From Farm House to the White House Part 1

From Farm House to the White House.

by William M. Thayer.

PREFACE.

Every American, old or young, should become familiar with the life of Was.h.i.+ngton; it will confirm their patriotism and strengthen their loyalty. Such a character will become an inspiration to them, eliciting n.o.bler aims, and impelling to n.o.bler deeds.

Was.h.i.+ngton himself wrote to his step-son, who was in college:

"You are now extending into that stage of life when good or bad habits are formed; when the mind will be turned to things useful and praiseworthy or to dissipation and vice. Fix on which ever it may, it will stick by you; for you know it has been said, and truly, 'The way the twig is bent the tree's inclined.' This, in a strong point of view, shows the propriety of letting your inexperience be directed by maturer advice, and in placing guard upon the avenues which lead to idleness and vice. The latter will approach like a thief, working upon your pa.s.sions, encouraged, perhaps, by bad examples, the propensity to which will increase in proportion to the practice of it and your yielding. Virtue and vice cannot be allied, nor can idleness and industry; of course if you resolve to adhere to the former of these extremes, an intimacy with those who incline to the latter of them would be extremely embarra.s.sing to you; it would be a stumbling block in your way, and act like a mill-stone hung to your neck; for it is the nature of idleness and vice to obtain as many votaries as they can....

"It is to close application and perseverance that men of letters and science are indebted for their knowledge and usefulness; and you are now at the period of life when these are to be acquired, or lost for ever. As you know how anxious your friends are to see you enter upon the grand theatre of life with the advantages of a finished education, a highly cultivated mind, and a proper sense of your duties to G.o.d and man, I shall only add one sentiment before I close this letter and that is, to pay due respect and obedience to your tutors, and affectionate reverence for the president of the college, whose character merits your highest regards. Let no bad example, for such is to be met in all seminaries, have an improper influence upon your conduct.

Let this be such, and let it be your pride to demean yourself in such a manner as to obtain the good will of your superiors and the love of your fellow students."

Better advice than this was never given to a youth; and to enforce it, we present in this volume the life and character of the great man who so lovingly tendered it. By employing the colloquial style, anecdotal ill.u.s.tration, and thrilling incident, the author hopes more successfully to accomplish his purpose.

In the preparation of this work the author has availed himself of the abundant material furnished by Was.h.i.+ngton's well-known biographers, Ramsey, Weems, Marshall, Sparks, Bancroft, Irving, Everett, Custis, etc., together with the anecdotes of his earlier and later life, found in eulogies, essays, and literary articles upon his life and character, with which the literature of our country abounds. Incident is allowed to tell the life story of the subject. The incidents of his boyhood and youth are particularly narrated, that the achievements of ripe manhood may more clearly appear to be the outcome of a life well begun. To such an example parents and guardians can point with confidence and hope.

Believing that biography should be written and read so as to a.s.sure a sharp a.n.a.lysis of character, thereby bringing the real qualities of the subject to the front, and believing, also, that the biographies of the n.o.blest men only should be written for the young, since "example is more powerful than precept," the author sends forth this humble volume, invoking for it the considerate indulgence of critics, and the blessing of Divine Providence.

W. M. T.

FRANKLIN, Ma.s.s.

LIFE OF WAs.h.i.+NGTON

I

ANCESTORS AND BIRTH.

More than two hundred years ago, when America was chiefly inhabited by Indians two brothers, in England, John and Lawrence Was.h.i.+ngton, resolved to remove hither. As they were not poor, doomed to eke out a miserable existence from a reluctant soil, it is supposed that _politics_ was the immediate cause of their removal. It was during the reign of Cromwell, and he made it hot for his enemies. In 1655 a general insurrection was attempted, and the vengeance of Cromwell descended upon the heads of all the partic.i.p.ants and not a few of their friends, making their land an uncomfortable place for a residence. There is no evidence that these brothers were engaged in the insurrection; but there is quite sufficient proof that the political situation was stormy, subjecting the Was.h.i.+ngton family to frequent molestation.

Edward Everett says: "There is no doubt that the politics of the family determined the two brothers, John and Lawrence, to emigrate to Virginia; that colony being the favorite resort of the Cavaliers, during the government of Cromwell, as New England was the retreat of the Puritans, in the period which preceded the Commonwealth."

We suspect that these brothers did not understand Indians as well as they did Cromwell, or they would not have been so willing to exchange the latter for the former. However, English colonists had settled in the wilderness of Virginia, and, possibly, some of their own acquaintances were already there. They knew somewhat of that particular portion of the new world, and what they knew was generally favorable. Being young men, too, unmarried, intelligent, adventurous and fearless, life in America appeared to them romantic rather than otherwise. Be this as it may, John and Lawrence Was.h.i.+ngton removed to this country in 1657, and settled in Westmoreland County, Virginia.

One fact indicates that they belonged to a n.o.ble ancestry. Lawrence was educated at Oxford University, and was a lawyer by profession, and therefore was a young man of rank and promise, while John was engaged in business and resided on a valuable estate at South Cove in Yorks.h.i.+re.

