T IS 150 years since Col. George
Washington, a brilliant young offi
cer in the colonial array, led to the
altar Martha Custis, a young ma
tron whose fame tor beauty and
charm and wit had made her the
pride of Kent*and all the coun
try around about in his majesty's
prosperous colony of Virginia.
The events which led up to the
marriage of the father of his coun
try and the widow were not so
full of that dignity and severity
of action with which it has be
come the custom of the American
people to surround the first presi
dent. In fact there were features in them that
tended to show that Washington at 27 had much
of the dash and dare and romance of the time
in him.
Positive proof there is that upon the very first
occasion of his meeting with Mrs. Custis the
^young colonel was led from the path of duty, as
I
a bearer of messages from the field of war to the
capital, by the blandishments of the future mis
tress of Mt. Vernon.
Washington at this particular time, and prob
ably through the influence of, his fiancee, decided
to retire from the army and settle down on his
farm on the Potomac and incidentally enter poli
tics. Upon the force of this declaration he was
chosen a member of the colony's house of bur
gesses while he was yet in the field, for he was
retained there untii the end of 1758 and ihs wed
ding was accordingly greatly delayed.
There is little of the correspondence that
passed between Martha Custis and George Wash
ington in existence, for the very good reason that
it was all burned by the lady after the death of
her spouse, she holding that it was sacred be
tween them and should never he made public.
One letter is found, however, that may evince
something of the spirit of Washington in writing
to his future wife, it being somewhat of a model
in its way, yet less loquacious than might have
been expected. He wrote her on July 2, after
they had become engaged, as follow's:
“We have begun our march for Ohio. A courier
is starting for Williamsburg and 1 embrace the
opportunity to send a few words to one whose
life is now inseparable from mine. Since that
happy hour when we made our pledges to each
other my thoughts have been constantly going to
you as another self. That an all-powerful Provi
dence may keep ns both in safety is the prayer
of your ever affectionate and faithful friend."
Contrasting quite forcefully with this letter is
one written two months later from the field also,
but to Mrs. George William Fairfax, the wife of
a family friend, but despite this the object of
probably the only infatuation that Washington
ever had. He says in part:
“ 'Tis true I profess myself a votary of love.
I acknowledge that a lady is in the case and
further 1 confess lhat this lady is known to
you. Yes, madam, as well as she is to one who
is too sensible of her charms to deny the power,
whose influence he feels and must ever submit to.
1 feel the force of her amiable beauties in the
recollection of a thousand tender passages that I
could be wise to obliterate, till 1 am bid to revive
them.
“You have drawn me, dear madam, or rather I
have drawn myself, into an honest confession of
a simple fact. Misconstrue not my meaning,
doubt it not or expose it. The world has no busi
ness to know the object of my love, declared in
ibis manner to you, when i want you to conceal
it But adieu to this till happier times,
if l ever shall see lheru. The hours at present
are melancholy and dnli. 1 dare to believe you
are as happy as you say. 1 wish 1 was happy
also."
This letter was found in the effects of Mrs.
Fairfax, who died in Kngland at Ihe ripe old age
of 82. It is taken to reveal a sadness in the life
of the first president and an unrequited love—or
by some it is taken as an evidence that he was
something or a gay Uothario. who might say
many things to a fair lady and not mean them.
There was nothing of sadness about Col. Wash
ington when, at the holiday session of 1758, he
returned to Williamsport and preparations were
made for the wedding so long delayed. On Janu
ary 6, 1759, tb* day was clear and cold, when
the invited guests, in
cluding the governor,
the members of the
legislature, gaudily uni
formed officers of the
British army and all (
the distinguished peo- «
pie of the colony, as- 1
sembled at St. Peter’s l
church, near the home "
of the bride, and were
ushered in by Bishop,
the big negro body
guard, in a gorgeous
scarlet uniform.
Washington was clad ,
in all the finery that
was affected by the
young bloods of the
time. His suit was of
blue cloth. The coat
W/j6w//vcroM L I
ff££T/NG
mmcmr/s
showed a rich lining of
red silk and boasted many silver ornaments.
