Fiery Cross, Volume 4, Number 14, Indianapolis, Marion County, 20 February 1925 — Page 4

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ACE FOUR

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Story of Martha Dandridge, the Virginia Girl Who Became the Wife of George Washington and the Mistress of Mt. Vernon.

v. r.i:i: 4 1 .! cnlllili '-t Wdloiv In T h i ! j :. , ' hu.bn r.d ! . ; h fthpr hn.l ri Martha a' twi,.v f.iunfl tipr.. r ' tin Vlrflrua. (iwn:np Wllllarnaburg p clty.-manv alava .1 vn v. I I fl f i . fl r, t; : . , r: II ri t fl I r r ri a T ! h ar;.I tlOd.000 hi nonaa and rnor'xavH Hi i,i rwo ch!l(1rn a hoy and a k ,i 1 Sha wi) In tha fiilat Mof.rr. nf ycuthfu! worranhno.l. pretty raihr than beautiful, amwhnt htlnw fnlflrll ha ht. w!'h a Invflv ftsr r drk hair and hare! eym. a w!nnlr) nla, and frank and engajjlnK manners. At that time aha had nevar iipn har deatlnad aerond huabard. and thalr flrat meetln wta the result of pureat arrldant ( n a pleaaant oty aariy In May. 17B1. r-0Ionel Otorg e Washington waa on his way , from Fort Duquesneto Willinms- ' bnrtr. for the purpotw of laving certain mll'.tnry matters before the Oorernor and founcll of Virginia Ma was In uniform, and accompanied only by a negro orderly. Whlla rroeslng the frry over the Pamunkey River he waa accoated hy an elderly gentleman named Chatmberlayne, who Invite htm to I ret a while at hla house in the neighborhood Washington at flrat declined, pleading urgent buaineas. but Anally consented to atop for dinner. On reaching tha house, he waa Introd-iced to a charming I fO'ing widow. Mrs. r'ustia. who waa faylne; there as a guest. While dinner waa In progress hla orderly held the horses at the horseblock outside, ready for immediate depart ore. But the orderly a-alted and waited, and Ma master did not raappear. Tha aun aank In the west, and still Washington llnJfraV Cnatlsj that ha 14 not tear

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'4 nHm i J, 'Whs. 1 "t'i -J n hi. f 'he i u ; : f r wjs itiat he al O-vV'Mi Sf . ;' in hr pTs.i.id(t .' j v . r !. II h: . and, go' -w- V i.!.ui:s'"'H :nu next t wi niiip. h . rpri'-,! (4!.:.:kl;. as pns re 11 ' .'f ii ' Ml.' i.'ii a m i. r ' 'i u i s' lor ! i da.. No l,ii.- r An lucli-1!)K-ulii-ii.. I ii r. .1 a. ii 1 1 V "'" " n.s 1.1J1I i ss-s tia i been re- : ;.iik:. a it woui.l appear, l" i-p lie Has ,onr .-,:,,) th-re-f"re ''egird,.,! a' an undesirable ''" At th t;me when l.e caiu--o.irt thtt w..low .-us-'s he waK a r "h Iia-. inherited the M"li,,t v"-non f'a:e. as well o. n. r jjj overly. f i om l'r"' l.awrenre. Mafha !unilr!iige ' his e ' s w a a I r i a' rim riini "catrh." un.i 1.. : I)' Washington, who h'ehlv .I'J.f.M-iD.ed the t:se;!:;ne,s of "''.. vh, not unreBaiirjl of the "he would hrlns him. . '"'"""""al'Sy "e was sinoerely in l"ve w.-h her. H, was a f strong pa.siona. and there l rea. ".n to helle.e that hla woolnS was brisk and rapid. Inaxmurh as he boufht tha enRagement rln before me end or -h9 fHtef,:! rr,nnth Mnv in whi-li 'he two flrat met. of evertne e.s. no Immediate in ... oi tne engagement waa made; for Dame! Parke fustla had been dead less than a year When, eight month, later they I were married. Martha waa aome-' what n-rvoua abo,.- comments' whifh she thought likely tD be i mue; ana she explained to a i rriena mat the reason for hastehth" unlon w"' ,ht her property afralr" w"re (fettlng mUed and """'f man to look after them. A ttroat Sorlely Front I hey were married at I he widow's house In Williamsburg. January 17 1769. old style according to the modern calendar, January 28 by the Hev. David Moasorn. rector of the neighboring parish church of R Peter's. The wedding, needless

to kv ora. .t..-j .. " " j uen xi o iook ner Wa' "'7 bY nrbody land her two children to Mount Vervi ZZ:i?ld ,h" a7ernr 'l-on. .wh.oh was thereafter their

