My dear Fanny                                       New York…

In1790, Congress voted to move the nation’s capital from New York City to a temporary location in Philadelphia. Senator Robert Morris, a wealthy financier, offered his home to the Washingtons to serve as the residence for the chief executive…

When Daniel Parke Custis was courting Martha Dandridge, he enlisted the help of his friend John Blair to convince John Custis (Daniel’s father) that the match was appropriate. This letter contains the news that John Custis had capitulated…

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…

Letter from George Washington to Oliver Wolcott, Jr., Secretary of War, requesting Wolcott's help in returning a fugitive slave to Mount Vernon. The slave was Ona Judge, Martha Washington's body servant, who had escaped from Philadelphia to New…

This 1861 painting by noted American portraitist Daniel Huntington was titled The Republican Court. (When it was published as a mass-marketed engraving, the title was changed to Lady Washingtonn’s Reception.) The painting is an idealized…

[Female g]rievances debated, in six dialogues between two young ladies, concerning love and marriage. Viz. I. Proving that women, as well as men, are inclin'd to love, and equally desirous to propagate their kind. II. Shewing what love is, its sorts…

There is now living in the borders of the town of Greenland, N.H., a runaway slave of Gen. Washington, at present supported by the County of Rockingham. Her name at the time of her elopement was ONA MARIA JUDGE. She is not able to give the year…