was +continued at intervals till his death.</p> +<p>In raising fruit, as in many other things, he was troubled by +the thieving propensities of the slaves. September tenth of this +year he records that because of the scarcity of apples and the +depredations that were being committed "every Night upon the few I +have, I found it necessary (tho much too early) to gather and put +them up for Winter use."</p> +<p>The spring of 1785 proved an exceptionally dry one and he was +forced to be absent from home several days, leaving the care of the +trees and shrubs to his careless lazy servants. He records that +they <i>said</i> that they watered them according to directions, +but he seems to doubt it. At all events, "Most of my transplanted +trees have a sickly look.--The small Pines in the Wilderness are +entirely dead.--The larger ones in the Walks, for the most part +appear to be alive (as yet)--almost the whole of the Holly are +dead--many of the Ivy, wch. before looked <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page157" id="page157"></a>[pg 157]</span> +healthy & well seem to be declining--few of the Crab trees had +put forth leaves; not a single Ash tree has unfolded its buds; +whether owing to the trees declining or any other cause, I know +not.... The lime trees, which had some appearance of Budding when I +went away, are now withering--and the Horse chestnut & Tree box +from Colo. Harry Lee's discover little signs of shooting.--the +Hemlock is almost entirely dead, & bereft of their leaves;--and +so are the live Oak.--In short half the Trees in the Shrubberies +& many in the Walk are dead & declin[in]g."</p> +<p>Nevertheless he refused to be discouraged and proceeded to plant +forty-eight mahogany tree seeds brought by his nephew, George A. +Washington, from the West Indies. He also set out a "Palmetto +Royal" in the garden and sowed or planted sandbox trees, palmettos, +physic nuts, pride of Chinas, live oaks, accacias, bird peppers, +"Caya pepper," privet, guinea grass, and a great variety of Chinese +grasses, the names of which, such as <i>"In che fa," "all san fa" +"se lon fa,"</i> he gravely set down in his diary.</p> +<p>The dry weather continued and presently he notes that all the +poplars, black gums and pines, most of <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page158" id="page158"></a>[pg 158]</span> the +mulberries, all of the crab apples and papaws, most of the hemlock +and sassafras, and several of the cedars are dead, while the tops +of the live oaks are dead but shoots are coming up from the trunks +and roots. The Chinese grasses are in a bad way, and those that +have come up are almost entirely destroyed either by insects or +drought. None of this grass survived the winter, though he took the +trouble to cover it with straw.</p> +<p>During the fall of 1785 and spring of 1786 he sowed the lawn +with English grass seeds, replaced the dead trees in the serpentine +walks and shrubberies, and sent two hundred and fifteen apple trees +to his River Plantation. He made the two low mounds already +mentioned and planted thereon weeping willows. He set out stocks of +imported hawthorns, four yellow jessamines, twenty-five of the +Palinurus for hedges, forty-six pistacia nuts and seventy-five +pyramidical cypress, which last were brought to him by the botanist +Michaux from the King of France. As 1786 was one of the wettest +summers ever known, his plants and trees lived better than they had +done the preceding year.</p> +<p>During this period and until the end of his life he was +constantly receiving trees and shrubs from <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page159" id="page159"></a>[pg 159]</span> +various parts of the world. Thus in 1794 he sent to Alexandria by +Thomas Jefferson a bundle of "Poccon [pecan] or Illinois nut," +which in some way had come to him at Philadelphia. He instructed +the gardener to set these out at Mount Vernon, also to sow some +seeds of the East India hemp that had been left in his care. The +same year thirty-nine varieties of tropical plants, including the +bread fruit tree, came to him from a well wisher in Jamaica. At +other times he sowed seeds of the cucumber tree, chickory and +"colliflower" and planted ivy and wild honeysuckle. Again he once +more planted pecans and hickory nuts. It can hardly be that at his +advanced age he expected to derive any personal good from either of +these trees, but he was very fond of nuts, eating great quantities +for dessert, and the liking inclined him to grow trees that +produced them. In this, as in many other matters, he planted for +the benefit of posterity.</p> +<p>In order to care for his exotic plants he built adjoining the +upper garden a considerable conservatory or hothouse. In this he +placed many of the plants sent to him as presents and also +purchased many others from the collection of the celebrated +botanist, John Bartram, at Philadelphia. The structure, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page160" id="page160"></a>[pg +160]</span> together with the servants' quarters adjoining, was +burned down in December, 1835, and when the historian Lossing +visited Mount Vernon in 1858 nothing remained of these buildings +except bare walls crumbling to decay. Of the movable plants that +had belonged to Washington there remained in 1858 only a lemon +tree, a century plant and a sago palm, all of which have since +died. The conservatory and servants' quarters have, however, been +rebuilt and the conservatory restocked with plants such as +Washington kept in it. The buildings probably look much as they did +in his time.</p> +<p>One of the sights to-day at Mount Vernon is the formal garden, +which all who have visited the place will remember. Strangely +enough it seems impossible to discover exactly when this was laid +out as it now stands. The guides follow tradition and tell visitors +that Washington set out the box hedge, the principal feature, after +his marriage, and that he told Martha that she should be mistress +of this flower garden and he the master of the vegetable garden. It +is barely possible that he did set out the hedges at that time, +but, if so, it must have been in 1759, for no mention is made of it +in the diary begun in 1760. In April, 1785, we find by his diary +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page161" id="page161"></a>[pg +161]</span> that he planted twelve cuttings of the "tree box" and +again in the spring of 1787 he planted in his shrubberies some +holly trees, "also ... some of the slips of the tree box." But of +box hedges I can find no mention in any of the papers I have seen. +One guess is about as good as another, and I am inclined to believe +that if they were planted in his time, it was done during his +presidency by one of his gardeners, perhaps Butler or the German, +Ehler. They may have been set out long after his death. At all +events the garden was modeled after the formal gardens of Europe +and the idea was not original with him.</p> +<p>East of the formal garden lies a plot of ground that he used for +agricultural experiments. The vegetable garden was south of the +Bowling Green and separated from it by a brick wall. Here utility +was lord and a great profusion of products was raised for the +table. Washington took an interest in its management and I have +found an entry in his diary recording the day that green peas were +available for the first time that year. Evidently he was fond of +them.</p> +<p>The bent of our Farmer's mind was to the practical, yet he took +pride in the appearance of his <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page162" id="page162"></a>[pg 162]</span> estate. "I shall +begrudge no reasonable expense that will contribute to the +improvement and neatness of my farms," he wrote one of his +managers, "for nothing pleases me better than to see them in good +order, and everything trim, handsome, and thriving about them; nor +nothing hurts me more than to find them otherwise."</p> +<p>Live hedges tend to make a place look well and it was probably +this and his passion for trees that caused Washington to go in +extensively for hedges about his farms. They took the place of +wooden fences and saved trees and also grew more trees and bushes. +His ordinary course in building a fence was to have a trench dug on +each side of the line and the dirt thrown toward the center. Upon +the ridge thus formed he built a post and rail fence and along it +planted cedars, locusts, pines, briars or thorn bushes to +discourage cattle and other stock. The trenches not only increased +the efficiency of the fence but also served as ditches. In many +places they are still discernible. The lines of the hedges are also +often marked in many places by trees which, though few or none can +be the originals, are descended from the roots or seeds of those +trees. Cedar and locust trees are particularly noticeable.</p> +<a name="Illus0408.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="Images/Illus0408.jpg"><img src= +"Images/Illus0408.jpg" width="30%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>First page of the Diary for 1760.</b></p> +<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page163" id="page163"></a>[pg +163]</span> +<p>In 1794 our Farmer had five thousand white thorn sent from +England for hedge purposes, but they arrived late in the spring and +few survived and even these did not thrive very well. Another time +he sent from Philadelphia two bushels of honey locust seed to be +planted in his nursery. These are only instances of his activities +in this direction.</p> +<p>Much of what he undertook as a planter of trees failed for one +reason or another, most of all because he attended to the business +of his country at the expense of his own, but much that he +attempted succeeded and enough still remains to enable us to +realize that by his efforts he made his estate attractive. He was +no Barbarian or Philistine. He had a sense of beauty and it is only +in recent years that his countrymen, absorbed in material +undertakings, have begun to appreciate the things that he was +enjoying so long ago.</p> +<p>"The visitor at Mount Vernon still finds a charm no art alone +could give, in trees from various climes, each a witness of the +taste that sought, or the love that sent them, in fields which the +desolating step of war reverently passed by, in flowers whose root +is not in graves, yet tinged with the lifeblood of the heart that +cherished them from childhood to old <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page164" id="page164"></a>[pg 164]</span> age. On those acres we +move beneath the shade or shelter of the invisible tree which put +forth whatever meets the eye, and has left some sign on each +object, large or small. Still planted beside his river, he brings +forth fruit in his season. Nor does his leaf wither."</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page165" id="page165"></a>[pg +165]</span> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2> +<br> +<h3>WHITE SERVANTS AND OVERSEERS</h3> +<p>In colonial Virginia, as in most other new countries, one of the +greatest problems that confronted the settlers was that of labor. +It took human muscle to clear away the forest and tend the crops, +and the quantity of human muscle available was small. One solution +of the problem was the importation of black slaves, and of this +solution as it concerned Washington something will be said in a +separate chapter. Another solution was the white indentured +servant.</p> +<p>Some of these white servants were political offenders, such as +the followers of Monmouth, who were punished by transportation for +a term of years or for life to the plantations. Others were +criminals or unfortunate debtors who were sold in America instead +of being sent to jail. Others were persons who had been kidnapped +and carried across the sea into servitude. Yet others were men and +women <span class="pagenum"><a name="page166" id="page166"></a>[pg +166]</span> who voluntarily bound themselves to work for a term of +years in payment of their passage to the colonies. By far the +largest number of the white servants in Washington's day belonged +to this last-mentioned class, who were often called +"redemptioners." Some of these were ambitious, well-meaning people, +perhaps skilled artisans, who after working out their time became +good citizens and often prospered. A few were even well educated. +In favor of the convicts, however, little could be said. In general +they were ignorant and immoral and greatly lowered the level of the +population in the Southern States, the section to which most of +them were sent.</p> +<p>Whether they came to America of their own free will or not such +servants were subjected to stringent regulations and were compelled +to complete their terms of service. If they ran away, they could be +pursued and brought back by force, and the papers of the day were +full of advertisements for such absconders. Owing to their color +and the ease with which they found sympathizers among the white +population, however, the runaways often managed to make good their +escape.</p> +<p>To give a complete list of Washington's indentured <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page167" id="page167"></a>[pg 167]</span> +servants, even if it were possible, would be tedious and tiresome. +For the most part he bought them in order to obtain skilled +workmen. Thus in 1760 we find him writing to a Doctor Ross, of +Philadelphia, to purchase for him a joiner, a brick-layer and a +gardener, if any ship with servants was in port. As late as 1786 he +bought the time of a Dutchman named Overdursh, who was a ditcher +and mower, and of his wife, a spinner, washer and milker; also +their daughter. The same year he "received from on board the Brig +Anna, from Ireland, two servant men for whom I agreed +yesterday--viz--Thomas Ryan, a shoemaker, and Cavan Bowen a Tayler +Redemptioners for 3 years service by Indenture." These cost him +twelve pounds each. The story of his purchase of servants for his +western lands is told in another place, as is also that of his plan +to import Palatines for the same purpose.</p> +<p>On the day of Lexington and Concord, but before the news of that +conflict reached Virginia, two of his indentured servants ran away +and he published a lengthy advertisement of them in the Virginia +<i>Gazette</i>, offering a reward of forty dollars for the return +of both or twenty dollars for the return of either. They were +described as follows:</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page168" id="page168"></a>[pg +168]</span> +<p>"THOMAS SPEARS, a joiner, born in <i>Bristol</i>, about 20 years +of age, 5 feet 6 inches and a half high, slender made. He has light +grey or blueish colored eyes, a little pock-marked, and freckled, +with sandy colored hair, cut short; his voice is coarse, and +somewhat drawling. He took with him a coat, waistcoat, and +breeches, of light brown duffil, with black horn buttons, a light +colored cloth waistcoat, old leather breeches, check and oznabrig +shirts, a pair of old ribbed ditto, new oznabrig trowsers, and a +felt hat, not much the worse for wear. WILLIAM WEBSTER, a brick +maker, born in <i>Scotland</i>, and talks pretty broad. He is about +5 feet six inches high and well made, rather turned of 30, with +light brown hair, and roundish face.... They went off in a small +yawl, with turpentine sides and bottom, the inside painted with a +mixture of tar and red lead."</p> +<p>In the course of his business career Washington also employed a +considerable number of free white men, who likewise were usually +skilled workers or overseers. He commonly engaged them for the term +of one year and by written contracts, which he drew up himself, a +thing he had learned to do when a boy by copying legal forms. Many +of these <span class="pagenum"><a name="page169" id= +"page169"></a>[pg 169]</span> papers still survive and contracts +with joiners and gardeners jostle inaugural addresses and opinions +of cabinet meetings.</p> +<p>As a rule the hired employees received a house, an allowance of +corn, flour, meat and perhaps other articles, the money payment +being comparatively small.</p> +<p>Some of the contracts contain peculiar stipulations. That with a +certain overseer provided: "And whereas there are a number of +whiskey stills very contiguous to the said Plantations, and many +idle, drunken and dissolute People continually resorting the same, +priding themselves in debauching sober and well-inclined Persons +the said Edd. Voilett doth promise as well for his own sake as his +employers to avoid them as he ought."</p> +<p>Probably most readers have heard of the famous contract with the +gardener Philip Bater, who had a weakness for the output of stills +such as those mentioned above. It was executed in 1787 and, in +consideration of Bater's agreement "not to be disguised with liquor +except on times hereinafter mentioned," provided that he should be +given "four dollars at Christmas, with which he may be drunk four +days and four nights; two dollars at Easter to <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page170" id="page170"></a>[pg 170]</span> effect +the same purpose; two dollars at Whitsuntide to be drunk for two +days; a dram in the morning, and a drink of grog at dinner at +noon."</p> +<p>Washington's most famous white servant was Thomas Bishop, who +figures in some books as a negro. He had been the personal servant +of General Braddock, and tradition says that the dying General +commended him to Washington. At all events Washington took him into +his service at ten pounds per year and, except for a short interval +about 1760, Bishop remained one of his retainers until death. It +was Bishop and John Alton who accompanied Washington on his trip to +New York and Boston in 1756--that trip in the course of which, +according to imaginative historians, the young officer became +enamored of the heiress Mary Phillipse. Doubtless the men made a +brave show along the way, for we know that Washington had ordered +for them "2 complete livery suits for servants; with a spare cloak +and all other necessary trimmings for two suits more. I would have +you choose the livery by our arms, only as the field of arms is +white, I think the clothes had better not be quite so, but nearly +like the inclosed. The trimmings and facings of scarlet, and a +scarlet waist coat. If livery <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page171" id="page171"></a>[pg 171]</span> lace is not quite +disused, I should be glad to have the cloaks laced. I like that +fashion best, and two silver laced hats for the above +servants."</p> +<p>When the Revolution came Bishop was too old to take the field +and was left at home as the manager of a plantation. He was allowed +a house, for he had married and was now the father of a daughter. +He lived to a great age, but on fair days, when the Farmer was at +home, the old man always made it a point to grasp his cane and walk +out to the road to see his master ride by, to salute him and to +pass a friendly word. He seems to have thought of leaving Mount +Vernon with his daughter in 1794, for the President wrote to +Pearce: "Old Bishop must be taken care of whether he goes or +stays." He died the following January, while Washington was away in +Philadelphia.</p> +<p>Custis tells an amusing story of Bishop's daughter Sally. +Following the Revolution two of Washington's aides-de-camp, +Colonels Smith and Humphreys, the latter a poet of some +pretensions, spent considerable time at Mount Vernon arranging the +General's military papers. One afternoon Smith strolled out from +the Mansion House for relaxation and came upon Sally, then in her +teens and old <span class="pagenum"><a name="page172" id= +"page172"></a>[pg 172]</span> enough to be interesting to a +soldier, milking a cow. When she started for the house with the +pail of milk the Colonel gallantly stepped forward and asked to be +permitted to carry it. But Sally had heard from her father dire +tales of what befell damsels who had anything to do with military +men and the fact that Smith was a fine-looking young fellow in no +way lessened her sense of peril. In great panic she flung down the +pail, splashing the contents over the officer, and ran screaming to +the house. Smith followed, intent upon allaying her alarm and ran +plump into old Bishop, who at once accused him of attempting to +philander with the girl, turned a deaf ear to all the Colonel's +explanations, and declared that he would bring word of the offense +to his honor the General, nay more, to Mrs. Washington!</p> +<p>In great alarm the Colonel betook himself toward the Mansion +House pondering upon some way of getting himself out of the scrape +he had fallen into. At last he bethought himself of Billy Lee, the +mulatto body servant, and these two old soldiers proceeded to hold +a council of war. Smith said: "It's bad enough, Billy, for this +story to get to the General's ears, but to those of the lady will +never do; <span class="pagenum"><a name="page173" id= +"page173"></a>[pg 173]</span> and then there's Humphreys, he will +be out upon me in a d--d long poem that will spread my misfortunes +from Dan to Beersheba!" At last it was decided that Billy should +act as special ambassador to Bishop and endeavor to divert him from +his purpose. Meanwhile Bishop had got out his old +clothes--Cumberland cocked hat and all--of the period of the French +War, had dressed with great care and, taking up his staff, had laid +his line of march straight to the Mansion House. Billy met him +midway upon the road and much skirmishing ensued, Billy taking two +lines of attack: first, that Smith was a perfect gentleman, and, +second, that Bishop had no business to have such a devilishly +pretty daughter. Finally these tactics prevailed, Bishop took the +right about, and a guinea dropped into the ambassador's palm +completed the episode.</p> +<p>In due time Sally lost her dreadful fear of men and married the +plantation carpenter, Thomas Green, with whose shiftless ways, +described elsewhere, Washington put up for a long time for the sake +of "his family." Ultimately Green quitted Washington's service and +seems to have deserted his wife or else died; at all events she and +her family were left in distressed circumstances. She wrote a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page174" id="page174"></a>[pg +174]</span> letter to Washington begging assistance and he +instructed his manager to aid her to the extent of £20 but to +tell her that if she set up a shop in Alexandria, as she thought of +doing, she must not buy anything of his negroes. He seems to have +allowed her a little wood, flour and meat at killing time and in +1796 instructed Pearce that if she and her family were really in +distress, as reported, to afford them some relief, "but in my +opinion it had better be in anything than money, for I very +strongly suspect that all that has, and perhaps all that will be +given to her in that article, is applied more in rigging herself, +than in the purchase of real and useful necessaries for her +family."</p> +<p>By his will Washington left Sally Green and Ann Walker, daughter +of John Alton, each one hundred dollars in "consideration of the +attachment of their father[s] to me."</p> +<p>Alton entered Washington's service even before Bishop, +accompanying him as a body servant on the Braddock campaign and +suffering a serious illness. He subsequently was promoted to the +management of a plantation and enjoyed Washington's confidence and +esteem. It was with a sad heart that Washington penned in his diary +for 1785: "Last <span class="pagenum"><a name="page175" id= +"page175"></a>[pg 175]</span> night Jno. Alton an Overseer of mine +in the Neck--an old & faithful Servant who has lived with me 30 +odd years died--and this evening the wife of Thos. Bishop, another +old Servant who had lived with me an equal number of years also +died."</p> +<p>The adoption of Mrs. Washington's two youngest grandchildren, +Nelly Custis and George Washington Custis, made necessary the +employment of a tutor. One applicant was Noah Webster, who visited +Mount Vernon in 1785, but for some reason did not engage. A certain +William Shaw had charge for almost a year and then in 1786 Tobias +Lear, a native of New Hampshire and a graduate of Harvard, was +employed. It is supposed that some of the lessons were taught in +the small circular building in the garden; Washington himself +refers to it as "the house in the Upper Garden called the School +house."</p> +<p>Lear's duties were by no means all pedagogical and ultimately he +became Washington's private secretary. In Philadelphia he and his +family lived in the presidential mansion. Washington had for him "a +particular friendship," an almost fatherly affection. His interest +in Lear's little son Lincoln was almost as great as he would have +bestowed upon his own <span class="pagenum"><a name="page176" id= +"page176"></a>[pg 176]</span> grandson. Apropos of the recovery of +the child from a serious illness he wrote in 1793: "It gave Mrs. +Washington, myself, and all who knew him sincere pleasure to hear +that our little favourite had arrived safe and was in good health +at Portsmouth--we sincerely wish him a long continuance of the +latter--that he may be always as charming and promising as he now +is--that he may live to be a comfort and blessing to you--and an +ornament to his Country. As a token of my affection for him I send +him a ticket in the lottery that's now drawing in the Federal City; +if it should be his fortune to draw the Hotel, it will add to the +pleasure I feel in giving it."</p> +<p>Truly a rather singular gift for a child, we would think in +these days. Let us see how it turned out. The next May Washington +wrote to Lear, then in Europe on business for the Potomac +Navigation Company, of which he had become president: "Often, +through the medium of Mr. Langdon, we hear of your son Lincoln, and +with pleasure, that he continues to be the healthy and sprightly +child he formerly was. He declared if his ticket should turn up a +prize, he would go and live in the Federal City. He did not +consider, poor little fellow, that <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page177" id="page177"></a>[pg 177]</span> some of the prizes would +hardly build him a baby house nor foresee that one of these small +tickets would be his lot, having drawn no more than ten +dollars."</p> +<p>Lear's first wife had died the year before of yellow fever at +the President's house in Philadelphia, and for his second he took +the widow of George A. Washington--Fanny--who was a niece of Martha +Washington, being a daughter of Anna Dandridge Bassett and Colonel +Burwell Bassett. This alliance tended to strengthen the friendly +relations between Lear and the General. In Washington's last +moments Lear held his dying hand and later penned a noble +description of the final scene that reveals a man of high and +tender sentiments with a true appreciation of his benefactor's +greatness. Washington willed him the use of three hundred sixty +acres east of Hunting Creek during life. When Fanny Lear died, Lear +married Frances Dandridge Henley, another niece of Mrs. Washington. +Lear's descendants still own a quilt made by Martha Washington and +given to this niece.</p> +<p>During part at least of Washington's absence in the French war +his younger brother John Augustine, described in the General's will +as "the intimate <span class="pagenum"><a name="page178" id= +"page178"></a>[pg 178]</span> friend of my ripened age," had charge +of his business affairs and resided at Mount Vernon. The relations +with this brother were unusually close and Washington took great +interest in John's eldest son Bushrod, who studied law and became +an associate justice of the Federal Supreme Court. To Bushrod the +General gave his papers, library, the Mansion House Farm and other +land and a residuary share in the estate.</p> +<p>I am inclined to believe that during 1757-58 John Augustine did +not have charge, as Mount Vernon seems to have been under the +oversight of a certain Humphrey Knight, who worked the farm on +shares. He was evidently a good farmer, for in 1758 William +Fairfax, who kept a friendly eye upon his absent neighbor's +affairs, wrote: "You have some of the finest Tobacco & Corn I +have seen this year," The summer was, however, exceedingly dry and +the crop was good in a relative sense only. Knight tried to keep +affairs in good running order and the men hard at work, reporting +"as to ye Carpentrs I have minded em all I posably could, and has +whipt em when I could see a fault." Knight died September 9, 1758, +a few months before Washington's marriage.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page179" id="page179"></a>[pg +179]</span> +<p>Washington's general manager during the Revolution was Lund +Washington, a distant relative. He was a man of energy and ability +and retired against protests in 1785. Unfortunately not much of the +correspondence between the two has come down to us, as Lund +destroyed most of the General's letters. Why he did so I do not +know, though possibly it was because in them Washington commented +freely about persons and sections. In one that remains, for +example, written soon after his assumption of command at Cambridge, +the General speaks disparagingly of some New England officers and +says of the troops that they may fight well, but are "dirty +fellows." When the British visited Mount Vernon in 1781 Lund +conciliated them by furnishing them provisions, thereby drawing +down upon himself a rebuke from the owner, who said that he would +rather have had his buildings burned down than to have purchased +their safety in such a way. Nevertheless the General appreciated +Lund's services and the two always remained on friendly terms.</p> +<p>Lund was succeeded by Major George Augustine Washington, son of +the General's brother Charles. From his youth George Augustine had +attached himself to his uncle's service and fought under him +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page180" id="page180"></a>[pg +180]</span> in the Revolution, a part of the time on the staff of +Lafayette. The General had a strong affection for him and in 1784 +furnished him with money to take a trip to the West Indies for his +health. Contrary to expectations, he improved, married Fanny +Bassett, and for several years resided at Mount Vernon. But the +disease, consumption, returned and, greatly to his uncle's +distress, he died in 1792. Washington helped to care for the widow +until she became the wife of Tobias Lear.</p> +<p>Two other nephews, Robert Lewis and Howell Lewis, were in turn +for short intervals in charge of affairs, but presently the estate +was committed to the care of an Englishman named Anthony Whiting, +who was already overseer of two of the farms. Like his predecessor +he was a victim of consumption and died in June, 1793. Washington +showed him great kindness, repeatedly urging him not to overexert, +to make use of wines, tea, coffee and other delicacies that had +been sent for the use of guests. As Whiting was also troubled with +rheumatism, the President dropped affairs of state long enough to +write him that "Flannel next the skin [is] the best cure for, & +preventative of the Rheumatism I have ever tried." Yet after +Whiting's death the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page181" id= +"page181"></a>[pg 181]</span> employer learned that he had been +deceived in the man--that he "drank freely--kept bad company at my +house in Alexandria--and was a very debauched person."</p> +<p>William Pearce, who followed Whiting, came from the eastern +shore of Maryland, where he owned an estate called "Hopewell." His +salary was a hundred guineas a year. A poor speller and grammarian, +he was nevertheless practical and one of the best of all the +managers. He resigned in 1797 on account of rheumatism, which he +thought would prevent him from giving business the attention it +deserved. Washington parted from him with much regret and gave him +a "certificate" in which he spoke in the most laudatory terms of +his "honesty, sobriety industry and skill" and stated that his +conduct had given "entire satisfaction." They later corresponded +occasionally and exchanged farm and family news in the most +friendly way.</p> +<p>The last manager, James Anderson, was described by his employer +as "an honest, industrious and judicious Scotchman." His salary was +one hundred forty pounds a year. Though born in a country where +slaves were unknown, he proved adaptable to Virginia conditions and +assisted the overseers "in <span class="pagenum"><a name="page182" +id="page182"></a>[pg 182]</span> some chastisements when needful." +As his employer retired from the presidency soon after he took +charge he had not the responsibility of some who had preceded him, +for Washington was unwilling to be reduced to a mere cipher on his +own estate. Seeing the great profusion of cheap corn and rye, +Anderson, who was a good judge of whisky, engaged the General in a +distillery, which stood near the grist mill. The returns for 1798 +were £344.12.7-3/4, with 755-1/4 gallons still unsold.</p> +<p>Washington's letters to his managers are filled with +exhortations and sapient advice about all manner of things. He +constantly urged them to avoid familiarities with the blacks and +preached the importance of "example," for, "be it good or bad," it +"will be followed by all those who look up to you.--Keep every one +in their place, & to their duty; relaxation from, or neglect in +small matters, lead to like attempts in matters of greater +magnitude."