Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1902-03-12
A HISTORY OF moUET VERNON.
Facts About washInnton's Home Compiled
by Judge lanes 3. Seuer.

as compiled by Judge James B.
Sener, member of the board, pre-
sents in compact form the entire his
tory of the beautiful estate on the
Potomac which essssass into into George George
Washington's possession before he
was 81 and remained his home until
he died there, just IO2 years ago on
December Ia, last. The chain of
title to the estate from the time of
the original grant to its passing into
the possession of the Ladies' Mount
Vernon Association of the Union, is
presented in an extract from the
writings of the late DR.. j. III. Toner,
of Washington, who at the time of
his death was one of the associa-
tion's advisory members.
The estate, until taken over by the
association was always in the hands
of the Washington family from the
date of the grant of Lord Culpeper
in 1870, to John Washington,
the great-grandfather of President
Washington. The original grant
was of 5000 acres to John Wash
ington and Nicholas Spencer.
Soon after there was a division of
the estate into two parcels of $500
acres each, the part between Dogue
Run and Little Hunting Creek fall
ing to John Washington. It in
cluded the site of the present Mount
Vernon mansion and was known as
the Hunting Creek plantation.
Upon the death of John Washing
ton the estate passed by devise to
Johns son, Lawrence. This was in
January, 1877. On the death of
Lawrence the estate passed to Law
rence's son Augustine, the father of
the great George. Augustine left
the estate by will to his Oldest son,
Major Lawrence. Washington, who
was half brother to George and IA
years his senior.
Notwithstanding the fact that they
were only half brothers and notwith-
standing the disparity in their ages,
there was between Lawrence and
George the warmest brotherly affec-
tion. Lawrence was a progressive
far-seeing man, active in business
and in public life. He was inter-
ested in the manufacture of iron,
both in Virginia and Maryland, and
at the time of his death was presi-
dent Of the Ohio company, OF which
he was one of the originators.
He served several terms in the
House of Burgesses and was Adju.
tant- General, with the rank of major
of the Northern District of Virginia.
1t was he who named the estate
Mount Vernon in honor of the Eng-
lish admiral, Edward Vernon, under
whom he had served in the war
against Spain.
Lawrence died in 1852 and his re-
mains rest in the Mount Vernon
vault near those of George Washing
ton. His will provided that in the
event of the death of his child Sarah
without issue, to whom the estate
was bequested, it was to go to his
"beloved brother George" Sarah
died soon after her father and thus it
was that Mount Vernon became for
ever associated with the illustrious
name of George Washington.
George Washington bequeathed
the estate to his nephew, Judge
Bushrod Washington, to take effect
on the death Of Martha, George
Washington's wife, who died May
81, 1902, in the room Immediately
over the one in which her husband
had passed away less than three
years before.
Bushrod Washington in turn be-
queathed the estate to his nephew,
John A. Washington, who died in
1882, leaving Mount Vernon to his
third child, John A. Washington,
who became of age in 1881 and lived
at Mount Vernon until April 6,
1853, when 200 acres of the estate,
including the mansion, the tomb and
the wharf passed to the Ladies'
Association on payment of 100000.
Spectators had repeatedly tried to
get hold of the estate prior to that,
offering much larger sums for it.
In 1887 the late Jay Gould bought
33a acres that had belonged to the
original Mount Vernon estate paying
$4,000 for it and transferring it for
the sum of 81 that day to the Mount
Vernon association.
Judge Sener's exhaustive report,
which is highly commended by Gov.
ernor Tyler, of Virginia, in his last