The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-04-15
A DELAYED TRIBUTE
Monument to the Mother of Wash
ington to Be Raised May 10.
Ceremonies to Be Conducted by the
Woman's Memorial Association
Great Event i'm the Town.

ready in Fredericksburg for the great event
TO take place here on the 10th of May, when
tardy justice will be done TO the memory
Of Mary, the mother Of Washington by
defeating a handsome monument to her
fame on the long-neglected spot where her
body lies buried. The ceremonies are to be
under the auspices Of the National Mary
Washington Memorial Association by whom
the marble shaft has been reared-the first
instance in history, it is believed, of mon
ument TO a woman erected exclusively by
women. Unmistakable evidences of a uni
versal revival OF sentiment and interest in
the event are being received from all parts
of the country. President Cleveland and
his Cabinet. with their wives. Vice Presi-
dent and Mrs. Stevenson, Chief Justice Full
Ter, Governor O'Farrell, of Virginia and a
host OF other notables from all parts of the
Union have accepted invitations to be pres
ent including various chapters of the
Daughters and Sons Of the American Revo-
luton. Senator Daniel, of Virginia, and Mr..
Laurence Washington, a lineal descendant
Of Washington's mother, are booked as the
orators of the day, and the United States
Marine Band has been detailed to come
down from Washington and furnish music
for the occasion. The dedication ceremonies
will be followed in the evening by Ma
| sonic banquet and ball.
The monument is an obelsk Of plain
! white marble, fifty feet high and eleven
| feet square at the base, bearing an inscrip-
| ton in embossed letters simply MARY, the
| Mother of Washington" 1t was executed
in Buffalo, n. Y. and was set in position
| on Dec. %. last. The whole fabric cost
| $1,000, raised entirely by the ladies of the
National Mary Washington Memorial AS
| ISOLATION, and the monument is in itself
creditable alike TO the distinguished woman
whom it commentaries and to the patriotic
| American women who have honored them
| selves by thus honoring her. The associa-
| ton was formed only three years ago, and
| IL may well be a subject of qualification
| with its members and, indeed with all
| Americans, that the heroine-mother of our
! first President should at length 1O4 years
| after her DEATH have a suitable token of
| respect raised above her unheeded grave
| since lack of such 81 fitting memorial has
| whole Nation.
The previous attempts to discharge
| obvious duty in this respect have been
many, but all unsuccessful. Projects were
agitated after Mrs. Washingtons
| death TO mark her burial place by a stone
to be paid for by the Government, but in
the confusion attendant upon the organiza-
ton of the new nation they We're success
| siyely forgotten, revived and forgotten
| again. In 1896 Mr. George Washington
| Parke Curtis, Washington'S adopted son,
| lSSueu IL StlTTlUS appeal 10 the country, ana
wide interest in the matter was excited for
time, but it bore no fruit until 1893, when
| Hon. Silas Il. Burrows, of New York, Of
| fered to bear the expenses of constructing
a stately monument The design of this
| however, worthily conceived, was ridcul-
Gus from an artistic standpoint. Eight
| Grecian columns were set in embrazureS
| upon square pedestal and over these were
perched four eagles. Above tapered an ODE
| lisk surmounted by 81 bust of George
| Washington, and upon the bust was a fifth
eagle with outstretched wings.
The cornerstone of this fantastic con-
ceDtion Yves laid with great public pomp
by President Andrew Jackson, on May 4,
1893, in the presence of a vast crowd of citi-
zens, strangers, militia and Masonic So
cetieS. The romantic tale is told here that
lovely Southern girl, who had won the
affection of Mr.. Burrows, consented to mar
~ him on condition that he build the mon
ument as proposed, and that she Tilted him
before it was done, whereupon he aband-
oned the enterprise.
THE MOTHERS FAME.
However remarkable the lack OF informa-
ton elsewhere respecting Mary Ball, wife
of Augustine Washington and mother of
George Washington, everybody in Fred
ericksburg knows all about her and glories
in her history. They know the year and
place Of her birth-the year of grace 170t
and the place Epping Forest down the
| RappahannOck, in Lancaster county, Va,
which nearly two centuries ago was the
plantation home of her father. Col. Joseph
Ball, son of Col. William Ball, royalist
Englishman of gentle lineage, who emf
grated to America away back in 1867.
While the name and fame of Mary, the
TO the whole Nation, this quaint old ship
ping town of Fredericksburg claims and
n ns IT as particularly local heritage
lies the old Ferry farm of Pine Grove
where the heroine mother reared her three
sons and daughter-the oldest. by virtue OF
| force
character chosen as the deliveTer of his
struggling country. creator of the American
Republic, its most glorious soldier and its
first President. Right here in the heart OF
the town, on Charles street still stands the
| interesting old wooden house which Mary
Washington purchased for a residence at
the suggestion Of her illustrious son when
the revolution broke out, and where she
| passed fourteen years at the close of heI
benehcent life. 1t is perhaps the most es-
teemed relic in Fredericksburg, which is
full of Washington mementoes and other
AS originally built it of the cottage
type but later 1t was enlarged to its pres
| ent proportions. 1t IS of two stories in the
center and one at the wings, with half
story attics lighted by dormer windows
There are four windows OF uniform size on
the first floor and three on the central Sec
ond story over the pOrtico entrance. On
the side street there are also four windows
of unequal size In the detached building
at the rear are the kitchen and servants
| dormitories. Behind this is a spacious back
yard, which in her day Mary Washington
flowers. calycanthus. hollyhocks and other
old-fashioned blossoms OF our great-grand-
mothers time. Here. when the revolution
was fully on. she received from her son.
the commander-in-chief, dispatches from
time to time by special couriers. giving
| tidings of the strife as il progressed.
| Here, also when Yorktown had been won
| and the fate of the war decided triumph
antly for the colonies, and the allied French
and American troops entered the town on
their way TO Philadelphia, she received her
| son alone. who had made his way unattenG-
ed through the streets vocal with his name
to the corner cottage, where she trembling
| ly awaited him. after an unavoidable alb
sence OF eight stormy years. On the next
| evening, Nov II. 17Sl. she proudly issued
| thence, hanging her sons arm. and was
I conducted by him with loving pride to the
town hall. where in public as the hero's
| mother she presided over the peace ball
| given in honor OF the great victory for
liberty, arrayed in black silk gown and
snowy kerchief and cap. and received with
! placid dignity the compliments of the home
and foreign officers. holding delightful court
until 10 o'clock when. making a sign tc
| the kingly commander-in-chief who was
leading a Fredericksburg matron through
the mnuet, she called, archly in her clear
sDrightly voice. Come George, IL is time
for old folks TO be at home"
LAFAYETTE'S VISIT.
In the back yard of this same old cottage
working among her flowers and garden
pots. Mary Washington received Lafayette