</p> +<p>The absent owner was constantly complaining that his managers +failed to inform him about matters concerning which he had +inquired. Hardly a report reached him that did not fail to explain +something in which he was interested. This was one <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page183" id="page183"></a>[pg 183]</span> of the +many disadvantages of farming at long range.</p> +<p>In 1793 Washington described his overseers to Pearce, who was +just taking charge, in great detail. Stuart is competent, sober and +industrious, but talkative and conceited. "If he stirs early and +works late ... his talkativeness and vanity may be humored." Crow +is active and possessed of good judgment, but overly fond of +"visiting and receiving visits." McKoy is a "sickly, slothful and +stupid fellow." Butler, the gardener, may mean well, but "he has no +more authority over the Negroes he is placed over than an old woman +would have." Ultimately he dismissed Butler on this ground, but as +the man could find no other job he was forced to give him +assistance. The owner's opinions of Davy, the colored overseer at +Muddy Hole Farm, and of Thomas Green, the carpenter, are given +elsewhere.</p> +<p>In the same letter he exhorted Pearce to see what time the +overseers "turn out of a morning--for I have strong suspicions that +this, with some of them, is at a late hour, the consequences of +which to the Negroes is not difficult to foretell. All these +Overseers as you will perceive by their agreements, which +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page184" id="page184"></a>[pg +184]</span> I here with send, are on standing wages; and this with +men who are not actuated by the principles of honor or honesty, and +not very regardful of their characters, leads naturally to +endulgences--as <i>their</i> profits whatever may be <i>mine</i>, +are the same whether they are at a horse race or on the farm."</p> +<p>From the above it will appear that he did not believe that the +overseers were storing up any large treasury of good works. In the +Revolution he wrote that one overseer and a confederate, "I +believe, divide the profits of my Estate on the York River, +tolerably between them, for the devil of anything do I get." Later +he approved the course of George A. Washington in depriving an +overseer of the privilege of killing four shoats, as this gave him +an excuse when caught killing a pig to say that it was one of those +to which he was entitled. Even when honest, the overseers were +likely to be careless. They often knew little about the stock under +their charge and in making their weekly reports would take the +number from old reports instead of actually making the count, with +the result that many animals could die or disappear long before +those in charge became aware of it.</p> +<p>Washington's carpenters were mostly slaves, but</p> +<a name="Illus0410.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="Images/Illus0410.jpg"><img src= +"Images/Illus0410.jpg" width="30%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>Part of Manger's Weekly Report.</b></p> +<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page185" id="page185"></a>[pg +185]</span> +<p>he usually hired a white man to oversee and direct them. In +1768, for example, he engaged for this purpose a certain Jonathan +Palmer, who was to receive forty pounds a year, four hundred pounds +of meat, twenty bushels of corn, a house to live in, a garden, and +also the right to keep two cows.</p> +<p>The carpenters were required not only to build houses, barns, +sheds and other structures, but also boats, and had to hew out or +whipsaw many of the timbers and boards used.</p> +<p>The carpenter whose name we meet oftenest was Thomas Green, who +married Sally Bishop. I have seen a contract signed by Green in +1786, by which he was to receive annually forty-five pounds in +Virginia currency, five hundredweight of pork, pasture for a cow, +and two hundred pounds of common flour. He also had the right to be +absent from the plantation half a day in every month. He did not +use these vacations to good advantage, for he was a drunken +incompetent and tried Washington's patience sorely. Washington +frequently threatened to dismiss him and as often relented and +Green finally, in 1794, quit of his own accord, though Washington +thereafter had to assist his family.</p> +<p>The employment of white day labor at Mount <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page186" id="page186"></a>[pg 186]</span> Vernon +was not extensive. In harvest time some extra cradlers were +employed, as this was a kind of work at which the slaves were not +very skilful. Payment was at the rate of about a dollar a day or a +dollar for cutting four acres, which was the amount a skilled man +could lay down in a day. The men were also given three meals a day +and a pint of spirits each. They slept in the barns, with straw and +a blanket for a bed. With them worked the overseers, cutting, +binding and setting up the sheaves in stools or shocks.</p> +<p>Laziness in his employees gave our Farmer a vast deal of +unhappiness. It was an enemy that he fought longer and more +persistently than he fought the British. In his early career a +certain "Young Stephens," son of the miller, seems to have been his +greatest trial. "Visited my Plantations," he confides to his diary. +"Severely reprimanded young Stephens for his Indolence, and his +father for suffering it." "Visited my Quarters & ye Mill +according to custom found young Stephens absent." "Visited my +Plantations and found to my great surprise Stephens constantly at +work." "Rid out to my Plantn. and to my Carpenters. Found Richard +Stephens hard at work with an ax--very extraordinary this!"</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page187" id="page187"></a>[pg +187]</span> +<p>To what extent the change proved permanent we do not know. But +even though the reformation was absolute, it mattered little, for +each year produces a new crop of lazybones just as it does "lambs" +and "suckers."</p> +<p>Enough has been said to show that our Farmer was impatient, +perhaps even a bit querulous, but innumerable incidents prove that +he was also generous and just. Thus when paper currency depreciated +to a low figure he, of his own volition, wrote to Lund Washington +that he would not hold him to his contract, but would pay his wages +by a share in the crops, and this at a time when his own debtors +were discharging their indebtedness in the almost worthless +paper.</p> +<p>If ever a square man lived, Washington was that man. He believed +in the Golden Rule and he practiced it--not only in church, but in +business. It was not for nothing that as a boy he had written as +his one hundred tenth "Rule of Civility": "Labor to keep alive in +your Breast that Little Spark of Celestial fire called +Conscience."</p> +<p>In looking through his later letters I came upon one, dated +January 7, 1796, from Pearce stating that Davenport, a miller whom +Washington had brought <span class="pagenum"><a name="page188" id= +"page188"></a>[pg 188]</span> from Pennsylvania, was dead. He had +already received six hundred pounds of pork and more wages than +were due him as advances for the coming year. What should be done? +asked the manager. "His Wife and Children will be in a most +Distressed Situation." As I examined the papers that followed I +said to myself: "I will see if I know what his answer will be." I +thought I did, and so it proved. Back from Philadelphia came the +answer:</p> +<p>"Altho' she can have no <i>right</i> to the Meat, I would have +none of it taken from her.--You may also let her have middlings +from the Mill,--and until the house may become indispensably +necessary for the succeeding Miller, let her remain in it.--As she +went from these parts she can have no friends (by these I mean +relations) where she is. If therefore she wishes to return back to +his, or her own relations, aid her in doing so."</p> +<p>Not always were his problems so somber as this. Consider, for +example, the case of William M. Roberts, an employee who feared +that he was about to get the sack. "In your absence to Richmond," +writes anxious William, November 25, 1784, "My Wife & I have +had a Most Unhappy falling out Which I Shall not Trouble you with +the Praticlers No farther <span class="pagenum"><a name="page189" +id="page189"></a>[pg 189]</span> than This. I hapened To Git to +Drinking one Night as She thought Two Much. & From one Cros +Question to a nother Matters weare Carred to the Langth it has +been. Which Mr. Lund Washington will Inform you For My part I am +Heartily Sorry in my Sole My Wife appares to be the Same & I am +of a pinion that We Shall Live More Happy than We have Don for the +fewter."</p> +<p>In his dealings with servants Washington was sometimes troubled +with questions that worry us when we are trying to hire "Mary" or +"Bridget." Thus when Mrs. Washington's ill health necessitated his +engaging in 1797 a housekeeper he made the following minute and +anxious inquiries of Bushrod Washington at Richmond concerning a +certain Mrs. Forbes:</p> +<p>"What countrywoman is she?</p> +<p>"Whether Widow or Wife? if the latter</p> +<p>"Where her husband is?</p> +<p>"What family she has?</p> +<p>"What age she is?</p> +<p>"Of what temper?</p> +<p>"Whether active and spirited in the execution of her +business?</p> +<p>"Whether sober and honest?</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page190" id="page190"></a>[pg +190]</span> +<p>"Whether much knowledge in Cookery, and understands ordering and +setting out a Table?</p> +<p>"What her appearance is?</p> +<p>"With other matters which may occur to you to ask,--and +necessary for me to know.</p> +<p>"Mrs. Forbes will have a warm, decent and comfortable room to +herself, to lodge in, and will eat of the victuals of our Table, +but not set at it, at any time <i>with us</i>, be her appearance +what it may, for if this was <i>once admitted</i>, no line +satisfactory to either party, perhaps, could be drawn +thereafter.--It might be well for me to know however whether this +was admitted at Govr. Brookes or not."</p> +<p>Considerate and just though he was, his deliberate judgment of +servants after a long and varied experience was that they are +"necessary plagues ... they baffle all calculation in the +accomplishment of any plan or repairs they are engaged in; and +require more attention to and looking after than can be well +conceived."</p> +<p>Perhaps the soundest philosophy upon this trying and much +debated servant question is that of Miles Standish, who proceeded, +however, straightway to violate it.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page191" id="page191"></a>[pg +191]</span> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2> +<br> +<h3>BLACK SLAVES</h3> +<p>It is one of the strange inconsistencies of history that one of +the foremost champions of liberty of all time should himself have +been the absolute owner and master of men, women and children.</p> +<p>Visitors at Mount Vernon saw many faces there, but only a few +were white faces, the rest were those of black slaves. On each farm +stood a village of wooden huts, where turbaned mammies crooned and +piccaninnies gamboled in the sunshine. The cooks, the house +servants, the coachmen, the stable boys, almost all the manual +workers were slaves. Even the Mansion House grounds, if the master +was away, were apt to be overrun with black children, for though +only the progeny of a few house servants were supposed to enter the +precincts, the others often disregarded the prohibition, to the +destruction of the Farmer's flowers and rare shrubs.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page192" id="page192"></a>[pg +192]</span> +<p>From his father Washington inherited ten or a dozen slaves and, +as occasion required or opportunity offered, he added to the +number. By 1760 he paid taxes on forty-nine slaves, in 1770 on +eighty-seven and in 1774 on one hundred thirty-five. Presently he +found himself overstocked and in 1778 expressed a wish to barter +for land some "Negroes, of whom I every day long more to get clear +of<a name="FNanchor7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7">[7]</a>." Still +later he declared that he had more negroes than could be employed +to advantage on his estate, but was principled against selling any, +while hiring them <span class="pagenum"><a name="page193" id= +"page193"></a>[pg 193]</span> out was almost as bad. "What then is +to be done? Something or I shall be ruined."</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor7">[7]</a> +In 1754 he bought a "fellow" for £40.5, another named Jack +for £52.5 and a woman called Clio for £50. Two years +later he acquired two negro men and a woman for £86, and from +Governor Dinwiddie a woman and child for £60. In 1758 he got +Gregory for £60.9. Mount Vernon brought him eighteen more. +Mrs. Washington was the owner of a great many slaves, which he +called the "dower Negroes," and with part of the money she brought +him he acquired yet others. The year of his marriage he bought Will +for £50, another fellow for £60, Hannah and child for +£80 and nine others for £406. In 1762 he acquired two +of Fielding Lewis for £115, seven of Lee Massey for +£300, also one-handed Charles for £30. Two years later +he bought two men and a woman of the estate of Francis Hobbs for +£128.10, the woman being evidently of inferior quality, for +she cost only £20. Another slave purchased that year from +Sarah Alexander was more valuable, costing £76. Judy and +child, obtained of Garvin Corbin, cost £63. Two mulattoes, +Will and Frank, bought of Mary Lee in 1768, cost £61.15 and +£50, and Will became famous as a body servant; Adam and +Frank, bought of the same owner, cost £38. He bought five +more slaves in 1772. Some writers say that this was his last +purchase, but it is certain that thereafter he at least took a few +in payment of debts.</blockquote> +<p>In 1786 he took a census of his slaves on the Mount Vernon +estate. On the Mansion House Farm he had sixty-seven, including +Will or Billy Lee, who was his "val de Chambre," two waiters, two +cooks, three drivers and stablers, three seamstresses, two house +maids, two washers, four spinners, besides smiths, a waggoner, +carter, stock keeper, knitters and carpenters. Two women were +"almost past service," one of them being "old and almost blind." A +man, Schomberg, was "past labour." Lame Peter had been taught to +knit. Twenty-six were children, the youngest being Delia and Sally. +At the mill were Miller Ben and three coopers. On the whole estate +there were two hundred sixteen slaves, including many dower +negroes.</p> +<p>If our Farmer took any special pains to develop the mental and +moral nature of "My People," as he usually called his slaves, I +have found no record of it. Nor is there any evidence that their +sexual relations were other than promiscuous--if they so desired. +Marriage had no legal basis among slaves and children took the +status of their mother. Instances occurred in which couples +remained together and <span class="pagenum"><a name="page194" id= +"page194"></a>[pg 194]</span> had an affection for their families, +but the reverse was not uncommon. This state of affairs goes far +toward explaining moral lapses among the negroes of to-day.</p> +<p>I have found only one or two lists of the increase of the +slaves, one being that transmitted by James Anderson, manager, in +February, 1797, to the effect that "there are 3 Negro Children +Born, & one dead--at River Farm 1; born at Mansion house, Lina +1; at Union Farm 1 born & one dead--It was killed by Worms. +Medical assistance was called--But the mothers are very inattentive +to their Young."</p> +<p>Just why the managers, when they carefully mentioned the arrival +of calves, colts, lambs and mules, did not also transmit news of +the advent of the more valuable two-legged live stock, is not +apparent. In many reports, however, in accounting for the time of +slaves, occur such entries as: "By Cornelia in child bed 6 days." +Occasionally the fact and sex of the increase is mentioned, but not +often.</p> +<p>Washington was much more likely to take notice of deaths than of +increases. "Dorcas, daughter of Phillis, died, which makes 4 +Negroes lost this winter," he wrote in 1760. He strove to safeguard +the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page195" id="page195"></a>[pg +195]</span> health of his slaves and employed a physician by the +year to attend to them, the payment, during part of the time at +least, being fifteen pounds per annum. In 1760 this physician was a +certain James Laurie, evidently not a man of exemplary character, +for Washington wrote, April 9, 1760, "Doctr. Laurie came here. I +may add Drunk." Another physician was a Doctor Brown, another +Doctor William Rumney, and in later years it was Washington's old +friend Doctor Craik. I have noticed two instances of Washington's +sending slaves considerable distances for medical treatment. One +boy, Christopher, bitten by a dog, went to a "specialist" at +Lebanon, Pennsylvania, for treatment to avert madness, and another, +Tom, had an operation performed on his eyes, probably for +cataract.</p> +<p>When at home the Farmer personally helped to care for sick +slaves. He had a special building erected near the Mansion House +for use as a hospital. Once he went to Winchester in the Shenandoah +region especially to look after slaves ill with smallpox "and found +everything in the utmost confusion, disorder, and backwardness. Got +Blankets and every other requisite from Winchester, and settied +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page196" id="page196"></a>[pg +196]</span> things on the best footing I could." As he had had +smallpox when at Barbadoes, he had no fear of contagion.</p> +<p>Among the entries in his diary are: "Visited my Plantations and +found two negroes sick ... ordered them to be blooded." "Found that +lightening had struck my quarters and near 10 Negroes in it, some +very bad but by letting blood recovered." "Found the new negro +Cupid ill of a pleurisy at Dogue Run Quarter and had him brot home +in a cart for better care of him.... Cupid extremely ill all this +day and night. When I went to bed I thought him within a few hours +of breathing his last." However, Cupid recovered.</p> +<p>In his contracts with overseers Washington stipulated proper +care of the slaves. Once he complained to his manager that the +generality of the overseers seem to "view the poor creatures in +scarcely any other light than they do a draught horse or ox; +neglecting them as much when they are unable to work; instead of +comforting and nursing them when they lye on a sick bed." Again he +wrote:</p> +<p>"When I recommended care of and attention to my negros in +sickness, it was that the first stage of, and the whole progress +through the disorders with <span class="pagenum"><a name="page197" +id="page197"></a>[pg 197]</span> which they might be seized (if +more than a slight indisposition) should be closely watched, and +timely applications and remedies be administered; especially in the +pleurisies, and all inflammatory disorders accompanied with pain, +when a few day's neglect, or want of bleeding might render the +ailment incurable. In such cases sweeten'd teas, broths and +(according to the nature of the complaint, and the doctor's +prescription) sometimes a little wine, may be necessary to nourish +and restore the patient; and these I am perfectly willing to allow, +when it is requisite."</p> +<p>Yet again he complains that the overseers "seem to consider a +Negro much in the same light as they do the brute beasts, on the +farms, and often times treat them as inhumanly."</p> +<p>His slaves by no means led lives of luxury and inglorious ease. +A friendly Polish poet who visited Mount Vernon in 1798 was shocked +by the poor quarters and rough food provided for them. He +wrote:</p> +<p>"We entered some negroes' huts--for their habitations cannot be +called houses. They are far more miserable than the poorest of the +cottages of our peasants. The husband and his wife sleep on a +miserable <span class="pagenum"><a name="page198" id= +"page198"></a>[pg 198]</span> bed, the children on the floor. A +very poor chimney, a little kitchen furniture amid this misery--a +tea-kettle and cups.... A small orchard with vegetables was +situated close to the hut. Five or six hens, each with ten or +fifteen chickens, walked there. That is the only pleasure allowed +to the negroes: they are not permitted to keep either ducks or +geese or pigs."</p> +<p>Yet all the slaves he saw seemed gay and light-hearted and on +Sundays played at pitching the bar with an activity and zest that +indicated that they managed to keep from being overworked and found +some enjoyment in life.</p> +<p>To our Farmer's orderly and energetic soul his shiftless lazy +blacks were a constant trial. In his diary for February, 1760, he +records that four of his carpenters had only hewed about one +hundred twenty feet of timber in a day, so he tried the experiment +of sitting down and watching them. They at once fell to with such +energy and worked so rapidly that he concluded that each one ought +to hew about one hundred twenty-five feet per day and more when the +days were longer.</p> +<p>A later set of carpenters seem to have been equally <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page199" id="page199"></a>[pg 199]</span> +trifling, for of them he said in 1795: "There is not to be found so +idle a set of Rascals.--In short, it appears to me, that to make +even a chicken coop, would employ all of them a week."</p> +<p>"It is observed by the Weekly Report," he wrote when President, +"that the Sowers make only Six Shirts a Week, and the last week +Caroline (without being sick) made only five;--Mrs. Washington says +their usual task was to make nine with Shoulder straps, & good +sewing:--tell them therefore from me, that what <i>has</i> been +done <i>shall</i> be done by fair or foul means; & they had +better make a choice of the first, for their own reputation, & +for the sake of peace and quietness otherwise they will be sent to +the several Plantations, & be placed at common labor under the +Overseers thereat. Their work ought to be well examined, or it will +be most shamefully executed, whether little or much of it is +done--and it is said, the same attention ought to be given to Peter +(& I suppose to Sarah likewise) or the Stockings will be knit +too small for those for whom they are intended; such being the +idleness, & deceit of those people."</p> +<p>"What kind of sickness is Betty Davis's?" he demands +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page200" id="page200"></a>[pg +200]</span> on another occasion. "If pretended ailments, without +apparent causes, or visible effects, will screen her from work, I +shall get no work at all from her;--for a more lazy, deceitful and +impudent huzzy is not to be found in the United States than she +is."</p> +<p>"I observe what you say of Betty Davis &ct," he wrote a +little later, "but I never found so much difficulty as you seem to +apprehend in distinguishing between <i>real</i> and <i>feigned</i> +sickness;--or when a person is much <i>afflicted</i> with +pain.--Nobody can be very sick without having a fever, nor will a +fever or any other disorder continue long upon any one without +reducing them.--Pain also, if it be such as to yield entirely to +its force, week after week, will appear by its effects; but my +people (many of them) will lay up a month, at the end of which no +visible change in their countenance, nor the loss of an oz of +flesh, is discoverable; and their allowance of provision is going +on as if nothing ailed them."</p> +<p>He not only deemed his negroes lazy, but he had also a low +opinion of their honesty. Alexandria was full of low shopkeepers +who would buy stolen goods from either blacks or whites, and +Washington declared that not more than two or three of his +slaves</p> +<a name="Illus0412.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="Images/Illus0412.jpg"><img src= +"Images/Illus0412.jpg" width="60%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>Spinning House--Last Building to the Right.</b></p> +<br> +<a name="Illus0413.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="Images/Illus0413.jpg"><img src= +"Images/Illus0413.jpg" width="60%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>The Butler's House and Magnolia Set out by Washington the Year +of his Death.</b></p> +<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page201" id="page201"></a>[pg +201]</span> +<p>would refrain from filching anything upon which they could lay +their hands.</p> +<p>He found that he dared not leave his wine unlocked, because the +servants would steal two glasses to every one consumed by visitors +and then allege that the visitors had drunk it all.</p> +<p>He even suspected the slaves of taking a toll from the clover +and timothy seed given them to sow and adopted the practice of +having the seed mixed with sand, as that rendered it unsalable and +also had the advantage of getting the seed sown more evenly.</p> +<p>Corn houses and meat houses had to be kept locked, apples picked +early, and sheep and pigs watched carefully or the slaves took full +advantage of the opportunity. Nor can we at this distant day blame +them very much or wax so indignant as did their master over their +thieveries. They were held to involuntary servitude and if now and +then they got the better of their owner and managed to enjoy a few +stolen luxuries they merely did a little toward evening the score. +But it was poor training for future freedom.</p> +<p>The black picture which Washington draws of slavery--from the +master's standpoint--is exceedingly interesting and significant. +The character he <span class="pagenum"><a name="page202" id= +"page202"></a>[pg 202]</span> gives the slaves is commended to the +attention of those persons who continually bemoan the fact that +freedom and education have ruined the negroes.</p> +<p>One of the famous "Rules of Civility," which the boy Washington +so carefully copied, set forth that persons of high degree ought to +treat their inferiors "with affibility & Courtesie, without +Arrogancy." There is abundant evidence that when he came to manhood +he was reasonably considerate of his slaves, and yet he was a +Master and ruled them in martinet fashion. His advice to a manager +was to keep the blacks at a proper distance, "for they will grow +upon familiarity in proportion as you will sink in authority." The +English farmer Parkinson records that the first time he walked with +General Washington among his negroes he was amazed at the rough +manner in which he spoke to them. This does not mean that +Washington cursed his negroes as the mate of a Mississippi River +boat does his roustabouts, but I suspect that those who have heard +such a mate can form an idea of the <i>tone</i> employed by our +Farmer that so shocked Parkinson. Military officers still employ it +toward their men.</p> +<p>Corporal punishment was resorted to on occasion, but not to +extremes. The Master writes regarding <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page203" id="page203"></a>[pg 203]</span> a +runaway: "Let Abram get his deserts when taken, by way of example; +but do not trust to Crow to give it to him;--for I have reason to +believe he is swayed more by passion than by judgment in all his +corrections." Tradition says that on one occasion he found an +overseer brutally beating one of the blacks and, indignant at the +sight, sprang from his horse and, whip in hand, strode up to the +overseer, who was so affrighted that he backed away crying loudly: +"Remember your character, General, remember your character!" The +General paused, reprimanded the overseer for cruelty and rode +off.</p> +<p>Among his slaves were some that were too unruly to be managed by +ordinary means. In the early seventies he had such a one on a +plantation in York County, Will Shag by name, who was a persistent +runaway, and who whipped the overseer and was obstreperous +generally. Another slave committed so serious an offense that he +was tried under state law and >>vas executed. When a bondman +became particularly fractious he was threatened with being sent to +the West Indies, a place held in as much dread as was "down the +river" in later years. In 1766 Washington sent such a fellow off +and to the captain of the ship that carried the slave away he +wrote:</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page204" id="page204"></a>[pg +204]</span> +<p>"With this letter comes a negro (Tom) which I beg the favor of +you to sell in any of the islands you may go to, for whatever he +will fetch, and bring me in return for him</p> +<p>"One hhd of best molasses</p> +<p>"One ditto of best rum</p> +<p>"One barrel of lymes, if good and cheap</p> +<p>"One pot of tamarinds, containing about 10 lbs.</p> +<p>"Two small ditto of mixed sweetmeats, about 5 lbs. each. And the +residue, much or little, in good old spirits. That this fellow is +both a rogue and a runaway (tho he was by no means remarkable for +the former, and never practiced the latter till of late) I shall +not pretend to deny. But that he is exceedingly healthy, strong, +and good at the hoe, the whole neighborhood can testify, and +particularly Mr. Johnson and his son, who have both had him under +them as foreman of the gang; which gives me reason to hope that he +may with your good management sell well, if kept clean and trim'd +up a little when offered for sale."</p> +<p>Another "misbehaving fellow" named Waggoner Jack was sent off in +1791 and was sold for "one pipe and Quarter Cask" of wine. Somewhat +later (1793) Matilda's Ben became addicted to evil courses and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page205" id="page205"></a>[pg +205]</span> among other things committed an assault and battery on +Sambo, for which he received corporal punishment duly approved by +our Farmer, whose earnest desire it was "that quarrels be stopped." +Evidently the remedy was insufficient, for not long after the +absent owner wrote:</p> +<p>"I am very sorry that so likely a fellow as Matilda's Ben should +addict himself to such courses as he is pursuing. If he should be +guilty of any atrocious crime that would affect his life, he might +be given up to the civil authority for trial; but for such offenses +as most of his color are guilty of, you had better try further +correction, accompanied by admonition and advice. The two latter +sometimes succeed where the first has failed. He, his father and +mother (who I dare say are his receivers) may be told in explicit +language, that if a stop is not put to his rogueries and other +villainies, by fair means and shortly, that I will ship him off (as +I did Waggoner Jack) for the West Indies, where he will have no +opportunity of playing such pranks as he is at present engaged +in."</p> +<p>A few of the negroes occupied positions of some trust and +responsibility. One named Davy was for many years manager of Muddy +Hole Farm, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="page206" id= +"page206"></a>[pg 206]</span> Washington thought that he carried on +his work as well as did the white overseers and more quietly than +some, though rather negligent of live stock. Each year at killing +time he was allowed two or three hundredweight of pork as well as +other privileges not accorded to the ordinary slave. Still his +master did not entirely trust him, for in 1795 we find that +Washington suspected Davy of having stolen some lambs that had been +reported as "lost."</p> +<p>The most famous of the Mount Vernon negroes was William Lee, +better known as Billy, whose purchase from Mary Lee has already +been noticed. Billy was Washington's valet and huntsman and served +with him throughout the Revolution as a body servant, rode with him +at reviews and was painted by Savage in the well-known group of the +President and his family. Naturally Billy put on airs and presumed +a good deal upon his position. On one occasion at Monmouth the +General and his staff were reconnoitering the British, and Billy +and fellow valets gathered on an adjoining hill beneath a sycamore +tree whence Billy, telescope in hand, surveyed the enemy with much +importance and interest. Washington, with a smile, called the +attention of his aides to the spectacle. About the same time +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page207" id="page207"></a>[pg +207]</span> the British, noticing the group of horsemen and unable +to distinguish the color of the riders, paid their respects to +Billy and his followers in the shape of a solid shot, which went +crashing through the top of the tree, whereupon there was a rapid +recession of coat tails toward the rear.</p> +<p>Billy was a good and faithful servant and his master appreciated +the fact. In 1784 we find Washington writing to his Philadelphia +agent: "The mullatto fellow, William, who has been with me all the +war, is attached (married he says) to one of his own color, a free +woman, who during the war, was also of my family. She has been in +an infirm condition for some time, and I had conceived that the +connexion between them had ceased; but I am mistaken it seems; they +are both applying to get her here, and tho' I never wished to see +her more, I can not refuse his request (if it can be complied with +on reasonable terms) as he has served me faithfully for many years. +After premising this much, I have to beg the favor of you to +procure her a passage to Alexandria."