From Farm House to the White House Part 33

"Sir, we, your most obedient and affectionate officers, beg leave to express our great concern at the disagreeable news we have received of your determination to resign the command of that corps in which we have so long served under you. The happiness we have enjoyed, and the honor we have acquired, together with the mutual regard which has always subsisted between you and your officers, have implanted so sensible an affection in the minds of us all, that we cannot be silent on this critical occasion.

"In our earliest infancy you took us under your tuition, trained us up in the practice of that discipline which alone can const.i.tute good troops, from the punctual observation of which you never suffered the least deviation.

"Your steady adherence to impartial justice, your quick discernment, and invariable regard to merit, wisely intended to inculcate these genuine sentiments of true honor and pa.s.sion for glory, from which the greatest military achievements have been derived, first heightened our natural emulation and our desire to excel. How much we improved by those regulations and your own example, with what alacrity we have hitherto discharged our duty, with what cheerfulness we have encountered the severest toil, especially while under your particular directions, we submit to yourself, and flatter ourselves that we have, in a great measure, answered your expectations.

"Judge, then, how sensibly we must be affected by the loss of such an excellent commander, such a sincere friend, and so affable a companion.... It gives us additional sorrow, when we reflect, to find our unhappy country will receive a loss no less irreparable than our own. Where will it meet a man so experienced in military affairs--one so renowned for patriotism, conduct, and courage? Who has so great a knowledge of the enemy we have to deal with?... Who, in short, so able to support the military character of Virginia?

"Your approved love to your king and country, and your uncommon perseverance in promoting the honor and true interest of the service, convince us that the most cogent reasons only could induce you to quit it; yet we, with the greatest deference, presume to entreat you to suspend those thoughts for another year, and to lead us on to a.s.sist in the glorious work of extirpating our enemies, towards which so considerable advances have been already made. In you we place the most implicit confidence. Your presence only will cause a steady firmness and vigor to actuate in every breast, despising the greatest dangers, and thinking light of toils and hards.h.i.+ps, while led on by the man we know and love."

This tribute to the character of an honored commander conveys to the reader a clear view of his ill.u.s.trious position in the army, confirming the favorable opinions. .h.i.therto expressed by the author.

XV.

HIS WIFE AND HOME.

Was.h.i.+ngton renounced military life to claim his bride. He was married at the "White House" on the 6th of January, 1759, a few weeks before his twenty-seventh birthday. Mrs. Custis was three months younger than the bridegroom.

At seventeen years of age, Miss Martha Dandridge (for such was her maiden name) was a gay and beautiful belle, having many suitors, upon none of whom she looked favorably, except Colonel Daniel Parke Custis, son of Hon. John Custis of Arlington. To him she was married in 1749.

Two sons and a daughter were the fruits of this marriage, the eldest of whom died a short time before his father. The biographer of Mr. Custis records an incident which furnishes a key to the character of this worthy and influential gentleman:

"A short time before his death, he sent for a tenant, to whom, in settling an account, he was due one s.h.i.+lling. The tenant begged that the colonel, who had ever been most kind to his tenantry, would not trouble himself at all about such a trifle, as he, the tenant, had forgotten it long ago. 'But I have not,' rejoined the just and conscientious landlord; and bidding his creditor take up the coin, which had been purposely placed on his pillow, exclaimed, 'Now my accounts are closed with this world!' and shortly after expired."

The loss of both husband and son was a terrible affliction to the youthful widow; yet her Christian hope sustained her wonderfully, so that she did not abandon herself to useless repinings. Her husband left her his large plantation, and from one to two hundred thousand dollars in money, the care of which, with her two surviving children, imposed new and unusual duties upon her. How well she met these responsibilities is told by her husband's biographer, thus:

"Mrs. Custis, as sole executrix, managed the extensive landed and pecuniary concerns of the estates with surprising ability, making loans on mortgage of moneys, and, through her stewards and agents, conducting the sales or exportations of the crops to the best possible advantage."