, . .,B , tt coacn ana six. The Custl mansion in Williams-I "us was commonly called the "one Mouse, or sometimes the R,xChimney House Thls Is a rather odd fact. Inasmuch as Martha was the only President's wife who was destined never t0 occupy the White House at Washington. Of course, the latter waa not a white house until It waa painted white after Its partial destruction by the Brlfah In 1114. But It is not true that she waa neyer In the White Houae at Washington, for aha and her husband went through it when It waa

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53- yypry'oy- c1 nearlng completion, on a foTTf- of Inspection. Washington and his bride lived In the t'ustla mansion until the eloRe of the session of the Virginia Mowse of HurgeflBcs, to which he home John The children were named Parke CustLs and Martha Parke rll8tis. At fifteen years of age. Martha Parke Custls. nicknamed "Patsy." died of conaumption. Her brother John served as aide-de-camp to general Washington during the Revolution. He died in November, 1781. of "camp fever" (typhus), contracted at .rktown. John Parke Custls had married a lady of Lord Baltimore's family, and by her he had fo children, a aon and a daughter, who survived him. The boy waa George Wash-

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, . and a half square miles, and many Ington Parke Custls; the girl waa farms were embraced within its Eleanor (Nelly) Custls. Upon the limlts- I waj a baronial domain, Tleath of thf r father, General""1 beU)nglS to Its master were

Washington a. pttd them. ; Martha's Grandchildren There is a curiously general mis- ! apprehension In regard to the boy and girl whom Gene al Washington adopted. The und-Tstanding entertained by most people Is that they were Mrs. Washington's children by her first husband. But, as here made clear, they wore not; they were her randchildren. It Is worth mentioning . here, by way of parenthesis, that Nelly Custls married General Washington's secretary, a young man named Lewis, and lived to have grandchildren of her own. Her brother George inherited fror his father the estate at Arlington (across tha Potomao from tha city of Washington), and bad an only daughter,

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(WyWWTW.';. Mary, who became the wife of Robert E. Lee. the leader of the Confederacy. The Mount Vernon estate today covers only two hundred and thirtyi seven acres. In George Washington's time Its area was about twelve more lnan one nunarea ana "y slaves. lie aid not approve or slavery, however, and was often heard to say that he would give 'his people," as he called them, their freedom, were It not for the fact that tho "dower negroes," originally the property of his wife, haa become so matrimonially mixed with his own black chattels that much suffering must necessarily result from a general manumission. Tha mansion at Mount Vernon, over which Martha found herself called Mpon to preside, was a typical "great house" of the time, a very luxurious residence though it was not until after tha Revolution that Washing-ton added the library at tha aouth and and the "banquet hall" at tha north and. Apart from tha slaves Quarters

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there -were Beveral outlying huildlnga, In one of which, the "spinning house" (which st!U stands), sixteen negro women were kept continually at work, spinning and weaving materials for clothing. Discomforts Of Mount Vernon The estate was practically selfsupporting. Even the clothing worn by the master and mistress was made most of It, at ail events at Mount Vernon. The wool was grown by Washington's own sheep. Unlimited wood for fuel waa obtainable from the nearby forest. Deer, wild turkeys, and other game were plentiful; the river was full of fish and oysters. The high cost of living never bothered Martha. And yet. from our present-day point of view, life at Mount Vernon was attended by many discomforts. The luxurious mansion had not a single bathroom. There was no running water in the house; no plumbing of any kind. All the waier neeaea ior oatning or ouier purposes came from a well, and j was fetched in pails. There was, of course, no central heating. Indeed, there were not even any stoves. In all Virginia at that period there was only one stove a big one, for burning wood, in the fcfouse of Burgesses, which was regarded as curiosity. A pniiosopner with an inventive turn of mind In Philadelphia. Dr. Franklin, had devised a new sort of heater which he called a "baseburner," but most people thought it a crank idea. It Is mighty cold at Mount Vernon In the winter time; but the best Martha could do in frigid weather was to keep big fires of wood going In the principal rooms. Think how chilly the hallways must have been. Br-r-r-r! It makes one shiver to Imagine It. And the bedrooms in whi"h there were no fireplaces! There was a fireplace In the bedroom which Martha occupied with her husband, and before daybreak on winter mornings a slave woman would come In quietly and light a Are In It. Lighta And Cooking For Illumination In tha evenings Martha was obliged to depend upon whale-oil , lampe and oandlaa, tha

