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Show ; ,x:') Y--A ' 4' ill P' i : ; in - - J i By ELMO SCOTT WATSON figyrJ N TIIH town of Fred- erlcksburg, Va., mere jfti stands a lofty stone Jj R J slmft which Is said to LSdPsS have the unique distlnc-jSj distlnc-jSj tlon of being the only J fcg'f monument in the United '"'iiifca) States erected entirely by the efforts of women to a woman. Perhaps the simple Inscription In-scription on the monument explains the reason for that distinction, ft reads "Mary, the Mother of Washington." Wash-ington." As the annual celebration of Mother's Moth-er's Day It is May 12 this year approaches, ap-proaches, all Americans should be interested in-terested 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 he ever saw. but even more Interesting than this natural tribute paid by a son Is the testimony contained in a letter written writ-ten In 1772. Curiously enough this letter was found in a deserted house near the York river during the Civil -war. It reads as follows: "Wins Burg, ye 7th of Octr, 1722 Dear Sukey; Madame Ball of Lancaster Lancas-ter and Her Sweet Molly have gone Horn. Mama thinks Molly the Cnm-llest Cnm-llest Maiden She Knows. She Is about lteen yrs. old, Is taller than Me It verry Sensable. Modest and LovlriR. Her Hair Is like unto Flax, Her Eyer are the color of Yours and her Chekes are like May Blossoms. I wish You could See Her." The "sweet Molly" referred to In that letter was Mary Ball, who ou Uarch 6, 1730, became the wife of Augustine Au-gustine Washington, a friend and neighbor of her father's, 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 of great beauty Mary Washington seemed to have been a remarkable woman in many respects. "A silent, serious.' vonian, she was, self-contained, self-respecting, self-respecting, and reserved," says an early writer. "During the forty-six years of her widowhood she managed her household and farm without the assistance of any adviser and reared her 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. Washington's lack of personal ambition and her constitutional consti-tutional reserve were qualities which prevented her from becoming popularly popu-larly known to the public, even at a time when the people were eager for 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 apnenred in puhlio with her son " W Another tribute to Mary Washington Is contained in the statement of Uiw rence Washington, of Chotank. who wrote as follows: "1 was often here (at the home on the Rappahannock) -with George his playmate, school- ROOS1M WHfCH WAJHWGrOJrlE-cklMiJ Photulrnlnh Coarte8T y,JZ Ac zrtr'? ar pccV? Fholuffrapn courtesy yirffiiuu mate and young man's companion. Of the mother I 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 am the grandfather of a second generation, I 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 humor hu-mor and Imagination, and both possessed pos-sessed in an extreme degree conscientiousness, conscien-tiousness, gentleness and determination," determina-tion," says the writer previously referred re-ferred 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 war would bring to Virginia, Vir-ginia, tried to induce his mother to move Into town from her home on the Rappahannock opposite Fredericksburg. Fredericks-burg. She had 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 Insistence In-sistence prevailed, and in March, 1775, he and his sister moved her, still protesting, pro-testing, 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 garden 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 women wom-en who have preserved the unpretentious unpreten-tious cottage where Mary Washington lived from March, 1775, until August. 17S9. Although Mary Washington had 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 borne that she lived, far from the dangers her son was encountering encoun-tering in the tight for liberty, but she was in constant receipt from him of news of that struggle. Here she received re-ceived the courier to tell her of Iris splendid victory at Trenton, and It was here that he came to her after the battle of Yorktown, 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 famous son. A grand ball was given in 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 atate Chamber ol commerce. LaFayette came with Washington's nephew, Robert Lewis, to pay his respects re-spects to . the mother of the greatest American. She received the courtly Frenchman in her garden, 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, "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 17S9, Charles Thompson, secretary of congress, arrived ar-rived at Mount Vernon to notify Washington that he had been elected the first President of the new nation. After preparing to accompany Thompson Thomp-son to New York, then the capital of the United States, Washington rode to Fredericksburg to say good-by to his mother. Both knew that this would probably be the last time they would see each other, for Mary Washington was then past eighty years of age and suffering from cancer. After an affectionate affec-tionate greeting between mother and son, so says one account, Washington said, "The people, Madam, have been pleased, with the most flattering unanimity unan-imity to elect me to the chief magistracy magis-tracy of the United States ; but before I can assume the functions of that office of-fice I have come to bid you an affectionate affec-tionate farewell. So soon as the public pub-lic business which must necessarily be encountered In arranging a new government, gov-ernment, can be disposed of, I shall hasten to Virginia " "You will see me no more," she Interrupted In-terrupted him, "my great age, and the disease which Is rapidly approaching my vitals, warned me that I shall not be long in this world I trust in God I am somewhat prepared for a better But go, George, fulfil the high desti nies which Heaven appears to assign you. Go, my son, and may that Heaven's Heav-en's and your Mother's blessing t with you always." She died on Ati gust 27, 1789, and was buried in a spot on the Kenmore estate which she herself had selected. For many years the Mary Washing ton home belonged to various owners. In ISfK) an effort was made to take it down and erect it again at the World's Columbian exposition in Chicago. Chi-cago. The protest which this plan aroused resulted in the purchase of the house by the Association for the Preservation of Virginian Antiquities. Since that time it has been In charge of a Fredericksburg branch of the as sociation which has opened It to the public. Last year it was the scene of a special observance of Mother's Day, and future years may see this spot become a national shrine on Mother's Day each year, when all Americans join the women of Virginia In honoring the mother of the first and greatest. American. . |