"Beautiful, gifted, with great fascination of manners, unusually accomplished, extremely wealthy, and youthful," as another has said, it is not surprising that, when the usual period of seclusion and mourning had pa.s.sed, her hand and heart were sought by other worthy men. It was not, however, until she providentially met Colonel Was.h.i.+ngton, in the manner we have described, that she was at all disposed to enter into another matrimonial alliance.

The wedding of Was.h.i.+ngton was a splendid affair conducted after the old English style that prevailed among wealthy planters. Military and civil officers with their wives, graced the occasion. Ladies appeared in the costliest brocades, laces, and jewels which the Old World could provide.

The bride was arrayed in the height of English fas.h.i.+on, her wealth of charms a fit accompaniment to the manly beauty of the bridegroom, who stood six feet and three inches in his shoes, "The tallest and handsomest man of the Old Dominion."

An old negro servant of Mrs. Custis expressed his views of his new master, as follows:

"Never seed the like, sir,--never the like of him, though I have seen many in my day,--so tall, so straight! And then, sir, he sat on a horse and rode with such an air! Ah, sir, he was like no one else! Many of the grandest gentlemen, in the gold lace, were at the wedding, but none looked like the man himself."

Was.h.i.+ngton resided at the "White House" three months before taking his seat in the House of Burgesses. That he had resolved to abandon a military career, and that his new relation afforded him unalloyed pleasure, is quite evident from what he wrote to a friend:

"I am now, I believe, fixed in this seat, with an agreeable partner for life; and I hope to find more happiness in retirement than I ever experienced in the wide and bustling world."

From a child, Mrs. Was.h.i.+ngton had enjoyed the luxuries and society that wealth multiplies. Her own property, now united to that of her husband, amounted to a large fortune. She could live in princely style, although she adopted that style only so far as her social position demanded.

There was an aristocratic element that ruled in Virginia at that time, embracing the wealthy, cultured, and ruling cla.s.ses, to which she belonged; and to this standard of living she was obliged to conform.

Her home was the resort of the wealthiest and most influential people of Virginia.

After three months had elapsed, Was.h.i.+ngton took his seat in the Legislature. That body arranged to honor the hero as soon as he appeared in the House, by a eulogistic address by the speaker. No sooner had he taken his seat, than the speaker, Mr. Robinson, immediately arose, and, commanding silence, addressed Was.h.i.+ngton in such language of praise as only true patriotism, united with personal friends.h.i.+p, could dictate; enlarging upon his heroic deeds for his country in its time of its greatest peril. As he closed, the whole a.s.sembly rose to their feet, and saluted the young colonel with a bow.

Had an earthquake suddenly shaken the Capitol to its centre, Was.h.i.+ngton would not have been more completely surprised. He was confounded. He rose to make his acknowledgments, but, alas! his tongue had forgotten its office. Thrice he essayed to speak, and thrice, in spite of every effort, his utterance failed him, save faintly to articulate, "Mr.

Speaker! Mr. Speaker!"

The speaker was equal to the occasion, and came to his relief in one of the best, quick-witted sallies on record.

"Colonel Was.h.i.+ngton," he exclaimed, "sit down! sit down! Your modesty alone is equal to your merit."

Soon after the adjournment of the Legislature, Was.h.i.+ngton removed his family to Mount Vernon, to devote himself to agricultural pursuits. For fifteen years he continued to abide there in domestic enjoyment. Every year of this fifteen he was elected to the House of Burgesses, where his counsels and great influence became indispensable. Still he was a farmer on a large scale, and devoted himself to the improvement of his estates, and the raising of wheat, corn, and tobacco. The landed estates of both himself and wife must have numbered more than twenty thousand acres, for his Mount Vernon estate alone amounted to over nine thousand acres. Then he owned large tracts of land outside, containing thousands of acres. Add to these extensive tracts the Custis estates, and we find him one of the largest landholders of North America.

A thousand persons were required to perform the labors of his domestic and agricultural establishments, including his negroes. The products of his plantations were s.h.i.+pped to his agent in England; and he came to enjoy such a reputation there as a successful and upright planter, that the usual custom-house inspection of all packages and goods marked "George Was.h.i.+ngton" was omitted. A record of his products before us for a single year shows that he raised ten thousand bushels of corn and seven thousand bushels of wheat. One hundred cows, with oxen, horses, and mules in that proportion, stocked his immense estate. His farming implements, carriages, and the nicer materials for clothing himself and family, were imported from England. With this exception, the linen and woollen cloths used were made by hand on his own plantation. Sixteen spinning-wheels were kept in operation.

