Marble Hill press., 1890-08-14
NELLIE GUSTS AND LAWRENCE LEWIS
An Incident In the Home Life Of the Firs.
President.

. As may be supposed. Nellie had q
great many suitors, and among them
some of the most brilliant men of the
day. 1t was very natural that WASH
ington should desire TO bind the dear
child. on whom he dotted. by still closer
ties. Accordingly. We find that when
young Lawrence Lewis, his favorile
nephew, the son of his beloved sister
Elizabeth, came to reside at Mount Ver-
non as his private secretary. Washing
ton favored the young mans suit for
the hand of his foster-'laughter. Nellie
was beautiful, gay. had the world be-
fore her where to choose, and was. per-
haps, like all bellies, little capricious.
'Grandmamma" had some other plans
for her; but no restraint was brought
to bear upon the young girl. There is
a long letter. preserved by her brother
George, written to her by General
Washington when she was only sixteen
years of age, on the event of her first
ball. 1t was full of wise and gentle ad-
vice to her on the matter of love and
marriage, and he gives her Il number
of hints about avoiding coquetry,
to which. perhaps, Nellie was a
little inclined. He begs her not to let
her impulses run away with her; but to
be as reasonable in the matter of love
as she was in everything else. lie was
evidently afraid that some of the gay
wits of the day might deprive his dear
Lawrence Of the wife he intended for
him.
BE that as it may, u singular oc-
currence, related to me by one of
Ncllie's great-nieccs precipfated tho
matter. "Nellic," she said. "haa Il
great fancy for enacting the nurse
when there was anything the matter
with the health of her friends" She
was very fond of giving powders, p"
prescribing ''lotions," and doing all she
could, in the exceeding kindness of her
heart, to restore them; for it will he re-
membcrcd that, in those more primi-
tive DAYS, w:men were better domestic
doctors than they are now, when every
ache and pain has its professional
specialist.
1t so happened, one day, that the
handsome young Lawrence, to whose
persistent addresses she had never
given as yet very earnest attention,
fell i'll. He was living at Mount Vernon
an inmate, with Nellie, of the family,
What was more natural than that
she should bring her medical skill tc
bear upon him? She accordingly pre-
pared powder, which was duly alt
ministered. What was her horror, AM
that of the family, to find, after it ha,
been taken, that 4 mistake had bccl
made, and that the drug given was ;
poison! OF course Ncllie's agony wa
intense, and she probably discovered
then, for the first time, how neccssar,
this life had become to hers. In he
remorse and grief, she vowed that i
Lawrence recovered she would MARI,
him. Lawrence did recover, and in du
time she became his wife.
The marriage was n very brillan
one. All the great people of til
neighborhood, distinguished officers q
the army, celebrities from abroad, an
the Government officers of the ne,
1 capital were present to grace tn
festivities. which took place on the %
of February, Washington's birthdays
Mount Vernon. There was not negr
on the plantation that day who did nc
share in the joy of Little Missy's wet
ding"
The young married pair lived, for
while, with the President, but tinall
took up their abode on an estate, b'
longing to the Lewis family, callc
"Wood!awn," which lay bctwee
Mount Vernon and Arlington. Tn
was the home where most of Nell
Custiss long and happy life was passet
She devoted herself with noble assid,
ity, and with all II Virginia matron
unsellishness, just as she had seen he
grandmother do before, to the burden
some duties of " plantation people
with large number of servants,
J whom she was the best of mistresses,
the exercise of vast hospitality, ;
well as to the education of her sever
childrcn.--Margurct j. Preston, IN 5
, Nicholas.