The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-09-23
SACRED SPOT NEGLECTED
WHERE THE MOTHER OF WASH
INGTON LIES BURIED.


Woman-Her Influence on the Desti
MES of the Country.
From the NelU York Herald.
FREDERICKSBURG, VA, Sept. 6.-Mary
Washington, the mother of our country
through her illustrious son George, died
here Tuesday. Aug. %, 1889, ana was buried
here 100 years ago on the eth of last
month, in the then family burying ground
of the Lewis family.
This neglected spot was part of the es-
tate of her daughter, Bette Lewis, who
lived at the time in her large house, very
near by. This house now stands we'll pre-
served, and was built of English brick
brought to this country about the middle
of the last century. l walked up Charles
street, and not far from the heart of the
town was shown the home of Mary Wash
ington, modest frame structure fronting
upon this street and abutting upon Lewis
street, with its So uare portico encroaching
upon the sidewalk. The rear portion,
about half way down the slope of the roof,
is of brick, dovetailing into the wooden
structure, which suggests the idea that
modern has reversed the continental style
of architecture according to our forefathers'
ideas of effects. The foundations are of stone
shutting in an ample cellar, with an iron
grating in a wooden frame on the front.
The portion occupied by Mary Washing
ingtOn is the wing on the corner. 1t was in
this room fronting the street that she lived
and died. The higher portion, with, the
porch. has, it is believed, been added since.
| raised the old brass knocAer with feel
ing of veneration, aud striking 1.-THE sound
was suggestive of the drop of a coffin han
die. This knocker is peculiarly suggestive.
1t is an eagle resting upon bracket and
holding in his claws the rim of a shield
which when raised strikes upon the bracket.
w. j. Moon now owns the house and
has possessed it since 1877. l examined care
fully the records here in the court house
and found that the place had been owned
by seven different people in the last fifty
years; back of that the record does not show
here, but may be found in the county court
house in Spottsylvania.
WORN AWAY BY GENERATIONS OF FINGER
NAILS.
Within TIE house nothing remains of the
furniture or anything that was used by
Mary Washington except the cupboard
reaching TO the roof, whose very doors are
"rat-eaten'' with the fingers prying it open
for century and half. The stairway
leading to the attic is narrow, and breaks
with a right angle few steps from the
lower floor. The kitchen, originally built
of logs, has been covered over with plank.
The shutters and sash are all the originals.
the fastenngs to tho shutters are
of a very crude manufacture, but
have swung their welgnty bur
dens in storm and sunshine for long years,
while the rust of ages has been gnawing
them away.
1t is very evident Mary Washington did
not own this house; persons to whom l
stated this promptly denied the proposition.
found her will executed May %, 1888, in
which she makes specific requests of all her
| property with no general clause. 1t is there
| fore very evident she did not die possessed
of this place. Her daughter owned quite a
| large tract of land, which at one time in
GUIDED this property and the three or more
squares that are now built upon back to the
| Kenmore house and the family burying
| ground; in fact, her farm covered consider
| able area, now not exactly known. All
sorts of errors and mistakes are creeping
| into the mouths of the people and the press.
| Some of her relatives have stated in the
columns of the Herald that she died early
| in September. There is no record of the
date Of her death here. No one knew it ex-
cept a scholarly gentleman who had occa-
| sion to use it and looked it I'D in the library
at Richmond. Another error made by a
distinguished writer, who evidently took no
pains to examine proper authorities, states
that she moved to Fredericksburg in 1850
an error shall presently show.
Climbing the planks that were nailed
across an opening evidently intended to
swing gate, l stood near the pile of desc
Grated stone and the obelisk pointing down
ward as it lay on the ground near by. A
| toad FASTENED to the cover of the thicket
near by, while the light winged swallow
overhead dipped and showed me the grass
and weeds that grew luxuriantly on the 100
square feet at the top of what was intended
| as the base of the monument. Vandalism
| has shown its wretched work.
Not perfect stone remains unbroken at
it's corners and edges. Two stones have
been pulled from their places and carried
| away Two of the eight small columns have
been carried away, while two others are on
! the ground The lower stone that must
have been broken to remove it, left an open
! ing which shows the poor class of work in
side the thin marble coating of the base
| The shell of marble is filed with cobble
| zones and common mortar, which the raw
ages of time and fro t and rain are disinteg-
rating so that within few years the pile
| is bound to crumble into a chaotic mass
| The ohelisk is in the rough, unfinished shape
it came from the quarry showing the drill
| marks along its edges and face. In It's base
| is inserted an iron rod intended to hold it in
| WAGE. IL IL Ut1u UGH LulSIletl pun liIuO
position it would have followed that the
base giving away from the superintendent
press ire would have caused the shaft to tilt,
| and this rod would have been snapped like
a reed. This obelisk is feet square at its
base and tapers to a foot and half, being
| l6 feet 10 inches long. The original plan
| if carried out would have been O monument
such as it might be, 10 feet square at its
base and 30 feet inches in hight. There is
no chisel cut that tells that Mary Washing
ton was born, lived life that did as much
to shape our cOuntry's destiny and history
| as its armies, and died at the ago of 80,
| Aug. %, 1889. There are some initials cut
| and penciled on the crumbling mass of
marble and cobblestones-they are the
Shiny tracings of the worms that desecrate
| the dead.
TRADITIONS OF THE NEIGHBORHooD.
The associations of this spot are some
| thing more than a mere gra vedigger's
house with its tenant of clay. Near by
| Mary Washington was wont to seat herself
under shelving rock that looks like the
mouth of cave, to read and mediate.
| Tradition says that many an afternoon or
morning she spent under that rock alone
with her thoughts or the printed thoughts
of others: watching the sunset, perhaps
thinking of the shadows already beginning
! to stretch towards her.
| The people Of Fredericksburg are not lack
| ing in patriotic affection for the memory
of Mary Washington. As far back as 1881
an effort was made to raise funds to place