Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1892-03-31
MARY WASHINGTON.
The Restoration of Her Monument soon
TO BE Completed.

TO BE Completed.
Mrs. Ella Bassett Washington in the April Gen.
tury.l
Those who remembered Mary Washing
toms appearance in the later years OF her
life describe her person as being OF me-
djum size and well proportional. tine Dig
nifty of bearing, the erect carrlage, giving
something Of stateliness to her presence,
while her features we're regular ana strong
ly marked. her brow fine. and her eyes
clear blue. -,
No authentic portrait of Mary Washing
ton Is known; it is family tradition that
in the destruction of Wakefield by FIRE the
family PORTRAITS were lost. Colonel II. W.
u. Gusts was questioned as TO his know
LEDGE of the subject. and replied by letter
to Colonel Lewis w. Washington that
there was no picture preserved OF the
mother Of the chief" and this has been
always the belief of her descendants.
At Fredericksburg on the day 81 tae III,
neral all business was suspended, ana
though the August sun shone hot, crowds
of citizens from town and the country
around thronged st. Georges church,
where the impressive funeral ser
vice of the Protestant Episcopal Church OF
America was conducted by the
Rev. Thomas Thornton, her pastor. Anu
then. borne revereptly In her CONN oy
strong men, tle noitai iphi.,H' - =
WASHINGTON were conveyed TO the spot sne
had chosen for her burial. followed by
long procession.
Colonel Custis. DR.. LOSING, and other
writers have emphasized the transmitted
accounts of her death, telling how " cler-
oymen throughout the land spoke elC,
Guently from their pulplts oil the honored
dead. while members OK Congres5 ana many
private citizens wore the usual oadge OK
mourning IN respect 70 her memory IN
n long letter 10 his sister-recently gwen
IN Ford's NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. SPEAKS
rehpiouslv and tenderly OF their mothers
death and her Christian character:
For many years her grave remained I'M
, marEed. About the year 1890 there was a
plan proposed to remove the remains ana
10 place them IN a vault under the PresDy-
| terrain church: but to this the washington
| family positively refused 10 consent.
Many other suggestions ana propoemshiss
were made, but nothing was done III az
| last. in 1888. the Hon. Silas j.. Burrows, OF
| New York. offered 70 raise monument at
| his nriyate expense. The cornerstone
was laid with imposing ceremonies oy the
| President of the United States. General
| Andrew jackson, in the presence OF the
| relatives. many distinguished guests. anu
| a large concourse of people.
Unfortunately, when the monument was
almost completed, the generous uonor,
meeting with sudden and severe reverse
of fortune. was unable to finish the. work
OF placing the obelisk upon IT'S handsome
base. Hoping to rally from his financial
prostration. Mr.. Burrows requested the
committee to wait awhile until ne could
have the work finished. but not
lone afterward he died. before re-
covering anything of his fortune.
Then disacreements arose regarding the
matter. and the shaft lay prone upon the
ground. slowly disintegrating, for nearly
sixty years. until the women OF tue eoIn-
| try rallied to the rescue. as they did Tor
| Mt. Vernon and the Mary Washington
Monument Association, organized lew
years ago and now successfully worklng,
plan, and perfectly restore the now mu-
| tilated monument.