The Powels were important figures in upper-class Philadelphia and good friends of the President and his wife.  This note is a reply to an invitation to join the Powels at a circus (in fact, the first documented circus in America). …

Dear Madam                                 Mount Vernon January the 18 1788

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…

While George Washington served his second Presidental term in Philadelphia, Martha Washington’s niece Fanny lived at Mount Vernon and oversaw the household. This letter suggests that even when she was away from her home, Martha continued to play…

“His excellency – the General & Mrs[.] Washington amidst flattering public prospects have Received the most fatal blow to their Domestic felicity – the amiable Mr[.] Custis, Mrs[.] Washington’s only child has just been obliged by the rigid…