General Samuel Hopkins Chapter
of
Henderson County, Kentucky

GEORGE WASHINGTON BICENTENNIAL INFOLINE
September 1999 
 

 MOUNT VERNON: A SAVED HERITAGE

          George Washington once described Mount Vernon in these words, "No estate in United America is more pleasantly situated than this.  It lies in a high, dry, and healthy country 300 miles by water from the sea,...on one of the finest rivers in the world.  It is situated on a latitude between the extremes of heat and cold, and is the same distance by land and water, with good roads and the best navigation [to and] from the Federal City, Alexandria, and George town" [The Mt Vernon Ladies Society, p 15].  Washington's love for Mt Vernon is unmistakable!  As he prepared to leave the presidency, to "sit once more under his own vine and fig tree", Washington anticipated, "more real enjoyment than in all the business with which I have been occupied for upwards of forty years" [Flexner, p 360].  Mount Vernon, Washington's home, how did it come into Washington's hands?  Moreover, how is it possible that all of us are still able to visit this home two hundred years after Washington's death?

          George Washington's great grandfather John Washington emigrated to America sometime before 1660 and was a pioneer settler of the "Northern Neck" area of Virginia.  The northern Neck is the area between the Potomac and the Rappahannock Rivers.  In 1674, he was granted land along the upper Potomac by Lord Culpeper, proprietor of the Northern Neck by dispensation of King Charles II of England.  In 1690, this land was passed on to Lawrence Washington, the son of John.  Upon Lawrence's death, the property was divided between Lawrence's children, Augustine (George's father) and Mildred.  Augustine later purchased Mildred's share.

          In 1735, when George was three years old, Augustine moved his family to the "Hunting Creek Plantation", as it was then called.  They did not stay there long, moving in 1739 to Ferry Farm on the Rappahannock River near Fredericksburg, Virginia.  In 1740, Augustine deeded the Little Hunting Creek plantation to his son Lawrence, who had just come of age.  In 1743, Lawrence and his bride moved to the estate and renamed it "Mount Vernon", in honor of Admiral Vernon, Lawrence's British  commander during his service in the Caribbean.  That same year, George and Lawrence's father,  Augustine, died; thereafter, George spent a lot of his time with his older brother at Mount Vernon.  In 1752, Lawrence died and in 1754, George bought the property from Lawrence's widow.

          Due to his military service --first as an aide to General Braddock, and subsequently as Commander in Chief of the Virginia Militia, George Washington was unable to care for Mt Vernon, himself, until late in 1758.  By January, 1759, he had married Martha Dandridge Custis and was making plans to remodel Mt Vernon to accommodate his bride and her two young children.  An additional story was added to the original one and one-half storied home and it was extensively redecorated.  In 1773, Washington began a further remodeling effort, adding on additions to each end of the "Great House".  This work went slow due to Washington's many absences from home as he served in the First and Second Continental Congresses and the Revolutionary War.  His cousin Lund Washington managed the plantation in George's absence and upon one occasion very nearly lost Mt Vernon to the hands of the British.  A British man-of-war sailed up the Potomac to Mt Vernon and demanded provisions.  Lund, fearing retaliation against the property for noncompliance with their orders, met their demands and even served them some refreshments.  Far from being pleased that his estate and mansion had remained unscathed, Washington wrote Lund, "I am very sorry to hear of your loss; I am sorry to hear of my own; but that which gives me the most concern, is, that you should go on board the enemy's vessel , and furnish them with refreshments.  It would have been a less painful circumstance to me, to have heard that in consequence of your noncompliance with their request, they had burnt my house and laid the plantation in ruins" [The Mt Vernon Ladies Association, pp 37-38].

          In 1784, Washington surrendered his military commission and looked forward to returning to his beloved Mt Vernon.  The peace and privacy that he greatly desired were not to be as his country pressed him to serve as President of the Constitutional Convention and then upon its ratification, to lead our nation as its first President.  Washington truly had very little time at Mt Vernon upon his return there in 1797.  The home and the plantation had fallen into disrepair and much of Washington's time was spent overseeing restoration work.  The immensity of the repair work caused Washington to note, "I have scarcely a room to put a friend into or set in myself without the music of hammers or the odiferous smell of paint" [Flexner, p 360].  On December 14, 1799, Washington died in his own bed at Mt Vernon.  He was laid to rest on the grounds of the plantation.

          After Martha's death in 1801, the mansion and 4000 acres surrounding it were bequeathed to Washington's nephew, Bushrod Washington.  Two thousand acres north of Little Hunting Creek were willed to two grand nephews, and 2000 on either side of Dogue Creek were given to George's nephew Lawrence Lewis and his wife, Eleanor Custis Lewis, Martha's granddaughter.

          Upon Bushrod Washington's death in 1829, Mt Vernon was willed to Bushrod's nephew, John Augustine Washington.  In 1850, Mrs John Augustine Washington willed the mansion to her son, John Augustine Washington Jr.

         In George Washington's lifetime, many visitors came to Mt Vernon; visitors continued to be attracted to this site long after his death.  These visitors did not become overwhelming until the mid 1850's.  By this time the population of the towns surrounding Mt Vernon had greatly increased, the roads leading to Mt Vernon were vastly improved and the invention of the steamboat made long-distance travel practical.  John Augustine Washington Jr. could not cope with the hordes of visitors He tried to get the United States government or the Commonwealth of Virginia to acquire and preserve this national treasure.  But his pleas were in vain and the future of Mt Vernon, home of our first President, looked bleak.

          At this time, as has happened so many times in our nation's history, foresighted women came to the rescue!  Under the leadership of Miss Ann Pamela Cunningham of South Carolina, The Mt Vernon Ladies Association was organized.  A nation-wide fund raising campaign was launched and by 1858, the Association was able to acquire a two-hundred acre tract that included the mansion, the wharf, and all subsidiary buildings.  Since that time, the Association has continued to purchase property surrounding the estate and has been able to locate and return many of the original furnishings and contents to the mansion.  Moreover, the Association continues to foster preservation, research and educational efforts.  Our National DAR George Washington Bicentennial Tribute has been conducted in conjunction with The Mount Vernon Ladies Association.

          Today, visitors can visit the grounds of Mount Vernon, arriving there by car or boat.  One can tour the house and all the dependencies, learning about the workings of an 18th century plantation.  One can approach with reverence the bedroom where George Washington drew his last breath on December 14, 1799.  This year, visitors can join in a tribute to George Washington by donning black armbands and joining in the reenactment of the original burial of the "Father of our Country".  Visitors are invited to follow the caisson in a mock funeral procession from the mansion to the family crypt where George was originally interred and then to continue on to his tomb for a wreath-laying ceremony.  Thanks to the vision and continuing hard work of The Mt Vernon Ladies Association, you and I and the generations that come after us can continue to pay homage to this great man at his beloved Mt Vernon.

James Thomas Flexner. George Washington, 4-vols. (Boston: Little, Brown, 1965-72; 1-vol abridgement, 1974).

The Mt Vernon Ladies Association of the Union. Mount Vernon:  An Illustrated Handbook, (United States:Judd & Detweiler, 1972).

Karen Lingo. George Washington:  Legacy of a Leader, Southern Living 34 (2):42-47, February 1999.