The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1897-03-24
WASIIINGTON'S LOVE AFFAIRS.
He was not q Success with Ladies Till
he Met the Widow Custis.


In paper recently read by Chaun-
ccy NJ. Depew in New York, at the re.
ception Of the Original Society Of
Colonel Danes Of America, the fol-
lowing account is noted of Washing
tons social life:
Washington was intensely human
as he was supremely great. He loved
women, he was fond of sport, he was
great hunter, ne was the best horse
man of his age, he delighted in balls
and parties and was a gallant dancer,
he travelled hundreds of miles to wit
ness trial of speed between famous
horses, and in common with the uni
versal habit of his time took his chan
ces in the lottery. While never a
drunkard or intemperatc in any way,
he was free liver and a generous and
iovial host. He seems to have been
unhappy in his earlier love scrapes.
He was 6 feet 2 inches high, straight
as an arrow, perfectly formed, except
that he had phenomenally large hands
and feet, and his face was pock-mark-
ed with the smallpox which he caught
at the Barbados. The Colonial girl
hirted recklessly with him, but never
seemed to fall in love with him. He
writes to one of his correspondents a
letter from Lord Fairfax's, in which
he says:
Ny place of residence is at present
at his lordship's, where might, were
my heart disengagcd, pass my time
very pleasantly, as there is very
agreeable young lady lives in the same
house, but as that is only adding fuel
to the fire, it makes me the more un-
easy, for by often and unavoidable
being in company with her revivcs my
former passion for your lowland beau
ty, whereas were to live more retir-
! ed from young women might in some
measure alleviate my sorrows by bury
ing that which is troublesome pas
sion in the grave of oblivion or eter-
nal forgetfulness, for, as | am very
we'll assured, that is the only antidote
or remedy that shall be relieved by
or only recess that can administer any
cure or help to me.
Who was this ''lowland beauty is
mooted question which probably can
never be decided. 1t has been dis
covered that he paid earnest attention
to and his heart was deeply touched
by Lucy Grymes, Mary Bland, Betsy
Fauntleroy and Alice Fairfax. Of all
these he was absorbed in and devoted
to Betsy Fauntleroy. He worshipped
at her shrine for several years, until a
rival carried her off.
Washington was the most industri-
GUS of correspondents, and in his let
ters revealed his most secret passions
and desires. But, though we know
how tenderly he loved and how long
he grieved over the loss of Betsy
Fauntlcroy, we are still in doubt as to
who was the lowland beauty who SEEM
ed to take possession of his heart as
soon as the charmer of the house was
driven or retired from it's portals.
Alas for Betsy. She failed to fore
cast the future, and as the wife Of a
Virginia planter lived to see her re-
jected lover become the greatest man
of that or any other age. Washing
ton became more popular With the
ladies after his return from Brad
docks defeat and the massacre. In
that battle he had two horses shot un-
der him, and four bullets through his
uniform, and had held his Virginia
regiment steady when the veteran red
coated British soldiers had all run
away. When he returned, the hero of
the hour, every Virginia house sent
invitations to the gallant young sol
dier to come and visit. He was here
and there and everywhere, but his
heart was mortgaged beyond redemp-
tion to the proud beauty who would
not smile upon him. One of these
letters Of welcome to him is from the
Fairfax home. Three young ladies in
the house party write him this letter,
which shows his newborn popularity
from Braddock' bloody field:
Dear Sir: After thanking Heaven
for your safe return / must accuse you
of great unkindness in refusing us the
pleasure of seeing you this night. l
do assure you that nothing but our
being satisfied that our company would
be disagreeable should prevent US
from trying if our legs would not carry
US to Mount Vernon this night. But
if you will not come to us tomorrow
morning, very early, we shall be at
Mount Vernon. Sally Fairfax, Ann
Spearipg, Elizabeth Dent
From the home of the Randolphs
came another invitation, closing with
the message that "Mrs. Cary and Miss
Randolph join in wishing you that
sort of glory which will most endear
you to the fair sex.
In order to settle the question Of
the regularity of his commission as
Colonel, Washington made journey
to Boston. Beverly Robinson, a Vir-
ginian, had married Susana Phillips,
a daughter of Frederick Phillips, the
patron of the great manor by the Gro
ton. Robinson entertained his friend,
now famous because Of his gallantry
at Fort Duquesne, at his house, and
induced his wife to have her sister,
Mary Phillips, as guest at the same
time. Here Washington's susccpti-
Bile heart was subject to an entirely
different charm from the English ladies
in the Barbadoes, or the lovely Eir
ginians of his native State. It was
the metropolitan girl-the New Yorker
as typical then as asnow-self-posscssed,
travelled, with the experience cf sew
cral seasons in the society of the larg-
est city Of the country, familiar with
the attention of British officers and
titled fortune hunters, a beauty and
an heircss. The type was new to
Washington, and he fell madly in
love. But the proud and fnical
New York belle saw too many Of the
woodsmap and the Indian fighter to
allure her from the rcfnemcnts Of the