Mrs. Was.h.i.+ngton took her position in this immense establishment as mistress, proving that her accomplishments and education under the influence of wealth did not make her vain and aristocratic. Unlike many planters' wives of that day, she did not consider that labor was degrading. She was provided with all the servants necessary, but she relinquished to no one, however competent, the oversight of her household affairs. "Carrying her keys at her side, and making frequent visits to the various apartments connected with the elaborate arrangements of the table and its 'aids and appliances,' the spotless purity of her attire always remained unsullied by her active partic.i.p.ation in the mysteries of each and all." Neatness, order, and industry characterized her in the house, as they did her husband on the farm.

That great care and responsibility must have devolved upon Mrs.

Was.h.i.+ngton, appears from Irving's description of a Virginia estate.

"A large Virginia estate in those days was a little empire," he says.

"The mansion-house was the seat of government, with its numerous dependencies, such as kitchens, smoke-house, work-shops, and stables.

In this mansion the planter moved supreme; his steward, or overseer, was his prime minister and executive officer; he had his legion of house negroes for domestic service, and his host of field negroes for the culture of tobacco, Indian corn, and other crops, and for other out-of-door labor. Their quarter formed a kind of hamlet apart, composed of various huts, with little gardens and poultry yards, all well stocked, and swarms of little negroes gambolling in the suns.h.i.+ne. Then there were large wooden edifices for curing tobacco, the staple and most profitable production, and mills for grinding wheat and Indian corn, of which large fields were cultivated for the supply of the family and the maintenance of the negroes."

At the same time that Mrs. Was.h.i.+ngton had to preside over the farm-house for the sake of the one thousand souls on the large estate, she was obliged to conduct her domestic affairs in a costly and fas.h.i.+onable way for the sake of her guests. Her wardrobe, furniture, and preparations for special occasions were necessarily elaborate and expensive, for her mansion was the resort of the most distinguished men and women of the country. Almost every day some civil or military gentleman of distinction was found at her table. Hence, much style and expense were required to maintain her hospitable board. A silver service was demanded by the times, the manners and customs of which were imported from England. All other appointments corresponded with this royal standard.

Irving says that Was.h.i.+ngton's "intimacy with the Fairfaxes and his intercourse with British officers of rank had their influence on his mode of living."

Mrs. Was.h.i.+ngton had her chariot and four, with driver and black postilion in livery, more, perhaps, to entertain and honor her distinguished guests than for personal enjoyment. Her husband usually appeared on horseback. He loved horses, especially fine ones, and most of those in his stables were imported. To each he gave a name, suggested by some quality that attracted his observant eye, as Ajax, Blueskin, Valiant, Magnolia (Arabian), etc. Several n.o.ble dogs for fox-hunting were found about his house and stable--Vulcan, Singer, Ringwood, Sweetlips, Forrester, Music, Rockwood and Truelove. With such preparations, an English baronet and his wife, Lord Fairfax, the wealthy fox-hunter, provincial governors and generals, or the ordinary farmer, could all be accommodated on the Mount Vernon estate.

An order sent to England in 1759 shows that Mrs. Was.h.i.+ngton's wardrobe received particular attention:

"A salmon-colored Tabby (velvet), with satin flowers for sack and coat.

"One cap, handkerchief and tucker and ruffles, to be made of Brussels lace or Point, proper to be worn with the above; to cost 20 (one hundred dollars).

"Two fine flowered lawn ap.r.o.ns.

"Two pairs women's white silk hose.

"Six pairs fine cotton do.

"Six pairs thread do., four threaded.

"One pair black and one pair white satin shoes of the smallest fives.

"Four pairs Calimanco do.

"One fas.h.i.+onable hat or bonnet.

"Six pairs women's best kid gloves.

"Six pairs do. mits.

"One doz. round silk lace.