IT 13 150 years since Col. George
Washington, a brilliant young offi
eer in the colonial army, led to the
altar Martha Castis, a ycang ma
tron whose fame for 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 mere were leaiures in mem mat
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 trom the path of duty, as
the invited guests, in
eluding the governor,
the members of the.
legislature.gaudily uni
formed officers of the
British army and all ^
the distinguished peo- 4
pie of the colony, as- \
serabled at St. Peter's f
church, near the home *
of the bride, and were
ushered in by Bishop,
the big negro body
guard, i:i a gorgeous
scarlet uuiforry.
Washington was clad i
in all the fluerv that
was affected by the
a bearer of messages from the field of war to the
capital, by the blandishments of the future mis
tress of M<. 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 until 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
ing’on 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 shonid never be 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. lie wrote her on July 2, after
they had become engaged, as follows:
‘ We have begun our march for Ohio. A courier
Is starting for Williamsburg and I 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 thougnts have been constantly going to
you as another self. That an all-powerful Provi
dence may keep us 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,
hut to Mrs. George William Fairfax, the wife of
n family friend, hut 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 I confess that 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 I am bid to revive
them.
“You have drawn me, dear madam, or rather I
have drawn myself, into an honest confession of
n 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
this manner to you. when I want you to conceal
K ... But adieu to this till happier times,
If I ever shall sec them. The hours at present
are melancholy and dull. I dare to believe you
are as happy as you say. I wish I was happy
also."
This letter was found in the effects of Mrs.
Fairfax, who died in England at the 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 of a gay Lothario, who might say
many tilings to a fair lady and not mean tliem.
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 G. 1759. the day was clear and cold, when
MTfiftMCrW / i
Iri' 1,1 "'■■.■■"" '' 1 ff££r/NG
/mm oms
young bloods of the 1 -— —.- ^
time. His suit was of
bine cloth. The coat showed a rich lining of
red silk and boasted many silver ornaments.
A white satin waistcoat, gold knee buckles and
powdered hair completed his costume.
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 front 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
tie ncuesi iuiukui.
After the Rev. John Moesum had performed
the ceremony that united the pair the gay
cavalcade formed that was to wind its way
hack 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 maD driving a span,
one of which he rode. When with much clank
ing and jingling of hells the procession start
ed, the grcom and all hi§ assistants and the
gay company sprang to saddle and formed the
escort with outriders and followers and gal
lants vieing with one another for position by
the carriage door.
The week of gayety that followed 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 tame 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 liv her
W Ass
»-.-V set out by
- “>r
chariot on
’a^^aesto^ ft ■* the long
-a£> (J journey to
A^v. s' Mt. Vernon. The coach
'S-^S 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
hig 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
which he had long before outlined in some of
the few veises he has ever been accredited
with having written and which appear in an
old copy hook 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
Npt 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 he but what thou art.
Possessed of these all else defy.
And neither wish nor fear to die.
7W C01WVMP CFAW C&&17&
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 C’ustis, 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 lauded estates and £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
men 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 Custlses, the Fitz
hughs and others whose names live, not only
in the 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 hotter to
day (she had the measles), but the oysterman,
still continuing his disorderly behavior at my
landing, I 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 Mr. Dalton and
wrote to Col. West for pork.” And again:
“Visited at Belvour 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 .Ills
indolence and his father for suffering it.”
On the whole 'Squire Washington and his
bride after their wedding dropped into that,
form of life which most appealed to him and
From this home on the Potomac and from
his wife's side Washington was called to be
come comniander-in-ehief of the American ar
my in ihe revolution; to this home ho 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
Williamsport. When within a few hours' ride
of that town he met casually Maj. Wtlliam
Chamlierl'ayne, 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 agreed to turn aside for a brief stop,
saying that he would ride later at night.
That night Dishop. 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
the 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 of Virginia knew him almost constantly
through the months that followed.
