The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1882-01-19
MT. VERNON.
A Visit to the Resting Place of
Washington.

washington.
special Correspondence to the DEMOCRAT
visit to Washington is not complete
unless you visit Mt. Vernon and the
tomb of Washington, and 30 we took
passage on the beautiful stem boat,
w. W. COrcOran, which plies daily be-
tween Washington and Mt. Vernon. This
boat is we'll Officered and elegantly fur
nished, with every convenience to make
he trip delightful and pleasant. The
distance by the river is seventeen miles
and the river view along the Potomac is
beautiful. The first object that meets
the eye of the passenger after leaving
Washington, on the left bank of the
Potomac, is the United States Arsenal
This is very large building and sur
rounded by beautiful and OTnamented
grounds. 1t is visited by hundreds of
sight-seers. Just below the Arsenal is
the Government Insane Asylum. On
the Virginia shore is the Seminary of
Virginia, under tie care of the Episcopal
Church. On each bank Of the river you
see dotted here and there, old forts, and
many places whose reputation has be-
come national in the different parts of
the country. About half way between
Washington and Mt. Vernon is the old
city of Alexandria, which, at one time,
suffered greatly during the late civil
war, and now its streets look deserted
and the buildings dilapidated. Many of
the buildings which were occupied by
the soldiers have never been repaired
and the broken glass in the windows
have not been replaced by new ones.
We saw the spot where Colonel Ellsworth
was killed in 1861; one of the first vic
tins of the civil war. Alexandria is an
old city and has great historic interest.
1t was here that General BraddOck had
his headquarters before starting out on
his famous Indian and French cam
paign in 1855, when Washington was
appointed his aide-de-camp. From the
Potomac you can see the spire of Christ
Church, of which Washington was a
member. 1t was built of brick imported
from England, and 8 now ninety-nine
years old. The church has been repaired,
but WashingtOn's pew is the same as
when he sat in it. 1t is marked by a
marble tablet. Visitors going to Christ
Church are seated in this pew. Wash
ingtOn cast his first vote at Alexandria
in 1704 and his last vote in 1899 at the
same place, when he uttered that fam
GUS sentiment: 81 vote for measures,
not men," A half hours ride on the
Potomac from Alexandria brought us to
Mt. Vernon. The river here is two miles
wide and the Mansion is 200 feet above
the river, commanding a grand view for
miles in each direction. The Washing
ton estate formerly consisted of 5000
acres, but now only 200 acres remain.
1t was purchased by the Association
for 100000. Of this amount,
Edward Everett gave over $68,OOO,
the proceeds of his lecture on Washing
tons Life and his contributions to the
New York Ledger. 1t is the object of
the Association when anything decays
by the touch of time to replace it just as
1t was in the days of the great hero of
our country. The grounds and man
sion are kept as clean as human hands
can keep them. AT the steamboat land
ing, visitors are met by the Superin-
tendent of the grounds, who first con-
Quoted us to the tomb of Washington
We looked through the iron gate and
stood face to face with the remains of him
who was first in war, first in peace and
hrst in the hearts of his cOuntrymen.
The tomb is about IL feet square. The
sarcOphagus on the right contains the
remains of Washington; the one on the
LETT that of Martha Washington. Both
are made OF Pennsylvania marble and
were the present of citizen of Phlla-
uelph1a. Our attention was next di-
Tected TO the old oak tree under which
washington frequently sat in summer
Time and was his favOrite resort. 1t is
very old now and has been shattered by
the storms. Most of the trees about the
grove are of forest growth, but some
have teen brought from foreign coun-