</p> +<p>Next year while Billy and his master were engaged in surveying a +piece of ground he fell and broke his knee pan, with the result +that he was crippled <span class="pagenum"><a name="page208" id= +"page208"></a>[pg 208]</span> ever after. When Washington started +to New York in 1789 to be inaugurated Billy insisted upon +accompanying him, but gave out on the way and was left at +Philadelphia. A little later, by the President's direction, Lear +wrote to return Billy to Mount Vernon, "for he cannot be of any +service here, and perhaps will require a person to attend upon him +constantly ... but if he is still anxious to come on here the +President would gratify him, altho' he will be troublesome--He has +been an old and faithful Servant, this is enough for the President +to gratify him in every reasonable wish."</p> +<p>When Billy was at Mount Vernon he worked as a shoemaker. He kept +careful note of visitors to the place and if one arrived who had +served in the Revolution he invariably received a summons to visit +the old negro and as invariably complied. Then would ensue a talk +of war experiences which both would enjoy, for between those who +had experienced the cold at Valley Forge and the warmth of Monmouth +there were ties that reached beyond the narrow confines of caste +and color. And upon departure the visitor would leave a coin in +Billy's not unwilling palm.</p> +<p>As later noted in detail, Washington made special <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page209" id="page209"></a>[pg 209]</span> +provision for Billy in his will, and for years the old negro lived +upon his annuity. He was much addicted to drink and now and then, +alas, had attacks in which he saw things that were not. On such +occasions it was customary to send for another mulatto named +Westford, who would relieve him by letting a little blood. There +came a day when Westford arrived and proceeded to perform his +customary office, but the blood refused to flow. Billy was +dead.</p> +<p>Washington's kindness to Billy was more or less paralleled by +his treatment of other servants. Even when President he would write +letters for his slaves to their wives and "Tel Bosos" and would +inclose them with his own letters to Mount Vernon. He appreciated +the fact that slaves were capable of human feelings like other men +and in 1787, when trying to purchase a mason, he instructed his +agent not to buy if by so doing he would "hurt the man's feelings" +by breaking family ties. Even when dying, noting black Cristopher +by his bed, he directed him to sit down and rest. It was a little +thing, but kindness is largely made up of little things.</p> +<p>The course taken by him in training a personal servant is +indicated by some passages from his correspondence. Writing from +the Capital to Pearce, <span class="pagenum"><a name="page210" id= +"page210"></a>[pg 210]</span> December, 1795, regarding a young +negro, Washington says:</p> +<p>"If Cyrus continues to give evidence of such qualities as would +fit him for a waiting man, encourage him to persevere in them; and +if they should appear to be sincere and permanent, I will receive +him in that character when I retire from public life if not +sooner.--To be sober, attentive to his duty, honest, obliging and +cleanly, are the qualifications necessary to fit him for my +purposes.--If he possess these, or can acquire them--he might +become useful to me, at the same time that he would exalt, and +benefit himself."</p> +<p>"I would have you again stir up the pride of Cyrus," he wrote +the next May, "that he may be the fitter for my purposes against I +come home; sometime before which (that is as soon as I shall be +able to fix on time) I will direct him to be taken into the house, +and clothes to be made for him.--In the meanwhile, get him a strong +horn comb and direct him to keep his head well combed, that the +hair, or wool may grow long."</p> +<p>Once when President word reached his ears that he was being +criticized for not furnishing his slaves with sufficient food. He +hurriedly directed that the amount should be increased and added: +"I will not <span class="pagenum"><a name="page211" id= +"page211"></a>[pg 211]</span> have my feelings hurt with complaints +of this sort, nor lye under the imputation of starving my negros, +and thereby driving them to the necessity of thieving to supply the +deficiency. To prevent waste or embezzlement is the only inducement +to allowancing them at all--for if, instead of a peck they could +eat a bushel of meal a week fairly, and required it, I would not +withold or begrudge it them."</p> +<p>There is good reason to believe that Washington was respected +and even beloved by many of his "People." Colonel Humphreys, who +was long at Mount Vernon arranging the General's papers, wrote +descriptive of the return at the close of the Revolution:</p> +<blockquote>"When that foul stain of manhood, slavery, flowed,<br> +Through Afric's sons transmitted in the blood;<br> +Hereditary slaves his kindness shar'd,<br> +For manumission by degrees prepared:<br> +Return'd from war, I saw them round him press<br> +And all their speechless glee by artless signs +express."</blockquote> +<p>On the whole we must conclude that the lot of the Mount Vernon +slaves was a reasonably happy one. The regulations to which they +had to conform were <span class="pagenum"><a name="page212" id= +"page212"></a>[pg 212]</span> rigorous. Their Master strove to keep +them at work and to prevent them from "night walking," that is +running about at night visiting. Their work was rough, and even the +women were expected to labor in the fields plowing, grubbing and +hauling manure as if they were men. But they had rations of corn +meal, salt pork and salt fish, whisky and rum at Christmas, +chickens and vegetables raised by themselves and now and then a +toothsome pig sequestered from the Master's herd. When the annual +races were held at Alexandria they were permitted to go out into +the world and gaze and gabble to their heart's content. And, not +least of all, an inscrutable Providence had vouchsafed to Ham one +great compensation that whatever his fortune or station he should +usually be cheerful. The negro has not that "sad lucidity of mind" +that curses his white cousin and leads to general mental +wretchedness and suicide.</p> +<p>Some of the Mount Vernon slaves were of course more favored than +were others. The domestic and personal servants lived lives of +culture and inglorious ease compared with those of the field hands. +They formed the aristocracy of colored Mount Vernon society and +gave themselves airs accordingly.</p> +<p>Nominally our Farmer's slaves were probably all <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page213" id="page213"></a>[pg 213]</span> +Christians, though I have found no mention in his papers of their +spiritual state. But tradition says that some of them at Dogue Run +at least were Voudoo or "conjuring" negroes.</p> +<p>Washington owned slaves and lived his life under the institution +of slavery, but he loved it not. He was too honest and keen-minded +not to realize that the institution did not square with the +principles of human liberty for which he had fought, and yet the +problem of slavery was so vast and complicated that he was puzzled +how to deal with it. But as early as 1786 he wrote to John F. +Mercer, of Virginia: "I never mean, unless some particular +circumstances should compel me to it, to possess another slave by +purchase, it being among my <i>first</i> wishes to see some plan +adopted by which slavery in this country may be abolished by law." +The running away of his colored cook a decade later subjected him +to such trials that he wrote that he would probably have to break +his resolution. He did, in fact, carry on considerable +correspondence to that end and seems to have taken one man on +trial, but I have found no evidence that he discovered a negro that +suited him.</p> +<p>In 1794, in explaining to Tobias Lear his reasons for desiring +to sell some of his western lands, he <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page214" id="page214"></a>[pg 214]</span> said: +"<i>Besides these I have another motive which</i> makes me +earnestly wish for these things--it is indeed more powerful than +all the rest--namely to liberate a certain species of property +which I possess very repugnantly to my own feelings; but which +imperious necessity compels, and until I can substitute some other +expedient, by which expenses, not in my power to avoid (however +well I may be disposed to do it) can be defrayed."</p> +<p>Later in the same year he wrote to General Alexander Spotswood: +"With respect to the other species of property, concerning which +you ask my opinion, I shall frankly declare to you that I do not +like even to think, much less to talk of it.--However, as you have +put the question, I shall, in a few words, give <i>my ideas</i> +about it.--Were it not then, that I am principled agt. selling +negroes, as you would cattle at a market, I would not in twelve +months from this date, be possessed of one as a slave.--I shall be +happily mistaken, if they are not found to be a very troublesome +species of property ere many years pass over our heads."</p> +<p>"I wish from my soul that the Legislature of the State could see +the policy of a gradual abolition of <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page215" id="page215"></a>[pg 215]</span> slavery," he wrote to +Lawrence Lewis three years later. "It might prevent much future +mischief."</p> +<p>His ideas on the subject were in accord with those of many other +great Southerners of his day such as Madison and Jefferson. These +men realized the inconsistency of slavery in a republic dedicated +to the proposition that all men are created equal, and vaguely they +foresaw the irrepressible conflict that was to divide their country +and was to be fought out on a hundred bloody battle-fields. They +did not attempt to defend slavery as other than a temporary +institution to be eliminated whenever means and methods could be +found to do it. Not until the cotton gin had made slavery more +profitable and radical abolitionism arose in the North did +Southerners of prominence begin to champion slavery as praiseworthy +and permanent.</p> +<p>And yet, though Washington in later life deplored slavery, he +was human and illogical enough to dislike losing his negroes and +pursued runaways with energy. In October, 1760, he spent seven +shillings in advertising for an absconder, and the next year paid a +minister named Green four pounds for taking up a runaway. In 1766 +he advertised rewards for <span class="pagenum"><a name="page216" +id="page216"></a>[pg 216]</span> the capture of "Negro Tom," +evidently the man he later sold in the West Indies. The return of +Henry in 1771 cost him £1.16. Several slaves were carried +away by the British during the Revolution and seem never to have +been recovered, though the treaty of peace provided for the return +of such slaves, and Washington made inquiries concerning them. In +1796, apropos of a girl who had absconded to New England, he +excused his desire to recapture her on the ground that as long as +slavery was in existence it was hardly fair to allow some to escape +and to hold others.</p> +<p>A rather peculiar situation arose in 1791 with regard to some of +his "People," His attorney general, Randolph, had taken some slaves +to Philadelphia, and the blacks took advantage of the fact that +under Pennsylvania law they could not be forced to leave the state +against their will. Fearing that some of his own servants might do +likewise, Washington directed Lear to get the slaves back to Mount +Vernon and to accomplish it "under pretext that may deceive both +them and the Public," which goes to show that even George +Washington had some of the guile of the serpent.</p> +<p>During this period he was loath to bring the fact <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page217" id="page217"></a>[pg 217]</span> that +he was a slaveholder too prominently before the public, for he +realized the prejudice already existing against the institution in +the North. When one of his men absconded in 1795 he gave +instructions not to let his name appear in any advertisement of the +runaway, at least not north of Virginia.</p> +<p>His final judgment on slavery is expressed in his will. "Upon +the decease of my wife it is my will and desire," he wrote, "that +all the slaves which I hold <i>in my own right</i> shall receive +their freedom--To emancipate them during her life, would tho +earnestly wished by me, be attended with such insuperable +difficulties, on account of their intermixture by marriages with +the Dower negroes as to excite the most painful sensations,--if not +disagreeable consequences from the latter, while both descriptions +are in the occupancy of the same proprietor, it not being in my +power under the tenure by which the dower Negroes are held to +manumit them."</p> +<p>The number of his own slaves at the time of his death was one +hundred twenty-four. Of dower negroes there were one hundred +fifty-three, and besides he had forty leased from a Mrs. +French.</p> +<p>He expressly forbade the sale of any slave or his transportation +out of Virginia, and made provision <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page218" id="page218"></a>[pg 218]</span> for the care of the +aged, the young and the infirm. He gave immediate freedom to his +mulatto man, calling himself William Lee, or if he should prefer +it, being physically incapacitated, he might remain in slavery. In +either case he was to have an annuity of thirty dollars and the +"victuals and cloaths he has been accustomed to receive." "This I +give him as a testimony of my sense of his attachment to me and for +his faithful services during the revolutionary War."</p> +<p>As a matter of fact, Mrs. Washington preferred to free her own +and the General's negroes as soon as possible and it was +accordingly done before her death, which occurred in 1802.</p> +<p>One of the servants thus freed, by name Cary, lived to the +alleged age of one hundred fourteen years and finally died in +Washington City. He was a personage of considerable importance +among the colored population of the Capital, and on Fourth of July +and other parades would always appear in an old military coat, +cocked hat and huge cockade presented by his Master. His funeral +was largely attended even by white persons.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page219" id="page219"></a>[pg +219]</span> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2> +<br> +<h3>THE FARMER'S WIFE</h3> +<p>Martha Dandridge's first husband was a man much older than +herself and her second was almost a year younger. Before she +embarked upon her second matrimonial venture she had been the +mother of four children, and having lost two of these, her husband, +her father and mother, she had known, though only twenty-seven, +most of the vital experiences that life can give. Perhaps it was +well, for thereby she was better fitted to be the mate of a man +sober and sedate in disposition and created by Nature to bear heavy +burdens of responsibility.</p> +<p>In view of the important places her husband filled, it is +astonishing how little we really know of her. Washington +occasionally refers to her in his letters and diaries, but usually +in an impersonal way that gives us little insight into her +character or activities. She purposely destroyed almost all the +correspondence <span class="pagenum"><a name="page220" id= +"page220"></a>[pg 220]</span> that passed between her and her +husband and very little else remains that she wrote. From the few +letters that do survive it is apparent that her education was +slender, though no more so than that of most women of her day even +in the upper class. She had a fondness for phonetic spelling, and +her verbs and subjects often indulged in family wrangles. She seems +to have been conscious of her deficiencies in this direction or at +least to have disliked writing, for not infrequently the General +acted as her amanuensis. But she was well trained in social and +domestic accomplishments, could dance and play on the spinet--in +short, was brought up a "gentlewoman." That she must in youth have +possessed charm of person and manners is indicated by her +subjugation of Daniel Parke Custis, a man of the world and of much +greater fortune than herself, and by her later conquest of +Washington, for, though it be admitted in the latter case that +George may not have objected to her fortune, we can not escape the +conclusion that he truly loved her.</p> +<p>In fact, the match seems to have been ideally successful in +every respect except one. The contracting parties remained +reasonably devoted to each other until the end and though tradition +says that Martha <span class="pagenum"><a name="page221" id= +"page221"></a>[pg 221]</span> would sometimes read George a curtain +lecture after they had retired from company, there remains no +record of any serious disagreement. Though not brilliant nor +possessed of a profound mind, she was a woman of much good sense +with an understanding heart. Nor did she lack firmness or public +spirit. Edmund Pendleton relates that when on his way to the +Continental Congress in 1774 he stopped at Mount Vernon, "She +talked like a Spartan mother to her son on going to battle. 'I hope +you will all stand firm--I know George will,' she said."</p> +<p>The poorest artisan in Boston with nothing to lose but his life +did not embrace the patriot cause with any greater eagerness than +did these Washingtons with their broad acres and thousands of +pounds on bond.</p> +<p>There is every reason to believe that Martha Washington was +helpful to her husband in many ways. At home she was a good +housewife and when Washington was in public life she played her +part well. No brilliant sallies of wit spoken by her on any +occasion have come down to us, but we know that at Valley Forge she +worked day and night knitting socks, patching garments and making +shirts for the loyal band of winter patriots who stood by their +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page222" id="page222"></a>[pg +222]</span> leader and their cause in the darkest hour of the +Revolution.</p> +<p>A Norristown lady who paid her a call in the little stone house +that still stands beside the Schuylkill relates that "as she was +said to be so grand a lady, we thought we must put on our best bibs +and bands. So we dressed ourselves in our most elegant ruffles and +silks, and were introduced to her ladyship. And don't you think we +found her <i>knitting with a specked apron on!</i> She received us +very graciously, and easily, but after the compliments were over, +she resumed her knitting."</p> +<p>But the marriage was a failure in that there were no children. +No doubt both wanted them, for Washington was fond of young people +and many anecdotes are handed down of his interest in little tots. +Some one has remarked that he was deprived of offspring in order +that he might become the Father of His Country.</p> +<p>Toward those near and dear to her Martha Washington was almost +foolishly affectionate. In one of her letters she tells of a visit +"in Westmoreland whare I spent a weak very agreabley. I carred my +little patt with me and left Jackey at home for a trial to see how +well I coud stay without him though <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page223" id="page223"></a>[pg 223]</span> we ware gon but won +fortnight I was quite impatiant to get home. If I at aney time +heard the doggs barke or a noise out, I thought thair was a person +sent for me. I often fancied he was sick or some accident had +happened to him so that I think it is impossible for me to leave +him as long as Mr. Washington must stay when he comes down."</p> +<p>Any parent who has been absent from home under similar +circumstances and who has imagined the infinite variety of dreadful +things that might befall a loved child will sympathize with the +mother's heart--in spite of the poor spelling!</p> +<p>Patty Custis was an amiable and beautiful girl who when she grew +up came to be called "the dark lady." But she was delicate in +health. Some writers have said that she had consumption, but as her +stepfather repeatedly called it "Fits," I think it is certain that +it was some form of epilepsy. Her parents did everything possible +to restore her, but in vain. Once they took her to Bath, now +Berkeley Springs, for several weeks and the expenses of that +journey we find all duly set down by Colonel Washington in the +proper place. As Paul Leicester Ford remarks, some of the remedies +tried savored of quackery. In the diary, for February 16, 1770, we +learn that <span class="pagenum"><a name="page224" id= +"page224"></a>[pg 224]</span> "Joshua Evans who came here last +Night put an iron Ring upon Patey and went away after Breakfast." +Perhaps Evans failed to make the ring after the old medieval rule +from three nails or screws that had been taken from a disinterred +coffin. At any rate the ring did poor Patty little good and a year +later "Mr. Jno. Johnson who has a nostrum for Fits came here in the +afternoon." In the spring of 1773 the dark lady died.</p> +<p>Her death added considerably to Washington's possessions, but +there is every evidence that he gave no thought to that aspect of +the matter. "Her delicate health, or perhaps her fond affection for +the only father she had ever known, so endeared her to the +'general', that he knelt at her dying bed, and with a passionate +burst of tears prayed aloud that her life might be spared, +unconscious that even then her spirit had departed." The next day +he wrote to his brother-in-law: "It is an easier matter to conceive +than describe the distress of this Family: especially that of the +unhappy Parent of our Dear Patey Custis, when I inform you that +yesterday removed the Sweet Innocent Girl [who] Entered into a more +happy & peaceful abode than any she has met with in the +afflicted Path she hitherto has trod."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page225" id="page225"></a>[pg +225]</span> +<p>Before this John Parke Custis, or "Jacky," had given his +stepfather considerable anxiety. Jacky's mind turned chiefly from +study to dogs, horses and guns and, in an effort, to "make him fit +for more useful purposes than horse races," Washington put him +under the tutorship of an Anglican clergyman named Jonathan +Boucher, who endeavored to instruct some of the other gilded +Virginia youths of his day. But Latin and Greek were far less +interesting to the boy than the pretty eyes of Eleanor Calvert and +the two entered into a clandestine engagement. In all respects save +one the match was eminently satisfactory, for the Calvert family, +being descended from Lord Baltimore, was as good as any in America, +and Miss Nelly's amiable qualities, wrote Washington, had endeared +her to her prospective relations, but both were very young, Jack +being about seventeen, and the girl still younger. While consenting +to the match, therefore, Washington insisted that its consummation +should be postponed for two years and packed the boy off to King's +College, now Columbia. But Martha Washington was a fond and doting +mother and, as Patty's death occurred almost immediately, Jack's +absence in distant New York was more than she <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page226" id="page226"></a>[pg 226]</span> could +bear. He was, therefore, allowed to return home in three months +instead of two years, and in February, 1774, was wedded to the girl +of his choice. Mrs. Washington felt the loss of her daughter too +keenly to attend, but sent this message by her husband:</p> +<p>"MY DEAR NELLY.--God took from me a Daughter when June Roses +were blooming--He has now given me another Daughter about her Age +when Winter winds are blowing, to warm my Heart again. I am as +Happy as One so Afflicted and so Blest can be. Pray receive my +Benediction and a wish that you may long live the Loving Wife of my +happy Son, and a Loving Daughter of</p> +<p>"Your affectionate Mother,</p> +<p>"M. WASHINGTON."</p> +<br> +<p>The marriage, it may be added here, sobered John Custis. He and +his bride established themselves at Abingdon on the Potomac, not +far from Mount Vernon, and with their little ones were often +visitors, especially when the General was away to the war and Mrs. +Washington was alone. Toward the close of the war Jack himself +entered the army, rose to the rank of colonel and died of fever +contracted in the siege of Yorktown. Thus again was the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page227" id="page227"></a>[pg +227]</span> mother's heart made sorrowful, nor did the General +himself accept the loss unmoved. He at once adopted the two +youngest children, Eleanor and George Washington Parke, and brought +them up in his own family.</p> +<p>Eleanor Custis, or "Nelly," as she was affectionately called, +grew up a joyous, beautiful cultured girl, who won the hearts of +all who saw her. The Polish poet, Julian Niemcewicz, who visited +Mount Vernon in 1798, wrote of her as "the divine Miss Custis.... +She was one of those celestial beings so rarely produced by nature, +sometimes dreamt of by poets and painters, which one cannot see +without a feeling of ecstacy." As already stated, she married the +General's nephew, Lawrence Lewis. In September, 1799, Washington +told the pair that they might build a house on Grey's Heights on +the Dogue Run Farm and rent the farm, "by all odds the best and +most productive I possess," promising that on his death the place +should go to them. Death came before the house was built, but later +the pair erected on the Heights "Woodlawn," one of the most +beautiful and pretentious places in Fairfax County.</p> +<p>George Washington Parke Custis grew up much <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page228" id="page228"></a>[pg 228]</span> such a +boy as his father was. He took few matters seriously and neglected +the educational opportunities thrown in his way. Washington said of +him that "from his infancy I have discovered an almost +unconquerable disposition to indolence in everything that did not +tend to his amusements." But he loved the boy, nevertheless, and +late in life Custis confessed, "we have seen him shed tears of +parental solicitude over the manifold errors and follies of our +unworthy youth." The boy had a good heart, however, and if he was +the source of worry to the great man during the great man's life, +he at least did what he could to keep the great man's memory green. +He wrote a book of recollections full of filial affection and Latin +phrases and painted innumerable war pictures in which Washington +was always in the foreground on a white horse "with the British +streaking it." Washington bequeathed to him a square in the City of +Washington and twelve hundred acres on Four Mile Run in the +vicinity of Alexandria. Upon land near by inherited from his father +Custis built the famous Arlington mansion, almost ruining himself +financially in doing so. Upon his death the estate fell to his +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page229" id="page229"></a>[pg +229]</span> daughter, Mrs. Robert E. Lee, and it is now our +greatest national cemetery.</p> +<p>Mrs. Washington not only managed the Mount Vernon household, but +she looked after the spinning of yarn, the weaving of cloth and the +making of clothing for the family and for the great horde of +slaves. At times, particularly during the Revolution and the +non-importation days that preceded it, she had as many as sixteen +spinning-wheels in operation at once. The work was done in a +special spinning house, which was well equipped with looms, wheels, +reels, flaxbrakes and other machinery. Most of the raw material, +such as wool and flax and sometimes even cotton, was produced upon +the place and never left it until made up into the finished +product.</p> +<p>In 1768 the white man and five negro girls employed in the work +produced 815-3/4 yards of linen, 365-1/4 yards of woolen cloth, 144 +yards of linsey and 40 yards of cotton cloth. With his usual pains +Washington made a comparative statement of the cost of this cloth +produced at home and what it would have cost him if it had been +purchased in England, and came to the conclusion that only +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page230" id="page230"></a>[pg +230]</span> £23.19.11 would be left to defray the expense of +spinning, hire of the six persons engaged, "cloathing, victualling, +wheels, &c." Still the work was kept going.</p> +<p>A great variety of fabrics were produced: "striped woolen, wool +plaided, cotton striped, linen, wool-birdseye, cotton filled with +wool, linsey, M's and O's, cotton Indian dimity, cotton jump +stripe, linen filled with tow, cotton striped with silk, Roman M., +janes twilled, huccabac, broadcloth, counter-pain, birdseye diaper, +Kirsey wool, barragon, fustian, bed-ticking, herring-box, and +shalloon."</p> +<p>In non-importation days Mrs. Washington even made the cloth for +two of her own gowns, using cotton striped with silk, the latter +being obtained from the ravellings of brown silk stockings and +crimson damask chair covers.</p> +<p>The housewife believed in good cheer and an abundance of it, and +the larders at Mount Vernon were kept well filled. Once the General +protested to Lund Washington because so many hogs had been killed, +whereupon the manager replied that when he put up the meat he had +expected that Mrs. Washington would have been at home and that he +knew there would be need for it because her</p> +<a name="Illus0414.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="Images/Illus0414.jpg"><img src= +"Images/Illus0414.jpg" width="60%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>Weekly Report on the Work of the Spinners.</b></p> +<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page231" id="page231"></a>[pg +231]</span> +<p>"charitable disposition is in the same proportion as her meat +house."</p> +<p>She had a swarm of relatives by blood and marriage and they +visited her long and often. The Burwells, the Bassetts, the +Dandridges and all the rest came so frequently that hardly a week +passed that at least one of them did not sleep beneath the +hospitable roof. Even her stepmother paid her many visits and, what +is more, was strongly urged by the General to make the place her +permanent home. When Mrs. Washington was at home during the +Revolution her son and her daughter-in-law spent most of their time +there. After the Revolution her two youngest grandchildren resided +at Mount Vernon, and the two older ones, Elizabeth and Martha, were +often there, as was their mother, who married as her second husband +Doctor Stuart, a man whom Washington highly esteemed.</p> +<p>It would be foolish to deny that Mrs. Washington did not take +pleasure in the honors heaped upon her husband or that she did not +enjoy the consideration that accrued to her as First Lady of the +Land. Yet public life at times palled upon her and she often spoke +of the years of the presidency as her "lost days." New York and +Philadelphia, she said, were <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page232" id="page232"></a>[pg 232]</span> "not home, only a +sojourning. The General and I feel like children just released from +school or from a hard taskmaster.... How many dear friends I have +left behind! They fill my memory with sweet thoughts. Shall I ever +see them again? Not likely unless they come to me, for the twilight +is gathering around our lives. I am again fairly settled down to +the pleasant duties of an old-fashioned Virginia-housekeeper, +steady as a clock, busy as a bee, and cheerful as a cricket."</p> +<p>That she did not overdraw her account of her industry is borne +out by a Mrs. Carrington, who, with her husband, one of the +General's old officers, visited Mount Vernon about this time. She +wrote:</p> +<p>"Let us repair to the Old Lady's room, which is precisely in the +style of our good old Aunt's--that is to say, nicely fixed for all +sorts of work--On one side sits the chambermaid, with her +knitting--on the other, a little colored pet learning to sew, an +old decent woman, with her table and shears, cutting out the +negroes' winter clothes, while the good old lady directs them all, +incessantly knitting herself and pointing out to me several pair of +nice colored stockings and gloves she had just finished, and +presenting me with a pair half done, which she begs I will finish +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page233" id="page233"></a>[pg +233]</span> and wear for her. Her netting too is a great source of +amusement and is so neatly done that all the family are proud of +trimming their dresses with it."</p> +<p>This domestic life was dear to the heart of our Farmer's wife, +yet the home-coming did not fail to awaken some melancholy +memories. To Mrs. George Fairfax in England she wrote, or rather +her husband wrote for her: "The changes which have taken place in +this country since you left it (and it is pretty much the case in +all other parts of this State) are, in one word, total. In +Alexandria, I do not believe there lives at this day a single +family with whom you had the smallest acquaintance. In our +neighborhood Colo. Mason, Colo. McCarty and wife, Mr. Chickester, +Mr. Lund Washington and all the Wageners, have left the stage of +human life; and our visitors on the Maryland side are gone and +going likewise."</p> +<p>How many people have had like thoughts! One of the many sad +things about being the "last leaf upon the tree" is having to watch +the other leaves shrivel and drop off and to be left at last in +utter loneliness.