A white satin waistcoat, gold knee buckles and
powdered hair completed his costtime.
The bride wore a huge white satin petticoat
quilted and pleated beyond belief. Her heavily
corded white silk overdress was the richest
that the colony had ever known. Diamonds
blazed from her hands and braids of pearls
hung from her patrician neck.
Bridesmaids and groomsmen were corre
spondingly arrayed in the height of the latest
fashion that was brought over from the Eng
lish court by fine gentlemen and ladies, who
not infrequently were coming to America then,
and by colonial gentlemen who often accom
panied their precious cargoes of tobacco to the
mother country and bought with the proceeds
the richest raiment.
After the Rev. John Mossum had performed
the ceremony that united the pair the gay
cavalcade formed that was to wind its way
back to the “white house,” where the feasting
and merrymaking was to take place. The
newly-made Mrs. Martha Washington and her
three bridesmaids were placed by gallant
hands in the finest chariot in Virginia, drawn
by six white horses. These were driven by
postilions in livery, each man driving a span,
one of which he rode. When with much clank
ing and jingling of bells the procession start
ed, the groom and all his assistants and the
gay company sprang to saddle and formed the
escort with outriders and followers and gal
lants vicing with one another for position by
the carriage door.
The week of gayety that tollowed culminat
ed with a visit to the house of burgesses, then
in session in Williamsport, and a member of
which Col. Washington had recently been
chosen. The young officer was quite the hero
of the hour, for he had returned from the
wars laden with honors and his personal social
conquests had been climaxed by his marriage
with Mrs. Custis, whose popularity was wide
spread. But on the visit to the house of bur
gesses the young officer was entirely put to
rout and overcome by his great modesty.
With Col. Washington, his bride and the
entire party occupying seats of honor in the
legislative chamber, the speaker, Mr. Robinson,
arose and presented a note framed by the
house.expressing the appreciation of that body
of Col. Washington’s services in the warmest of
terms. The speaker grew grandiloquent in his
praise of the young officer and bridegroom, and
when he had closed his remarks Washington
arose to respond. He was greeted by storms
of applause and became so confused that when
he was given an opportunity to express his
appreciation he could but stammer unintel
ligibly and find no words in which to express
himself. The speaker came to his relief and
closed the incident by saying:
“Sit down, Mr. Washington, your modesty
equals your valor and that surpasses the pow
er of any language I possess.”
After the wedding Washington remained
for three months at the “White House” on his
wife’s estates, and thence accompanied by her
set out by
chariot on
the long
journey to
Mt. Vernon. The coach
and six were again
brought into service with postil
ions and outriders and the jour
ney was made by easy stages,
with many stops by the wayside, dur
ing which visits were made with va
rious friends.
In the due course of time the future
home of the young people was reached
and they settled down to the routine
of country gentle people in the stately
IMF CtofflVMP MY/ AWtfrM CY/dr/d
mansion by the Potomac, which has since be
come historic.
Washington was a man of wealth already
in his own name, for he had acquired much
land in his mapping and surveying of the
country, and the estates on the Potomac were
in themselves valuable and yielded annually
handsome returns in tobacco.
Col. Daniel Parke Custis, the first husband
of Mrs. Washington, had been a son of the
king’s counselor and a man of wealth. Upon
his death he had left to his wife and two chil
dren his landed estates and V 45,000 in cash.
This latter was in itself a stupendous fortune
at that time, when money had a purchasing
power many times as great as at present.
Two-thirds of this was held in trust for the
children, but sufficient of it went direct to
Washington to make him one of the wealthiest
m<-n in America at that time.
The even tenor of the life of quiet which
filled the next 17 years at Mount Vernon is
shown in the frequent passages in the diary
that Washington kept, beginning with the new
year following his marriage. In all that grace
and hospitality of those days Martha excelled
and they said in Virginia there was no place
like Washington’s as a social center. There
were almost always to be found as guests the
Fairfaxes, the Lees, the Custises, the Fitz
hughs and others whose .names live, not only
in 'he records of those days, but also to-day as
typical of the old aristocracy of the colony.
