Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1865-08-10
NUMBER II.

deposited in the Mount Vernon vaults
Soon after the death of Major Lewis, the
Woodlawn estate was sold by his only son
Lorenzo, to a colony of Quakers from New
Jersey, who still retain much of it, divided
into farms The Woodlawn mansion, with
a splendid farm of five hundred acres sur
rounding it, belongs to John Mason, Esq,
who came there from New Hampshire in
1850. The mansion is of brick, with slate
roof, and lofty pillars, fronting the river on
commanding site looking down upon the
whole Mount Vernon estate. Lorenzo
Lewis died some years ago in Clark county,
and the other daughter, the wife of a Mr..
Butler, is living in Mississippi.
John A. Washington went to Fauquer
county with his family in 1860, and pur-
chased a farm known as Wareland. His
wife died suddenly soon after and it is we'll
known that he fell, as colonel of a rebel
regiment, early in 1861, leaving family of
seven children, the youngest two being lit
tie boys, and the only male children ever
born at the Mount Vernon mansion. There
are some one thousand acres Of the Mount
Vernon estate, belonging to these orphan
children, lying in close proximity to the
Mount Vernon mansion The Mount Yer
non estate was probably never under
finer state of cultivation than it is at the
present time. The farmers have been Ship
ping manure III large quantities from this
city this season, and piling it at their land
ings on the river for further use. At the
present time there are two thousand Gov
ernmont mules grazing upon different farms
i'll that section. These mules are separated
into squads Of five hundred, and with fif
teen mounted men to control them, are put
into heavy grass field, kept closely to-
| gether, and compelled to eat clean as they
| go. a squad thus eats some more than
two acres Of the heaviest grass in day for
which they pay five cents a head or twen-
ty-five dollars day for the squad. The
ground behind them looks as though no
grass had grown there this season.
The grounds Immediately around the
mansion and tomb bear evidence of care
and taste. The approach to the tomb and
to the mansion from the river is highly pic
turesque and delightful. The appearance
Of both the tomb and the mansion has been
familiar to all Americans in illustrated
books from the childhood of most of those
who now read the daily press. We have
seen this sacred spot many times in the last
| thirty years, and never saw it looking bet
ter than now.
1t may be interesting to many who are
now visiting the place for the first time to
know that the remains of W ashington were
| originally deposited in the old vault, which
is pointed out to all visators, and in ma
hogany coffin lined with lead The vault
was damp, and the wood was three times
renewed before being placed into the recep-
tacle where they now repose. In 1881 the
new vault was erected, and the remains
transferred. A Philadelphia marble-worker
proposed to furnish a marble sarcophagus
but on visiting the tomb declined to do so
if it was to be put into so damp a vault.
An ante-chamber was, therefore, erected in
front of the vault, some dozen feet high,
with an arched gateway, and gate formed
of iron rods In this anie-chamber, on the
| right, is the sarcophagus containing the re-
mains of Washington, and on the left an
other precisely like it containing the re-
mains of Mrs. Washington and it may be
added that her remains have been moved
as often as those of the great chief The
sarcophagus is eXcavated from a solid
| block of pure white marble and was placed
there in 1887. Within the vault proper
| are the bodies of many members of the fam
| lily. On either side, as you come near to
the vaults, stands marble obelisk, in
scribed with names of leading members of
the Washington family. The design upon
ashington's sarcophagus covers the most
Of the top of the lid, and consists of shield,
divided into thirteen perpendicular stripes,
| resting on the national flag, and attached
by cords to spear embellished with tas-
sails, l.,.l
The crest is an eagle with open wings
perching upon the superior bar of the shield,
| and clutching the arrows and olive branch.
Below the armorial bearing is the name,
deeply sculptured, of Washington" On
| the plain lid of the other sarcophagus are
the words, in plain large letters, Martha
| Washington"
An addition, erected at one end of the
mansion after Washington's time, has been
| torn away and the structure is now in the
exact form as when left by the Father of
his Country. 1t is well known that the
mansion, as originally erected and left by
Lawrence Washington, was much enlarged
| by General Washington, section being
| added to each end, making it, as it now
stands, ninety-six feet in length, north and
| south, with porticO, fronting the river,
extending from end to end This portico
having decayed, has been replaced by an
exact copy Of the old. The mansion is two
stories high, of wood, finished in imitation
of freestone, and painted white. Four
teen small windows, with old fashioned di-
minutive panes of glass, look out upon
beautifully sloping lawns, and down upon
the river from an elevation of two hundred
| feet above the river level There are six
rooms on the floor with spacious hall run
ming through the centre from east to west.
The north room is the large dining-hall in
which is the exquisite marble mantelpiece,
wrought in Italy, shipped on an English
vessel during the French revolution, cap
tured by the French, and promptly forwar-
ded by the French Government when La
fayette made known that it was a present
from an American wine merchant, residing
in Marseilles, to Washington In this room
are also the double banked harpsichord,
shaped like a modern square piano-a
wedding present to his adopted daughter
Nelly Curtis; the tripod which served
Washington in all his surveys, and the
large set of matched mahogany dining-ta.
bles. The dining-hall opens at either end
into an east and west parlor, in one OF
which is an old dilanidated LARGO oIohe