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latter molded from tallow furnished by the Mount Vernon sheep. When she went to bed. she took a lighted candle with her, and other folks In the house did likewise. The kitchen (as anybody who visits Mount Vernon today may see) was detached from the mansion, being connected with tha latter by a covered way. There wai no range. Martha, if she had seen one, would not have known what It was meant for, Inasmuch as apparatus of the kind had not then been Invented. The cooking waa done In a hugs open fireplace, wherein hung big iron pots, this culinary, equipment beings supplemented by a contrivance resembling a Dutch oven, which was set directly upon a bed of live embers. Notwithstanding a lack of modern culinary conveniences. Mrs. Washington had the reputation of being a capital cook, and her pudj dings and pies were famous tha country round. She did not disdain to superintend the nrenarnM nf dinner. At Mount Vernon only two daily meals were served. Dinner was at 3 P. M.. and. after the custom of that period, everything, including the dessert, was put on the table at once. Usually Martha would carve the principal roast I herself. It Is painful to be obliged to state that the best people in those days ate with their knives. Mrs. Washington had a set of forks with three tines (then deemed very luxurious table furniture), but they did not serve well for eating such things as peas. The mistress of Mount Vernon had at her disposal a chariot drawn by four horses, in which, going to and from Alexandria, or visiting neighboring estates, she must have made an Impressive appearance, with coachman and footman and a postilion riding ahead all three of them negro slaves dressed In the Washington livery of scarlet, white and gold. Martha Starts For Straw York Mrs. Washington waa not able to attend her. husband's Inauguration In Naw York. March . 1TI9. She was busy at Mount Varnon through April and tha drat half of May. putting tha affairs of tha household In

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order and shipping china, linen, slU verware, and other necessaries to Manhattan Island. On the seventeenth day of May she. started for New York In a coach and four, under escort of a troop of norse, taking with her the two grandchildren, Nelly and George Custls. Her entire Journey resembled a royal progress, every town and village through which she passed receiving her with firing of cannon and pealing of bells, while young girls scattered flowers in her path. The weather was balmy and beautiful. At Elizabeth she was received at the house of Governor Livingston; and next morning her husband, accompanied by a number of distinguished gentlemen, came to meet her. They arrived In time for breakfast, having left Manhattan Island at 6 A. M. After breakfast the party went' In carriages to Elizabeth Point, where they embarked in Washington's state barge. On reaching New Tork, which was at that time a metropolis of about 30,000 Inhabitants, they were saluted by tha firing of thirteen guns at the Battery, and cheering crowds filled the streets while they were driven to the house at No. 3 Cherry street which had been made ready for the President and his wife. On the second evening after her arrival Martha gave her first "drawing room" or levee. Mrs. Washington had Just passed her fifty-eighth birthday, and was Inclined to stoutness, yet retained not a little of her former comeliness. Three weeks after her arrival In New York, her husband waa taken very ill with a carbuncle on his thigh. He thought he was going to die; his sufferings were in tense, and he was obliged to undaf go a painful surgical operation. For several weeks the sidewalk la front of the house was spread with straw, and a chain was stretched across Cherry street. A Move To The Quaker City Congress having decided to ramove the capital to Philadelphia for a period of ten years, while tha city of Washington waa being prepared as a permanent seat of tha government, the President and hla wife transferred their residence ta the Quaker City, where they occupied a house on the south alda of Market street, near Sixth, which had been tenanted a few yeara earlier by Benedict Arnold. It waa a large double house of red brick, with a wall enclosing a garden shaded by lofty trees. In 1793 came a great epldemlo ofi yellow fever, which by September! wiped out more than three thousand lives In Philadelphia. - Tha President, as he wrote in a letter at the time, found himself and hla household "practically blockaded": and. fearing for the safety of his family, he took them to Mount Ver non, making the trip In four days, which was considered remarkable ' speed. By November the fever had nearly died out, and they were abla safely to return to Philadelphia. Death Of Her Husband On the ninth day of March, 179T, Washington, having surrendered tha cares of state. Journeyed with hl family back to Mount Vernon, thlf -time to stay. Martha was delighted to be at home again; but, alas! she had less than three years of happiness before her. Her husbind suffered an attack of acute laryngltla, being taken 111 December 18, 17'ty: and died within twenty-four hours,' being then In his sixty-eighth year. Martha took the shock with great fortitude, but declared that aha would not long survive her hueband. After his death, she retired! to a small chamber on tha third floor of the mansion at Mount Var non, the single small window Of

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ed a view of the hero's tomb. . ":.;; ' X She survived htm two and a hall ' yeara. Long afterwards her 'r' ' , mains and those of the General'- '-

were transferred from the old torab . to a naw one. where today, In two white marble farcophagl. they Hey side hy aide. .v,v.:-: '';.

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