DeButts, Mary Custis Lee, ed. Growing Up in the 1850s: The Journal of Agnes Lee. Chapel Hill: Published for the Robert E. Lee Memorial Association by the University of North Carolina Press, 1984.

Sunday, 3/23/1856

“[Sunday, 3/23/1856] I had forgotten that during the time my journal was discontinued, dear old Mammy died about seventy-eight years old. One morning before Christmas, when Sister went to carry her julip she was cold & lifeless, but O I trust her spirit is in Heaven. She was as faithful as could be. How I missed her Christmas. When we paid the servants our usual visits there was one pair of steep steps up which I had no cause to go. She is the last but two of the Mt. Vernon servants. What tales she could tell of “those good old times” of Mrs. Washington’s beauty & good management. How “she was one of the out-door gals & would run to open the gate for the Gen.” And when my beautiful Aunt Lewis was married “how ole Mistis let all the servants come in to see it & gave them such good things to eat,” “how Ole Mistis was dressed so splendid, in a light flowered satin your Aunt Lewis all in something white, beautiful too.” But though a celebrated beauty she did not come up to “Ole Mistis” in Mammy’s eyes! she [sic] could not see why so much fuss was made over “the genl, he was only a man!”, a very good master she was sure, but she didn’t suppose he was so much better than anyone else.” O those nice talks! we [sic] won’t have any more….”

Letter, John Wallace to Matthew Cary, November 22, 1784. Photostat of manuscript letter. Mount Vernon Ladies' Association.

“…I met a very favourable reception from Lady Washington-I spent an entire day with her-She is a very sensible Lady, rather elderly, has four Grand-Children in her house one little Boy and three girls-She pressed me a good deal to stay at her house, till the General wou’d return. I forgot to tell you that the General went to Richmond a few days before we reached Alexandria-His return is expected in less than a fortnight….”

letter

Lee, Jean Butenhoff, ed. Experiencing Mount Vernon: Eyewitness Accounts, 1784-1865.  Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2006.

From Samuel Latham Mitchill to his wife, 12/7/1801

“…On our arrival we were received by Mr. Lewis, a gentleman who married one of the Misses Custis, a granddaughter of Mrs. Washington, and who, with his wife, now resides here. Presently Mrs. Washington and her other granddaughter, the celebrated Mrs. Law, now here on a visit, entered. The old lady was habited in black, and wore a plain cap with a black ribbon; she was affable and polite, and made us welcome in that hospitable though unceremonious manner that without hesitation we agreed to stay and dine. Mrs. Law was dressed in white, and both looked and acted in that engaging and superior way for which she is so justly famed. Her little daughter and her husband were with her. Three young ladies, the Misses Stewart and a Miss Henley, and Mrs. Washington’s grandson, Mr. Custis, also joined us a little before dinner. Mrs. Washington presided like a lady of hospitality and good sense, tempered by much acquaintance with company. Every thing [sic] was neat and well-ordered, bespeaking her to be quite the mistress of her household, and regulating all its concerns.” (93-94)

"A Visit to Mount Vernon -- A Letter of Mrs. Edward Carrington to her sister, Mrs. George Fisher." The William and Mary Quarterly, Second Series, 18 2 (April 1938): 198-202.

"Yes we arrived at this venerable mansion in perfect safety, where we are experiencing every mark of hospitality & kindness that the good old General's continued friendship to Col. C. lead us to expect; his reception of my husband was that of a Brother; he took us each by the hand & with a warmth of expression not to be described, pressed mine, & told me that I had conferred a favour, never to be forgotten, in bringing his old friend to see him; then bidding a servant to call the ladies entertained us most facetiously till they appeared."

"Mrs. Washington venerable, kind & plain, & resembling very much our aunt A-----."

"...but now when I see her [i.e. Eleanor Parke Custis Lewis] the Matron, for such her situation makes her appear, though she has only been ten months a wife, lovely as nature could form her, improved in every female accomplishment & what is still more interesting, amiable & obliging in every department that makes woman most charming, particularly in her conduct to her aged Grandmother & the General..."

"It is really an enjoyment to be here, to witness the tranquil happiness that reigns throughout the house (except now & then a little bustle, occasioned by the young squire Custis when he returns from hunting, bringing in a 'Valiant Deer' as he terms it, 'that Grand Pa & the Col. will devour'..."

"My mornings are spent charmingly alternately in the different chambers; first an hour after breakfast with the lady in the straw -- dressing the pretty little stranger, who is the delight of the Grand-Ma; then we repair to the old lady's room, which is precisely on the style of our good old aunt's, that is to say nicely fixed for all sorts of work -- on one side sits the chambermaid with her knitting on the other a little colored pet, learning to sew, an old, decent women with her table and shears cutting out the negroes winter clothes, while the good old lady directs them all, incessantly knitting herself, & pointing out to me several pair of nice coloured stockings & gloves she had just finished, & presenting me with a pair half done, begs me to finish, & wear for her sake --
Her netting too is a great source of amusement, & is so neatly done, that all the younger part of the family are proud of trimming their dresses with it and have furnished me with a whole suit, so that I shall appear "A la domestique" at the first party we have when we get home."

letter

Smith, Eliza B. • The Compleat housewife; or, Accomplish'd gentlewoman's companion, being a collection of upwards of six hundred of the most approved receipts in cookery, pastry ... with copper plates curiously engraven ... and also bills of fare for every month of the year, to which is added, a collection of above three hundred family receipts of medicines. TX705 .S53 1742b, rare books and special collections, Rockefeller Library.

book

Bremner, Robert. The Harpsichord or Spinnet Miscellany being a gradation of proper lessons from the beginning to the tolerable performer chiefly intended to save masters the trouble of writing for their pupils: to which are prefixed some rules for time. London: R. Bremner, c1765. Rare Books and Special Collections in the Rockefeller Library at Colonial Williamsburg. MT243 .B74 H37 1765.

Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

book

sewing accessories

National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution

musical instrument

engraving

musical instrument