Washington in his diary on the first anniver
sary of his wedding fails to recall any par
ticular significance of the day, as he says:
"The chariot not returning in time from
Col. Fairfax’s we were prevented from church.
Mrs. Washington was a good deal better to
day (she had the measles), but the oysterman,
still continuing his disorderly behavior at my
landing, 1 was obliged in the most peremptory
manner to order him and his company away,
which he did not incline to obey until the fol
lowing morning.”
A little later he writes, wrapped up in do
mestic affairs:
“Got a little butter from Air. Dalton and
wrote to Col. West for pork.” And again:
"Visited at Uelvour a day, carrying Dr. Craik
with us, who spent the evening there.” Later:
"Killed 17 more hogs, which were bought by
Mr. French." . . . “Visited my plantation,
severely reprimanding young Stephen for his
indolence and his father for suffering it.”
On the whole Squire Washington and his
bride after their v'edding dropped into that
form of life which most appealed to him and
which he had long before outlined in some of
the few verses he has ever been accredited
with having written and which appear in an
old copy book in his own hand. They are here
given:
These are the things which once possessed
Will make a life that's truly blessed,
A good estate on healthy soil
Not got by vice nor yet by toil;
Round a warm fire a pleasant joke,
With chimney ever free from smoke;
A strength entire, a sparkling bowl,
A quiet wife, a quiet soul,
A mind as well as a body whole.
Prudent sympathy, constant friends,
A diet which no art commends;
A merry night without much drinking,
A happy thought without much thinking,
Each night by quiet sleep made short,
A will to be but what ihou art.
Possessed of these all else defy,
And neither wish nor fear to die.
From this home on the Potomac and from
his wife’s side Washington was called to be
come commander-in-chief of the American ar
my in the revolution; to this home he returned
when the struggle was won; and from this
home he was again called as the first president
of the United States. Again he returned to
this peaceful spot, forever apart from public
life, to pass the few remaining years in hap
piness with his wife, never to leave it until
death beckoned him away.
And from this home on the Potomac, where
an obscure grave held the remains of the great
est man of his time, from amid the scenes
of her happiest days, of days of honeymooning
and days of strife, the spirit of Martha Wash
ington was called.
Washington with the colonial army was
campaigning in the far west fighting the In
dians and the French, and in a lull in the
fighting he made a dash for the capital at
W illiamsport. When within a few hours’ ride
of that town he met casually Maj. William
Chamberlayne, an old time comrade at-arms
and bosom friend. The major urged that the
colonel turn aside, as dark was approaching,
and spend the night with him.
Maj. Chamberlayne insisted and as a final
inducement said that the most charming wid
ow in all Virginia was visiting at his planta
tion and that her charms were well worth the
delay. With some parley, it is recorded, Wash
ington tigrted to turn aside for a brief stop,
saying that he would ride later at night.
i hat night llishop. Col. Washington’s huge
and faithful negro body servant, kept the
horses saddled and ready for a continuation of
the journey through the night and was only
occasionally awakened from his nodding by
i he sounds of revelry from the mansion, for
there was a large house party being enter
tained and the spirit of the vital new country
ran high.
Certain it is that the sun was rising when
Washington burst from the house, vaulted into
his saddle and spurred on to the capital with
out having closed his eyes in sleep that night.
Certain is it also that no sooner had his
business been accomplished than he responded
to an invitation sent him from the 'White
House" on the Pamunky river and that por
tion ot \ irginia knew him almost constantly
through the months that followed.
Certain it is that when he returned to hla
command in May, 1758, he did so with the
promise of the widow Custis that they should
be married and that as promptly as he ce-^ld
be relieved from duty an th* frontier.
LESSON BROUGHT HOME TO Him.
A Wonderful Child Explains Other
People’s Viewpoint to Father.
He was a doctor, and not such a
young doctor either. That is to sav
he had been practicing for nearly tea
years. An interesting event happened
in his family and he found himself the
father of a very fine girl, his first born.
A patient who happened in about
three days after the event didn't have
a great deal of chance to talk about
liis particular ailments because the
father was very eager to tell all about
the child.