They were young men of brains and tact, fitted by natural endowments and education to lay the foundation of things in a new country. They descended from an ancestry of honor and influence from the twelfth century. That ancestry lived in warlike times. Some of them were renowned for deeds of heroism. All of them were known for loyalty, intelligence and solidity of character. Was.h.i.+ngton Irving paid a visit to the ancient "Was.h.i.+ngton's manor" at Sulgrave, several years before he wrote the "Life of George Was.h.i.+ngton," and he said,--

"It was in a rural neighborhood, where the farm-houses were quaint and antiquated. A part only of the manor-house remained, and was inhabited by a farmer. The Was.h.i.+ngton crest, in colored gla.s.s, was to be seen in a window of what is now the b.u.t.tery. A window, on which the whole family arms was emblazoned, had been removed to the residence of the actual proprietor of the manor. Another relic of the ancient manor of the Was.h.i.+ngtons was a rookery in a venerable grove hard by. The rooks, those staunch adherents to old family abodes, still hovered and cawed about their hereditary nests. In the pavement of the parish church we were shown a stone slab, bearing effigies, on plates of bra.s.s, of Lawrence Was.h.i.+ngton, gent., and Anne his wife, and their four sons and eleven daughters. The inscription, in black letters, was dated 1564."

A nephew of John and Lawrence Was.h.i.+ngton, Sir Henry Was.h.i.+ngton, distinguished himself in the civil wars, under Prince Rupert, at the storming of Bristol, where he broke through the wall with a handful of infantry after the a.s.sailants had been beaten off, and led the forces to victory. For his prowess he was promoted, and was in command at Worcester, when that place was stormed, at a time when the king fled from Oxford in disguise and the loyal cause was in peril. He received a letter from General Fairfax, whose victorious army was at Haddington, demanding the immediate surrender of Worcester. Colonel Was.h.i.+ngton replied:

"SIR,--It is acknowledged by your books, and by report of your own quarter, that the king is in some of your armies. That granted, it may be easy for you to procure his majesty's commands for the disposal of this garrison. Till then, I shall make good the trust reposed in me. As for conditions, if I shall be necessitated, I shall make the best I can. The worst I know, and fear not; if I had, the profession of a soldier had not been begun, nor so long continued by your Excellency's humble servant." HENRY WAs.h.i.+NGTON.

For three months he withstood the siege, experiencing hunger and hards.h.i.+p, until his Majesty ordered capitulation.

Irving says of this heroic stand, "Those who believe in hereditary virtues may see foreshadowed in the conduct of this Was.h.i.+ngton of Worcester, the magnanimous constancy of purpose, the disposition to 'hope against hope,' which bore our Was.h.i.+ngton triumphantly through the darkest days of our revolution."

It appears that the Was.h.i.+ngtons were first in war as well as in peace, centuries ago. There was wealth, fame and influence in the family, from generation to generation. Their prominence in the grand hunt of those times proves their high social and public position.

Irvington says, "Hunting came next to war in those days, as the occupation of the n.o.bility and gentry. The clergy engaged in it equally with the laity. The hunting establishment of the Bishop of Durham (who belonged to the Was.h.i.+ngton family) was on a princely scale. He had his forests, chases and parks, with their train of foresters, rangers and park-keepers. A grand hunt was a splendid pageant, in which all his barons and knights attended him with horse and hound."

Later, the famous English fox-hunting, in which n.o.blemen engaged with great pomp and expense, engaged the attention of the Was.h.i.+ngtons. We refer to the fact here, because it will explain certain things connected with the life and times of our George Was.h.i.+ngton in Virginia.

Everett says, "It may be mentioned as a somewhat striking fact, and one I believe not hitherto adverted to, that the families of Was.h.i.+ngton and Franklin--the former the great leader of the American Revolution, the latter not second to any of his patriotic a.s.sociates--were established for several generations in the same central county of Northamptons.h.i.+re, and within a few miles of each other; the Was.h.i.+ngtons at Brighton and Sulgrave, belonging to the landed gentry of the county, and in the great civil war supporting the royal side; the Franklins, at the village of Ecton, living on the produce of a farm of thirty acres, and the earnings of their trade as blacksmiths, and espousing,--some of them, at least, and the father and uncle of Benjamin Franklin among the number,--the principles of the non-conformists. Their respective emigrations, germs of great events, in history, took place,--that of John Was.h.i.+ngton, the great-grandfather of George, in 1657, to loyal Virginia,--that of Josiah Franklin, the father of Benjamin, about the year 1685, to the metropolis of Puritan New England."

