The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1904-02-21

daughter OF a planter named Carey One
| day he asked the father for the hand of
! his daughter, and old man Carey went
! into a rage over the insult Washington
quit the premises and never again fell
in love with anybody till he met the
Widow Gusts. Miss Carey, believe, lived
an old maid and Washington never saw
her again but once. When he was COM
! ing home from Yorktown he was given
a great ovation at Williamsburg. Thin
and very pale. a lady waved her hand
kerchief at him from veranda and upon
looking he recognized in her Miss Carey
his first love.
Mt. Vernon is on high ground and faces
the Potomac and the shores of Mary
/ land seventeen miles below Washington.
In Washingtons time the estate contained
5000 acres OF land and had a tide water
river front of ten miles. Washington
was the best farmer of his time and
managed the estate very thoroughly. ov-
erseeing everything himself except while
he was in the war and in the Presidents
Office He noted and adopted every i'm
provcment in farm machinery; he rotated
crops; he kept huntsrnen and fishermen
fish for the tables of even his slaves: he
drained and titled whenever it was neces-
sary and had his own grist mills. Be-
tween the close of the war and the time
he accepted the presidency, he gave him.
self entirely up to farming and in 1857
he had $50 acres in grass, 400 acres in
oats. 200 acres in wheat potatoes. tobacco
and other farm products. He MIXED III
cows. had a great many heifers and
steers pc head of oxen; had 500 sheep and
hogs almost without number. He oper-
ated twenty plows every fit working day
in the year and his help ate annually
$50 slaughtered hogs, to say nothing of
beef, fish and game. He had every de-
/ tail Of farming systematized and kept
strict account of the value and cost of
each and every crop
While it was true that he was the best
farmer of his time. it is also true that he
had relatives who were the poorest farm
ers of their time The last Washington
who had the farm was Col. John a.
Washington, who. at the breaking out of
the Civil war, joined the Confederacy and
was killed at Elk Water river. on the 18th
of September, 1861 in a brush with the
Third Ohio volunteers. His predecessor
of the name of Washington on the farm
was Charles A a grand nephew Of the
Generals. This man farmed about as
George Bergman, Col L. r. Delaney or
Charlie Mossbacher would farm. One
day he went to town TO get a lot of
plowshares sharpened and left his slaves
at home preparing to put in wheat crop
Z in - a
/ company of jolly fellows en- route TO the
hunting and fishing grounds of Mary
land Forgetting all about his plowshares.
his negroes and his wheat crop, he went
with them and remained away a month,
returning TO find 1t too late TO put in the
wheat. At another time he read some
where in an English paper of the great
profits of some certain crop. He secured
seed and sowed it. and in time ne got a
good yield. He saddled his horse and
went to town TO sell it. only 20 find that
there was no market for it in this country
and traded the whole thing for a barrel of
beer which he took home and put in his
cellar. At night some of his boon COM
panions slipped down the river in their
boats, stole into the cellar, tapped the
barrel and then sent for the genial mas
ter. There were sounds of pollity during
the night and in the morning the grand
nephew of "the father of his country
had nothing to show for his farm crop
but an empty beer barrel and the recollec-
ton of a good nights fun.
In the course of time the fine farm was
cut UP into small pieces. the lots being
sold to thrifty small farmers from New
England. Pennsylvania and New Jersey
who are working it with as little senti-
ment as if it had no more historic as
sOciations than a farm in the Panhandle
of Texas. TWO hundred acres immediate
~ connected with the mansion belong to
the Mt. Vernon association band Of
patriotic women organized nearly fifty
years ago by a Mrs. Cunningham of
South Carolina-to preserve the home and
the tomb This association has a vice
regent in every state of the Union. Kan
sas having charge of the restoration and
preservation of the slave quarters. And
isn't that curious. too-Kansas. bleeding
Kansas, the scene of such anti-slavery
recollections. having charge of the slave
quarters of this historic spot.
Next to Washington himself. Nellie Gus
tbs, the granddaughter of his wife. Mar
tina, was the most interesting person at
Mt. Vernon. judging from the relics in
the mansion and the lore Of the folk IN
the neighborhood. Her father was an aide
in Washingtons staff who died of camp
fever at YorktOn. Washington adopted
her as his own daughter and was very
fond Of her. She was bright. witty. sens
ible charming and had the richest Of
blood in her little veins. On her mothers
side she was descended from Cecil Cal
Wexford Baltimore-on the fathers side
from John BaItimore-on his fathers side
staff Of the Duke OF Marlborough at the
battle OF Blenheim whose army killed on
that day 27.o00 Frenchmen and Vavarians
and took 1899 prisoners. 1t was this
same John Park who carried the tidings
of this famous victory TO Queen Anne
tidings that gave her the electorate of
Bavaria.
On the 22nd day of February, 17Ss. she
was married to Lawrence Lewis. the
nephew of Washington his sister Bettys
son. and Washington gave her a dover
Of 2c09 acres Of land. besides houses.
slaves and presents without number. The
marriage took place in the mansion Of
Mount Vernon at early candle light. ana
the festivities were the most elaborate
In the history Of America up till that
time Tho .r7eSfs Included the CAROLS