Letter from Mrs Washington
to her husband.
MOUNT VERNON, VA. - The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association has
acquired an extremely rare letter handwritten by Martha to George
Washington.
The note is a postscript to a letter written to George Washington
by his cousin Lund Washington, on March 30, 1767, when the future
president was in Williamsburg for a session of the Virginia House
of Burgesses.
Lund Washington managed Mount Vernon during George Washington's
frequent absences, and the letter contains interesting
information on early farming practices and a runaway slave. What
makes this letter extraordinary, however, is the affectionate
note from Martha Washington. Mrs Washington burned what she
thought was all written correspondence shared between husband and
wife following the death of George Washington in 1799. The only
other surviving letter she wrote to her husband is owned by the
Virginia Historical Society. Unlike Mount Vernon's letter, the
note in Richmond is unsigned.
"This letter is extremely important to Mount Vernon and the story
of George and Martha Washington," said James Rees, executive
director of Historic Mount Vernon. "Of the thousands of letters
undoubtedly exchanged between the couple, only a handful has
survived. This warm letter provides some insight into their
relationship, and it helps us talk about George Washington the
husband, in addition to George Washington the President, general
and farmer."
The letter reads:
[Mount Vernon, 30 March 1767]
My Dearest
It was with very great pleasure that I see in your letter that
you got safely down [to Williamsburg]. we are all very well at
this time but it still is rainney and wett I am sorry you will
not be at home soon as I expected you I had reather my sister
woud not come up so soon, as May would be much plasenter time
than april we wrote to you last post as I have nothing new to
tell you I must conclude my self.
your most Affectionate
Martha Washington
The purchase of the letter was made possible by the late Jess and
Grace Pavey, two of the foremost collectors and dealers of
Americana whose $1.2 million charitable trust was established in
2000. The Pavey Fund enhances Mount Vernon's ability to compete
with private collectors and other institutions for Eighteenth
Century objects.
"The Pavey Fund allows Mount Vernon to be more aggressive in the
marketplace when an important object is available," said Linda
Ayers, director of collections. "It continues to play a critical
role in acquiring objects and has drastically increased our
ability to return significant Washington-related pieces and
period objects to Mount Vernon."
"Life of George Washington - The Citizen," Claude Regnier after
Julius Brutus Stearns, 1854. Color lithograph depicting a scene
from George and Martha Washington's wedding. Published by M.
Knoedler, Goupil & Co., New York, Paris, London, Berlin.
Courtesy the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association.
Other objects acquired by the Pavey Fund include an early land
survey executed by young George Washington, a Chinese export
porcelain tankard, a pair of Philadelphia andirons, a set of
three graduated crystal tazzas, a set of 11 Irish goblets, or
"runners," a George III marquetry tray and Eighteenth Century
engravings of George Washington by Alexander Campbell, John
Norman and J. Galland.
Since its founding in 1853, the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association
has been committed to locating and acquiring objects that
belonged to George and Martha Washington. In addition to the
newly acquired note from Martha Washington, Mount Vernon owns one
of only three surviving letters written by George Washington to
his wife. The adoring letter from the general was written during
the Revolutionary Was and was found lodged in the back of a desk
owned by Martha Washington and passed down through her family.
The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association purchased that letter in
1960.
The other two existing letters from George to Martha Washington
are at Tudor Place and the Rhode Island Historical Society. The
latter letter never reached Martha Washington.