This brief sketch of the Was.h.i.+ngton family in the mother country must suffice. Its history in our country began in 1657, on the West Bank of the Potomac, about fifty miles from its entrance into Chesapeake Bay, in Westmoreland County. The two brothers, John and Lawrence, purchased an estate of several thousand acres there, and erected thereon a comfortable dwelling. In process of time, John married Miss Anne Pope, and went to reside on Bridge's Creek. Two sons, Lawrence and John, and a daughter, were the fruits of his union. Lawrence, the oldest son, married Mildred Warner, daughter of Colonel Augustus Warner, by whom he had three children, John, Augustine and Mildred. The second son, Augustine, became the father of George Was.h.i.+ngton. He married Jane Butler, by whom he had four children--Butler, Lawrence, Augustine and Jane. His wife died; and two years thereafter, Mary Ball, a young lady of great beauty, became his second wife. They were married March 6, 1730. Their first child was George, who was born February 22, 1732. Five other children--Betty, Samuel, John Augustine, Charles and Mildred--were added to the family.

John Was.h.i.+ngton, grandfather of Augustine, distinguished himself in military affairs, and became lieutenant-colonel in the wars against the Indians. He was one of the largest planters in the colony, and became one of the most influential men. In time he became a magistrate and a member of the House of Burgesses. The name of the parish in which he lived--Was.h.i.+ngton--was derived from him.

Augustine Was.h.i.+ngton, father of George, lived on Pope's Creek when the latter was born, about one-half mile from the Potomac. The house in which George was born was pulled down or burned before the Revolution.

The site is now designated by a slab, bearing the inscription:

HERE, ON THE 11TH OF FEBRUARY (OLD STYLE), 1732, GEORGE WAs.h.i.+NGTON WAS BORN.

The slab was placed there by George Was.h.i.+ngton Parke Custis--his grandson--sixty-seven years ago. Thirty-six years after he performed the grateful act, he published the following account of it in the _Alexandria Gazette_:

"In June, 1815, I sailed on my own vessel, the 'Lady of the Lake,' a fine top-sail schooner of ninety tons, accompanied by two gentlemen, Messrs. Lewis and Grimes, bound to Pope's Creek, in the county of Westmoreland, carrying with us a slab of freestone, having the following inscription:

HERE, ON THE 11TH OF FEBRUARY, 1732, (OLD STYLE), GEORGE WAs.h.i.+NGTON WAS BORN.

"Our pilot approached the Westmoreland sh.o.r.e cautiously (as our vessel drew nearly eight feet of water), and he was but indifferently acquainted with so unfrequented a navigation.

"Desirous of making the ceremonial of depositing the stone as imposing as circ.u.mstances would permit, we enveloped it in the 'star-spangled banner' of our country, and it was borne to its resting place in the arms of the descendants of four revolutionary patriots and soldiers--SAMUEL LEWIS, son of George Lewis, a captain in Baylor's regiment of horse, and a nephew of Was.h.i.+ngton; WILLIAM GRIMES, the son of Benjamin Grimes, a gallant and distinguished officer of the Life-guard; the CAPTAIN of the vessel, the son of a brave soldier wounded in the battle of Guilford; and GEORGE W. P. CUSTIS, the son of John Parke Custis, aid-de-camp to the commander-in-chief before Cambridge and Yorktown.

"We gathered together the bricks of an ancient chimney that once formed the hearth around which Was.h.i.+ngton in his infancy had played, and constructed a rude kind of a pedestal, on which we reverently placed the FIRST STONE, commending it to the attention and respect of the American people in general, and to the citizens of Westmoreland in particular.

"Bidding adieu to those who had received us so kindly, we re-embarked and hoisted our colors, and being provided with a piece of canon and suitable ammunition, we fired a salute, awakening the echoes that had slept for ages around the hallowed spot; and while the smoke of our martial tribute to the birth-place of the _Pater Patriae_ still lingered on the bosom of the Potomac, we spread our sails to a favoring breeze, and sped joyously to our homes."

Mr. Paulding, in his life of Was.h.i.+ngton, describes the place as follows:

"A few scanty relics alone remain to mark the spot, which will ever be sacred in the eyes of posterity. A clump of old decayed fig trees, probably coeval with the mansion, yet exists; and a number of vines and shrubs and flowers still reproduce themselves every year, as if to mark its site, and flourish among the hallowed ruins. The spot is of the deepest interest, not only from its a.s.sociations, but its natural beauties. It commands a view of the Maryland sh.o.r.e of the Potomac, one of the most majestic of rivers and of its course for many miles towards the Chesapeake Bay. An aged gentlemen, still living in the neighborhood, remembers the house in which Was.h.i.+ngton was born. It was a low-pitched, single-storied frame building, with four rooms on the first floor, and an enormous chimney at each end on the outside. This was the style of the better sort of houses in those days, and they are still occasionally seen in the old settlements of Virginia."

Irving says that "the roof was steep, and sloped down into low, projecting eaves;" so that an artist's eye can readily see the house as it was.

Let the reader bear in mind that John Was.h.i.+ngton was the founder of the Was.h.i.+ngton family in America, and George Was.h.i.+ngton was his great-grandson.

George was baptized on the 5th of April following, when he was about six weeks old. Mrs. Mildred Gregory acted as G.o.dmother, and Mr. Beverly Whiting and Captain Christopher Brooks, G.o.dfathers.

When George was four or five years old, his father resolved to move to a plantation on the banks of the Rappahannock River, opposite Fredericksburg.