</p> +<p>Like her husband, Mrs. Washington was an early riser, and it was +a habit she seems to have kept up <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page234" id="page234"></a>[pg 234]</span> until the end. She rose +with the sun and after breakfast invariably retired to her room for +an hour of prayer and reading the Scriptures. Her devotions over +she proceeded with the ordinary duties of the day.</p> +<p>She seems to have been somewhat fond of ceremony and to have had +a considerable sense of personal dignity. A daughter of Augustine +Washington, who when twelve years of age spent several weeks at +Mount Vernon, related when an old woman that every morning +precisely at eleven o'clock the mistress of the mansion expected +her company to assemble in the drawing-room, where she greeted them +with much formality and kept them an hour on their good behavior. +When the clock struck twelve she would rise and ascend to her +chamber, returning thence precisely at one, followed by a black +servant carrying an immense bowl of punch, from which the guests +were expected to partake before dinner. Some of the younger girls +became curious to discover why her "Ladyship" retired so invariably +to her room, so they slipped out from where she was entertaining +their mothers, crept upstairs and hid under her bed. Presently Lady +Washington <span class="pagenum"><a name="page235" id= +"page235"></a>[pg 235]</span> entered and took a seat before a +large table. A man-servant then brought a large empty bowl, also +lemons, sugar, spices and rum, with which she proceeded to prepare +the punch. The young people under the bed thereupon fell to +giggling until finally she became aware of their presence. Much +offended, or at least pretending to be, she ordered them from the +room. They retired with such precipitancy that one of them fell +upon the stairway and broke her arm.</p> +<p>Another story is to the effect that one morning Nelly Custis, +Miss Dandridge and some other girls who were visiting Nelly came +down to breakfast dressed dishabille and with their hair done up in +curl papers. Mrs. Washington did not rebuke them and the meal +proceeded normally until the announcement was made that some French +officers of rank and young Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, who was +interested in Miss Custis, had driven up outside, whereupon the +foolish virgins sprang up to leave the room in order to make more +conventional toilets. But Mrs. Washington forbade their doing so, +declaring that what was good enough for General Washington was good +enough for any guest of his.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page236" id="page236"></a>[pg +236]</span> +<p>She spoiled George Washington Custis as she had his father, but +was more severe with Eleanor or Nelly. Washington bought the girl a +fine imported harpsichord, which cost a thousand dollars and which +is still to be seen at Mount Vernon, and the grandmother made Nelly +practise upon it four or five hours a day. "The poor girl," relates +her brother, "would play and cry, and cry and play, for long hours, +under the immediate eye of her grandmother." For no shirking was +allowed.</p> +<p>The truth would seem to be that Lady Washington was more severe +with the young--always excepting Jacky and George--than was her +husband. He would often watch their games with evident enjoyment +and would encourage them to continue their amusements and not to +regard him. He was the confidant of their hopes and fears and even +amid tremendous cares of state found time to give advice about +their love affairs. For he was a very human man, after all, by no +means the marble statue sculptured by some historians.</p> +<p>Yet no doubt Mrs. Washington's severity proceeded from a sense +of duty and the fitness of things rather than from any harshness of +heart. The little old lady who wrote: "Kiss Marie. I send her two +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page237" id="page237"></a>[pg +237]</span> handkerchiefs to wipe her nose," could not have been so +very terrible!</p> +<p>She was beloved by her servants and when she left Mount Vernon +for New York in 1789 young Robert Lewis reported that "numbers of +these poor wretches seemed most affected, my aunt equally so." At +Alexandria she stopped at Doctor Stuart's, the home of two of her +grandchildren, and next morning there was another affecting scene, +such as Lewis never again wished to witness--"the family in +tears--the children a-bawling--& everything in the most +lamentable situation."</p> +<p>Although she was not the paragon that some writers have +pictured, she was a splendid home-loving American woman, brave in +heart and helpful to her husband, neither a drone nor a drudge--in +the true Scriptural sense a worthy woman who sought wool and flax +and worked willingly with her hands. As such her price was far +beyond rubies.</p> +<p>As has been remarked before, no brilliant sayings from her lips +have been transmitted to posterity. But I suspect that the +shivering soldiers on the bleak hillsides at Valley Forge found +more comfort in the warm socks she knitted than they could have in +the <i>bon mots</i> of a Madame de Stael or in the <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page238" id="page238"></a>[pg 238]</span> grace +of a Josephine and that her homely interest in their welfare tied +their hearts closer to their Leader and their Country.</p> +<p>It is not merely because she was the wife of the Hero of the +Revolution and the first President of the Republic that she is the +most revered of all American women.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page239" id="page239"></a>[pg +239]</span> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h2> +<br> +<h3>A FARMER'S AMUSEMENTS</h3> +<p>No one would ever think of characterizing George Washington as +frivolous minded, but from youth to old age he was a believer in +the adage that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy--a saying +that many an overworked farmer of our own day would do well to take +to heart.</p> +<p>Like most Virginians he was decidedly a social being and loved +to be in the company of his kind. This trait was noticeable in his +youth and during his early military career, nor did it disappear +after he married and settled down at Mount Vernon. Until the end he +and Mrs. Washington kept open house, and what a galaxy of company +they had! Scarcely a day passed without some guest crossing their +hospitable threshold, nor did such visitors come merely to leave +their cards or to pay fashionable five-minute calls. They +invariably stayed to dinner and most generally for the night; very +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page240" id="page240"></a>[pg +240]</span> often for days or weeks at a time. After the Revolution +the number of guests increased to such an extent that Mount Vernon +became "little better than a well-resorted inn."</p> +<p>Artists came to paint the great man's picture; the sculptor +Houdon to take the great man's bust, arriving from Alexandria, by +the way, after the family had gone to bed; the Marquis de Lafayette +to visit his old friend; Mrs. Macaulay Graham to obtain material +for her history; Noah Webster to consider whether he would become +the tutor of young Custis; Mr. John Fitch, November 4, 1785, "to +propose a draft & Model of a machine for promoting Navigation +by means of a Steam"; Charles Thomson, secretary of the Continental +Congress, to notify the General of his election to the presidency; +a host of others, some out of friendship, others from mere +curiosity or a desire for free lodging.</p> +<p>The visit of Lafayette was the last he made to this country +while the man with whose fame his name is inseparably linked +remained alive. He visited Mount Vernon in August, 1784, and again +three months later. When the time for a final adieu came Washington +accompanied him to Annapolis and saw him on the road to Baltimore. +The generous <span class="pagenum"><a name="page241" id= +"page241"></a>[pg 241]</span> young benefactor of America was very +dear to Washington, and the parting affected him exceedingly. Soon +after he wrote to the departed friend a letter in which he showed +his heart in a way that was rare with him. "In the moment of our +separation," said he, "upon the road as I travelled, and every hour +since, I have felt all the love, respect, and attachment for you +with which length of years, close connextion, and your merits have +inspired me. I have often asked myself, as our carriages separated, +whether that was the last sight I ever should have of you."</p> +<p>It was a true foreboding. Often in times that followed +Washington was to receive tidings of his friend's triumphs and +perilous adventures amid the bloody turmoil of the French +Revolution, was to entertain his son at Mount Vernon when the +father lay in the dark dungeons of Olmütz, but was never again +to look into his face. Years later the younger man, revisiting the +grateful Republic he had helped to found, was to turn aside from +the acclaiming plaudits of admiring multitudes and stand pensively +beside the Tomb of his Leader and reflect upon the years in which +they had stood gloriously shoulder to shoulder in defense of a +noble cause.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page242" id="page242"></a>[pg +242]</span> +<p>Even when Washington was at the seat of government many persons +stopped at Mount Vernon and were entertained by the manager. +Several times the absent owner sent wine and other luxuries for the +use of such guests. When he was at home friends, relatives, +diplomats, delegations of Indians to visit the Great White Father +swarmed thither in shoals. In 1797 young Lafayette and his tutor, +Monsieur Frestel, whom Washington thought a very sensible man, made +the place, by invitation, their home for several months. In the +summer of that year Washington wrote to his old secretary, Tobias +Lear: "I am alone at <i>present</i>, and shall be glad to see you +this evening. Unless some one pops in unexpectedly--Mrs. Washington +and myself will do what I believe has not been done within the last +twenty Years by us,--that is to set down to dinner by +ourselves."</p> +<p>Washington was the soul of hospitality. He enjoyed having people +in his house and eating at his board, but there is evidence that +toward the last he grew somewhat weary of the stream of strangers. +But neither then nor at any other time in his life did he show his +impatience to a visitor or turn any man from his door. His +patience, was sorely tried at times. For example, we find in his +diary under <span class="pagenum"><a name="page243" id= +"page243"></a>[pg 243]</span> date of September 7, 1785: "At Night, +a Man of the name of Purdie, came to offer himself to me as a +Housekeeper or Household Steward--he had some testimonials +respecting his character--but being intoxicated, and in other +respects appearing in an unfavorable light I informed him that he +would not answer my purpose, but that he might stay all night."</p> +<p>No matter how many visitors came the Farmer proceeded about his +business as usual, particularly in the morning, devoting dinner +time and certain hours of the afternoon and evening to those who +were sojourning with him. He was obliged, in self-defense, to adopt +some such course. He wrote: "My manner of living is plain, and I do +not mean to be put out by it. A glass of wine and a bit of mutton +are always ready, and such as will be content to partake of them +are always welcome. Those who expect more will be +disappointed."</p> +<p>After his retirement from the presidency he induced his nephew +Lawrence Lewis to come to Mount Vernon and take over some of the +duties of entertaining guests, particularly in the evening, as +Washington had reached an age when he was averse to staying up +late. Lewis not only performed the task <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page244" id="page244"></a>[pg 244]</span> +satisfactorily, but found incidental diversion that led to +matrimony.</p> +<p>Every visitor records that the Farmer was a kind and considerate +host. Elkanah Watson relates that one bitter winter night at Mount +Vernon, having a severe cold that caused him to cough incessantly, +he heard the door of his chamber open gently and there stood the +General with a candle in one hand and a bowl of hot tea in another. +Doubtless George and Martha had heard the coughing and in family +council had decided that their guest must have attention.</p> +<p>Washington was a Cavalier, not a Puritan, and had none of the +old New England prejudice against the theater. In fact, it was one +of his fondest pleasures from youth to old age. In his Barbadoes +journal he records being "treated with a play ticket by Mr. Carter +to see the Tragedy of George Barnwell acted." In 1752 he attended a +performance at Fredericksburg and thereafter, whenever occasion +offered, which during his earlier years was not often, he took +advantage of it. He even expressed a desire to act himself. After +his resignation and marriage opportunities were more frequent and +in his cash memorandum books are many entries of expenditures for +tickets to performances at Alexandria and <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page245" id="page245"></a>[pg 245]</span> +elsewhere. Thus on September 20, 1768, in his daily record of +<i>Where & how my time is Spent</i> he writes that he "& +Mrs. Washington & ye two children were up to Alexandria to see +the Inconstant or way to win him acted." Next day he "Stayd in Town +all day & saw the Tragedy of Douglas playd."</p> +<p>Such performances were probably given by strolling players who +had few accessories in the way of scenery to assist them in +creating their illusions.</p> +<p>In September, 1771, when at Annapolis to attend the races, he +went to plays four times in five days, the fifth day being Sunday. +Two years later, being in New York City, he saw <i>Hamlet</i> and +<i>Cross Purposes</i>.</p> +<p>On many occasions both in this period of his life and later he +went to sleight of hand performances, wax works, puppet shows, +animal shows, "to hear the Armonica," concerts and other +entertainments.</p> +<p>The "association" resolutions of frugality and self-denial by +the Continental Congress put an end temporarily to plays in the +colonies outside the British lines and put Washington into a +greater play, "not, as he once wished, as a performer, but as a +character." There were amateur performances at Valley Forge, but +they aroused the hostility of the <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page246" id="page246"></a>[pg 246]</span> puritanical, and +Congress forbade them. Washington seems, however, to have +disregarded the interdiction after Yorktown.</p> +<p>He had few opportunities to gratify his fondness for +performances in the period of 1784-89, but during his presidency, +while residing in New York and Philadelphia, he was a regular +attendant. He gave frequent theater parties, sending tickets to his +friends. Word that he would attend a play always insured a "full +house," and upon his entrance to his box the orchestra would play +<i>Hail Columbia</i> and <i>Washington's March</i> amid great +enthusiasm.</p> +<p>The <i>Federal Gazette</i> described a performance of <i>The +Maid of the Mill,</i> which he attended in 1792, as follows:</p> +<p>"When Mr. Hodgkinson as Lord Ainsworth exhibited nobleness of +mind in his generosity to the humble miller and his daughter, +Patty; when he found her blessed with all the qualities that +captivate and endear life, and knew she was capable of adorning a +higher sphere; when he had interviews with her upon the subject in +which was painted the amiableness of an honorable passion; and +after his connection, when he bestowed his benefactions on the +relatives, etc., of the old miller, the great and <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page247" id="page247"></a>[pg 247]</span> good +Washington manifested his approbation of this interesting part of +the opera by the tribute of a tear."</p> +<p>Another amusement that both the Farmer and his wife enjoyed +greatly was dancing. In his youth he attended balls and "routs" +whenever possible and when fighting French and Indians on the +frontier he felt as one of his main deprivations his inability to +attend the "Assemblies." After his marriage he and his wife went +often to balls in Alexandria, attired no doubt in all the bravery +of imported English clothes. He describes a ball of 1760 in these +terms:</p> +<p>"Went to a ball at Alexandria, where Musick and dancing was the +chief entertainment, however, in a convenient room detached for the +purpose abounded great plenty of bread and butter, some biscuits, +with tea and coffee, which the drinkers of could not distinguish +from hot water sweet'ned--Be it remembered that pocket +handkerchiefs served the purposes of Table cloths & Napkins and +that no apologies were made for either. I shall therefore +distinguish this ball by the stile and title of the Bread & +Butter Ball."</p> +<p>A certain Mr. Christian conducted a dancing school which met at +the homes of the patrons, and <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page248" id="page248"></a>[pg 248]</span> the Custis children, +John Parke and Martha, were members, as were Elizabeth French of +Rose Hill, Milly Posey and others of the neighborhood young people. +In 1770 the class met four times at Mount Vernon and we can not +doubt that occasionally the host danced with some of the young +misses and enjoyed it.</p> +<p>An established institution was the election ball, which took +place on the night following the choice of the delegate to the +Burgesses. Washington often contributed to the expenses of these +balls, particularly when he was himself elected. No doubt they were +noisy, hilarious and perhaps now and then a bit rough.</p> +<p>Much has been written of the dances by which Washington and his +officers and their ladies helped to while away the tedium of long +winters during the Revolution, but the story of these has been +often told and besides lies outside the limits of this book, as +does the dancing at New York and Philadelphia during his +presidency.</p> +<p>There is much conflicting evidence regarding Washington's later +dancing exploits. Some writers say that he never tripped the light +fantastic after the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page249" id= +"page249"></a>[pg 249]</span> Revolution and that one of his last +participations was at the Fredericksburg ball after the capture of +Cornwallis when he "went down some dozen couple in the contra +dance." It is certain, however, that long afterward he would at +least walk through one or two dances, even though he did not +actually take the steps. One good lady who knew him well asserts +that he often danced with Nelly Custis, and he seems to have danced +in 1796 when he was sixty-four. But to the invitation to the +Alexandria assembly early in 1799 he replied:</p> +<p>"Mrs. Washington and myself have been honored with your polite +invitation to the assemblies of Alexandria this winter, and thank +you for this mark of your attention. But, alas! our dancing days +are no more. We wish, however, all those who have a relish for so +agreeable and innocent an amusement all the pleasure the season +will afford them."</p> +<p>Nor was he puritanical in respect to cards. From his account +books we find that he ordered them by the dozen packs, and his +diaries contain such entries as "At home all day over cards, it +snowing." To increase the interest he not infrequently played for +money, though rarely for a large amount. "Loo" <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page250" id="page250"></a>[pg 250]</span> and +whist seem to have been the games played, but not "bridge" or draw +poker, which were then unknown.</p> +<p>From entries in his cash memorandum books it is evident that he +loved a quiet game rather frequently. Thus in his memorandum for +1772 I find the entry for September five: "To Cash won at cards" +£1.5. Four days later he writes: "To Cash won at Cards at +Mrs. Calverts" ten shillings. But on September 17th he lost +£1.5; on September 30th, £2, and on October 5th, six +shillings. Two days later his luck changed and he won £2.5, +while on the seventh he won £12.8. This was the most serious +game that I have found a record of, and the cards must either have +run well for him or else he had unskilful opponents. The following +March, when attending the Burgesses at Williamsburg, he got into a +game, probably at Mrs. Campbell's tavern, where he took his meals, +and dropped £7.10.</p> +<p>In one of his account books I find two pages devoted to striking +a balance between what he won and what he lost from January 7, +1772, to January 1, 1775. In that time he won £72.2.6 and +lost £78.5.9. Hence we find the entry: "By balance against +Play from Jany. 1772 to this date ... £6.3.3." <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page251" id="page251"></a>[pg 251]</span> But he +must have had a lot of fun at a cost of that six pounds three +shillings and three pence!</p> +<p>It should be remarked here that gaming was then differently +regarded in Virginia from what it is now. Many even of the +Episcopal clergymen played cards for money and still kept fast hold +upon their belief that they would go to Heaven.</p> +<p>The same may also be said of lotteries, in which Washington now +and then took a flier. Many of the churches of that day, even in +New England, were built partly or wholly with money raised in that +way. January 5, 1773, Washington states that he has received sixty +tickets in the Delaware lottery from his friend Lord Stirling and +that he has "put 12 of the above Sixty into the Hands of the Revd. +Mr. Magowan to sell." And "the Revd." sold them too!</p> +<p>In his journal of the trip to Barbadoes taken with his brother +Lawrence we find that on his way home he attended "a Great Main of +cks [cocks] fought in Yorktown between Gloucester & York for 5 +pistoles each battle & 10 ye. odd." Occasionally he seems to +have witnessed other mains, but I have found no evidence that he +made the practice in any sense a habit.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page252" id="page252"></a>[pg +252]</span> +<p>As a counterweight to his interest in so brutal a sport I must +state that he was exceedingly fond of afternoon teas and of the +social enjoyments connected with tea drinking. Tea was regularly +served at his army headquarters and in summer afternoons on the +Mount Vernon veranda.</p> +<p>There is abundant evidence that he also enjoyed horse racing. In +September, 1768, he mentions going "to a Purse race at Accotinck," +a hamlet a few miles below Mount Vernon where a race track was +maintained. In 1772 he attended the Annapolis races, being a guest +of the Governor of Maryland, and he repeated the trip in 1773. In +the following May he went to a race and barbecue at Johnson's +Ferry. George Washington Custis tells us that the Farmer kept +blooded horses and that his colt "Magnolia" once ran for a purse, +presumably losing, as if the event had been otherwise we should +probably have been informed of the fact. In 1786 Washington went to +Alexandria "to see the Jockey Club purse run for," and I have +noticed a few other references to races, but I conclude that he +went less often than some writers would have us believe.</p> +<p>Washington was decidedly an outdoor man. Being six feet two +inches tall, and slender rather than <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page253" id="page253"></a>[pg 253]</span> heavily made, he was +well fitted for athletic sports. Tradition says that he once threw +a stone across the Rappahannock at a spot where no other man could +do it, and that he could outjump any one in Virginia. He also +excelled in the game of putting the bar, as a story related by the +artist Peale bears witness.</p> +<p>Of outdoor sports he seems to have enjoyed hunting most. He +probably had many unrecorded experiences with deer and turkeys when +a surveyor and when in command upon the western border, but his +main hunting adventure after big game took place on his trip to the +Ohio in 1770. Though the party was on the move most of the time and +was looking for rich land rather than for wild animals, they +nevertheless took some hunts.</p> +<p>On October twenty-second, in descending the stretch of the Ohio +near the mouth of Little Beaver Creek and above the Mingo Town, +they saw many wild geese and several kinds of duck and "killed five +wild turkeys." Three days later they "saw innumerable quantities of +turkeys, and many deer watering and browsing on the shore side, +some of which we killed."</p> +<p>He does not say whether they shot this game from the canoe or +not, but probably on sighting the game <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page254" id="page254"></a>[pg 254]</span> they +would put to shore and then one or more would steal up on the +quarry. Their success was probably increased by the fact that they +had two Indians with them.</p> +<p>Few people are aware of the fact that what is now West Virginia +and Ohio then contained many buffaloes. Below the mouth of the +Great Hockhocking the voyagers came upon a camp of Indians, the +chief of which, an old friend who had accompanied him to warn out +the French in 1753, gave Washington "a quarter of very fine +buffalo." A creek near the camp, according to the Indians, was an +especial resort for these great beasts.</p> +<p>Fourteen miles up the Great Kanawha the travelers took a day off +and "went a hunting; killed five buffaloes and wounded some others, +three deer, &c. This country abounds in buffaloes and wild game +of all kinds; as also in all kinds of wild fowls, there being in +the bottoms a great many small grassy ponds, or lakes, which are +full of swans, geese, and ducks of different kinds."</p> +<p>How many of the buffaloes fell to his gun Washington does not +record, but it is safe to assume that he had at least some shots at +them. And beyond question he helped to devour the delicious buffalo +humps, <span class="pagenum"><a name="page255" id="page255"></a>[pg +255]</span> these being, with the flesh of the bighorn sheep, the +<i>ne plus ultra</i> of American big game delicacies.</p> +<p>The region in which these events took place was also notable for +its big trees. Near the mouth of the Kanawha they "met with a +sycamore about sixty yards from the river of a most extraordinary +size, it measuring, three feet from the ground, forty-five feet +round [almost fifteen feet through], lacking two inches; and not +fifty yards from it was another, thirty-one feet round."</p> +<p>When at home, Washington now and then took a gun and went out +after ducks, "hairs," wild turkeys and other game, and occasionally +he records fair bags of mallards, teal, bald faces and "blew +wings," one of the best being that of February 18, 1768, when he +"went a ducking between breakfast and dinner & killed 2 +mallards & 5 bald faces." It is doubtful whether he was at all +an expert shot. In fact, he much preferred chasing the fox with +dogs to hunting with a gun.</p> +<p>Fox hunting in the Virginia of that day was a widely followed +sport. It was brought over from England and perhaps its greatest +devotee was old Lord Fairfax, with whom Washington hunted when +still in his teens. Fairfax, whose seat was at Greenway +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page256" id="page256"></a>[pg +256]</span> Court in the Shenandoah Valley, was so passionately +fond of it that if foxes were scarce near his home he would go to a +locality where they were plentiful, would establish himself at an +inn and would keep open house and welcome every person of good +character and respectable appearance who cared to join him.</p> +<p>The following are some typical entries from Washington's +<i>Where & how my time is Spent</i>: "Jany. 1st. (1768) Fox +huntg. in my own Neck with Mr. Robt. Alexander and Mr. +Colville--catchd nothing--Captn. Posey with us." There were many +similar failures and no successes in the next six weeks, but on +February twelfth he records joyfully, "Catchd two foxes," and on +the thirteenth "catch 2 more foxes." March 2, 1768, "Hunting again, +& catchd a fox with a bobd Tail & cut Ears, after 7 hours +chase in wch. most of the dogs were worsted." March twenty-ninth, +"Fox Hunting with Jacky Custis & Ld. [Lund] Washington--Catchd +a fox after 3 hrs. chase." November twenty-second, "Went a fox +huntg. with Lord Fairfax & Colo. Fairfax & my Br. Catchd 2 +Foxes." For two weeks thereafter they hunted almost every day with +varying <span class="pagenum"><a name="page257" id= +"page257"></a>[pg 257]</span> success. September 30, 1769, he +records: "catchd a Rakoon."</p> +<p>On January 27, 1770, the dogs ran a deer out of the Neck and +some of them did not get home till next day. The finding of a deer +was no uncommon experience, but on no occasion does the chase seem +to have been successful, as, when hard pressed, the fugitive would +take to the water where the dogs could not follow. January 4, 1772, +the hunters "found both a Bear and a Fox but got neither."</p> +<p>Bear and deer were still fairly plentiful in the region, and the +fact serves to indicate that the country was not yet thickly +settled, nor is it to this day.</p> +<p>In November, 1771, Washington and Jack Custis went to Colonel +Mason's at Gunston Hall, a few miles below Mount Vernon, to engage +in a grand deer drive in which many men and dogs took part. Mason +had an estate of ten thousand acres which was favorably located for +such a purpose, being nearly surrounded by water, with peninsulas +on which the game could be cornered and forced to take to the +river. On the first day they killed two deer, but on the second +they killed nothing. No doubt they had a hilarious time of it, dogs +baying, horsemen <span class="pagenum"><a name="page258" id= +"page258"></a>[pg 258]</span> dashing here and there shouting at +the top of their voices, and with plenty of fat venison and other +good cheer at the Hall that night.</p> +<p>Washington's most remarkable hunting experience occurred on the +twenty-third of January, 1770, when he records: "Went a hunting +after breakfast & found a Fox at Muddy hole & killed her +(it being a Bitch) after a chase of better than two hours & +after treeing her twice the last of which times she fell dead out +of the Tree after being therein sevl. minutes apparently well." +Lest he may be accused of nature faking, it should be explained +that the tree was a leaning tree. Occasionally the foxes also took +refuge in hollow trees, up which they could climb.</p> +<p>The day usually ended by all the hunters riding to Mount Vernon, +Belvoir, Gunston Hall, or some other mansion for a bountiful +dinner. Mighty then were the gastronomic feats performed, and over +the Madeira the incidents of the day were discussed as Nimrods in +all ages are wont to do.</p> +<p>Being so much interested in fox hunting, our Farmer proceeded, +with his usual painstaking care, to build up a pack of hounds. The +year 1768 was probably the period of his greatest interest in the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page259" id="page259"></a>[pg +259]</span> subject and his diary is full of accounts of the +animals. Hounds were now, in fact, his hobby, succeeding in +interest his horses. He did his best to breed according to +scientific principles, but several entries show that the dogs +themselves were inclined blissfully to ignore the laws of eugenics +as applied to hounds.</p> +<p>Among his dogs in this period were "Mopsey," "Taster," "Tipler," +"Cloe," "Lady," "Forester" and "Captain." August 6, 1768, we learn +that "Lady" has four puppies, which are to be called "Vulcan," +"Searcher," "Rover," and "Sweetlips."</p> +<p>Like all dog owners he had other troubles with his pets. Once we +find him anointing all the hounds that had the mange "with Hogs +Lard & Brimstone." Again his pack is menaced by a suspected mad +dog, which he shoots.</p> +<p>The Revolution broke rudely in upon the Farmer's sports, but +upon his return to Mount Vernon he soon took up the old life. +Knowing his bent, Lafayette sent him a pack of French hounds, two +dogs and three bitches, and Washington took much interest in them. +According to George Washington Custis they were enormous brutes, +better built for grappling stags or boars than chasing foxes, and +so fierce <span class="pagenum"><a name="page260" id= +"page260"></a>[pg 260]</span> that a huntsman had to preside at +their meals. Their kennel stood a hundred yards south of the old +family vault, and Washington visited them every morning and +evening. According to Custis, it was the Farmer's desire to have +them so evenly matched and trained that if one leading dog should +lose the scent, another would be at hand to recover it and thus in +full cry you might cover the pack with a blanket.</p> +<p>The biggest of the French hounds, "Vulcan," was so vast that he +was often ridden by Master Custis and he seems to have been a +rather privileged character. Once when company was expected to +dinner Mrs. Washington ordered that a lordly ham should be cooked +and served. At dinner she noticed that the ham was not in its place +and inquiry developed that "Vulcan" had raided the kitchen and made +off with the meat. Thereupon, of course, the mistress scolded and +equally, of course, the master smiled and gleefully told the news +to the guests.</p> +<p>Billy Lee, the colored valet who had followed the General +through the Revolution, usually acted as huntsman and, mounted on +"Chinkling" or some other good steed, with a French horn at his +back, strove hard to keep the pack in sight, no easy task +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page261" id="page261"></a>[pg +261]</span> among the rough timber-covered hills of Fairfax +County.