Experiencing Mount Vernon: Eyewitness Accounts, 1784-1865
- Experiencing Mount Vernon: Eyewitness Accounts, 1784-1865
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Dublin Core
Title
Experiencing Mount Vernon: Eyewitness Accounts, 1784-1865
Subject
Daily life at Mount Vernon
Creator
Jean Butenhoff Lee
Publisher
University of Virginia Press
Date
2006
Format
book
Language
eng
Additional Item Metadata
Citation
Lee, Jean Butenhoff, ed. Experiencing Mount Vernon: Eyewitness Accounts, 1784-1865. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2006.
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Quotations and Notes
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)
“…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)
Collection
How to Cite this Item
Jean Butenhoff Lee, "Experiencing Mount Vernon: Eyewitness Accounts, 1784-1865," in Martha Washington, Item #131, https://marthawashington.us/items/show/131 (accessed April 6, 2021).