8 August 2014

 We visited George Washington's Mount Vernon home today.  This home was originally built by George's father. It was a smaller structure made of wood. When his father died, the house was initially inherited by George's brother, and when he died, George inherited the property.    Washington  added the  wings on the north and south side.  He and Martha lived in the house for 40 years. 

 As you may know, he married Martha Custis.  Martha had 2 children from her marriage to Daniel Parke Custis. After Custis passed away, she married George Washington who helped raised her children as his own.

 This is a wax replica of Washington and his horse, Blueskin, that he rode throughout the war. A significant fact about him was that before the Revolutionary War, Washington was integrally tied to the British. His father was a general in the Kings service and was given a land grant which is now called Mount Vernon. George himself served as a colonel in the British Army and cut his teeth in battle during the Indian wars which the British were fighting the Huron Indians. During one of the battles George was rebuffed by the commanding general of the unit he was in when he tried to warn the general that he might send out scouts to his right and left flanks. The general looked at George as a colonial upstart and even though he was a colonel he didn't think his counsel was worthy. The column was attacked by the right and left flanks and the general was killed and George took command and won the battle and from that day forward he was looked upon as a leader. But as the next picture depicts, Washington's heart was with the colonists and when they declared their independence, he sided with the colonies.

 Here is a picture the mansion looking from the entrance of what is called the bowling green. This is how the visitors would see the mansion as they approached by land. It is called a bowling green as it was used as a game area for anyone desiring to play games on it. If you will notice the two chimney's coming out of the roof. Those were at one time on the exterior of both ends of the house. Washington added wings on each side of the mansion.

 There are several outbuildings on the property and the one here visible on the left was the servants guest house. By that I mean when people came to visit they normally brought slaves or servants with them and they stayed in this house while the guests stayed at the main house.  We were not allowed to take pictures inside the house so will list a couple of things that stood out.  The Washington's liked to entertain so when they added the left side of the mansion, they built a very formal and elegant room.  The completion of this room was interrupted by the Revolutionary war and took 8 years before it was completed.  They used this room for entertaining, dances and even a wedding.  During the holidays, they brought in a dining table that could seat a large number of people.  The addition on the right side of the house included a library/office and a private stairway to the 2nd floor and the master bedroom, that had a walk in closet and sitting area.  George Washington died in this room on December 14, 1799 from what we now know as "strep throat".  His throat was swollen and couldn't breathe.  In the day, without antibiotics like we have today, the doctors would do "bleed outs" and give home made remedies. 

 Here is the porch out the back of the mansion that overlooks the Potomac river. On the other side of the river is Maryland whereas the mansion is located in Virginia. The view to the other side is kept natural with no building allowed so as to depict what Washington would have seen from this vantage point. The view is extraordinarily awesome (except there were power fishing boats on the river which I am sure Washington did not see. LOL)

 One of the other buildings on the estate was the carriage house and stables. This cart is of the type that Washington used. This is a replica of the cart.  He and Martha also had a beautiful enclosed carriage that they used to travel in.

 This is Washington's grave site and final resting place.  A crypt had been built in the US Capital Building and a request made to the Washington family to move his body to the Capital building.  The family responded that Washington had stated in his will that he was to be buried at Mount Vernon. In fact, he had included instructions and a basic design for the new tomb for him and other family members including his wife, Martha.  He had been buried elsewhere on the estate until the enclosure was completed and then moved to this final resting place.  Marion went to the grave site alone as it was a long walk down a hill with an uphill return and the rest of us were not ready to take it on.

 As you see here, we were pretty washed up and would never have made it back up that dang hill. But Marion was the eveready bunny that day.

 What really surprised me was how much the mansion fell into disrepair in the mid 1800's. The piazza was nearing collapse and was propped up by old ships' masts. There was a ladies group that took charge and got the mansion on the registry of historical buildings and began to restore the mansion to it's current state. Thank goodness.

 I took this photo as George Washington was responsible for the military award of the Purple Heart. He made sure this was awarded to all wounded and KIA soldiers in the Revolutionary Army. It is still given today to all military members who are wounded or deceased by activities of war.

Mount Vernon is an incredible place.  I recommend everyone to see it and study all that he did.  George Washington was an incredible leader!  He turned down ultimate power twice - once when he turned in his military commission and once after his 2nd term as the first President when the people wanted him to stay as "king".  This was totally against the idea of the America that he and others fought so hard for and he walked away from it.  The world was watching and were amazed that he did this.  We need another George Washington to lead us today, who is willing to do what is good for the people, putting the people ahead of all decisions, and not let power go to their heads!