</p> +<p>On a hunting day the Farmer breakfasted by candlelight, +generally upon corn cakes and milk, and at daybreak, with his +guests, Billy and the hounds, sallied forth to find a fox. +Washington always rode a good horse and sometimes wore a blue coat, +scarlet waistcoat, buckskin breeches, top boots and velvet cap and +carried a whip with a long thong. When a fox was started none rode +more gallantly or cheered more joyously than did he and as a rule +he was in at the death, for, as Jefferson asserts, he was "the best +horseman of his age, and the most magnificent figure that could be +seen on horseback."</p> +<p>The fox that was generally hunted was the gray fox, which was +indigenous to the country. After the Revolution the red fox began +to be seen occasionally. They are supposed to have come from the +Eastern Shore, and to have crossed Chesapeake Bay on the ice in the +hard winter of 1779-80. Custis tells of a famous black fox that +would go ten or twenty miles before the hounds and return to the +starting-point ready for another run next day. After many +unsuccessful chases Billy recommended that the black reynard +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page262" id="page262"></a>[pg +262]</span> be let alone, saying he was near akin to another sable +and wily character. Thereafter the huntsman was always careful to +throw off the hounds when he suspected that they were on the trail +of the black fox. This story may or may not be true; all that I can +say is that I have found no confirmation of it in Washington's own +writings.</p> +<p>Neither have I found there any confirmation of the story that +Mrs. Washington and other ladies often rode out to see the hunts. +Washington had avenues cut through some of his woods to facilitate +the sport and possibly to make the riding easier for the ladies. +Upon the whole, however, I incline to the opinion that generally at +least Martha stayed at home visiting with lady friends, attending +to domestic concerns and superintending the preparation of +delectable dishes for the hungry hunters. I very much doubt whether +she would have enjoyed seeing a fox killed.</p> +<p>The French hounds were, at least at first, rather indifferent +hunters. "Went out after Breakfast with my hounds from France, +& two which were lent me, yesterday, by Mr. Mason," says the +Farmer the day of the first trial; "found a Fox which was run +tolerably well by two of the Frh. Bitches & one of Mason's +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page263" id="page263"></a>[pg +263]</span> Dogs--the other French dogs shewed but little +disposition to follow--and with the second Dog of Mason's got upon +another Fox which was followed slow and indifferently by some & +not at all by the rest until the sent became so cold it cd. not be +followed at all."</p> +<p>Two days later the dogs failed again and the next time they ran +two foxes and caught neither, but their master thought they +performed better than hitherto, December 12th:</p> +<p>"After an early breakfast [my nephew] George Washington, Mr. +Shaw and Myself went into the Woods back of the Muddy hole +Plantation a hunting and were joined by Mr. Lund Washington and Mr. +William Peake. About half after ten O'clock (being first plagued +with the Dogs running Hogs) we found a fox near Colo Masons +Plantation on little Hunting Creek (West fork) having followed on +his Drag more than half a Mile; and run him with Eight Dogs (the +other 4 getting, as was supposed after a Second Fox) close and well +for an hour. When the Dogs came to a fault and to cold Hunting +until 20 minutes after when being joined by the missing Dogs they +put him up afresh and in about 50 Minutes killed up in an open +field of Colo <span class="pagenum"><a name="page264" id= +"page264"></a>[pg 264]</span> Mason's every Rider & every Dog +being present at the Death."</p> +<p>Eight days later the pack chased two foxes, but caught neither. +The next hunt is described as follows:</p> +<p>"Went a Fox hunting with the Gentlemen who came here yesterday +with Ferdinando Washington and Mr. Shaw, after a very early +breakfast.--found a Fox just back of Muddy hole Plantation and +after a Chase for an hour and a quarter with my Dogs, & eight +couple of Doctor Smiths (brought by Mr. Phil Alexander) we put him +into a hollow tree, in which we fastened him, and in the Pincushion +put up another Fox which, in an hour and 13 Minutes was killed--We +then after allowing the Fox in the hole half an hour put the Dogs +upon his Trail & in half a Mile he took to another hollow tree +and was again put out of it but he did not go 600 yards before he +had recourse to the same shift--finding therefore that he was a +conquered Fox we took the Dogs off, and came home to dinner."</p> +<p>Custis asserts that Washington took his last hunt in 1785, but +in the diary under date of December 22, 1787, I find that he went +out with Major George A. Washington and others on that day, but +found</p> +<a name="Illus0416.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="Images/Illus0416.jpg"><img src= +"Images/Illus0416.jpg" width="60%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>The Flower Garden, By permission of the Mount Vernon Ladies' +Association.</b></p> +<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page265" id="page265"></a>[pg +265]</span> +<p>nothing, and that he took still another hunt in January, 1788, +and chased a fox that had been captured the previous month. This, +however, is the last reference that I have discovered. No doubt he +was less resilient than in his younger days and found the sport +less delightful than of yore, while the duties of the presidency, +to which he was soon called, left him little leisure for sport. He +seems to have broken up his kennels and to have given away most or +all of his hounds.</p> +<p>Later he acquired a pair of "tarriers" and took enough interest +in them to write detailed instructions concerning them in 1796.</p> +<p>Washington's fishing was mostly done with a seine as a +commercial proposition, but he seems to have had a mild interest in +angling. Occasionally he took trips up and down the Potomac in +order to fish, sometimes with a hook and line, at other times with +seines and nets. He and Doctor Craik took fishing tackle with them +on both their western tours and made use of it in some of the +mountain streams and also in the Ohio. While at the Federal +Convention in 1787 he and Gouverneur Morris went up to Valley Forge +partly perhaps to see the old camp, but ostensibly to fish for +trout. They lodged at the home <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page266" id="page266"></a>[pg 266]</span> of a widow named Moore. +On the trip the Farmer learned the Pennsylvania way of raising +buckwheat and, it must be confessed, wrote down much more about +this topic than about trout. A few days later, with Gouverneur +Morris and Mr. and Mrs. Robert Morris, he went up to Trenton and +"in the evening fished," with what success he does not relate. When +on his eastern tour of 1789 he went outside the harbor of +Portsmouth to fish for cod, but the tide was unfavorable and they +caught only two. More fortunate was a trip off Sandy Hook the next +year, which was thus described by a newspaper:</p> +<p>"Yesterday afternoon the President of the United States returned +from Sandy Hook and the fishing banks, where he had been for the +benefit of the sea air, and to amuse himself in the delightful +recreation of fishing. We are told he has had excellent sport, +having himself caught a great number of sea-bass and black +fish--the weather proved remarkably fine, which, together with the +salubrity of the air and wholesome exercise, rendered this little +voyage extremely agreeable."</p> +<p>Our Farmer was extremely fond of fish as an article of diet and +took great pains to have them on his table frequently. At Mount +Vernon there was <span class="pagenum"><a name="page267" id= +"page267"></a>[pg 267]</span> an ancient black man, reputed to be a +centenarian and the son of an African King, whose duty it was to +keep the household supplied with fish. On many a morning he could +be seen out on the river in his skiff, beguiling the toothsome +perch, bass or rock-fish. Not infrequently he would fall asleep and +then the impatient cook, who had orders to have dinner strictly +upon the hour, would be compelled to seek the shore and roar at +him. Old Jack would waken and upon rowing to shore would inquire +angrily: "What you all mek such a debbil of a racket for hey? I +wa'nt asleep, only noddin'."</p> +<p>Another colored factotum about the place was known as Tom Davis, +whose duty it was to supply the Mansion House with game. With the +aid of his old British musket and of his Newfoundland dog "Gunner" +he secured many a canvasback and mallard, to say nothing of quails, +turkeys and other game.</p> +<p>After the Revolution Washington formed a deer park below the +hill on which the Mansion House stands. The park contained about +one hundred acres and was surrounded by a high paling about sixteen +hundred yards long. At first he had only Virginia deer, but later +acquired some English fallow deer <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page268" id="page268"></a>[pg 268]</span> from the park of +Governor Ogle of Maryland. Both varieties herded together, but +never mixed blood. The deer were continually getting out and in +February, 1786, one returned with a broken leg, "supposed to be by +a shot." Seven years later an English buck that had broken out +weeks before was killed by some one. The paddock fence was +neglected and ultimately the deer ran half wild over the estate, +but in general stayed in the wooded region surrounding the Mansion +House. The gardener frequently complained of damage done by them to +shrubs and plants, and Washington said he hardly knew "whether to +give up the Shrubs or the Deer!" The spring before his death we +find him writing to the brothers Chickesters warning them to cease +hunting his deer and he hints that he may come to "the disagreeable +necessity of resorting to other means."</p> +<p>George Washington Custis, being like his father "Jacky" an +enthusiastic hunter, long teased the General to permit him to hunt +the deer and at last won consent to shoot one buck. The lad +accordingly loaded an old British musket with two ounce-balls, +sallied forth and wounded one of the patriarchs of the herd, which +was then chased into the Potomac and there slain. Next day the buck +was served up <span class="pagenum"><a name="page269" id= +"page269"></a>[pg 269]</span> to several guests, and Custis long +afterward treasured the antlers at Arlington House, the residence +he later built across the Potomac from the Federal City.</p> +<p>Upon the whole we must conclude that Washington was one of the +best sportsmen of all our Presidents. He was not so much of an +Izaak Walton as was one of his successors, nor did he pursue the +lion and festive bongo to their African lairs as did another, but +he had a keen love of nature and the open country and would have +found both the Mighty Hunter and the Mighty Angler kindred +spirits.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page270" id="page270"></a>[pg +270]</span> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV</h2> +<br> +<h3>A CRITICAL VISITOR AT MOUNT VERNON</h3> +<p>About thirty miles down the river Potomac, a gentleman, of the +name of Grimes, came up to us in his own boat<a name= +"FNanchor8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8">[8]</a>. He had some little +time before <span class="pagenum"><a name="page271" id= +"page271"></a>[pg 271]</span> shot a man who was going across his +plantation; and had been tried for so doing, but not punished. He +came aboard, and behaved very politely to me: and it being near +dinner time, he would have me go ashore and dine with him: which I +did. He gave me some grape-juice to drink, which he called Port +wine, and entertained me with saying he made it himself: it was not +to my taste equal to our Port in England, nor even strong beer; but +a hearty welcome makes everything pleasant, and this he most +cheerfully gave me. He showed me his garden; the produce of which, +he told me, he sold at Alexandria, a distance of thirty miles. His +garden was in disorder: and so was everything else I saw about the +place; except a favourite stallion, which was in very good +condition--a pretty figure of a horse, and of proper size for the +road, about fifteen hands high. He likewise showed me some other +horses, brood-mares and foals, young colts, &c. of rather an +useful kind. His cattle were small, but all much better than the +land.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor8">[8]</a> +This chapter is taken from <i>A Tour of America in 1798, 1799, and +1800</i>, by Richard Parkinson, who has already been several times +quoted. Parkinson had won something of a name in England as a +scientific agriculturist and had published a book called the +<i>Experienced Farmer</i>. He negotiated by letter with Washington +for the rental of one of the Mount Vernon farms, and in 1798, +without having made any definite engagement, sailed for the Potomac +with a cargo of good horses, cattle and hogs. His plan for renting +Washington's farm fell through, by his account because it was so +poor, and ultimately he settled for a time near Baltimore, where he +underwent such experiences as an opinionated Englishman with new +methods would be likely to meet. Soured by failure, he returned to +England, and published an account of his travels, partly with the +avowed purpose of discouraging emigration to America. His opinion +of the country he summed up thus: "If a man should be so +unfortunate as to have married a wife of a capricious disposition, +let him take her to America, and keep her there three or four years +in a country-place at some distance from a town, and afterwards +bring her back to England; if she do not act with propriety, he may +be sure there is no remedy." I have rearranged his account in such +a way as to make it consecutive, but otherwise it stands as +originally published.</blockquote> +<p>He praised the soil very highly. I asked him if he was +acquainted with the land at Mount Vernon. He said he was; and +represented it to be rich land, but not so rich as his. Yet his I +thought very poor <span class="pagenum"><a name="page272" id= +"page272"></a>[pg 272]</span> indeed; for it was (as is termed in +America) <i>gullied</i>; which I call broken land. This effect is +produced by the winter's frost and summer's rain, which cut the +land into cavities of from ten feet wide and ten feet deep (and +upwards) in many places; and, added to this, here and there a hole, +which makes it look altogether like marlpits, or stone-quarries, +that have been carried away by those hasty showers in the summer, +which no man who has not seen them in this climate could form any +idea of or believe possible....</p> +<p>In two days after we left this place, we came in sight of Mount +Vernon; but in all the way up the river, I did not see any green +fields. The country had to me a most barren appearance. There were +none but snake-fences; which are rails laid with the ends of one +upon another, from eight to sixteen in number in one length. The +surface of the earth looked like a yellow-washed wall; for it had +been a very dry summer; and there was not any thing that I could +see green, except the pine trees in the woods, and the cedars, +which made a truly picturesque view as we sailed up the Potomac. It +is indeed a most beautiful river.</p> +<p>When we arrived at Mount Vernon, I found that <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page273" id="page273"></a>[pg 273]</span> +General Washington was at Philadelphia; but his steward<a name= +"FNanchor9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9">[9]</a> had orders from the +General to receive me and my family, with all the horses, cattle, +&c. which I had on board. A boat was, therefore, got ready for +landing them; but that could not be done, as the ship must be +cleared out at some port before anything was moved: so, after +looking about a few minutes at Mount Vernon, I returned to the +ship, and we began to make way for Alexandria....</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor9">[9]</a> +No doubt Anderson, Washington's last manager.</blockquote> +<p>When I had been about seven days at Alexandria, I hired a horse +and went to Mount Vernon, to view my intended farm; of which +General Washington had given me a plan, and a report along with +it--the rent being fixed at eighteen hundred bushels of wheat for +twelve hundred acres, or money according to the price of that +grain. I must confess that if he would have given me the +inheritance of the land for that sum, I durst not have accepted it, +especially with the incumbrances upon it; viz. one hundred seventy +slaves young and old, and out of that number only +twenty-seven<a name="FNanchor10"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_10">[10]</a> in a condition to work, as the steward +represented to me. I viewed the whole of the cultivated +estate--about three thousand acres; <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page274" id="page274"></a>[pg 274]</span> and afterward dined with +Mrs. Washington and the family. Here I met a Doctor Thornton, who +is a very pleasant agreeable man, and his lady; with a Mr. Peters +and his lady, who was a grand-daughter of Mrs. Washington. Doctor +Thornton living at the city of Washington, he gave me an invitation +to visit him there: he was one of the commissioners of the +city.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_10"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor10">[10]</a> Most certainly a mistake.</blockquote> +<p>I slept at Mount Vernon, and experienced a very kind and +comfortable reception; but did not like the land at all. I saw no +green grass there, except in the garden: and this was some English +grass, appearing to me to be a sort of couch-grass; it was in +drills. There were also six saintfoin plants, which I found the +General valued highly. I viewed the oats which were not thrashed, +and counted the grains upon each head; but found no stem with more +than four grains, and these a very light and bad quality, such as I +had never seen before: the longest straw was of about twelve +inches. The wheat was all thrashed, therefore I could not ascertain +the produce of that: I saw some of the straw, however, and thought +it had been cut and prepared for the cattle in the winter; but I +believe I was mistaken, it being short by nature, and with +thrashing out looked like chaff, or as if chopped <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page275" id="page275"></a>[pg 275]</span> with a +bad knife. The General had two thrashing machines, the power given +by horses. The clover was very little in bulk, and like chaff; not +more than nine inches long, and the leaf very much shed from the +stalk. By the stubbles on the land I could not tell which had been +wheat, or which had been oats or barley; nor could I see any +clover-roots where the clover had grown. The weather was hot and +dry at that time; it was in December. The whole of the different +fields were covered with either the stalks of weeds, corn-stalks, +or what is called sedge--something like spear-grass upon the poor +limestone in England; and the steward told me nothing would eat it, +which is true. Indeed, he found fault with everything, just like a +foreigner; and even told me many unpleasant tales of the General, +so that I began to think he feared I was coming to take his place. +But (God knows!) I would not choose to accept of it: for he had to +superintend four hundred slaves, and there would be more now. This +part of his business especially would have been painful to me; it +is, in fact, a sort of trade of itself.</p> +<p>I had not in all this time seen what we in England call a +corn-stack, nor a dung-hill. There were, indeed, behind the +General's barns, two or three cocks <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page276" id="page276"></a>[pg 276]</span> of oats and barley; but +such as an English broad-wheeled waggon would have carried a +hundred miles at one time with ease. Neither had I seen a green +plant of any kind: there was some clover of the first year's +sowing: but in riding over the fields I should not have known it to +be clover, although the steward told me it was; only when I came +under a tree I could, by favour of the shade, perceive here and +there a green leaf of clover, but I do not remember seeing a green +root. I was shown no grass-hay of any kind; nor do I believe there +was any.</p> +<p>The cattle were very poor and ordinary, and the sheep the same; +nor did I see any thing I liked except the mules, which were very +fine ones, and in good condition. Mr. Gough had made a present to +General Washington of a bull calf. The animal was shown to me when +I first landed at Mount Vernon, and was the first bull I saw in the +country. He was large, and very strong-featured; the largest part +was his head, the next his legs. The General's steward was a +Scotchman, and no judge of animals--a better judge of distilling +whiskey.</p> +<p>I saw here a greater number of negroes than I ever saw at one +time, either before or since.</p> +<p>The house is a very decent mansion: not large, <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page277" id="page277"></a>[pg 277]</span> and +something like a gentleman's house in England, with gardens and +plantations; and is very prettily situated on the banks of the +river Potowmac, with extensive prospects.... The roads are very bad +from Alexandria to Mount Vernon.</p> +<p>The General still continuing at Philadelphia, I could not have +the pleasure of seeing him; therefore I returned to Alexandria.</p> +<p>I returned [to Mount Vernon some weeks later] ... to see General +Washington. I dined with him; and he showed me several presents +that had been sent him, viz. swords, china, and among the rest the +key of the Bastille. I spent a very pleasant day in the house, as +the weather was so severe that there were no farming objects to +see, the ground being covered with snow.</p> +<p>Would General Washington have given me the twelve hundred acres +I would not have accepted it, to have been confined to live in that +country; and to convince the General of the cause of my +determination, I was compelled to treat him with a great deal of +frankness. The General, who had corresponded with Mr. Arthur Young +and others on the subject of English farming and soils, and had +been not a little flattered by different gentlemen from England, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page278" id="page278"></a>[pg +278]</span> seemed at first to be not well pleased with my +conversation; but I gave him some strong proofs of his mistakes, by +making a comparison between the lands in America and those of +England in two respects.</p> +<p>First, in the article of sheep. He supposed himself to have fine +sheep, and a great quantity of them. At the time of my viewing his +five farms, which consisted of about three thousand acres +cultivated, he had one hundred sheep, and those in very poor +condition. This was in the month of November. To show him his +mistake in the value and quality of his land, I compared this with +the farm my father occupied, which was less than six hundred acres. +He clipped eleven hundred sheep, though some of his land was poor +and at two shillings and sixpence per acre--the highest was at +twenty shillings; the average weight of the wool was ten pounds per +fleece, and the carcases weighed from eighty to one hundred twenty +pounds each: while in the General's hundred sheep on three thousand +acres, the wool would not weigh on an average more than three +pounds and a half the fleece, and the carcases at forty-eight +pounds each. Secondly, the proportion of the produce in grain was +similar. The General's <span class="pagenum"><a name="page279" id= +"page279"></a>[pg 279]</span> crops were from two to three<a name= +"FNanchor11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11">[11]</a> bushels of wheat +per acre; and my father's farm, although poor clay soil, gave from +twenty to thirty bushels.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_11"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor11">[11]</a> A misstatement, of course.</blockquote> +<p>During this conversation Colonel Lear, aide-de-camp to the +General, was present. When the General left the room, the Colonel +told me he had himself been in England, and had seen Arthur Young +(who had been frequently named by the General in our conversation); +and that Mr. Young having learnt that he was in the mercantile +line, and was possessed of much land, had said he thought he was a +great fool to be a merchant and yet have so much land; the Colonel +replied, that if Mr. Young had the same land to cultivate, it would +make a great fool of <i>him</i>. The Colonel did me the honour to +say I was the only man he ever knew to treat General Washington +with frankness.</p> +<p>The General's cattle at that time were all in poor condition: +except his mules (bred from American mares), which were very fine, +and the Spanish ass sent to him as a present by the king of Spain. +I felt myself much vexed at an expression used at dinner by Mrs. +Washington. When the General and the <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page280" id="page280"></a>[pg 280]</span> company at table were +talking about the fine horses and cattle I had brought from +England, Mrs. Washington said, "I am afraid, Mr. Parkinson, you +have brought your fine horses and cattle to a bad market; I am of +opinion that our horses and cattle are good enough for our land." I +thought that if every old woman in the country knew this, my +speculation would answer very ill: as I perfectly agreed with Mrs. +Washington in sentiment; and wondered much, from the poverty of the +land, to see the cattle good as they were.</p> +<p>The General wished me to stay all night; but having some other +engagement, I declined his kind offer. He sent Colonel Lear out +after I had parted with him, to ask me if I wanted any money; which +I gladly accepted.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page281" id="page281"></a>[pg +281]</span> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI</h2> +<br> +<h3>PROFIT AND LOSS</h3> +<p>A biographer whose opinions about Washington are usually sound +concludes that the General was a failure as a farmer. With this +opinion I am unable to agree and I am inclined to think that in +forming it he had in mind temporary financial stringencies and +perhaps a comparison between Washington and the scientific farmers +of to-day instead of the juster comparison with the farmers of that +day. For if Washington was a failure, then nine-tenths of the +Southern planters of his day were also failures, for their methods +and results were much worse than his.</p> +<p>It must be admitted, however, that comparatively little of his +fortune, which amounted at his death to perhaps three-quarters of a +million dollars, was made by the sale of products from his farm. +Few farmers have grown rich in that way. Washington's wealth was +due in part to inheritance and a fortunate marriage, <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page282" id="page282"></a>[pg 282]</span> but +most of all to the increment on land. Part of this land he received +as a reward for military services, but much of it he was shrewd +enough to buy at a low rate and hold until it became more +valuable.</p> +<p>The task of analyzing his fortune and income in detail is an +impossible one for a number of reasons. We do not have all the +facts of his financial operations and even if we had there are +other difficulties. A farmer, unlike a salaried man, can not tell +with any exactness what his true income is. The salaried man can +say, "This year I received four thousand dollars," The farmer can +only say--if he is the one in a hundred who keeps accounts--"Last +year I took in two thousand dollars or five thousand dollars," as +the case may be. From this sum he must deduct expenses for labor, +wear and tear of farm machinery, pro rata cost of new tools and +machinery, loss of soil fertility, must take into account the fact +that some of the stock sold has been growing for one, two or more +years, must allow for the butter and eggs bartered for groceries +and for the value of the two cows he traded for a horse, must add +the value of the rent of the house and grounds he and his family +have enjoyed, the value of the chickens, <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page283" id="page283"></a>[pg 283]</span> eggs, +vegetables, fruit, milk, meat and other produce of the farm +consumed--as he proceeds the problem becomes infinitely more +complex until at last he gives it up as hopeless.</p> +<p>This much, however, is plain--a farmer can handle much less +money than a salaried man and yet live infinitely better, for his +rent, much of his food and many other things cost him nothing.</p> +<p>In Washington's case the problem is further complicated by a +number of circumstances. As a result of his marriage he had some +money upon bond. For his military services in the French war he +received large grants of land and the payment during the Revolution +of his personal expenses, and as President he had a salary of +twenty-five thousand dollars a year.</p> +<p>Yet another difficulty discloses itself when we come to examine +his cash accounts. We find, for example, that from August 3, 1775, +to September, 1783, leaving out of the reckoning his military +receipts, he took in a total of about eighty thousand one hundred +sixty-seven pounds. What then more simple than to divide this sum +by seven and ascertain his average receipts during the years of the +Revolution? But when we come to examine some of the details +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page284" id="page284"></a>[pg +284]</span> more closely we are brought to pause. We discover such +facts as that in 1780 a small steer, supposed to weigh about three +hundred pounds, brought five hundred pounds in money! A sheep sold +for one hundred pounds; six thousand five hundred sixty-nine pounds +of dressed beef brought six thousand five hundred sixty-nine +pounds; the stud fee for "Steady" was sixty pounds. In other words, +the accounts in these years were in depreciated paper and utterly +worthless for our purposes. Washington himself gave the puzzle up +in despair toward the end of the war and paid his manager in +produce, not money.</p> +<p>We of to-day have, in fact, not the faintest conception of the +blessing we enjoy in a uniform and fairly stable monetary system. +Even before the days of the "Continentals" there was depreciated +paper afloat that had been issued by the colonial governments and, +unless the fact is definitely stated, when we come upon figures of +that period we can never be sure whether they refer to pounds +sterling or pounds paper, or, if the latter, what kind of paper. +People had to be constantly figuring the real value of Pennsylvania +money, or Virginia money or Massachusetts money, and one meets with +many such calculations <span class="pagenum"><a name="page285" id= +"page285"></a>[pg 285]</span> on the blank leaves of Washington's +account books. Even metallic money was a Chinese puzzle except to +the initiated, there were so many kinds of it afloat. Among our +Farmer's papers I have found a list of the money that he took with +him to Philadelphia on one occasion--6 joes, 67 half joes, 2 +one-eighteenth joes, 3 doubloons, 1 pistole, 2 moidores, 1 half +moidore, 2 double louis d'or, 3 single louis d'or, 80 guineas, 7 +half guineas, besides silver and bank-notes.</p> +<p>The depreciation of the paper currency during the Revolution +proved disastrous to him in several ways. When the war broke out +much of the money he had obtained by marriage was loaned out on +bond, or, as we would say to-day, on mortgage. "I am now +receiving," he soon wrote, "a shilling in the pound in discharge of +Bonds which ought to have been paid me, & would have been +realized before I left Virginia, but for my indulgences to the +debtors." In 1778 he said that six or seven thousand pounds that he +had in bonds upon interest had been paid in depreciated paper, so +that the real value was now reduced to as many hundreds. Some of +the paper money that came into his hands he invested in government +securities, and at least ten thousand <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page286" id="page286"></a>[pg 286]</span> pounds +of these in Virginia money were ultimately funded by the federal +government for six thousand two hundred and forty-six dollars in +three and six per cent. bonds.</p> +<p>And yet, by examining Washington's accounts, one is able to +estimate in a rough way the returns he received from his estate, +landed and otherwise. We find that in ten months of 1759 he took in +£1,839; from January 1, 1760, to January 10, 1761, about +£2,535; in 1772, £3,213; from August 3, 1775, to August +30, 1776, £2,119; in 1786, £2,025; in 1791, about +£2,025. Included in some of these entries, particularly the +earlier ones, are payments of interest and principal on his wife's +share of the Custis estate. Of the later ones, that for 1786--a bad +farming year--includes rentals on more than a score of parcels of +land amounting to £282.15, £25 rental on his fishery, +payments for flour, stud fees, etc.