Show in dip ion A toish 4 1 er ak 4 jl pr N V I 1 NF K 14 vv r ar 0 W aw k t d f 1 71 xa aya by ELMO SCOTT WATSON M N THE town of fredericksburg va there stands a lofty stone shaft which Is bald said to have the unique distinction ti on of being the only monument in the united states erected entirely by the efforts of women to a woman perhaps the simple in script lon on explains the reason for that distinction it reads mary the mother of washington 1 As the annual celebration of moth ere ers day dabit it ismay Is may 12 this year approaches pro aches all americans should be interested te in the story of this mother who gave to the nation one of its greatest men washington himself once said that his mother was the most beautiful woman be he ever saw but even more interesting than this natural Ila tural tribute paid by a son Is the testimony contained in a letter written in 1772 curiously enough this letter was found in a deserted house rear lear the york river during the civil war it reads as follows wins wine burg ye ath of ocar 1722 2722 dear sukey madame ball of lancaster and her sweet molly have gone horn mama marna thinks molly the corn blest maiden she know she Is about floten old Is taller than M me 0 ii Is verry modest and loving loila her iler hair 1 Is like unto flax her eye L are re the color of yours and her chek chokes e are re like may blossoms I 1 wish Y you ou could see her ner the sweet molly referred to in that letter was mary ball who ou on march 6 1730 became the wife of au an gustine washington a friend and neighbor of her fa fathers thees and it was on february 22 1732 that she gave birth to the boy who was destined to be the founder of a new nation in addition to being a woman ot of great beauty mary washington seemed to have bave been a remarkable woman in anany respects A silent serious ser ioos she was self contained self respecting ean 11 an and d reserve reserved d 1 says an fee early aly writer e r f during the forty six years ea 0 I 1 her widowhood sag she managed be er ri household ou sebold and farm without I 1 abe he assistance of any adviser and reared her ber children to usefulness and honor and saw them go forth into the world equipped for its work and pain that they each and all revered her and sought her council in every emergency Is sufficient testimony of her worth and ability mrs lack of personal ambition and her conati tut lonal ional reserve were qualities which prevented her from becom liy popularly known to the public even at a time when the people were viere eager for any any opportunity to show her honor but no demonstration was ever made in her behalf and there Is but one in stance recorded when she appeared in public with her son another tribute to mary washington Is contained in the statement of lawrence washington of Cho tank who wrote as follows 1 I was often here at the home on the rappahannock Rappa bannock hannock with george bis playmate school A A 4 HIS cn c n ty bs fv cwg pov photograph p mat chamber courtesy Coort of tey co mintree vir virginis tinis mate and young man s companion of the mother I 1 was more afraid than of my own parents she awed me in the midst of her kindness and even now when time has whitened my locks and I 1 am the grandfather of a second generation I 1 could not behold that majestic woman without feelings it Is impossible to describe mother and son were much alike in character personal appearance and conduct both were wanting in hu mor and imagination and both pos jessed in an extreme degree con congden piousness gentleness and de tion says the writer previously referred to more recent historians have shown that more than once during washington s early life there was a clash of these two strong wills but there was a strong bond of affection between them nevertheless at the outbreak of the revolution washington realizing the dangers which the tile war would bring to vir ginia tried to induce bis his mother to move into town from her home on the rappahannock Rappa hannock opposite fredericks fredericka burg she had bad previously declined the offer of a home with her daughter mrs betty washington lewis declaring that she preferred to rule her own home but at last washington s in si stence prevailed and in march 1775 he and bis his sister moved her still protesting into a home in fredericksburg which washington had bought from michael and esther robinson in 1772 it was a part of the original kenmore estate betty lewis home the tile gar den was separated from the kenmore garden by a fence and gate just as it was american women who erected the monument to mary washington so it was a group of american worn wom en who have preserved the unpretentious cottage where mary washington lived from march 1775 until august 1781 Af although though mary washington bad strenuously strenuously objected to leaving her plantation she soon grew very fond of her little home in fredericksburg and enjoyed being near her daughter and her church at which she was a constant and devoted attendant it was in this home that she lived far from the dangers her son was as bering in the fight for liberty but she was in constant receipt from him of news of that struggle here she received the courier to tell her of his splendid victory at trenton and it was here that be he came to her after the battle of yorktown Tork town accompanied by french and american officers it was on this occasion that for the one and only time she shared the honors that had come to her now limous son A grand ball was given in bis his honor in fredericksburg and the proud moth er leaning on the arm of her son was the belle of the evening it was here too that marquis de lafayette came with nephew nephews robert lewis to pay his re aspects to the mother of the greatest american she received the courtly frenchman in her garden gr irden met all his fine phrases with dignity and gave him her blessing when he bade her good by As he left he said to a friend 1 I have seen the only roman matron of my day it was in this little home too that the last scene in the association of the washington mother and son took place in the spring of 1789 1780 charles thompson secretary of congress ar rived at mount blount vernon to notify washington that he had been elected the first president of the new nation after preparing to accompany thompson to new ew torl york then the capital of the united states washington rode to k red fredericksburg to say good by to bis his mother both knew that this would probably be the last time they would see each other for marf mar washington was then past eighty years of age and suffering from cancer after an affectionate greeting between mother and son so says one account accounts washington said the people madam have beca been pleased with the most flattering natt ering unan imley to elect me to the chief magis tracy of the united states but before 1 I can as assume rume the functions of that of flee I 1 have come to bid you an affectionate firewell so soon as the pub lie ile business which must necessarily bo be encountered in arranging a new gov eminent can be disposed of I 1 shall hasten haste to virginia tou you will see me no more she in him ray my great age and the disease which Is rapidly approaching my vitals warned me that I 1 shall not be long in this world I 1 trust in god I 1 am somewhat bat prepared for a better but go george fulfill the high desti nies which heaven appears to assign you go my son and may that beav eus and your mothers mother a blessing I 1 with you always she died on atz u gust 27 1789 and was wits burled buried in a spot on the kenmore estate which hibb she fi herset erse T f had selected for many years the mary washing ton home belonged to various owners in 1890 1800 an effort was made to take it down and erect ft it again at the worlds columbian exposition in chi cago the protest which this plan aroused resulted in the purchase of the house by the tile association for the preservation of virginian antiquities since that time it has been in charge of a fredericksburg branch of the as so clatIon which has opened it to the public last year it was as the scene of a special observance of mother mothers 0 day and future years kiy see this spot become a national shrine on mothers day each year when all americana americans join the women of virginia in honoring the mother of the first and greatest american |