Book: Wintersville Citizen

              WINTERSVLLE CITIZEN
VOL. 2, NO. 12         THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1964 - TEN PAGES  $5.00 per year, 10
                   VO .                   ,           O           1.16


GEORGE WASHINGTON


THE MAN


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/


Ei:  By EVESEITER


  GeorgeWashiigton's life and
career are too familiar to, most
:American citizens. The man
has become an institution!*
With little effort school. child-
ren absorb the usual hash of
facts and fancy which surround,
a long departed national fig-
ure. Later, as adults, George,
them an, is lost entirely in-the'
celebration  of "George's"
Day! The American flag is
flown in patriotic respect on
Washington's   birthday, the
legal holiday is appreciated
as a day of leisure, the stam-
pede sweeps over city stores
offering fantastic George Day
bargains to the fleet of foot'
but George, the man, is rarely
remembered.
  Your writer decided to try to
  evoke his presence and to sug-
  .gest thoughts of the motherly
  influence which contributed so
  much to'his personality as a
  man,
  George, the old man is less
  known to most than the young
  surveyor and   soldier. At
  seventy George   Washington
  had retired to his farm and
  was actively engaged in the
  management of that farm. Tall,
  six feet, weighing 210 pounds,
  the white haired, old gentleman
  was strong and capable. He
  rose at four o'clock every
  morning and worked about five
  hours a day most days of the
  week. He had found the farm.
  completely run down upon his
  returnto Mt. Vernon. He beg.an
  at once. a systematic program
  of fertilization and rotation of
  of crops which in due course
  put the farm on a productive
  basis. In a letter to a friend
  in which he discussed the farm
  he wrote: "To establish good


rules and a regular system, is
the life and the soul of every
business.
  Washington" rode ,horseback
nearly every day directing
the operations which were
to revive the depleted land.
The   farm   sustained many
people, for he fed all who lived
upon the farm. The work was
hard and varied, butchering,
corn husking, fthreshing as
well as repairing and ditching
were done without the aid of
today's efficient machinery.
  Washington loved to hunt and
he took the time to ride to the
hounds and to hunt the thickly
wooded country around Mt.
Vernon. The diary which he
kept in the late 080's shows
him living the peaceful life
of a country squire but by no
means divorced from interest
in his country. Nor was he
free  from  the strains and
worries which beset family
men, young and old.
  The national problems which
  most deeply troubled 'Squire
  Washington were those stem-
  ming from disputes between the
  individual states and  the
  central government. Congress
  had passed a law intended to
  combat sedition. It. was imm ed-
  iately denounced by two states
  as unconstitutional. Washing-
ton: feared the results.
  As he rode about Mt. Vernon
  he pondered the scarcity of
  able men in our government.
  They *all seemed- bent upon
  pursuit of their own riches
  and pleasure while the nation
  declined! He was concerned
  too, with his son, who had.
  returned home from college,
  disturfbed and rebellious, un-


willing to go on with his ed-
ucation. The old gentleman
searched for a solution know-
ing full well that nothing
could substitute for his son's
own will power.
   George recalled his mother's
 lifelong habit of retiring from
 the press of affairs to meditate
 upon the scriptures and sort
 out her thoughts. Down in
 Fredricksburg, Virginia, to-
 day, one may visit Mary Wash-
 ington's   favorite   retreat
 called Meditation Rock. Here,
 under huge old oaks, George's
 mother was so often want to
 sit and meditate that it was
 decided to bury her nearby
 when she died in 1789.
 Mary Washington's influence
 upon her son was apparent in
 the discipline he exerted upon
 himself throughout his life.
 She communicated the depth
 of her, own quiet- religious
 thought to the son who faced
 so many frightening decisions
 in his service to his beloved
 country. His Farewell Address
 to his offic ers as .h resigned.
 his Commission in 1783 is
 formal but every word conveys
 the faith and discipline in-
 herited from his moth er.
 "Happy in -the confirmation
 of our Independence     and
 Sovereignty, and pleased with
 the opportunity afforded the
 United States of becoming a
 respectable nation, I resign
 with satisfaction, the appoint-
 ment I accepted with diffi-
 dence; a diffidence in my
 abilities to accomplish so
 arduous a task which, however,
 was superceded by a confi-
 dence in the rectitude of our
 cause, the support of the
 Supreme power of the Union,
 and the patronage of Heaven."
 In 1778 Mary Washington
 drafted   her   last will and
 Testament. Perhaps nothing is
 more revealing of any indivi-
 dual than the disposition of his
 own treasures. Mary Washing-
 ton's Will affords rare insight
 to her own way of life and her
 philosophy of life passed on
 to the son she made executor
 "In the name of' God, Amen,
 I, Mary Washington, of Fred-
ericksburg, in the County of
Spotsylvania, being in good
health,' but calling to mind the


