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Show n n Fair Marp Ball, the Mother of General Washington Qii - -. . . --rrS " " T"F the assertion that a woman ZZ m happily in love is at her best , - - JL be true, there can be no more - - 1 1 interesting woman to read " cu' under these clrcum-1 clrcum-1 1 I I I I stances titan Mary Ball the mother of George Washington. Fredericksburg, Virginia, her birthplace, is one of the most historic towns in America. Founded long before the Revolution, upon the Rappahannock River, it has been for generations the centre of social life In that rich region known as the northern neck of Virginia, where were born and bred to many of ' the great Fathers of American Liberty. Within a radius of thirty miles were born John Marshall, George Washington, Washing-ton, George Mason, Thomas Jefferson, fames Madison, James A fonroe.A failheu) Fontaine Maury and Robert E. Lee, T WAS sIko In this little town of At Fredericksburg that a convention tU of delegates of twelve companies compan-ies of horse assembled and pro Maimed their purpose to defend the colony of Virginia or any other colony igalnut the king of Knglund, and marched under the command of Q'at-rick Q'at-rick Henry against Lord Dunmore. This occurred twenty-one days before the famous Declaration of Mecklenburg Mecklen-burg and was therefore the flrrt and most emphatic declaration of our ln-lependence. ln-lependence. It Is also worthy of note that In 1782, when that Independence had been accomplished. It was a citizen of Frederlckuburg who Introduced Into the legislature, which bad then been replaced by the houne of burgesses, the first reHolutlon for the emancipation emancipa-tion of the negroes and for the prohibition prohi-bition of the slave trade ever offered In Amerira. Gen. John Minor of Frederickuburg, was the author and id vocal e of the measure, and here In this same town was torn, lived and aled Mary Hall, the mother of Washington. Wash-ington. The place teems with Interesting relle and traditions of thin remarkable remarka-ble woman traditions which have been handed down from mother to daughter, and when told you by a silver-haired old lady who prefaces her story by "My dear, I remember as though It were but yesterday, my mother telling me she remembered ber grandmother telling her of Mary I tall, whom she knew as a girl." you feel that these traditions must be, as the children My. for true. The Itell family came early In the sixteenth century to Virginia. The home of Joseph Pall, the father of Mary, was known as "Kpplng Forst," near the Rappahannock rler, in Virginia. Vir-ginia. Mary Hall, as a young girl, wss strikingly handsome, and was known as "The Rose of Epptng Forest." For-est." and wss the belle of that part of the country. During our Civil wsr a letter was picked up In an old home In Virginia. The tetter was partially destroyed, but It gives us just a glimpse of Mary Hall at the most at tractive agn, sixteen. It Is dated "Wil ;iamnbun?, Va., the 7th of October 1722. Madame Hall and her sweel Molly have gone home. Mother think! Molly the comellest maiden sh knows. She, Is about sixteen. Is tall and very sensible and loving. Ilei hair Is like flax, ber eyes are the coloi of yours, and her cheeks like the May blossoms. I wish you could see her." The home of Washington's mother In Fredericksburg Is In an excellent state of preservation. It Is now the property of a noble band of Virginia women, known as the "Society for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities." In spite of the terrible shot and shell of two wars. It remains unmolested. t7mJ'ti''',a amunjl Frederick. Turg In the Civil war there In the little lit-tle town and county of Spottsylvanla It Is said more great armies maneuvered, maneuv-ered, more great battles were fought, more men were engaged in mortal combat and more officers and privates were killed and wounded than in any similar territory In the world. More men were said to have fallen In battle bat-tle In this one county during the Civil war than Great Hrltaln has lost in all ber wars of a century, and more men were killed and wounded in four hours at the Hattle of Fredericksburg than Great Hrltaln lost In killed, wounded and prisoners In her eight months' war in 8oui Africa. When these terrible days were over the old house was found without a scar. Apparently, not a shot had touched it. It l of frame, with a ball running through the center, with rooms on either side. There is nothing noth-ing to betoken luxury; there Is no fine paneling or frescoing which Is so marked a feature of so many of the homes of that date In Virginia. As far as obtainable much of Mrs. Wanning ton's furniture Is there. In her bedroom bed-room we are shown ber four-poster, ber bureau, ber cap-box and one or two old chairs. In ber dining room an old fashioned table, chairs and her bread box. We are so prone to Ideal-l.e Ideal-l.e our heroes, and all that pertains to them, but close and candid Investigation Investiga-tion will reveal that In the latter years of Krs. Washington's life we find much that is stern, undemonstrative, and not what we would be pleased to term "a dear old lady." She was a woman of most indomitable will. Mother and son were alike In this respect, re-spect, and the consequence was that there wss not always barmony between be-tween them. She was aald to be most penurious, a trait which Washington Wash-ington Inherited, It Is said. As wil! be seen by ber will, which Is a copy of the original preserved In the courthouse In Fredericksburg, she f peaks of her "Negro Wench, old Heft." TIs said shortly before ber death she requested this faithful slave be burled by her side, and tbelr dust has mingled for many generations. The old fashioned garden at the rear of the boure mutt have been io its day one of Its chief attractions Mrs. Washington was devoted to flowers and spent many cf the laM days of her life In this spot. It was here that the visit of Marquis de Lafayette was snnounred to her. She came forwsrd to meet him dresed In a white cotton frock, which history also states wss tucked up. She received him without the slightest trace of embarrassment, remsrklng. as she did so: "Marquis, I should not pay yon so poor a compll-men compll-men as to detain you while I change my gown." She battled In the lsst days of her life with much pain and suffering, dying of the terrible disease, csncer. She lies burled near the scene of her youth and ber bsppy girlhood days, while history recalls ber as the mother of Washington, the belle and beauty of Virginia, The Roe of Epring Forest." |