Certain it is that when he returned to his
command in May, 175S, he did so with the
promise of the widow Custis that they should
be married and that as promptly as he could
he relieve^ from duty on the frontier.
Of George Washington.
That which makes it worth while |
to commemorate the inauguration of
George Washington is not merely that
it is the consummation of the nation’s
struggle towards organic life, not
merely that by the initiation of its
chief executive is set in operation the
Constitution of which Mr. Gladstone
has declared: “As far as I can see
the*American Constitution is the mcst
wonderful work ever struck off at one
time by the brain and purpose of
man;” but that It celebrates the be
ginning of an administration whlc'nj by
its lofty and stainless integrity, by its
absolute superiority of selfish or sec
ondary motives, by the rectitude of ;ts
daily conduct in the face of whatso
ever threats, blandishments or combi
nations, rather than by the ostenra
tious Pharisaism of its professions, has
taught this nation and the world for
ever what the Christian ruler of a
Christian people ought to be.—Henry
Codman Potter.
Rare Washington Portrait.
A rare and curious mezzotint portrait
of George Washington in the library
of the late Lafayette S. Richardson
of Lowell, Mass., was auctioned off
last year in Roston. It is entitled
“George Washington, late president of
the United States of America, etc.”
and was published March 14, 1801, by
J. Hinton L.indon. It is a small folio
and is colored by hand. It looks as
much like George III. as it does the
Father of His Country. Baker, who
wrote the “Engraved Portraits of
Washington,"' says that only one im
pression of this mezzotint has come
under the notice of the writer. It was
in neither the Clarkson nor the Car
son sale of Washington portraits.
Put New Blood into Your Business.
The up-to-date professional adviser
or business doctor, when called to.
examine a shrinking, declining bus
iness, often finds the patient barely
alive; the circulation being so slug
gish that he can hardly find the pulse.
In a desperate case like this he says
to the proprietor: “You must put
new blood into this business. There is
no life in it. There is no energy, no
push, no enterprise here. When a
patient gets as low as this one, there
are only two things to do. let him
die, or infuse new blood into his veins
and try to resuscitate him.”—Success
Magazine.
A Boiling Down of the More Impor= j
tant Events Here and There
Congress.
A bill relieving Frontier county, Ne
braska, farmers has beer, favorably
reported.
President Roosevelt vetoed the sen
ate bill authorizing the secretary of
the navy to mitigate or remit the
penaties of loss of citizenship imposed
upon deserters from the army and
navy. The objection is based upon
the infringement of the executive's
power of pardon.
For nearly six hours the house of
representatives discussed the bill
materially changing the methods of
administering the Panama canal zone
and constructing the canal. Amend
ments almost without number were
aimed at the measure, but with one or
two exceptions they failed of adop
tion.
Secretary Garfield sent to congress
today at the direction of the presi
dent the draft of a bill providing for
the disposal of all unallotted land ic
the Omaha Indian reservation in No
nrasKa.
The “insurgent” resolution amend
ing the rules, presented in the house
recently, was signed by twenty-nine
republicans, including all lrom Ne
braska, and Hubbard. Hepburn and
Haughen of Iowa. Judge Norris of
Nebraska, whose amendment was
adopted by the insurgent conference
in relation to curtailing the power of
the speaker as to the appointment of
committees, said that he d.i net look
for anv action on the resolution at
this session..
An attempt will be made at the
next session of congress to change
the interstate commerce law.
President Roosevelt sent another
veto message to the house. With it
he returned without approval a bill
which would advance in rank Lien
tenant Commander Kenneth ilcAlpine
of the navy.
Representative Hall appeared be
fore the public lands committee nf
the house to advocate the passage of
a bill for the establishment cf a new
land district in South Dakota, with
headquarters c.i Lebeau. The com
mittee of the house has ordered a
favorable repjort and this practically
secures the passage of the hill by both
houses of congress at this session.
Sena’or Allison of Iowa was eulog
ized by members of the senate at a
special memorial session.
The house passed a number of
amendments to the national bank
ruptcy law.
