Soon after his arrival in America in 1796, Benjamin Henry Latrobe became friends with Bushrod Washington, nephew of George Washington. At Bushrod’s invitation, Latrobe visited Mount Vernon during his time in Virginia. This watercolor depicts…

This collection of popular songs was well-known both in England and in colonial America. In 1758, Martha Custis ordered the work from Robert Cary, one of her London agents. The collection would have been used for communal singing as part of social or…

This bathing gown is a rare example of the survival of a complete garment worn by Martha Washington. The gown, made of blue and white linen with lead weights sown into the hem for modesty, was probably worn by Martha on a 1769 trip to the mineral…

Samuel Vaughan, an Englishman who immigrated to America, visited Mount Vernon in August 1787. In his journal, he described Mount Vernon and made the earliest-known sketch of the grounds. He later mailed George Washington a more detailed and…

Partial transcript:

"...am obliged to be my one [own] Housekeeper which takes up the greatest part of my time, - our cook Hercules went away so that I am as much at a loss for a cook as for a house keeper. - altogether I am sadly…

Partial transcript:

"...the President seemed a good deal surprised - at the quantity of wine that you have given out, as it never was his intention to give wine or goe to any Expence to entertain people that came to Mount vernon out of curiosity…

In this letter, Martha Washington writes to her sister Anna Maria Dandridge Bassett about a variety of household news. The letter displays a characteristic social graciousness in interacting with friends and family. The grammar and spelling are…

Recipe Take the wild or Indian Turnip when it is in blossom or has the fruit on it, wash and cut it in thin slices Run a thread thro it, and hang it in the chimney corner to dry quickly but do not let the fire come to it - when it is very dry power…