</p> +<p>Upon the average, therefore, I am inclined to believe that his +annual receipts were roughly in the neighborhood of ten thousand +dollars to fifteen thousand dollars a year from his estate.</p> +<p>As regards Mount Vernon alone, he sometimes made estimates of +what the crop returns ought to</p> +<a name="Illus0418.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="Images/Illus0418.jpg"><img src= +"Images/Illus0418.jpg" width="30%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>A Page from a Cash Memorandum Book.</b></p> +<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page287" id="page287"></a>[pg +287]</span> +<p>be; in other words, counted his chickens before they were +hatched. Thus in 1789 he drew up alternative plans and estimated +that one of these, if adopted, ought to produce crops worth a gross +of £3,091, another £3,831, and a third £4,449, +but that from these sums £1,357, £1,394 and +£1,445 respectively would have to be deducted for seed, food +for man and beasts, and other expenses.</p> +<p>A much better idea of the financial returns from his home estate +can be obtained from his actual balances of gain and loss. One of +these, namely for 1798, which was a poor year, was as follows:</p> +<blockquote> +<pre> +BALANCE OF GAIN AND LOSS, 1798<br> +<br> +DR. GAINED CR. LOST<br> +<br> +Dogue Run Farm 397.11.2 Mansion House .. 466.18. 2-1/2<br> +Union Farm .... 529.10.11-1/2 Muddy Hole Farm 60. 1. 3-1/2<br> +River Farm .... 234. 4.11 Spinning ....... 51. 2. 0<br> +Smith's Shop .. 34.12.09-1/2 Hire of Head<br> +Distillery .... 83.13. 1 overseer ..... 140. 0. 0<br> +Jacks ......... 56.1<br> +Traveler ...... 9.17<br> + (stud horse)<br> +Shoemaker ..... 28.17. 1<br> +Fishery ....... 165.12. 0-1/4 By clear gain on<br> +Dairy ......... 30.12. 3 the Estate.....£898.16. 4-1/4 +</pre></blockquote> +<p>Mr. Paul Leicester Ford considered this "a pretty poor showing +for an estate and negroes which had certainly cost him over fifty +thousand dollars, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="page288" id= +"page288"></a>[pg 288]</span> on which there was live stock which +at the lowest estimation was worth fifteen thousand dollars more." +In some respects it was a poor showing. Yet the profit Washington +sets down is about seven per cent. upon sixty-five thousand +dollars, and seven per cent. is more than the average farmer makes +off his farm to-day except through the appreciation in the value of +the land. The truth is, however, that Mount Vernon, including the +live stock and slaves, was really worth in 1798 nearer two hundred +thousand dollars than sixty-five thousand, so that the actual +return would only be about two and a fourth per cent.</p> +<p>But Washington failed to include in his receipts many items, +such as the use of a fine mansion for himself and family, the use +of horses and vehicles, and the added value of slaves and live +stock by natural increase.</p> +<p>Besides in some other years the profits were much larger.</p> +<p>And lastly, in judging a man's success or failure as a farmer, +allowance must be made for the kind of land that he has to farm. +The Mount Vernon land was undoubtedly poor in quality, and it is +probable that Washington got more out of it than has <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page289" id="page289"></a>[pg 289]</span> ever +been got out of it by any other person either before or since. Much +of it to-day must not pay taxes.</p> +<p>Washington died possessed of property worth about three-quarters +of a million, although he began life glad to earn a doubloon a day +surveying. The main sources of this wealth have already been +indicated, but when all allowance is made in these respects, the +fact remains that he was compelled to make a living and to keep +expenses paid during the forty years in which the fortune was +accumulating, and the main source he drew from was his farms. Not +much of that living came from the Custis estate, for, as we have +seen, a large part of the money thus acquired was lost. During his +eight years as Commander-in-Chief he had his expenses--no more. Of +the eight years of his presidency much the same can be said, for +all authorities agree that he expended all of his salary in +maintaining his position and some say that he spent more. Yet at +the end of his life we find him with much more land than he had in +1760, with valuable stocks and bonds, a house and furniture +infinitely superior to the eight-room house he first owned, two +houses in the Federal City that had cost him about $15,000, several +times as many negroes, <span class="pagenum"><a name="page290" id= +"page290"></a>[pg 290]</span> and live stock estimated by himself +at $15,653 and by his manager at upward of twice that sum.</p> +<p>Such being the case--and as no one has ever ventured even to +hint that he made money corruptly out of his official position--the +conclusion is irresistible that he was a good business man and that +he made farming pay, particularly when he was at home.</p> +<p>It is true that only three months before his death he wrote: +"The expense at which I live, and the unproductiveness of my +estate, will not allow me to lessen my income while I remain in my +present situation. On the contrary, were it not for occasional +supplies of money in payment for lands sold within the last four or +five years, to the amount of upwards of fifty thousand dollars, I +should not be able to support the former without involving myself +in debt and difficulties," This must be taken, however, to apply to +a single period of heavy expense when foreign complications and +other causes rendered farming unprofitable, rather than to his +whole career. Furthermore, his landed investments from which he +could draw no returns were so heavy that he had approached the +condition of being land poor and it was only proper that he should +cut loose from some of them.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page291" id="page291"></a>[pg +291]</span> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII</h2> +<br> +<h3>ODDS AND ENDS</h3> +<p>In an age when organized charity was almost unknown the burden +of such work fell mainly upon individuals. Being a man of great +prominence and known to be wealthy, the proprietor of Mount Vernon +was the recipient of many requests for assistance. Ministers wrote +to beg money to rebuild churches or to convert the heathen; old +soldiers wrote to ask for money to relieve family distresses or to +use in business; from all classes and sections poured in requests +for aid, financial and otherwise.</p> +<p>It was inevitable that among these requests there should be some +that were unusual. Perhaps the most amusing that I have discovered +is one written by a young man named Thomas Bruff, from the Fountain +Inn, Georgetown. He states that this is his second letter, but I +have not found the first. In the letter we have he sets forth that +he has lost all his property and desires a loan of <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page292" id="page292"></a>[pg 292]</span> five +hundred pounds. His need is urgent, for he is engaged to a +beautiful and "amiable" young lady, possessed of an "Estate that +will render me Independent. Whom I cannot Marry in my present +situation.... All my Happyness is now depending upon your Goodness +and without your kind assistance I must be forever miserable--I +should have never thought of making application to you for this +favor had it not been in Consequence of a vision by Night since my +Fathers Death who appeared to me in a Dream in my Misfortunes three +times in one Night telling me to make applycation to you for Money +and that you would relieve me from my distresses. He appeared the +other night again and asked me if I had obeyed his commands I +informed him that I had Wrote to you some time ago but had Received +no answer nor no information Relative to the Business he then +observed that he expected my letter had not come to hand and toald +me to Write again I made some Objections at first and toald him I +thought it presumption in me to trouble your Excellency again on +the subject he then in a Rage drew his Small Sword and toald me if +I did not he would run me through. I immediately in a fright +consented."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page293" id="page293"></a>[pg +293]</span> +<p>One might suppose that so ingenious a request, picturing the +deadly danger in which a young man stood from the shade of his +progenitor, especially a young man who was thereby forced to keep a +young lady waiting, would have aroused Washington's most generous +impulses and caused him to send perhaps double the amount desired. +Possibly he was hard up at the time. At all events he indorsed the +letter thus:</p> +<p>"Without date and without success."</p> +<p>Many times, however, our Farmer was open-handed to persons who +had no personal claim on him. For example, he loaned three hundred +and two pounds to his old comrade of the French War--Robert +Stewart--the purpose being to buy a commission in the British army. +So far as I can discover it was never repaid; in fact, I am not +sure but that he intended it as a gift. Another advance was that +made to Charles L. Carter, probably the young man who later married +a daughter of Washington's sister, Betty Lewis. Most of the story +is told in the following extract from a letter written by Carter +from Fredericksburg, June 2, 1797:</p> +<p>"With diffidence I now address you in consequence of having +failed after my first voyage from <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page294" id="page294"></a>[pg 294]</span> China, to return the two +hundred Dollars you favored me with the Loan of. Be assured Dr. Sir +that I left goods unsold at the time of my Departure from +Philadelphia on the second voyage, & directed that the money +arising therefrom should be paid to you, but the integrity of my +agent did not prove to be so uncorrupted as I had flattered myself. +I have, at this late period, sent by Mr. G. Tevis the sum of two +hundred Dollars with interest therefrom from the 15th of March 1795 +to the 1st June, 1797. That sum has laid the foundation of a pretty +fortune, for which I shall ever feel myself indebted to you."</p> +<p>He added that he had been refused the loan by a near relation +before Washington had so kindly obliged him and that his mother, +who was evidently acquainted with Washington, joined in hearty +thanks for the benefit received.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page295" id="page295"></a>[pg +295]</span> +<p>Washington had experienced enough instances of ingratitude to be +much pleased with the outcome of this affair. He replied in the +kindest terms, but declined to receive the interest, saying that he +had not made the loan as an investment and that he did not desire a +profit from it.</p> +<p>Another recipient of Washington's bounty was his old neighbor, +Captain John Posey. Posey sold Washington not only his Ferry Farm +but also his claim to western lands. He became financially +embarrassed, in fact, ruined; his family was scattered, and he made +frequent applications to Washington for advice and assistance. +Washington helped to educate a son, St. Lawrence, who had been +reduced to the hard expedient of tending bar in a tavern, and he +also kept a daughter, Milly, at Mount Vernon, perhaps as a sort of +companion to Mrs. Washington. The Captain once wrote:</p> +<p>"I could [have] been able to [have] Satisfied all my old +Arrears, some months AGoe, by marrying [an] old widow woman in this +County. She has large soms [of] cash by her, and Prittey good +Est.--She is as thick as she is high---And gits drunk at Least +three or foure [times] a weak---which is Disagreable to me--has +Viliant Sperrit when Drunk--its been [a] great Dispute in my mind +what to Doe,--I beleave I shu'd Run all Resks--if my Last wife, had +been [an] Even temper'd woman, but her Sperrit, has Given me such +[a] Shock--that I am afraid to Run the Resk again."</p> +<p>Evidently the Captain did not find a way out of his troubles by +the matrimonial route, for somewhat later he was in jail at +Queenstown, presumably for <span class="pagenum"><a name="page296" +id="page296"></a>[pg 296]</span> debt, and we find in one of +Washington's cash memorandum books under date of October 15, 1773: +"By Charity--given Captn. Posey," four pounds. One of the sons +later settled in Indiana, and the "Pocket" county is named after +him.</p> +<p>Another boy toward whose education Washington contributed was +the son of Doctor James Craik--the boy being a namesake. Doctor +Craik was one of Washington's oldest and dearest friends. He was +born in Scotland two years before Washington saw the light at +Wakefield, graduated from Edinburgh University, practised medicine +in the West Indies for a short time and then came to Virginia. He +was Washington's comrade in arms in the Fort Necessity campaign, +was subsequently surgeon general in the Continental Army, and +accompanied Washington to the Ohio both in 1770 and 1784. He +married Mariane Ewell, a relative of Washington's mother, and +resided many years in Alexandria. He was a frequent visitor at +Mount Vernon both as a friend and in a professional capacity, and +Washington declared that he would rather trust him than a dozen +other doctors. Few men were so close to the great man as he, and he +was one of the few who in his letters ventured to tell chatty +matters of <span class="pagenum"><a name="page297" id= +"page297"></a>[pg 297]</span> gossip. Thus, in August, 1791, he +wrote a letter apropos of the bad health of George A. Washington +and added: "My daughter Nancy is there [Mt. Vernon] by way of +Amusement awhile. She begins to be tired of her Fathers house and I +believe intends taking an old Batchelor Mr. Hn. for a mate +shortly." Another young lady, Miss Muir, who had recently gone to +Long Island for the benefit of the sea baths was "pursued" by a Mr. +Donaldson and the latter now writes that "he shall bring back a +wife with him." Craik was a thorough believer in Washington's +destiny, and in the dark days of the Revolution would hearten up +his comrades by the story of the Indian chieftain met upon the Ohio +in 1770 who had vainly tried to kill Washington in the battle of +the Monongahela and had finally desisted in the belief that he was +invulnerable.</p> +<p>To friends, family, church, education and strangers our Farmer +was open-handed beyond most men of his time. His manager had orders +to fill a corn-house every year for the sole use of the poor in the +neighborhood and this saved numbers of poor women and children from +extreme want. He also allowed the honest poor to make use of his +fishing stations, furnishing them with all necessary apparatus +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page298" id="page298"></a>[pg +298]</span> for taking herring, and if they were unequal to the +task of hauling the seine, assistance was rendered them by the +General's servants.</p> +<p>To Lund Washington he wrote from the camp at Cambridge: "Let the +hospitality of the house, with respect to the poor, be kept up. Let +no one go hungry away. If any of this kind of people should be in +want of corn, supply their necessaries, provided that it does not +encourage them to idleness; and I have no objection to you giving +my money in charity to the amount of forty or fifty pounds a year, +when you think it well bestowed. What I mean by having no objection +is, that it is my desire it should be done. You are to consider +that neither <i>myself nor wife</i> is now in the way to do these +good offices."</p> +<p>His relations with his own kindred were patriarchal in +character. His care of Mrs. Washington's children and grandchildren +has already been described. He gave a phaeton and money to the +extent of two thousand five hundred dollars to his mother and did +not claim possession of some of the land left him by his father's +will. To his sister Betty Lewis he gave a mule and many other +presents, as well as employment to several of her sons. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page299" id="page299"></a>[pg +299]</span> He loaned his brother Samuel (five times married) +considerable sums, which he forgave in his will, spent "near five +thousand dollars" on the education of two of his sons, and cared +for several years for a daughter Harriot, notwithstanding the fact +that she had "no disposition ... to be careful of her cloaths." To +his nephew, Bushrod Washington, he gave money and helped him to +obtain a legal education, and he assisted another nephew, George A. +Washington, and his widow and children, in ways already mentioned. +Over forty relatives were remembered in his will, many of them in a +most substantial manner.</p> +<p>In the matter of eating and drinking Washington was abstemious. +For breakfast he ordinarily had tea and Indian cakes with butter +and perhaps honey, of which he was very fond. His supper was +equally light, consisting of perhaps tea and toast, with wine, and +he usually retired promptly at nine o'clock. Dinner was the main +meal of the day at Mount Vernon, and was served punctually at two +o'clock. One such meal is thus described by a guest:</p> +<p>"He thanked us, desired us to be seated, and to excuse him a few +moments.... The President came and desired us to walk in to dinner +and directed <span class="pagenum"><a name="page300" id= +"page300"></a>[pg 300]</span> us where to sit, (no grace was +said).... The dinner was very good, a small roasted pigg, boiled +leg of lamb, roasted fowls, beef, peas, lettice, cucumbers, +artichokes, etc., puddings, tarts, etc. etc. We were desired to +call for what drink we chose. He took a glass of wine with Mrs. Law +first, which example was followed by Dr. Croker Crakes and Mrs. +Washington, myself and Mrs. Peters, Mr. Fayette and the young lady +whose name is Custis. When the cloth was taken away the President +gave 'all our Friends.'"</p> +<p>The General ordinarily confined himself to a few courses and if +offered anything very rich would reply, "That is too good for me." +He often drank beer with the meal, with one or two glasses of wine +and perhaps as many more afterward, often eating nuts, another +delicacy with him, as he sipped the wine.</p> +<p>He was, in fact, no prohibitionist, but he was a strong believer +in temperance. He and the public men of his time, being +aristocrats, were wine drinkers and few of them were drunkards. The +political revolution of 1830, ushered in by Jackson, brought in a +different type--Westerners who drank whisky and brandy, with the +result that drunkenness in public</p> +<a name="Illus0420.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="Images/Illus0420.jpg"><img src= +"Images/Illus0420.jpg" width="30%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>One of Washington's Tavern Bills.</b></p> +<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page301" id="page301"></a>[pg +301]</span> +<p>station was much more common. Many of the Virginia gentlemen of +Washington's day spent a fourth or even a third of their income +upon their cellars. He was no exception to the rule, and from his +papers we discover many purchases of wine. One of the last bills of +lading I have noticed among his papers is a bill for "Two pipes of +fine old London particular Madeira Wine," shipped to him from the +island of Madeira, September 20, 1799. One wonders whether he got +to toast "All our Friends" out of it before he died.</p> +<p>His sideboard and table were well equipped with glasses and +silver wine coolers of the most expensive construction. As in many +other matters, his inventive bent turned in this direction. Having +noticed the confusion that often arose from the passing of the +bottles about the table he designed when President a sort of silver +caster capable of holding four bottles. They were used with great +success on state occasions and were so convenient that other people +adopted the invention, so that wine <i>coasters</i>, after the +Washington design, became a part of the furniture of every +fashionable sideboard.</p> +<p>To cool wine, meat and other articles, Washington early adopted +the practice of putting up ice, a <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page302" id="page302"></a>[pg 302]</span> thing then unusual. In +January, 1785, he prepared a dry well under the summer house and +also one in his new cellar and in due time had both filled. June +fifth he "Opened the well in my Cellar in which I had laid up a +store of Ice, but there was not the smallest particle remaining.--I +then opened the other Repository (call the dry Well) in which I +found a large store." Later he erected an ice house to the eastward +of the flower garden.</p> +<p>His experience with the cellar well was hardly less successful +than that of his friend, James Madison, on a like occasion. Madison +had an ice house filled with ice, and a skeptical overseer wagered +a turkey against a mint julep that by the fourth of July the ice +would all have disappeared. The day came, they opened the house, +and behold there was enough ice for exactly <i>one</i> julep! Truly +a sad situation when there were <i>two</i> Virginia gentlemen.</p> +<p>Mention of Madison in this connection calls to mind the popular +notion that it was his wife Dolly who invented ice-cream. I believe +that her biographers claim for her the credit of the discovery. The +rôle of the iconoclast is a thankless one and I confess to a +liking for Dolly, but I have discovered in Washington's cash +memorandum book under date <span class="pagenum"><a name="page303" +id="page303"></a>[pg 303]</span> of May 17, 1784, the entry: "By a +Cream Machine for Ice," £1.13.4--that is an ice-cream +freezer. The immortal Dolly was then not quite twelve years +old.</p> +<p>Washington seems to have owned three coaches. The first he +ordered in London in 1758 in preparation for his marriage. It was +to be fashionable, genteel and of seasoned wood; the body +preferably green, with a light gilding on the mouldings, with other +suitable ornaments including the Washington arms. It was sent with +high recommendations, but proved to be of badly seasoned material, +so that the panels shrunk and slipped out of the mouldings within +two months and split from end to end, much to his disgust. Such a +chariot was driven not with lines from a driver's box, but by +liveried postillions riding on horseback, one horseman to each +span.</p> +<p>The second coach he had made in Philadelphia in 1780 at a cost +of two hundred and ten pounds in specie. It was decidedly better +built.</p> +<p>The last was a coach, called "the White Chariot," bought second +hand soon after he became President. It was built by Clarke, of +Philadelphia, and was a fine vehicle, with a cream-colored body and +wheels, green Venetian blinds and the Washington arms painted upon +the doors. In this coach, drawn by six <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page304" id="page304"></a>[pg 304]</span> +horses, he drove out in state at Philadelphia and rode to and from +Mount Vernon, occasionally suffering an upset on the wretched +roads. It was strong and of good workmanship and its maker heard +with pride that it had made the long southern tour of 1791 without +starting a nail or a screw. This coach was purchased at the sale of +the General's effects by George Washington Parke Custis and later +in a curious manner fell into the possession of Bishop Meade, who +ultimately made it up into walking sticks, picture frames, snuff +boxes and such mementoes.</p> +<p>At Mount Vernon to-day the visitor is shown a coach which the +official Handbook states is vouched for as the original "White +Chariot." In reality it seems to be the coach once owned by the +Powell family of Philadelphia. It is said to have been built by the +same maker and on the same lines, and Washington may have ridden in +it, but it never belonged to him.</p> +<p>Most people think of Washington as a marble statue on a pedestal +rather than as a being of flesh and blood with human feelings, +faults and virtues. He was self-contained, he was not voluble, he +had a sense of personal dignity, but underneath he was not +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page305" id="page305"></a>[pg +305]</span> cold. He was really hot-tempered and on a few +well-authenticated occasions fell into passions in which he used +language that would have blistered the steel sides of a +dreadnaught. Yet he was kind-hearted, he pitied the weak and +sorrowful, and the list of his quiet benefactions would fill many +pages and cost him thousands of pounds. He was even full of +sentiment in some matters; on more than one occasion he provided +positions that enabled young friends or relatives to marry, and I +shrewdly suspect that he engineered matters so that the beloved +Nelly Custis obtained a good husband in the person of his nephew, +Lawrence Lewis. I might say much more tending to show his human +qualities, but I shall add only this: Having for many years studied +his career from every imaginable point of view, I give it as my +deliberate opinion that perhaps no man ever lived who was more +considerate of the rights and feelings of others. Not even Lincoln +had a bigger heart.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page306" id="page306"></a>[pg +306]</span> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII</h2> +<br> +<h3>THE VALE OF SUNSET</h3> +<p>Washington looked forward to the end of his presidency as does +"the weariest traveler, who sees a resting-place, and is bending +his body to lay thereon." "Methought I heard him say, 'Ay.' I am +fairly out, and you are fairly in; see which of us is the +happiest," wrote John Adams to his wife Abigail. And from Mount +Vernon Nelly Custis informed a friend that "grandpapa is very well +and much pleased with being once more Farmer Washington."</p> +<p>The eight years of toilsome work, which had been rendered all +the harder by much bitter criticism, had aged him greatly and this +helped to make him doubly anxious to return to the peace and quiet +of home for his final days. And yet he was affected by his parting +from his friends and associates. A few partisan enemies openly +rejoiced at his departure, but there were not wanting abundant +evidences of the people's <span class="pagenum"><a name="page307" +id="page307"></a>[pg 307]</span> reverence and love for him. It is +a source of satisfaction to us now that his contemporaries realized +he was one of the great figures of history and that they did not +withhold the tribute of their praise until after his death. As we +turn the thousands of manuscripts that make up his papers we come +upon scores of private letters and public resolutions in which, in +terms often a bit stilted but none the less sincere, a country's +gratitude is laid at the feet of its benefactor.</p> +<p>The Mount Vernon to which he returned was perhaps in better +condition than was that to which he retired at the end of the +Revolution, for he had been able each summer to give the estate +some personal oversight; nevertheless it was badly run down and +there was much to occupy his attention. In April he wrote: "We are +in the midst of litter and dirt, occasioned by joiners, masons, +painters, and upholsterers, working in the house, all parts of +which, as well as the outbuildings, are much out of repair."</p> +<p>Anderson remained with him, but Washington gave personal +attention to many matters and exercised a general oversight over +everything. Like most good farmers he "began his diurnal course +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page308" id="page308"></a>[pg +308]</span> with the sun," and if his slaves and hirelings were not +in place by that time he sent "them messages of sorrow for their +indisposition." Having set the wheels of the estate in motion, he +breakfasted. "This being over, I mount my horse and ride around my +farms, which employs me until it is time for dinner, at which I +rarely miss seeing strange faces.... The usual time of sitting at +table, a walk, and tea bring me within the dawn of candlelight; +previous to which, if not prevented by company, I resolve that, as +soon as the glimmering taper supplies the place of the great +luminary, I will retire to my writing table and acknowledge the +letters I have received, but when the lights are brought I feel +tired and disinclined to engage in this work, conceiving that the +next night will do as well. The next night comes, and with it the +same causes of postponement, and so on.... I have not looked into a +book since I came home; nor shall I be able to do it until I have +discharged my workmen, probably not before the nights grow longer, +when possibly I may be looking in Doomsday Book."</p> +<p>He had his usual troubles with servants and crops, with +delinquent tenants and other debtors; he tried Booker's threshing +machine, experimented <span class="pagenum"><a name="page309" id= +"page309"></a>[pg 309]</span> with white Indian peas and several +varieties of wheat, including a yellow bearded kind that was +supposed to resist the fly, and built two houses, or rather a +double house, on property owned in the Federal City--he avoided +calling the place "Washington."</p> +<p>A picture of the Farmer out upon his rounds in these last days +has been left us by his adopted son, George Washington Parke +Custis. Custis relates that one day when out with a gun he met on +the forest road an elderly gentleman on horseback who inquired +where he could find the General. The boy told the stranger, who +proved to be Colonel Meade, once of Washington's staff, that the +General was abroad on the estate and pointed out what direction to +take to come upon him. "You will meet, sir, with an old gentleman +riding alone in plain drab clothes, a broad-brimmed white hat, a +hickory switch in his hand, and carrying an umbrella with a long +staff, which is attached to his saddle-bow--that person, sir, is +General Washington."</p> +<p>Those were pleasant rides the old Farmer took in the early +morning sunshine, with the birds singing about him, the dirt lanes +soft under his horse's feet, and in his nostrils the pure air +fragrant with <span class="pagenum"><a name="page310" id= +"page310"></a>[pg 310]</span> the scent of pines, locust blossoms +or wild honeysuckle. When he grew thirsty he would pause for a +drink at his favorite gum spring, and as he made his rounds would +note the progress of the miller, the coopers, the carpenters, the +fishermen, and the hands in the fields, how the corn was coming up +or the wheat was ripening, what fences needed to be renewed or gaps +in hedges filled, what the increase of his cattle would be, whether +the stand of clover or buckwheat was good or not. He was the owner +of all this great estate, he was proud of it; it was his home, and +he was glad to be back on it once more. For he had long since +realized that there are deeper and more satisfying pleasures than +winning battles or enjoying the plaudits of multitudes.</p> +<p>An English actor named John Bernard who happened to be in +Virginia in this period has left us a delightfully intimate picture +of the Farmer on his rounds. Bernard had ridden out below +Alexandria to pay a visit and on his return came upon an overturned +chaise containing a man and a woman. About the same time another +horseman rode up from the opposite direction. The two quickly +ascertained that the man was unhurt and managed to <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page311" id="page311"></a>[pg 311]</span> +restore the wife to consciousness, whereupon she began to upbraid +her husband for carelessness.</p> +<p>"The horse," continues Bernard, "was now on his legs, but the +vehicle was still prostrate, heavy in its frame and laden with at +least half a ton of luggage. My fellow-helper set me an example of +activity in relieving it of internal weight; and when all was clear +we grasped the wheel between us and to the peril of our spinal +columns righted the conveyance. The horse was then put in and we +lent a hand to help up the luggage. All this helping, hauling and +lifting occupied at least half an hour under a meridian sun, in the +middle of July, which fairly boiled the perspiration out of our +foreheads."</p> +<p>After the two Samaritans had declined a pressing invitation to +go to Alexandria and have a drop of something, the unknown, a tall +man past middle age, wearing a blue coat and buckskin breeches, +exclaimed impatiently at the heat and then "offered very +courteously," says Bernard, "to dust my coat, a favor the return of +which enabled me to take a deliberate survey of his person."</p> +<p>The stranger then called Bernard by name, saying that he had +seen him play in Philadelphia, and asked <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page312" id="page312"></a>[pg 312]</span> him to +accompany him to his house and rest, at the same time pointing out +a mansion on a distant hill. Not till then did Bernard realize with +whom he was speaking.</p> +<p>"Mt. Vernon!" he exclaimed. "Have I the honor of addressing +General Washington?"</p> +<p>With a smile Washington extended his hand and said: "An odd sort +of introduction, Mr. Bernard; but I am pleased to find that you can +play so active a part in private and without a prompter."</p> +<p>Then they rode up to the Mansion House and had a pleasant +chat<a name="FNanchor12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12">[12]</a>.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_12"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor12">[12]</a> This anecdote is accepted by Mr. Lodge in +his life of Washington, but doubt is cast upon it by another +historian. All that can be said is that there is nothing to +disprove it and that it is not inherently improbable.