Senator New'ands of Nevada urges
national legislation to deal with the
Japanese question.
Wednesday the senvo and house
met in joint session to declare the re
sult of the presidential vote.
Senator Burkett has m ived com
plaints from attorneys in Nebraska
against the delay of oh -ok in seme
divisions of the federal court by
reason of the law providing all issuer
of a lawsuit must be trie:! in the
division where they origuiate.
The senate agreed to the confer
ence on tiie urgent deficiency bill. It
carries $150,000 to continue the fight
on foot and mouth disease.
General.
The lower bouse of congress passed
the agricultural appropriation bill.
There is a belief in Washington
that Senator Knox will tier line to be
a member of the cabinet.
Members of the rural guard of
Cuba indulged n a brief mutiny
The new government of Turkey is
facing a crisis.
No funds are available for the de
natured alcuhol experiment station
proposed for Lincoln.
Chiefly for rest and recreation, but
incidentally with the purpose of exam
ining some of the Southern Pacific's
new lines. E. H. Harriman left on an
extended trip to the souta and to
Mex'co.
More than 500,000 children were
present at the Lincoln memorial serv
ices in New York.
Alice Roosevelt-Longworth handled
the trowel at a laying of cornerstone
at Grand Rapids.
Taft was received with much cere
mony on his arrival at New Orleans.
The Nebraska senate voted to ac
cept Carnegie’s pension fund for uni
versity professors.
The senate passed the bill reduc
ing the salary of the secretary of
state to $8,000 a year.
The NebYaska state senat" author
ized the university regents to estab
lish a school of citizenship when they
deem it advisable.
Speaker Cannon refuses to consil
er a proposition to elect him United
States senator from Illinois.
An Oregon state senator said Japan
was getting the idea that the United
States was afraid of her.
The body found burned in the Ger
man legation at Santiago. Chile, was
not that of the German minister.
King Edw-ard was accorded the un
usual honor of being made guest of
the municipality of Berlin.
The hemp divorce case at St. Louis
Is attracting more than can get in
the court room.
The log cabin in which Lincoln was
born was dedicated by a largo crowd
and President Roosevelt laid the cor
ner-stone for the Linfcoln memorial at
Hodgenville. Ky.
Representative Hepburn of Iowa de
clares the reports that he will with
draw from his contest against Senator 4
W. D. Jamieson are lies. He will
fight to a finish.
There is every prospect the postal
avings bank bill will be put through
congress this session. ^d
President Roosevelt has written a '
’<»t.ter to Speaker Stanton of the Cali
fornia house, in which he says pro
posed action of the California legis
lature will thwart efforts of national
government which is working to se
cure results desired by people of
Ihe Pacific coast.
Distribution of American relief has
jcgun at Palmi, Calabria.
The necessity of wireless apparatus
on steamers was urged in a special ^
message to congress.
The minister from Panama pro
tested against the speech of Repre
sentative Rainey of Illinois.
Robert T. Lincoln was an honored
guest at Springfield, Abraham Lin
coln’s old home, and William J. Bryan
delivered the principal address on
r riaay.
Taft and Sherman were formally de
dared elected president and vice
president of the United States.
President-elect Taft was the guest
ef the citizens of New Orleans at an
elaborate banquet. In the afternoon
he addressed a mass meeting of ne
groes.
Representative Lovering charged in
the house that the charges of corrup
tion against President-elect Taft. Wil
liam Nelson Cromwell and others are
the result of a blackmailing plot by
which It was hoped to extort a larg -
sum from Mr. Cromwell.
Alderman Joseph I*. Kchout of Chi
cago. disappointed because his ward
ciub refused to endorse him. commit
ted suicide.
Count Midsuno, Japanese con- i!
general, in a speech at New York,
said war talk does not represent tim
real sentiment of the people of Ja
pan or tho United States.
The Indiana house passed the bill
repealing the county option law.
Secretary Garfield wants an addi
tional $100,000 to prosecute land and
timber thieves.