“I’ve helped to bring a lot of chil
dren into the world,” said the doctor,
"and I knowr a lot about them. But I
want to tell you that this is about the
finest I’ve ever seen. Now that may
seem to you merely to be the enthusi
asm of a father, but really I know it's
so.” And he went on for some time
telling about the merits of his off
spring, how she was a finely formed
child and embraced all the perfections.
He had turned over the duties of at
tending to his wife and child to an
other doctor, as the custom is more or
less among physicians. This was the
reason for one thing the doctor said.
‘‘One afternoon when the baby was
only three days old she sneezed. Some
way or another that made me nervous
and so I decided to call up the doctor.
“It happened he wasn’t at home and
nothing would do but I must tell his
wife all about it over the telephone.
She just laughed at me and that
sobered my excitement.
“Afterward I thought how angry I
might have been had some one of my
patients called me up on a foolish mat
ter like that. It just goes to show
that this sort of thing is done right
along by folks who ought to know bet
ter.”
Pranks of Politicians.
Albany is infested with practical
jokers who make the telephone the
chief instrument of torture. At four
o'clock one morning Assemblyman
Colne, chairman of the assembly com
mittee on canals, was called out ol
bed. The conversation was in this or
der:
“This you, Colne? Were you asleep?”
“No, no; I was playing bridge whist
out on the lawn tennis court.”
“Well, we dislike to disturb you. but
we have an argument down town. One
man says you are the best authority
in these parts on canals. Is that
right?”
“Well, I consider myself pretty good
in the daytime, but I don't care to be
pulled out of bed and asked to discuss
canals at four o’clock in the morn
ing.”
“You're a little sensitive, is that
it?”
“Sensitive nothing; don't you think
a man has a right to be a little sensi
tive over such a trick as this?”
“But you're not angry? '
“No, I'm delighted.”
“Well, what we wanted to know is
this: Is there any statute prohibitiina
a member of the legislature from tak
ing a bath in any portion of the Erie
canal which is not used for drinking
purposes?”
What Mr. Colne said then will never
be printed.—New York Herald.
Character Written on the Face.
Faces are records on which appeal
the result of every selfish, malicious
thought and every wicked desire. The
woman who ties into fits of temper
soon looks like an orge or a dragon
The man who dissipates and drinks
soon acquires the loafer’s countenance
Moreover, it is our good, true thoughts
that make for our happiness, as well
as our appearance. All the mental and
physical systems are practically con
trolled by these little guests of out
brains. Lie awake all night and worry
and behold your next morning face
It will scare you to death. You cat
change your embittered moods by ex
ercise out of doors, by going to church
reading wholesomely stimulating
books, by associating more with chi!
dren and by doing good, kindly acts
for those who are about you.
Women Like Pockets.
“Talk about the small boy and his
desire for plenty of pockets," remarked
Harry New, manager of one of the
biggest concerns in the city or in the
west, manufacturing women’s gar
ments, “no youngster with his first
pair of trousers is half as excited
about his pockets as is the average
woman buying a cloak or suit. ithm
the last few years the question of
pockets has come to bo an Important
matter in women's garments. om
en not only like pockets for carrying
various small articles, but they can
even like them so placed in their coat3 ^
that they can walk with their hands
in them, the same as a man. It's gf
ting so that we manufacturers hanlly
dare put out a garment without n£
attention first of all to the pocket fea
ture."—Cleveland Plain Dealer.
The “Pied Piper.”
A New York normal school examic
ation had among Its questions: ‘ \\ ha:
is the educational value of The Pied
Piper of Hamelhi?’ ” A would-be teach
er answered: “ ’A Pled Piper teaches
children to be kind to animals, espe
cially rats.”
Dynamiters Are Captured.
Oakland, Cal.—An attempt was made
by some discharged workmen of the
California sugar refinery at Crockett,
20 miles west of here, to destroy the
home of Superintendent Hugh Har
mau. Dynamite placed under th*
front of the house tore away the front
of the building. Later three officers
started in pursuit of three suspects,
who opened fire. The Are w as return** ^
and the chase was kept up for caor®
than an hour. The suspects fin*11*
surrendered.