</blockquote> +<p>Upon his retirement from the presidency our Farmer had told +Oliver Wolcott that he probably would never again go twenty miles +from his own vine and fig tree, but the troubles with France +resulted in a quasi-war and he was once more called from retirement +to head an army, most of which was never raised. He accepted the +appointment with the understanding that he was not to be called +into the field unless his presence should be indispensable, but he +found that he must give much of <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page313" id="page313"></a>[pg 313]</span> his time to the matter +and be often from home, while a quarrel between his friends Knox +and Hamilton over second place joined with Republican hostility to +war measures to add a touch of bitterness to the work. Happily war +was avoided and, though an adjustment of the international +difficulties was not reached until 1800, Washington was able to +spend most of the last months of his life at Mount Vernon +comparatively undisturbed.</p> +<p>Yet things were not as once they were. Mrs. Washington had aged +greatly and was now a semi-invalid often confined to her bed. The +Farmer himself came of short-lived stock and realized that his +pilgrimage would not be greatly prolonged. Twice during the year he +was seriously ill, and in September was laid up for more than a +week. His brother Charles died and in acknowledging the sad news he +wrote:</p> +<p>"I was the first, and am, now, the last of my father's children +by the second marriage, who remain.</p> +<p>"When I shall be <i>called upon to follow them</i> is known only +to the Giver of Life. When the summons comes, I shall endeavor to +obey it with good grace."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page314" id="page314"></a>[pg +314]</span> +<p>And yet there were gleams of joy and gladness. "About +candlelight" on his birthday in 1799 Nelly Custis and his nephew, +Lawrence Lewis, were wedded. The bride wished him to wear his +gorgeous new uniform, but when he came down to give her away he +wore the old Continental buff and blue and no doubt all loved him +better so. Often thereafter the pair were at Mount Vernon and there +on November twenty-seventh a little daughter came as the first +pledge of their affection. As always there was much company. In +August came a gallant kinsman from South Carolina, once Colonel but +now General William Washington of Cowpens fame, and for three days +the house was filled with guests and there was feasting and +visiting. November fifteenth Washington "Rode to visit Mr. now Lord +Fairfax," who was back from England with his family, and the +renewal of old friendships proved so agreeable that in the next +month the families dined back and forth repeatedly.</p> +<p>Nor did the Farmer cease to labor or to lay plans for the +future. He entered into negotiations for the purchase of more land +to round out Mount Vernon and surveyed some tracts that he owned. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page315" id="page315"></a>[pg +315]</span> On the tenth of December he inclosed with a letter to +Anderson a long set of "Instructions for my manager" which were to +be "most strictly and pointedly attended to and executed." He had +rented one of the farms to Lawrence Lewis, also the mill and +distillery, and was desirous of renting the fishery in order to +have less work and fewer hands to attend to; in fact, "an entire +new scene" was to be enacted. The instructions were exceedingly +voluminous, consisting of thirty closely written folio pages, and +they contain plans for the rotation of crops for several years, as +well as specific directions regarding fencing, pasturage, composts, +feeding stock, and a great variety of other subjects. In them one +can find our Farmer's final opinions on certain phases of +agriculture. To draw them up must have cost him days of hard labor +and that he found the task wearing is indicated by the fact that in +two places he uses the dates 1782 and 1783 when he obviously meant +1802 and 1803.</p> +<p>There was no hunting now nor any of those other active outdoor +sports in which he had once delighted and excelled, while "Alas! +our dancing days are no more." Happily he was able to ride and +labor to <span class="pagenum"><a name="page316" id= +"page316"></a>[pg 316]</span> the last, yet more and more of his +time had to be spent quietly, much of it, we may well believe, upon +the splendid broad veranda of his home.</p> +<p>Unimaginative and unromantic though he was, what visions must +sometimes have swept through the brain of that simple farmer as he +gazed down upon the broad shining river or beyond at the clustered +Maryland hills glorified by the descending sun. Perchance in those +visions he saw a youthful envoy braving hundreds of miles of savage +wilderness on an errand from which the boldest might have shrunk +without disgrace. Then with a handful of men in forest green it is +given to that youth to put a Continent in hazard and to strike on +the slopes of Laurel Hill the first blow in a conflict that is +fought out upon the plains of Germany, in far away Bengal and on +most of the Seven Seas. For an instant there rises the delirium of +that fateful day with Braddock beside the ford of the Monongahela +when</p> +<blockquote>"Down the long trail from the Fort to the ford,<br> +Naked and streaked, plunge a moccasined horde:<br> +Huron and Wyandot, hot for the bout;<br> +Shawnee and Ottawa, barring him out.</blockquote> +<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page317" id="page317"></a>[pg +317]</span> +<blockquote>"'Twixt the pit and the crest, 'twixt the rocks and the +grass,<br> +Where the bush hides the foe and the foe holds the pass,<br> +Beaujeu and Pontiac, striving amain;<br> +Huron and Wyandot, jeering the slain,"</blockquote> +<p>The years pass and the same figure grown older and more sedate +is taking command of an army of peasantry at war with their King. +Dorchester Heights, Brooklyn, Fort Washington, Trenton, Princeton, +Brandywine, Valley Forge, Monmouth, Morristown, the sun of +Yorktown; Green, Gates, Arnold, Morgan, Lee, Lafayette, Howe, +Clinton, Cornwallis--what memories! Lastly, a Cincinnatus grown +bent and gray in service leaves his farm to head his country's +civil affairs and give confidence and stability to an infant +government by his wisdom and character.</p> +<p>Here, with bared heads, let us take leave of him--a farmer, but +"the greatest of good men and the best of great men."</p> +<br> +<p>THE END</p> +<a name="Illus0424.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="Images/Illus0424.jpg"><img src= +"Images/Illus0424.jpg" width="60%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>Map of Mount Vernon Drawn by Washington and Sent by Him to +Authur Young in 1793.</b></p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page321" id="page321"></a>[pg +321]</span> +<h2><a name="INDEX"></a>INDEX</h2> +<p>Adams, Abigail, letter of husband to about Washington's +retirement, <a href="#page306">306</a>.<br> +Adams, John: believes Washington was made by marriage with Custis +money,<br> + <a href="#page016">16</a>; on +Washington's retirement, <a href="#page306">306</a>.<br> +Ague, prevalence of along the Potomac, <a href= +"#page065">65</a>.<br> +Alfalfa, <i>see "<a href="#Lucerne">Lucerne</a>"</i>.<br> +Alton, John, a servant of Washington's, <a href="#page170">170</a>, +<a href="#page174">174</a>, <a href="#page175">175</a>.<br> +Anderson, James: manager of Mount Vernon, <a href= +"#page181">181</a>, <a href="#page182">182</a>; sends list of +the<br> + increase of slaves, <a href= +"#page194">194</a>; mentioned by Parkinson, <a href= +"#page276">276</a>; remains with<br> + Washington, <a href= +"#page307">307</a>; final instructions to, <a href= +"#page315">315</a>.<br> +<i>Anna</i>, brings indentured servants from Ireland, <a href= +"#page167">167</a>.<br> +<i>Annals of Agriculture</i> used by Washington, <a href= +"#page071">71</a>, <a href="#page072">72</a>; nature of, <a href= +"#page074">74</a>;<br> + plan of drill published in, <a href= +"#page107">107</a>; Washington begins to read, <a href= +"#page116">116</a>;<br> + plan of barn in, <a href= +"#page117">117</a>; threshing machine described in, <a href= +"#page126">126</a>.<br> +<i>A Practical Treatise of Husbandry</i>: used by Washington, +<a href="#page071">71</a>; its<br> + author, <a href= +"#page073">73</a>.<br> +<br> +<a name="Barrel_plough"></a>Barrel plough: Washington makes one, +<a href="#page107">107</a>; operation of, <a href= +"#page108">108-110</a>.<br> +Bartram, John, Washington obtains plants from, <a href= +"#page159">159</a>.<br> +Bassett, Fanny, matrimonial adventures of, <a href= +"#page177">177</a>, <a href="#page180">180</a>.<br> +Bater, Philip, Washington agrees to let him get drunk on certain +days, <a href="#page169">169</a>.<br> +Bath (Berkeley Springs): Washington's land at, <a href= +"#page028">28</a>; Patty Custis taken to,<br> + <a href="#page223">223</a>.<br> +Bear, one chased by the hounds, <a href="#page257">257</a>.<br> +Belvoir, fox hunting dinners at, <a href="#page258">258</a>.<br> +Bernard, John, peculiar meeting of with Washington, <a href= +"#page310">310-312</a>.<br> +Bishop, Sally: Custis' story of, <a href="#page171">171-173</a>; +marries Thomas Green, <a href="#page173">173</a>;<br> + later history of, <a href= +"#page174">174</a>.<br> +Bishop, Thomas, history of, <a href="#page170">170-173</a>.<br> +Bixby, Thomas K., owns the Lear papers, <a href= +"#page086">86</a>.<br> +"Blueskin," one of Washington's war horses, <a href= +"#page132">132</a>, <a href="#page133">133</a>.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page322" id="page322"></a>[pg +322]</span> +<p>Board of Agriculture: Washington elected honorary member<br> + of, <a href="#page084">84</a>; he is +influenced by example of, <a href="#page128">128</a>.<br> +Booker, William: makes threshing machine for Washington,<br> + <a href="#page126">126</a>, <a href= +"#page127">127</a>; mentioned, <a href="#page308">308</a>.<br> +Boston Athenaeum, buys Washington relics, <a href= +"#page086">86</a>.<br> +<i>Boston</i>, British frigate, Washington sells bull to, <a href= +"#page144">144</a>.<br> +"Botanical Garden": used for experimental purposes, <a href= +"#page106">106</a>;<br> + location of, <a href= +"#page161">161</a>.<br> +Boucher, Jonathan, teaches John Parke Custis, <a href= +"#page225">225</a>.<br> +Bowen, Cavan, indentured servant, bought, <a href= +"#page167">167</a>.<br> +Bowling Green: laid out by Washington, <a href="#page154">154</a>; +mentioned, <a href="#page161">161</a>.<br> +<a name="Box_hedge"></a>Box hedge, doubtful history of, <a href= +"#page160">160</a>, <a href="#page161">161</a>.<br> +Braddock, Gen. Edward: Washington joins staff of, <a href= +"#page004">4</a>, <a href="#page005">5</a>;<br> + Bishop his servant, <a href= +"#page170">170</a>; mentioned, <a href="#page012">12</a>, <a href= +"#page316">316</a>.<br> +Brents, Washington purchases, <a href="#page017">17</a>.<br> +Bruff, Thomas, amusing request for a loan, <a href= +"#page291">291-293</a>.<br> +Bullskin Plantation, Washington patents, <a href= +"#page009">9</a>.<br> +Burbank, Luther, mentioned, <a href="#page107">107</a>.<br> +Burnes, David, quizzes Washington about his marriage, <a href= +"#page016">16</a>.<br> +Butler,--: a gardener, <a href="#page161">161</a>; dismissed, +<a href="#page183">183</a>.<br> +<br> +Calvert, Eleanor: love affair with John Parke Custis, <a href= +"#page225">225</a>;<br> + letter of Martha Washington to, +<a href="#page226">226</a>; for second husband<br> + marries Doctor Stuart, <a href= +"#page231">231</a>.<br> +Campbell's tavern, Washington in card game at, <a href= +"#page250">250</a>.<br> +Campion,--, brings "Knight of Malta," <a href= +"#page140">140</a>.<br> +Cape of Good Hope wheat, Washington experiments with, <a href= +"#page105">105</a>.<br> +Carrington, Mrs. Edward, describes Martha Washington's<br> + sewing activities, <a href= +"#page232">232</a>, <a href="#page233">233</a>.<br> +Carroll, Charles, interested in Nelly Custis, <a href= +"#page235">235</a>.<br> +Carter, Charles H., returns a loan, <a href="#page293">293</a>, +<a href="#page294">294</a>.<br> +Gary, freedman, death of at great age, <a href= +"#page218">218</a>.<br> +Cattle: poor quality of, <a href="#page056">56</a>, <a href= +"#page057">57</a>; number lost in twenty months,<br> + <a href="#page142">142</a>; +Washington's experiences with, <a href="#page143">143</a> et seq.; +number<br> + owned in 1799, <a href= +"#page148">148</a>; Parkinson's poor opinion of,<br> + <a href="#page276">276</a>, <a href= +"#page279">279</a>.<br> +Chastellux, Marquis de: Washington describes to him the<br> + delights of his retirement, <a href= +"#page005">5</a>; letter of Washington to<br> + about inland navigation, <a href= +"#page026">26</a>; on Washington's horsemanship,<br> + <a href="#page235">235</a>.<br> +Chinch bugs, a bad year for, <a href="#page104">104</a>.<br> +Chinese geese, Gouverneur Morris sends some to Washington, <a href= +"#page147">147</a>.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page323" id="page323"></a>[pg +323]</span> +<p>Chinese pigs, a gift to Washington, <a href= +"#page147">147</a>.<br> +Christian, Mr., dancing master, <a href="#page247">247</a>, +<a href="#page248">248</a>.<br> +Cincinnatus: Washington did not affect rôle of, <a href= +"#page006">6</a>;<br> + picture of the American at Mount +Vernon, <a href="#page131">131</a>;<br> + mentioned, <a href= +"#page317">317</a>.<br> +Clifton,--, fails to abide by a bargain with Washington, <a href= +"#page017">17</a>.<br> +Clinton, George: in partnership with Washington in a land +speculation, <a href="#page026">26</a>;<br> + sends young trees and vines to +Washington, <a href="#page155">155</a>.<br> +Coaches: Washington's experiences with, <a href="#page303">303</a>, +<a href="#page304">304</a>;<br> + mentioned, <a href= +"#page141">141</a>.<br> +<a name="Compost"></a>Compost, Washington experiments with, +<a href="#page092">92-94</a>.<br> +"Compound," a jackass, <a href="#page140">140</a>.<br> +Congress, Washington recommends establishment of a board of +agriculture<br> + to, <a href="#page127">127</a>, +<a href="#page128">128</a>.<br> +Conservationist, Washington the first, <a href= +"#page129">129</a>.<br> +Copy-book, Washington's, verses quoted from, <a href= +"#page005">5</a>.<br> +Corn: some raised in Virginia, <a href="#page051">51</a>, <a href= +"#page052">52</a>;<br> + chief food of laborers and horses, +<a href="#page053">53</a>;<br> + Washington's experience growing, +<a href="#page069">69</a>;<br> + his opinion as to the proper time for +planting, <a href="#page105">105</a>.<br> +Craik, Dr. James: tours western country with Washington, <a href= +"#page020">20</a> et seq., <a href="#page027">27</a><br> + et seq.; physician to Mount Vernon, +<a href="#page195">195</a>; fishes with Washington,<br> + <a href="#page265">265</a>; relations +of Washington with, <a href="#page296">296</a>, <a href= +"#page297">297</a>.<br> +Craik, William, accompanies Washington on western trip of 1784, +<a href="#page028">28</a>.<br> +Crawford, Captain William: Washington's western agent, <a href= +"#page019">19</a>;<br> + descends the Ohio with Washington, +<a href="#page020">20</a>;<br> + locates lands for Washington, +<a href="#page022">22</a>;<br> + trouble of with squatters, <a href= +"#page023">23</a>;<br> + burnt at stake, <a href= +"#page023">23</a>;<br> + buys Great Meadows for Washington, +<a href="#page029">29</a>.<br> +<i>Cross Purposes</i>, Washington sees performance of, <a href= +"#page245">245</a>.<br> +Crow,--: overseer, <a href="#page183">183</a>;<br> + not to be trusted with punishing +slaves, <a href="#page203">203</a>.<br> +Cupid, near death of pleurisy, <a href="#page196">196</a>.<br> +Custis children: Washington guardian of, <a href="#page014">14</a>, +<a href="#page015">15</a>;<br> + his accounts with the estate of, +<a href="#page081">81</a>.<br> +Custis, Daniel Parke, first husband of Martha Washington, <a href= +"#page012">12</a>, <a href="#page220">220</a>.<br> +Custis, Elizabeth, frequent visitor at Mount Vernon, <a href= +"#page231">231</a>.<br> +Custis, George Washington Parke: sees Washington fall from a horse, +<a href="#page133">133</a>;<br> + story of Sally Bishop, <a href= +"#page171">171</a>;<br> + adopted, <a href= +"#page175">175</a>;<br> + biography of, <a href= +"#page227">227-229</a>;<br> + spoiled by his grandmother, <a href= +"#page236">236</a>;<br> + says "Magnolia" ran in a race, +<a href="#page252">252</a>;<br> + account of French hounds, <a href= +"#page259">259</a> et seq.;<br> + slays a stag, <a href= +"#page268">268</a>;</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page324" id="page324"></a>[pg +324]</span> +<p> story of a black fox, <a href= +"#page262">262</a>;<br> + in error as to Washington's last +hunt, <a href="#page264">264</a>;<br> + leaves word picture of Washington out +on his<br> + rounds, <a href= +"#page309">309</a>.<br> +Custis, John Parke: biography of, <a href="#page225">225</a>, +<a href="#page226">226</a>; member of<br> + dancing class, <a href= +"#page248">248</a>; fox hunting with Washington, <a href= +"#page256">256</a>;<br> + deer hunting at Mason's, <a href= +"#page257">257</a>.<br> +Custis, Martha (Patty): hairpin of mended, <a href= +"#page015">15</a>; taken to<br> + Bath for her health, <a href= +"#page028">28</a>; biography of, <a href="#page222">222-225</a>; +member<br> + of dancing class, <a href= +"#page248">248</a>.<br> +Custis, Martha, a frequent visitor at Mount Vernon, <a href= +"#page231">231</a>.<br> +<a name="Custis,_Nelly"></a>Custis, Nelly: builds "Woodlawn," +<a href="#page063">63</a>; adopted by Washington,<br> + <a href="#page175">175</a>; is given +Dogue Run Farm, <a href="#page227">227</a>; rebuked by<br> + grandmother, <a href= +"#page235">235</a>; compelled to practise music, <a href= +"#page236">236</a>;<br> + Washington dances with, <a href= +"#page249">249</a>; mentioned, <a href="#page300">300</a>; +secures<br> + a good husband, <a href= +"#page305">305</a>; says Washington is pleased with<br> + being once more a farmer, <a href= +"#page306">306</a>; marriage of, <a href="#page314">314</a>.<br> +Cyrus, to be made a waiting man, <a href="#page210">210</a>.<br> +<br> +Dandridge, Martha, <i>see "<a href="#Washington,_Martha">Martha +Washington</a>"</i> <a href="#page219">219</a>.<br> +Darrell,--: Washington buys land from, <a href="#page009">9</a>; +mentioned, <a href="#page017">17</a>.<br> +Davenport,--, dies and leaves family in distress, <a href= +"#page187">187</a>, <a href="#page188">188</a>.<br> +Davis, Betty, a lazy impudent huzzy, <a href="#page199">199</a>, +<a href="#page200">200</a>.<br> +Davis, Tom, Mount Vernon hunter, <a href="#page267">267</a>.<br> +Davy: colored overseer of Muddy Hole Farm, <a href= +"#page183">183</a>; suspected<br> + of stealing lambs, <a href= +"#page206">206</a>.<br> +Deer: Washington's tame animals, <a href="#page131">131</a>, +<a href="#page267">267</a>; deer seen on<br> + Ohio, <a href="#page253">253</a>; +deer hunt at George Mason's, <a href="#page257">257</a>, <a href= +"#page258">258</a>;<br> + Custis shoots a buck, <a href= +"#page268">268</a>, <a href="#page269">269</a>.<br> +Dismal Swamp Company, Washington's interest in, <a href= +"#page019">19</a>, <a href="#page033">33</a>.<br> +Dogs, kill sheep, <a href="#page055">55</a>, <a href= +"#page142">142</a>, <a href="#page143">143</a>. <i>See also +"<a href="#Hounds">Hounds</a></i>."<br> +Dogue Run, used as a mill stream, <a href="#page097">97</a>.<br> +Dogue Run Farm: described, <a href="#page062">62</a>, <a href= +"#page063">63</a>; rotation plans for, <a href= +"#page120">120</a>;<br> + sixteen-sided barn built upon, +<a href="#page124">124</a>; excellent threshing<br> + floor of this barn, <a href= +"#page125">125</a>; rented to Lawrence Lewis, <a href= +"#page127">127</a>;<br> + conjuring negroes at, <a href= +"#page213">213</a>; given to Lawrence Lewis<br> + and his wife, <a href= +"#page227">227</a>; financial return from in 1798, <a href= +"#page287">287</a>.<br> +Dower negroes: belong to Custis estate, <a href="#page014">14</a>; +number of in 1799, <a href="#page218">218</a>.<br> +Drill, <i>see "<a href="#Barrel_plough">Barrel Plough</a></i>."<br> +Duhamel du Monceau, Henri Louis, his treatise on husbandry<br> + abstracted by Washington, <a href= +"#page071">71</a>, <a href="#page073">73</a>, <a href= +"#page074">74</a>.<br> +Dunmore, Lord, issues a land patent to Washington, <a href= +"#page025">25</a>.<br> +Dutch fan, one owned by Washington at the time of his death, +<a href="#page128">128</a>.</p> +<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page325" id="page325"></a>[pg +325]</span> +<p>Eastern Shore oats, wild onions picked out of, <a href= +"#page111">111</a>.<br> +Eastern Shore peas, experiment with, <a href= +"#page105">105</a>.<br> +Evans, Joshua, puts iron ring on Patty Custis, <a href= +"#page224">224</a>.<br> +Everett, Edward, buys the Pearce papers, <a href= +"#page086">86</a>.<br> +<br> +Fairfax, Anne: wife of Lawrence Washington, <a href= +"#page010">10</a>;<br> + marries George Lee and sells her life +interest in Mount Vernon<br> + to George Washington, <a href= +"#page011">11</a>.<br> +Fairfax, Lord Thomas: employs George Washington as a surveyor, +<a href="#page009">9</a>;<br> + vast land holdings of, <a href= +"#page038">38</a>;<br> + fondness of fox hunting, <a href= +"#page255">255</a>;<br> + hunts with Washington, <a href= +"#page256">256</a>.<br> +Fairfax, Sir William, father of wife of Lawrence Washington, +<a href="#page011">11</a>.<br> +<i>Farmer's Compleat Guide</i>: used by Washington, <a href= +"#page071">71</a>;<br> + abstracts from, <a href= +"#page072">72</a>.<br> +<i>Federal Gazette</i>,<br> + describes theatrical performance +witnessed by Washington, <a href="#page246">246</a>.<br> +Ferry, bought of Posey, <a href="#page017">17</a>.<br> +Ferry Farm, bought by Washington, <a href="#page017">17</a>, +<a href="#page295">295</a>.<br> +<a name="Fertilizer"></a>Fertilizer: experiments with marl, +<a href="#page095">95</a>, <a href="#page099">99</a>, <a href= +"#page105">105</a>;<br> + with mud, <a href= +"#page102">102-104</a>;<br> + experiment fertilizing oats, <a href= +"#page112">112</a>;<br> + Noah Webster's advanced ideas +regarding, <a href="#page118">118</a>, <a href= +"#page119">119</a>;<br> + Washington wants a manager who can +convert everything he<br> + touches into manure, <a href= +"#page119">119</a>;<br> + <i>see also "<a href= +"#Compost">Compost</a>" and "<a href="#Rotation_of_crops">Rotation +of Crops</a>"</i>.<br> +Fishery: bought of Posey, <a href="#page017">17</a>;<br> + description of, <a href= +"#page065">65</a>, <a href="#page066">66</a>;<br> + returns from in 1798, <a href= +"#page287">287</a>.<br> +Fitch, John, visits Washington to interest him in steam navigation, +<a href="#page240">240</a>.<br> +Fitzpatrick, John C, on handwriting of the<br> + digest from the <i>Compleat +Guide,</i> <a href="#page072">72</a>.<br> +Florida Blanca, helps Washington obtain a jackass, <a href= +"#page137">137</a>, <a href="#page138">138</a>.<br> +Flour: Washington's classification of, <a href= +"#page098">98</a>;<br> + excellent quality of, <a href= +"#page098">98</a>.<br> +Forbes, Mrs., Washington's inquiries about, <a href= +"#page189">189</a> <a href="#page190">190</a>.<br> +Ford, Paul Leicester:<br> + opinion of remedies tried on Patty +Custis, <a href="#page223">223</a>;<br> + on Washington's success as a farmer, +<a href="#page287">287</a>.<br> +Fox hunting: account of Washington's experiences at, <a href= +"#page255">255-265</a>;<br> + mentioned, <a href= +"#page100">100</a>.<br> +Franklin, Benjamin: gives Washington a cane, <a href= +"#page087">87</a>;<br> + Washington inspects mangle belonging +to, <a href="#page113">113</a>.<br> +Frederick the Great, mythical story of his sending a sword to<br> + Washington, <a href= +"#page086">86</a>.<br> +French, Daniel, breaks contract for sale of corn, <a href= +"#page079">79</a>, <a href="#page080">80</a>.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page326" id="page326"></a>[pg +326]</span> +<p>French, Mrs. Daniel, Washington hires slaves from, <a href= +"#page217">217</a>.<br> +French, Elizabeth, member of dancing class, <a href= +"#page248">248</a>.<br> +Frestel, Monsieur, accompanies George W. Lafayette to Mount Vernon, +<a href="#page242">242</a>.<br> +<br> +Garden: doubtful history of part of the flower garden, <a href= +"#page160">160</a>; the<br> + vegetable garden, <a href= +"#page161">161</a>.<br> +<i>Gentleman Farmer</i>, used by Washington, <a href= +"#page071">71</a>.<br> +<i>George Barnwell</i>, Washington sees tragedy of acted, <a href= +"#page244">244</a>.<br> +George, Prince, compared with Washington by Thackeray, <a href= +"#page099">88</a>.<br> +George III, contributes to <i>Annals of Agriculture</i> under +pen<br> + name of "Ralph Robinson," <a href= +"#page074">74</a>.<br> +George Town oats, sown, <a href="#page112">112</a>.<br> +Golden pheasants, Washington astonished by, <a href= +"#page148">148</a>.<br> +Gough,--: gives Washington a bull calf, <a href="#page144">144</a>; +Parkinson thinks it a poor<br> + animal, <a href= +"#page276">276</a>.<br> +Graham, Mrs. Macaulay, visits Mount Vernon, <a href= +"#page240">240</a>.<br> +Great Kanawha: Washington visits, <a href="#page021">21</a>; land +of upon, <a href="#page021">21</a>; hunts buffaloes<br> + near, <a href="#page254">254</a>, +<a href="#page255">255</a>.<br> +Great Meadows, owned by Washington, <a href="#page029">29</a>.<br> +Greer, Thomas: marries Sally Bishop, <a href="#page173">173</a>; +his laziness, <a href="#page185">185</a>; mentioned,<br> + <a href="#page183">183</a>.<br> +Grenville, Lord, issues special permit for sending seeds to +Washington,<br> + <a href="#page117">117</a>.<br> +Guinea swine, some owned by Washington, <a href= +"#page147">147</a>.<br> +"Gunner," a hunting dog, <a href="#page267">267</a>.<br> +Gunston Hall, fox hunting dinners at, <a href= +"#page258">258</a>.<br> +<br> +<i>Hamlet</i>, Washington sees performance of, <a href= +"#page245">245</a>.<br> +Haw has: constructed at ends of Mansion House, <a href= +"#page154">154</a>; mentioned, <a href="#page156">156</a>.<br> +Hedgerows, lines of still visible, <a href="#page064">64</a>.<br> +Hedges: traces of still discernible, <a href="#page064">64</a>, +<a href="#page162">162</a>; history of, <a href="#page162">162</a>, +<a href="#page163">163</a>;<br> + <i>see also "<a href="#Box_hedge">Box +hedge</a></i>."<br> +Henley, Frances Dandridge, marries Tobias Lear, <a href= +"#page177">177</a>.<br> +Hessian fly: Washington experiments to protect his wheat from, +<a href="#page095">95</a>;<br> + plays into hands of by early sowing, +<a href="#page106">106</a>.<br> +<i>Hippopotamus</i>, dredge used on Delaware River, <a href= +"#page103">103</a>.<br> +Hogs: described by Parkinson, <a href="#page057">57</a>, <a href= +"#page058">58</a>; Washington's, <a href="#page131">131</a>, +<a href="#page145">145-147</a>; large<br> + stock of in 1798, <a href= +"#page148">148</a>.<br> +Home,--, his book on farming digested by Washington, <a href= +"#page071">71</a>.<br> +<i>Horse-Hoeing Husbandry</i>: used by Washington, <a href= +"#page071">71</a>; an epoch-making<br> + work, <a href="#page073">73</a>.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page327" id="page327"></a>[pg +327]</span> +<p>Horses: in Virginia, <a href="#page053">53</a>, <a href= +"#page054">54</a>; American described by Parkinson, <a href= +"#page054">54</a>, <a href="#page055">55</a>;<br> + Washington's stallions, <a href= +"#page131">131</a>; brood mares bought by him, <a href= +"#page132">132</a>;<br> + his war horses, <a href= +"#page132">132</a>; thrown from a Narragansett, <a href= +"#page133">133</a>;<br> + his worn-out animals, <a href= +"#page134">134</a>; accidents to, <a href="#page134">134</a>;<br> + his skill as a trainer of described +by De Chastellux, <a href="#page134">134</a>, <a href= +"#page135">135</a>;<br> + losses of in twenty months, <a href= +"#page142">142</a>; number of in 1799, <a href= +"#page148">148</a>.<br> +Horticulture, Washington's activities in, <a href= +"#page149">149</a> et seq.<br> +<a name="Hounds"></a>Hounds: Washington builds up a pack of, +<a href="#page258">258</a> et seq.; names of some of<br> + them, <a href="#page259">259</a>; the +French hounds, <a href="#page259">259</a> et seq.<br> +Humphreys, Colonel: at Mount Vernon, <a href="#page171">171</a>; +Smith fears he will write a<br> + poem, <a href="#page173">173</a>; +poem of about Washington's slaves quoted, <a href= +"#page211">211</a>.<br> +Hunt, Gaillard, on Washington manuscripts in the Library of +Congress, <a href="#page087">87</a>.<br> +<br> +Ice house, Washington's, <a href="#page301">301</a>, <a href= +"#page302">302</a>.<br> +Indentured servants: classes of, <a href="#page165">165</a>; +Washington's dealings with, <a href="#page166">166-168</a>.<br> +<br> +Jack, Mount Vernon fisherman, <a href="#page267">267</a>.<br> +Jackasses: Washington's, <a href="#page137">137</a> et seq., +<a href="#page148">148</a>; stud fees of in 1798, <a href= +"#page287">287</a>.<br> +Jackson, Andrew, ushers in an era of whisky drinkers, <a href= +"#page300">300</a>.<br> +Jefferson, Thomas: explains why land is misused, <a href= +"#page053">53</a>; agricultural<br> + correspondence with Washington, +<a href="#page083">83</a>; carries bundle of pecan trees<br> + to Alexandria for Washington, +<a href="#page159">159</a>; opposed to slavery, <a href= +"#page215">215</a>.<br> +Johnson, John, brings nostrum for fits, <a href= +"#page244">224</a>.<br> +Johnston, George, sells land to Washington, <a href= +"#page009">9</a>.<br> +"Jolly," a horse, gets leg broken, <a href="#page134">134</a>.<br> +Jones,--, Washington visits farm of, <a href= +"#page113">113</a>.<br> +<br> +Knight, Humphrey, manages Mount Vernon, <a href= +"#page178">178</a>.<br> +"Knight of Malta," a jackass, his history, <a href= +"#page140">140</a>, <a href="#page141">141</a>.<br> +Knox, Thomas, one of Washington's English agents, <a href= +"#page045">45</a>, <a href="#page046">46</a>.<br> +<br> +"Lady," has four puppies, <a href="#page259">259</a>.<br> +Lafayette, George W., stay of at Mount Vernon, <a href= +"#page241">241</a>, <a href="#page242">242</a>, <a href= +"#page300">300</a>.<br> +Lafayette, Marquis de: visits Washington, <a href= +"#page027">27</a>; Washington's letter to<br> + regarding "Royal Gift," <a href= +"#page138">138</a>; sends Washington a jackass and two<br> + jennets, <a href="#page140">140</a>; +last visit to Washington, <a href="#page240">240</a>; sends +Washington some<br> + hounds, <a href= +"#page259">259</a>.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page328" id="page328"></a>[pg +328]</span> +<p>Lame Peter, taught to knit, <a href="#page193">193</a>.<br> +Laurie, Dr. James, comes to Mount Vernon drunk, <a href= +"#page195">195</a>.<br> +Lear, Lincoln, Washington's interest in, <a href= +"#page175">175-177</a>.<br> +Lear, Tobias: correspondence of with Washington published, <a href= +"#page086">86</a>;<br> + biography of, <a href= +"#page175">175-177</a>; marries widow of George A. Washington, +<a href="#page177">177</a>,<br> + <a href="#page180">180</a>; writes +directions about Billy Lee, <a href="#page208">208</a>; Washington +explains<br> + to him his desire for selling western +lands, <a href="#page213">213</a>; directed to get<br> + slaves out of Pennsylvania, <a href= +"#page216">216</a>; letter of Washington to, <a href= +"#page242">242</a>;<br> + Parkinson's conversation with, +<a href="#page279">279</a>; gives Parkinson money, <a href= +"#page280">280</a>.<br> +Lee, General Charles: story of Washington's loans to, <a href= +"#page081">81</a>, <a href="#page082">82</a>;<br> + mentioned, <a href= +"#page317">317</a>.<br> +Lee, George, marries widow of Lawrence Washington, <a href= +"#page011">11</a>.<br> +Lee, Henry: sends Washington cuttings of the tree box, <a href= +"#page155">155</a>; they show<br> + little signs of growing, <a href= +"#page157">157</a>.<br> +Lee, Robert E., Jr., administrator <i>de bonis non</i> of +Washington's<br> + estate, <a href= +"#page035">35</a>.<br> +Lee, William (Billy): accompanies Washington to the Ohio, <a href= +"#page020">20</a>; breeches<br> + bought for, <a href= +"#page082">82</a>; helps get Colonel Smith out of a scrape, +<a href="#page172">172-174</a>;<br> + val de chambre, <a href= +"#page193">193</a>; history of, <a href="#page206">206-209</a>; +freed, <a href="#page218">218</a>; acts as<br> + huntsman, <a href="#page260">260</a>, +<a href="#page261">261</a>.<br> +"Leonidas," a stallion, <a href="#page131">131</a>.<br> +Lewis, Betty: visit of Washington to, <a href="#page112">112</a>; +sends brother some filberts,<br> + <a href="#page155">155</a>; +Washington gives her a mule, <a href="#page298">298</a>; mentioned, +<a href="#page293">293</a>.<br> +Lewis, Howell, manages Mount Vernon, <a href= +"#page180">180</a>.<br> +Lewis, Lawrence: builds "Woodlawn," <a href="#page063">63</a>; +rents Dogue Run Farm, <a href="#page127">127</a>, <a href= +"#page315">315</a>;<br> + with uncle on a ride, <a href= +"#page133">133</a>; Washington expresses wish to that<br> + Virginia would abolish slavery, +<a href="#page215">215</a>; helps Washington entertain<br> + guests, <a href="#page243">243</a>, +<a href="#page244">244</a>; possible part of Washington in +furthering love<br> + affair of, 305; marriage of, <a href= +"#page314">314</a>.<br> +Lewis, Nelly Custis, <i>see "<a href="#Custis,_Nelly">Nelly +Custis</a>"</i>.<br> +Lewis, Robert: manages Mount Vernon, <a href="#page180">180</a>; +describes tearful scenes on<br> + departure of Martha Washington, +<a href="#page237">237</a>.