Jerry Howard has a bill in the Ne
braska legislature to segregate Jap
anese -laborers in the packing houses.
The Chinesa of San Francisco com
plain that the president discriminates ^
in favor of the Japanese. *
Senator Raynor complahied that tb
senate had no power under the Roo- _
velt regime. — '"l—
President Roosevelt in a message
sent to congress gives a report uf
the country life commission.
France and Germany have enter d
into an agreement concerning Mor
occo.
A special from J.ivingstnn. Mont .
says that a theft, said to involve $•'
000. has been discovered in tha- <'
and a large number of conductors,
brakemen. engineers ar.d firem. u o
the Northern Pacific are alleged to e
involved.
The American battleship flee* lef'
Gibraltar for the last lap of the 4"
000 mile trip around the v%or!d
Washington.
With the approach of the Erse-. 1
session of ihe congress from the con
sideration of a revised tariff activit s
in regard to the investigation of wood
nulp and print paper are being re
newed. The select committee on pulp
and paper investigation met. It is *
inderstood the committee will recom
mend a considerable reduction on th 4
iuty of cheap print paper.
Representative Watson of Indiana,
republican whin of the house, told the
president that the bill admitting Ar
xona and New Mexico to statehood
will i ass the house.
The bill to permit Omaha and Win
nebago Indians to drain their land
passed both houses. Senator Burkett,
seeks to secure denatured alcohol .
still for Nebraska university. 1 J
Miss Marth'na Harrison, grand
daughter of the late ex-Presldcnt
Harrison and of the late Senator
Alvin Saunders of Omaha, led the
cotillion at the fashionable Chevy
Chase club given by a party of danc
ing bachelors and benedicts.
The friends of Representative T.
F. Boyd of the Third Nebraska dis
trict will be pleased to learn that
his wife, who was taken ill a week
after the commencement of the pres
ont congress, has now almost re
covered her health.
Miss O. L. Paciget of Laramie.
Wyo., has been appointed clerk m tile
forest service at Ogden. Utah.
Moses G. McNaughton of Burling,
ton. Ia.. has been appointed guard
at the Leavenworth, Kan., United
States penitentiary.
Personal.
•president' Roosevelt, Generals
Wright and Wilson, Governor Wilson
of Kentucky, former Governor Folk
of Missouri and Bishop Galloway
were sneakers at memorial exercises
on Lincoln’s farm at Hodgenvillc.
Ky.
Dr. Nathaniel S. Thomas of Phila
delphia has been elected Episcopal
bishop of Wyoming.
The makeup of Taft's cabinet is
still in the dark and will so remain
until March 4.
Woman suffrage was killed in the
Nebraska senate by a small vote.
William H. Leavitt will come to
America to fight the divorce preweed
Ings df his wife, daughter of William
J. Bryan
An effort will be made to make Sen
at or Knox eligible to the office of
secretary of state.
The name of Franklin MaeVeagh Is
connected with the treasury portfolio
in the Taft cabinet.
Senator Burkett has accepted an in
vitation of the Atlantic City Board of
Trade to speak before that holy at a
banauet on February 20.
Sees Troubie Ahead.
In a club composed of young people
which was originally organized for
bridge purposes the chafing dish has
become the prime feature, and prizes
are sought for by the creators of “new
dishes, nicely prepared and moderate
in cost.” One member, who would
never have joined except for his fond
ness for the game, said: “It’s all very
interesting for the people who like
those things, and I would enjoy the
cooking bees myself if it were not for
the fact that one must eat the ere
aliens to be polite. I have been ti
close observer since lire contest began. ^
and am sure that every woman thinks
that the dishes suggested by the oth
ers are horrid. And l agree with them
and am sure ths.t a row will come in
at the finish.”
Enfl,a"d >" Telegraph Sending.
While the British send on an aver
age two telegrams a head each year
according to government statistics the “V
Americans send only one and ’one
tenth and the Germans nine-tenths.