uncertainty of this life, and
willing to dispose of what :re-
mainsof my worldly estate, do
make and publish this, my last
Will, recommending my soul
into the hand ot my Creator,
hoping for a remission for all
sin' through the meditation of
Jesus Christ.. the Savior of
mankind'. I dispose of my
worldly estate as follows:
  (Impris"- I give to my son,
General George  Washington
all my .land in Accokeed Run
in the County of Stafford, and
also my negro boy, George, to
him  and his heirs forever.


Also my best bed, bedstead
and Virginia cloth curtains,
the same that stands in my
bedroom, my quilted blue and
white quilt, and my best dress-
ing glass.
  Item: I give and devise to:
  my son, Charles Washington,
my negro mah, Tom, to him
and his assigns forever.
  Item: I give and devise to
  daughter, Betty Louis, my
  phaeton and my bay horse.
  Item: I give and devise to
my daughter-in-4aw, Hannah
Washington,- my purple. cloth
coat lined with shag.
  Item: I give and devise to
  my grandson, Corbin Wash-
  ington, my negro wench, Old
  Bet, my riding chair and two
  black horses to him and his
  assigns forever.
  Item: I give and devise
  to my   grandson, Fielding
  Lewis, my -negro man, Fred-
  erick, to him .and his assigns
'forever, also my crockery ware
and the blue and white tea
china, with bookcase,. oval
table, one bedstead, one pair
sheets, one pair blankets and
white counterpane, two table--
cloths, six red cloths, six
leather chairs, half my pew-
ter   and   my    iron kitchen
furniture.
  Item: I. give to my grandson
  Lawton  Lewis, my negro
  wench, Lydia, to him and his
  assigns forever.
  Item: I give and devise to
  my  grand-daughter,  Bettie
  Carter, my negro woman, Little
  Bet, and her future increase,
  to her and her assigns forever,
  also my largest glass, my
  walnut writing  desk  with


drawers, a  sauare  dining
table, one   bed, bedstead.
bolster, one pillow, one blan-
ket, and a pair of sheets,
white Virginia Counterpaine
purple   curtains, red   and
white china, teaspoons and
the other halfof my pewter,
crockery ware and the remainder
of my iron kitchen ware*
  Item: I devise all my wearing
  apparrel to be equally divided
between my grand-daughters,
BettieCarter, Fanny Ball, and
Millie Washington but should
my daughter Betty Lewis,
fancy any one, two or three
articles she is to have them
before a division thereof.
  Lastly,  I nominate  and
  appoint my son, George Wash-
ington, executor of this, my,
Will, and as I owe few or no
debts, I direct my executor to
give no security nor to appraise
my estate, but desire the same
to be alloted to my devises
with as little trouble and de-
lay as: may be desiring their
acceptance thereof and all
the token now I have to give .
them of my love for them.
  In witness whereof I have
hereunto  set     my. hand
and seal this 20th day of May,
1778.
    Sign ed.- ..Mary Washington,
  Charles    Dickens    once
speculated, I' think it must
somewhere be written that
the virtues of mothers shall.
be visited on their children.."
This writer's brief search of
personalities reveals withcut
a doubt the obvious' trans-
ference of Mary Washington's
virtues to her son, George
Washington, the man.


OUR


Arr


Utt


          To the Village, State,


Township and County em-


ployees for the splendid job


  in keeping roads passable


to    all traffic.


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