<br> +Library of Congress, Washington papers in, <a href= +"#page005">5</a>, <a href="#page085">85</a>, <a href= +"#page087">87</a>, <a href="#page090">90</a>.<br> +Little Miami River, history of Washington's lands upon, <a href= +"#page034">34-36</a>.<br> +Long Island Historical Society, Pearce-Washington papers in, +<a href="#page086">86</a>.<br> +Lossing, Benson J., visit of to Mount Vernon, <a href= +"#page160">160</a>.<br> +<a name="Lucerne"></a>Lucerne, Washington experiments with, +<a href="#page091">91</a>, <a href="#page092">92</a>.</p> +<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page329" id="page329"></a>[pg +329]</span> +<p>McCracken, Washington buys land from, <a href= +"#page009">9</a>.<br> +McKoy,--, overseer, <a href="#page183">183</a>.<br> +Madison, Dolly, did not invent ice cream, <a href= +"#page302">302</a>, <a href="#page303">303</a>.<br> +Madison, James: story of his ice house, <a href="#page302">302</a>; +opposed to slavery, <a href="#page215">215</a>.<br> +"Magnolia": a blooded Arabian stallion, <a href="#page131">131</a>, +<a href="#page132">132</a>; in a race, <a href= +"#page152">252</a>.<br> +Magowan, Rev. Mr., sells lottery tickets, <a href= +"#page251">251</a>.<br> +<i>Maid of the Mill</i>, Washington witnesses performance of, +<a href="#page246">246</a>.<br> +Mansion House: view from porch of, <a href="#page064">64</a>; +bequeathed to<br> + Bushrod Washington, <a href= +"#page084">84</a>; Bishop starts for, <a href= +"#page172">172</a>;<br> + grounds of overrun with negro +children, <a href="#page191">191</a>; hospital<br> + for slaves built near, <a href= +"#page195">195</a>; mentioned, <a href="#page063">63</a>, <a href= +"#page267">267</a>, <a href="#page268">268</a>; Bernard<br> + visits, <a href= +"#page312">312</a>.<br> +Mansion House Farm: described, <a href="#page061">61</a>; +Washington will not<br> + rent, <a href="#page127">127</a>; +bequeathed to Bushrod Washington, <a href="#page178">178</a>;<br> + financial loss on in 1798, <a href= +"#page287">287</a>.<br> +Manure, <i>see "<a href="#Fertilizer">Fertilizer</a>"</i>.<br> +Marl, Washington experiments with, <a href="#page095">95</a>, +<a href="#page099">99</a>, <a href="#page105">105</a>.<br> +Mason, George: description of industry upon estate of, <a href= +"#page040">40-43</a>;<br> + is dead, <a href="#page233">233</a>; +deer hunting at, <a href="#page257">257</a>, <a href= +"#page258">258</a>.<br> +Matilda's Ben, misbehavior of, <a href="#page205">205</a>.<br> +Meade, Colonel, visits Washington, <a href="#page309">309</a>.<br> +Mercer, John F., Washington's letter to about slavery, <a href= +"#page213">213</a>.<br> +Meteorological table, manager required to keep, <a href= +"#page083">83</a>.<br> +Michaux, André, botanist, brings pyramidical cypress +from<br> + the king of France, <a href= +"#page158">158</a>.<br> +Military Company of Adventurers, Washington a member of, <a href= +"#page019">19</a>.<br> +Mill: Washington's mill on the Youghiogheny, <a href= +"#page024">24</a>, <a href="#page030">30</a>; his<br> + mill on Four Mile Run, <a href= +"#page097">97</a>; that on Dogue Run, <a href="#page097">97</a>, +<a href="#page098">98</a>, <a href="#page182">182</a>.<br> +Mississippi Company, Washington interested in, <a href= +"#page010">10</a>.<br> +Morgan, General Daniel: talks over inland waterways question<br> + with Washington <a href= +"#page028">28</a>; mentioned, <a href="#page317">317</a>.<br> +Morris, Gouverneur: sends Washington Chinese pigs and<br> + geese, <a href="#page146">146</a>, +<a href="#page147">147</a>; goes fishing with him, <a href= +"#page265">265</a>.<br> +Mosquitoes, prevalence of about Mount Vernon, <a href= +"#page065">65</a>.<br> +Mount Vernon: Washington retires to, <a href="#page004">4</a>; +given to Lawrence Washington,<br> + <a href="#page008">8</a>; George +Washington spends part of youth at, <a href="#page009">9</a>; early +history of,<br> + <a href="#page010">10</a>; life +interest of Anne Lee in bought by Washington, <a href= +"#page011">11</a>; estate,<br> + <a href="#page016">16</a>, <a href= +"#page017">17</a>, <a href="#page020">20</a>, <a href= +"#page032">32</a>; bequeathed to Bushrod Washington, <a href= +"#page033">33</a>; description<br> + of, <a href="#page060">60</a> et +seq.; visit of owner in 1781, <a href="#page078">78</a>; seeds sent +by Young<br> + reach, <a href="#page117">117</a>; +Booker builds threshing machine at, <a href="#page126">126</a>, +<a href="#page127">127</a>;</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page330" id="page330"></a>[pg +330]</span> +<p> Washington attempts to rent, +<a href="#page127">127</a>; Washington's care for the lands<br> + of, <a href="#page129">129</a>; +number of horses on in 1785, <a href="#page132">132</a>; number of +sheep on,<br> + <a href="#page135">135</a>; resounds +with jubilant sounds, <a href="#page140">140</a>; number of oxen +on, <a href="#page144">144</a>,<br> + <a href="#page208">208</a>; house +rebuilt, <a href="#page151">151-153</a>; successive managers of, +<a href="#page178">178-182</a>;<br> + employment of white labor at, +<a href="#page186">186</a>; slaves seen at, <a href= +"#page191">191</a>; number of<br> + slaves on in 1786, <a href= +"#page193">193</a>; lot of slaves at, <a href="#page211">211</a>, +<a href="#page212">212</a>; Edmund<br> + Pendleton at, <a href= +"#page221">221</a>; managed by Mrs. Washington, <a href= +"#page229">229</a>; larders of<br> + kept well filled, <a href= +"#page230">230</a>; Custis grandchildren reside at, <a href= +"#page231">231</a>;<br> + visitors at, <a href= +"#page240">240-242</a>; dancing class meets at, <a href= +"#page248">248</a>; tea served on<br> + portico of, <a href= +"#page252">252</a>; fox hunting dinners at, <a href= +"#page258">258</a>; the fisherman of,<br> + <a href="#page267">267</a>; described +by Parkinson, <a href="#page271">271</a> et seq., <a href= +"#page291">291</a>; Washington's<br> + estimate of probable crops on, +<a href="#page286">286</a>; land of poor, <a href= +"#page288">288</a>; value of in<br> + 1798, <a href="#page288">288</a>; +coach shown there to-day not Washington's, <a href= +"#page304">304</a>; Nelly<br> + Custis writes from, <a href= +"#page306">306</a>; condition of on Washington's retirement,<br> + <a href="#page307">307</a>; last +months of owner's life spent at, <a href="#page313">313</a>; +mentioned, <a href="#page075">75</a>, <a href= +"#page078">78</a>,<br> + <a href="#page097">97</a>, <a href= +"#page101">101</a>, <a href="#page103">103</a>, <a href= +"#page130">130</a>, <a href="#page208">208</a>, <a href= +"#page244">244</a>, <a href="#page291">291</a>, <a href= +"#page312">312</a>, <a href="#page314">314</a>.<br> +Mount Vernon Association, <a href="#page063">63</a>.<br> +Muddy Hole Farm: described, <a href="#page062">62</a>; barrel +plough used at, <a href="#page110">110</a>; its colored<br> + overseer, <a href="#page183">183</a>, +<a href="#page205">205</a>; loss on in 1798, <a href= +"#page287">287</a>.<br> +Mules: Washington raises, <a href="#page137">137</a> et seq.; +proposes to drive them to his<br> + carriage, <a href="#page139">139</a>; +number of in 1799, <a href="#page148">148</a>.<br> +<br> +Narragansetts, two bought by Washington, <a href= +"#page132">132</a>.<br> +Negroes, <i>see "<a href="#Slaves">Slaves</a>."</i><br> +"Nelson," one of Washington's war horses, <a href= +"#page132">132</a>, <a href="#page133">133</a>.<br> +New England, Washington's observations of agriculture in, <a href= +"#page115">115</a>.<br> +Niemcewicz, Julian: describes condition of negroes at Mount +Vernon,<br> + <a href="#page197">197</a>, <a href= +"#page198">198</a>; opinion of Nelly Custis, <a href= +"#page227">227</a>.<br> +<br> +"Old Chatham," a worn-out horse, <a href="#page134">134</a>.<br> +Overdursh,--, Dutch redemptioner bought with his family, <a href= +"#page167">167</a>.<br> +Oxen: used in farm work, <a href="#page122">122</a>; number of in +1785, <a href="#page144">144</a>; fattened and<br> + killed when eight years old, <a href= +"#page145">145</a>.<br> +<br> +Palatines: Washington considers importing, <a href= +"#page024">24</a>, <a href="#page030">30</a>; mentioned, <a href= +"#page167">167</a>.<br> +Palmer, Jonathan, overseer, contract of, <a href= +"#page185">185</a>.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page331" id="page331"></a>[pg +331]</span> +<p>Parkinson, James: description of American live stock, <a href= +"#page054">54-58</a>; considers<br> + renting one of Washington's farms, +<a href="#page127">127</a>; on Washington's tone toward<br> + his slaves, <a href= +"#page202">202</a>; his account of Mount Vernon and +Washington's<br> + farming operations, <a href= +"#page270">270-280</a>.<br> +Patterson, John, paid for carpenter work, <a href= +"#page153">153</a>.<br> +Peaches, Washington raises, <a href="#page149">149</a>.<br> +Pearce, William: letters of Washington to, <a href= +"#page086">86</a>; describes poor condition<br> + of the sheep, <a href= +"#page137">137</a>; letter to about Bishop, <a href= +"#page171">171</a>; manages Mount<br> + Vernon, <a href="#page181">181</a>; +overseers described to, <a href="#page183">183</a>; letter from +about the<br> + dead miller's family, <a href= +"#page187">187</a>; direction to about Cyrus, <a href= +"#page209">209</a>.<br> +Perkins' Tavern, Washington stays over Sunday at, <a href= +"#page116">116</a>.<br> +Peters, Richard: quoted regarding wolves, <a href= +"#page056">56</a>; sends plan of drill to<br> + Washington, <a href= +"#page107">107</a>.<br> +Philadelphia Society for the Promotion of Agriculture, founded, +<a href="#page091">91</a>.<br> +Phillipse, Mary, Washington's alleged infatuation with, <a href= +"#page170">170</a>.<br> +Piney Branch, turned into Dogue Run, <a href="#page097">97</a>.<br> +Pitt, William, a contributor to the <i>Annals of +Agriculture</i>,<a href="#page074">74</a>.<br> +Plow: Washington invents one, <a href="#page094">94</a>; buys a +Rotheran, <a href="#page099">99</a>.<br> +Poelnitz, Baron, Washington inspects threshing machine belonging +to, <a href="#page126">126</a>.<br> +Pohick Church, Washington a vestryman of, <a href= +"#page100">100</a>.<br> +Poland oats, sown in experimental plot, <a href= +"#page112">112</a>.<br> +Pond, Rev., "lame discourses" of, <a href="#page116">116</a>.<br> +Poole, William, letter of regarding want of water in mill stream, +<a href="#page097">97</a>.<br> +Posey, Captain John: fox hunting with Washington, <a href= +"#page256">256</a>; Washington's<br> + relations with, <a href= +"#page294">294</a>; bankrupt and in jail, <a href= +"#page295">295</a>, <a href="#page296">296</a>.<br> +Posey, Milly: member of dancing class, <a href="#page248">248</a>; +stays at Mount Vernon, <a href="#page295">295</a>.<br> +Posey, St. Lawrence, Washington helps to educate, <a href= +"#page295">295</a>.<br> +Posey plantation, bought by Washington, <a href= +"#page017">17</a>.<br> +Potatoes: method of growing under straw, <a href= +"#page112">112</a>; quantity raised in 1788,<br> + <a href="#page113">113</a>.<br> +<br> +Randolph, Edmund, slaves of in Pennsylvania refuse to return to<br> + Virginia, <a href= +"#page216">216</a>.<br> +Redemptioners, a class of indentured servants, <a href= +"#page166">166</a>.<br> +Richey, Matthew, Washington sells part of his western lands to, +<a href="#page032">32</a>.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page332" id="page332"></a>[pg +332]</span> +<p>River Farm: described, <a href="#page061">61</a>, <a href= +"#page062">62</a>; financial return from in 1798, <a href= +"#page287">287</a>.<br> +Robert Gary & Company: English agents of Washington, <a href= +"#page046">46</a>, <a href="#page047">47</a>; Washington<br> + falls in debt to, <a href= +"#page048">48</a>.<br> +Roberts, William M., amusing letter of, <a href= +"#page188">188</a>.<br> +Roosevelt, Theodore, transfers Washington papers to Library of<br> + Congress, <a href= +"#page085">85</a>.<br> +Ross, Doctor, Washington asks him to buy him some white servants, +<a href="#page167">167</a>.<br> +<a name="Rotation_of_crops"></a>Rotation of crops: how practised in +America, <a href="#page052">52</a>; Washington's elaborate<br> + plans for, <a href="#page120">120</a> +et seq.<br> +"Royal Gift," a jackass, his history, <a href= +"#page138">138-141</a>.<br> +"Rules of Civility," quoted, <a href="#page202">202</a>.<br> +Rumney, Dr. William, physician to Mount Vernon, <a href= +"#page195">195</a>.<br> +Ryan, Thomas, indentured servant, bought, <a href= +"#page167">167</a>.<br> +<br> +"Samson," a stallion, <a href="#page131">131</a>.<br> +Seed: Washington anxious to have the best, <a href= +"#page110">110</a>; counts number of grains<br> + in a pound of several varieties, +<a href="#page111">111</a>; obtains some from England,<br> + <a href="#page116">116</a>, <a href= +"#page117">117</a>.<br> +Serpentine drive, laid out by Washington, <a href= +"#page154">154</a>.<br> +Shag, Will, a runaway, <a href="#page203">203</a>.<br> +Shaw, William, tutor to the Custis children, <a href= +"#page175">175</a>.<br> +Sheep: raising of not much attempted, <a href="#page055">55</a>; +breeds of, <a href="#page055">55</a>; much troubled<br> + by wolves and dogs, <a href= +"#page055">55</a>, <a href="#page056">56</a>; Washington's, +<a href="#page135">135</a> et seq.; number lost<br> + in twenty months, <a href= +"#page142">142</a>; he suspects an overseer of stealing lambs,<br> + <a href="#page206">206</a>; +Parkinson's opinion of, <a href="#page278">278</a>, <a href= +"#page279">279</a>.<br> +Siberian wheat, experiment with, <a href="#page105">105</a>.<br> +Simpson, Gilbert, one of Washington's western agents, <a href= +"#page023">23</a>, <a href="#page024">24</a>, <a href= +"#page029">29</a>, <a href="#page030">30</a>,<br> + <a href="#page031">31</a>.<br> +Sinclair, Sir John: Washington corresponds with, <a href= +"#page083">83</a>, <a href="#page091">91</a>: helps obtain<br> + seeds for Washington, <a href= +"#page117">117</a>; Washington sends some American products<br> + to, <a href="#page118">118</a>.<br> +Sixteen-sided barn, mentioned, <a href="#page062">62</a>.<br> +<a name="Slaves"></a>Slaves: Washington inherits from his father, +<a href="#page008">8</a>; some sent to the west<br> + to Simpson's, <a href= +"#page023">23</a>, <a href="#page025">25</a>; steal fruit, <a href= +"#page156">156</a>; as solution of labor<br> + problem, <a href="#page165">165</a>; +detailed account of Washington's, <a href= +"#page191">191-218</a>.<br> +Smith, Colonel, adventure with Sally Bishop, <a href= +"#page171">171-174</a>.<br> +Smith, Thomas, Washington's attorney in case against the squatters, +<a href="#page032">32</a>.<br> +Spears, Thomas, indentured servant, runs away, <a href= +"#page168">168</a>.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page333" id="page333"></a>[pg +333]</span> +<p>Spotswood, Gen. Alexander,<br> + Washington's letter to apropos of +slavery, <a href="#page214">214</a>.<br> +Sprague, William B., is given some of the Washington papers, +<a href="#page085">85</a>.<br> +Squatters: on Washington's western land, <a href="#page022">22</a>, +<a href="#page023">23</a>; delegation from meet<br> + Washington at Simpson's, <a href= +"#page031">31</a>; dispossessed, <a href="#page032">32</a>.<br> +Stallions, list of those kept by Washington, <a href= +"#page131">131</a>.<br> +"Steady," a stallion, <a href="#page131">131</a>, <a href= +"#page284">284</a>.<br> +Stephens, Richard, his laziness, <a href="#page186">186</a>.<br> +Stewart, Robert, Washington's loan to, <a href= +"#page293">293</a>.<br> +Stuart, overseer, <a href="#page183">183</a>.<br> +Sullivan, Captain, interpreter of directions regarding "Royal +Gift,"<br> + <a href="#page138">138</a>.<br> +Swearingen, Captain van, accompanies Washington on mission to<br> + squatters, <a href= +"#page031">31</a>.<br> +Sycamores, enormous ones measured by Washington, <a href= +"#page022">22</a>, <a href="#page255">255</a>.<br> +<br> +Thackeray, William M., quoted regarding Washington, <a href= +"#page087">87</a>, <a href="#page088">88</a>.<br> +Thomson, Charles, notifies Washington of his election to the<br> + presidency, <a href= +"#page240">240</a>.<br> +Threshing machine: Washington experiments with, <a href= +"#page126">126</a>, <a href="#page127">127</a>; owns one at<br> + time of death, <a href= +"#page128">128</a>; Parkinson says General has two, <a href= +"#page275">275</a>; uses one<br> + of Booker's model, <a href= +"#page308">308</a>.<br> +Tobacco: place of in Virginia agriculture, <a href= +"#page042">42-52</a>; Washington's<br> + experience with, <a href= +"#page068">68</a>; discontinues growing of, <a href= +"#page069">69</a>.<br> +Tom, sent to West Indies, <a href="#page204">204</a>, <a href= +"#page216">216</a>.<br> +Toner, J.M.: his transcripts of Washington papers, <a href= +"#page079">79</a>, <a href="#page086">86</a>; opinion of<br> + regarding inspection of Washington's +flour in the West Indies, <a href="#page098">98</a>.<br> +"Traveler": a stallion, <a href="#page131">131</a>; stud fee of, +<a href="#page287">287</a>.<br> +Triplett, William, constructs outbuildings, <a href= +"#page153">153</a>.<br> +Tull, Jethro: his book on horse-hoeing abstracted by Washington, +<a href="#page071">71</a>,<br> + <a href="#page073">73</a>; some of +his ideas, <a href="#page075">75</a>; quoted by Washington, +<a href="#page092">92</a>.<br> +Turkeys: Washington raises, <a href="#page131">131</a>, <a href= +"#page147">147</a>; wild variety mentioned, <a href= +"#page253">253</a>.<br> +<br> +Union Farm: described, <a href="#page061">61</a>, <a href= +"#page062">62</a>; fishery on, <a href="#page065">65</a>; gully +upon, <a href="#page066">66</a>; new<br> + brick barn after Young's plans built +upon, <a href="#page117">117</a>; financial return<br> + from in 1798, <a href= +"#page287">287</a>.<br> +<br> +Virginia, agriculture and life in, <a href= +"#page037">37-59</a>.<br> +<i>Virginia Almanac,</i> weather record kept by Washington in, +<a href="#page080">80</a>.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page334" id="page334"></a>[pg +334]</span> +<p><i>Virginia Gazette,</i> Washington advertises escaped servants +in,<br> + <a href="#page167">167</a>.<br> +Voilett, Edward, agrees to avoid stills, <a href= +"#page169">169</a>.<br> +"Vulcan," raid of on kitchen, <a href="#page260">260</a>.<br> +<br> +Waggoner Jack, sold in West Indies, <a href="#page204">204</a>.<br> +Walker, Ann, daughter of John Alton, receives a bequest from +Washington,<br> + <a href="#page174">174</a>.<br> +Walpole Grant, Washington interested in, <a href= +"#page010">10</a>.<br> +Washington, Augustine, bequests of to George, <a href= +"#page008">8</a>.<br> +Washington, Augustine, Jr., daughter of describes Martha +Washington's<br> + activities, <a href= +"#page234">234</a>, <a href="#page235">235</a>.<br> +Washington, Bushrod: accompanies Washington on western trip, +<a href="#page028">28</a>;<br> + inherits Mansion House and papers, +<a href="#page084">84</a>; fails to safeguard papers<br> + properly, <a href="#page085">85</a>; +educated by his uncle, <a href="#page178">178</a>; asked to make +inquiries<br> + about Mrs. Forbes, <a href= +"#page189">189</a>; assisted by his uncle, <a href= +"#page299">299</a>.<br> +Washington, George A.: brings mahogany seeds from West Indies, +<a href="#page157">157</a>;<br> + widow of marries Tobias Lear, +<a href="#page177">177</a>; manages Mount Vernon, <a href= +"#page179">179</a>, <a href="#page180">180</a>;<br> + course of approved, <a href= +"#page184">184</a>; fox hunting, <a href="#page263">263</a>, +<a href="#page264">264</a>; ill health of,<br> + <a href="#page297">297</a>; aided by +his uncle, <a href="#page299">299</a>.<br> +Washington, Harriot, helped by her uncle, <a href= +"#page299">299</a>.<br> +Washington, John A., manages Mount Vernon, <a href= +"#page177">177</a>, <a href="#page178">178</a>.<br> +Washington, John A., inherits books and relics of Washington, +<a href="#page085">85</a>.<br> +Washington, John C, sells Washington papers to the nation, <a href= +"#page085">85</a>.<br> +Washington, Lawrence: inherits Mount Vernon, <a href= +"#page008">8</a>; influence of upon<br> + George, <a href="#page009">9</a>; +biography of, <a href="#page010">10</a>; mentioned, <a href= +"#page076">76</a>.<br> +Washington, Lund: directed to set out trees at end of Mansion +House,<br> + <a href="#page151">151</a>; manages +Mount Vernon during the Revolution, <a href="#page179">179</a>; +Washington's<br> + generous dealings with, <a href= +"#page187">187</a>; will inform owner of delinquencies of<br> + Roberts, <a href="#page189">189</a>; +opinion of Washington's charity, <a href="#page230">230</a>, +<a href="#page231">231</a>; is dead,<br> + <a href="#page233">233</a>; fox +hunting with Washington, <a href="#page256">256</a>, <a href= +"#page263">263</a>; instructions to<br> + concerning the poor, <a href= +"#page298">298</a>.<br> +<a name="Washington,_Martha"></a>Washington, Martha: marriage of +Washington to, <a href="#page012">12</a>, <a href= +"#page013">13</a>; family of by<br> + first husband, <a href= +"#page014">14</a>; her financial affairs, <a href= +"#page014">14</a>, <a href="#page015">15</a>; remembers when<br> + there was but one coach in Virginia, +<a href="#page049">49</a>; "broke out with the<br> + Meazles," <a href="#page079">79</a>; +tradition concerning her authority over the flower<br> + garden, <a href="#page160">160</a>; +Bishop threatens to tell of Colonel Smith's escapade,<br> + <a href="#page172">172</a>; gives a +quilt to her niece, <a href="#page177">177</a>; on the required +work of the</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page335" id="page335"></a>[pg +335]</span> +<p> sewing servants, <a href= +"#page199">199</a>; chapter about, <a href="#page219">219-238</a>; +keeps open house,<br> + <a href="#page239">239</a>; "Vulcan" +steals one of her hams, <a href="#page260">260</a>; Parkinson's +mention of,<br> + <a href="#page274">274</a>, <a href= +"#page279">279</a>, <a href="#page280">280</a>; her husband's care +of her grandchildren, <a href="#page298">298</a>;<br> + drinks a glass of wine, <a href= +"#page300">300</a>.<br> +Washington, Mary: death of, 33; son visits, <a href= +"#page112">112</a>; son sends money to,<br> + <a href="#page114">114</a>, <a href= +"#page298">298</a>.<br> +Washington, Samuel, financial assistance received by from +General<br> + Washington, <a href= +"#page299">299</a>.<br> +Washington, William: has charge of "Royal Gift" in South Carolina, +<a href="#page139">139</a>,<br> + <a href="#page140">140</a>; visits +Mount Vernon, <a href="#page314">314</a>.<br> +Washington, William A., George Washington buys corn from, <a href= +"#page069">69</a>, <a href="#page070">70</a>.<br> +Watson, Elkanah, anecdote of visit to Mount Vernon, <a href= +"#page244">244</a>.<br> +Weather record, kept by Washington, <a href="#page077">77</a>, +<a href="#page080">80</a>.<br> +Webster, Noah: says toast at Mount Vernon was "Success to the +mud,"<br> + <a href="#page103">103</a>; explains +how fertility can be obtained from the air, <a href= +"#page118">118</a>,<br> + <a href="#page119">119</a>; visit of +mentioned, <a href="#page175">175</a>, <a href= +"#page240">240</a>.<br> +Webster, William, indentured servant, runs away, <a href= +"#page169">168</a>.<br> +Western Lands, history of Washington's, <a href= +"#page018">18-36</a>.<br> +Wheat: how reaped and threshed, <a href="#page051">51</a>; +Washington turns to cultivation of,<br> + <a href="#page069">69</a>; Washington +rolls in spring, <a href="#page095">95</a>; his sales of before +the<br> + Revolution, <a href= +"#page096">96</a>, <a href="#page097">97</a>; grinds into flour, +<a href="#page097">97</a>; excellent quality of<br> + Washington's wheat before the +Revolution, <a href="#page099">99</a>; experiments with<br> + Cape of Good Hope and Siberian, +<a href="#page105">105</a>; opinion as to proper time for<br> + sowing, <a href="#page106">106</a>; +acreage in 1787, <a href="#page113">113</a>.<br> +White, Alexander, pays General Lee's debt to Washington, <a href= +"#page082">82</a>.<br> +White Chariot, history of, <a href="#page303">303</a>, <a href= +"#page304">304</a>.<br> +Whiting, Anthony: writes concerning worn-out horses, <a href= +"#page133">133</a>, <a href="#page134">134</a>;<br> + instructed to cull out the unthrifty +sheep, <a href="#page136">136</a>, <a href="#page137">137</a>; +manager of<br> + Mount Vernon, <a href= +"#page180">180</a>.<br> +"Wilderness": Washington sets out, <a href="#page154">154</a>; many +trees dead in, <a href="#page156">156</a>.<br> +Wine coasters, invented by Washington, <a href= +"#page301">301</a>.<br> +Witherspoon, John, Washington describes his western lands to, +<a href="#page025">25</a>.<br> +"Woodlawn," home of Nelly Custis, <a href="#page063">63</a>, +<a href="#page227">227</a>.<br> +<br> +Young, Arthur: letters of Washington to about his interest in +farming,<br> + <a href="#page001">1</a>, <a href= +"#page002">2</a>; astonished that wolves and dogs hinder sheep +raising in<br> + America, <a href="#page055">55</a>; +Washington explains differences between American and<br> + European agriculture to, <a href= +"#page058">58</a>; describes his estate to, <a href= +"#page060">60</a> et seq.,<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page336" id="page336"></a>[pg +336]</span> <a href= +"#page127">127</a>; his <i>Annals of Agriculture</i> used by +Washington, <a href="#page071">71</a>, <a href= +"#page074">74</a>;<br> + Washington's correspondence with, +<a href="#page083">83</a>, <a href="#page085">85</a>, <a href= +"#page091">91</a>; sends inquiries<br> + regarding American agriculture, +<a href="#page084">84</a>; obtains seeds for Washington,<br> + <a href="#page116">116</a>, <a href= +"#page117">117</a>; sends plan for barn, <a href= +"#page117">117</a>; Washington sends agricultural<br> + information to, <a href= +"#page118">118</a>; Washington inquires of regarding a +threshing<br> + machine, <a href="#page126">126</a>; +influence of upon Washington, <a href="#page128">128</a>; letter +of<br> + Washington to about his sheep, +<a href="#page136">136</a>; about his mules, <a href= +"#page141">141</a>;<br> + mentioned by Parkinson, <a href= +"#page277">277</a>.</p> +<br> +<hr class="full" noshade> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GEORGE WASHINGTON: FARMER***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 11858-h.txt or 11858-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/8/5/11858">https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/8/5/11858</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution.</p> + + + +<pre class="gut"> +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +<a href="https://gutenberg.org/license">https://gutenberg.org/license)</a>. + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS,' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook's +eBook number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII, +compressed (zipped), HTML and others. + +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks replace the old file and take over +the old filename and etext number. The replaced older file is renamed. +VERSIONS based on separate sources are treated as new eBooks receiving +new filenames and etext numbers. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + +<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">https://www.gutenberg.org</a> + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + +EBooks posted prior to November 2003, with eBook numbers BELOW #10000, +are filed in directories based on their release date. If you want to +download any of these eBooks directly, rather than using the regular +search system you may utilize the following addresses and just +download by the etext year. + +<a href="http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext06">http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext06</a> + + (Or /etext 05, 04, 03, 02, 01, 00, 99, + 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90) + +EBooks posted since November 2003, with etext numbers OVER #10000, are +filed in a different way. The year of a release date is no longer part +of the directory path. The path is based on the etext number (which is +identical to the filename). The path to the file is made up of single +digits corresponding to all but the last digit in the filename. For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: +https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: +<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL">https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL</a> + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** +</pre> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/11858-h/Images/150.png b/11858-h/Images/150.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..dd51468 --- /dev/null +++ b/11858-h/Images/150.png diff --git a/11858-h/Images/Illus0386.jpg b/11858-h/Images/Illus0386.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f86f557 --- /dev/null +++ b/11858-h/Images/Illus0386.jpg diff --git a/11858-h/Images/Illus0388.jpg b/11858-h/Images/Illus0388.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..edf0f38 --- /dev/null +++ b/11858-h/Images/Illus0388.jpg diff --git a/11858-h/Images/Illus0389.jpg b/11858-h/Images/Illus0389.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5fb5f46 --- /dev/null +++ b/11858-h/Images/Illus0389.jpg diff --git a/11858-h/Images/Illus0390.jpg b/11858-h/Images/Illus0390.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6497e3d --- /dev/null +++ b/11858-h/Images/Illus0390.jpg diff --git a/11858-h/Images/Illus0391.jpg b/11858-h/Images/Illus0391.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c4f7848 --- /dev/null +++ b/11858-h/Images/Illus0391.jpg diff --git a/11858-h/Images/Illus0392.jpg b/11858-h/Images/Illus0392.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f5cbf88 --- /dev/null +++ b/11858-h/Images/Illus0392.jpg diff --git a/11858-h/Images/Illus0393.jpg b/11858-h/Images/Illus0393.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..9bf7817 --- /dev/null +++ b/11858-h/Images/Illus0393.jpg diff --git a/11858-h/Images/Illus0394.jpg b/11858-h/Images/Illus0394.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2edf4d1 --- /dev/null +++ b/11858-h/Images/Illus0394.jpg diff --git a/11858-h/Images/Illus0396.jpg b/11858-h/Images/Illus0396.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..eb1e88d --- /dev/null +++ b/11858-h/Images/Illus0396.jpg diff --git a/11858-h/Images/Illus0397.jpg b/11858-h/Images/Illus0397.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0397aed --- /dev/null +++ b/11858-h/Images/Illus0397.jpg diff --git a/11858-h/Images/Illus0398.jpg b/11858-h/Images/Illus0398.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6cc934c --- /dev/null +++ b/11858-h/Images/Illus0398.jpg diff --git a/11858-h/Images/Illus0400.jpg b/11858-h/Images/Illus0400.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..066e8d5 --- /dev/null +++ b/11858-h/Images/Illus0400.jpg diff --git a/11858-h/Images/Illus0401.jpg b/11858-h/Images/Illus0401.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0a7e834 --- /dev/null +++ b/11858-h/Images/Illus0401.jpg diff --git a/11858-h/Images/Illus0402.jpg b/11858-h/Images/Illus0402.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..253bfe2 --- /dev/null +++ b/11858-h/Images/Illus0402.jpg diff --git a/11858-h/Images/Illus0404.jpg b/11858-h/Images/Illus0404.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..9fbd42f --- /dev/null +++ b/11858-h/Images/Illus0404.jpg diff --git a/11858-h/Images/Illus0406.jpg b/11858-h/Images/Illus0406.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b6596ef --- /dev/null +++ b/11858-h/Images/Illus0406.jpg diff --git a/11858-h/Images/Illus0407.jpg b/11858-h/Images/Illus0407.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6971bee --- /dev/null +++ b/11858-h/Images/Illus0407.jpg diff --git a/11858-h/Images/Illus0408.jpg b/11858-h/Images/Illus0408.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..03c821d --- /dev/null +++ b/11858-h/Images/Illus0408.jpg diff --git a/11858-h/Images/Illus0410.jpg b/11858-h/Images/Illus0410.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..fd5eae6 --- /dev/null +++ b/11858-h/Images/Illus0410.jpg diff --git a/11858-h/Images/Illus0412.jpg b/11858-h/Images/Illus0412.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ee661ef --- /dev/null +++ b/11858-h/Images/Illus0412.jpg diff --git a/11858-h/Images/Illus0413.jpg b/11858-h/Images/Illus0413.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..cb88087 --- /dev/null +++ b/11858-h/Images/Illus0413.jpg diff --git a/11858-h/Images/Illus0414.jpg b/11858-h/Images/Illus0414.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c547e7e --- /dev/null +++ b/11858-h/Images/Illus0414.jpg diff --git a/11858-h/Images/Illus0416.jpg b/11858-h/Images/Illus0416.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7452249 --- /dev/null +++ b/11858-h/Images/Illus0416.jpg diff --git a/11858-h/Images/Illus0418.jpg b/11858-h/Images/Illus0418.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2e15d90 --- /dev/null +++ b/11858-h/Images/Illus0418.jpg diff --git a/11858-h/Images/Illus0420.jpg b/11858-h/Images/Illus0420.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f66203a --- /dev/null +++ b/11858-h/Images/Illus0420.jpg diff --git a/11858-h/Images/Illus0422.jpg b/11858-h/Images/Illus0422.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3866a5b --- /dev/null +++ b/11858-h/Images/Illus0422.jpg diff --git a/11858-h/Images/Illus0424.jpg b/11858-h/Images/Illus0424.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8b4f738 --- /dev/null +++ b/11858-h/Images/Illus0424.jpg |
