Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1907-02-21
zzDW|MZ|Nk>YEz IAlVElI r
WHERE WASHINGTON
LIVED AND DIED.

Mt. ' eTlOH 1ianSiOD. the UlSLOFlC
dcnce Of Washington. is to-day in a very
different condition from that in which it
was only few years ago. Having pass
ed by purchase into the hands of a pat
riotic association Of ladies, it has been
completely restored in all important re-
spects, being kept in perfect repair and
made to look as nearly as possible as it
did when its immortal proprietor lived in
it. Now. as then, it looks out upon the
broad expanse of the placid Potomac,
whose silver stream may be seen flowing
for a distance of many miles, whether one
looks to north or south from the grassy
bluff on which the grand old house is sit
uated. Beneath the bluff, and between
the latter and the river bank, is small
deer park. fenced in.
In those good old days the Mt Vernon
estate covered a good many square miles,
extending all the way to Alexandria on
the north and for long distance to the
southwark of the present limits of the
property. The lands and the mansion
originally belonged to Lawrence Wash
ington, half brother to George, who nam
ed the estate after Admiral Lord Yer
non, under whom he had held command
in the British navy. When Lawrence
died he left the property to George, who
at tho time of his own demise was I'M
questionably the richest man in the Unit
ed States Always careful as to expendi-
ture, and possessing a high degree OF
business ability and foresight, he added
largely to what came to him by inherit
ance and by marriage. He obtained a
very considerable fortune, of course, with
the Widow Gusts.
If Washington were to return to this
sublunary sphere tomorrow, and revisit
his ancient home, he would find its ex-
ternal aspect practically unaltered. Ev-
erything would appear to his eye pretty
much as it did when he last saw it. The
very outbuildings would be familiar-the
spinning house, in which the servants
spun and woye; the tool house, which
was converted into school for the two
young grandchildren, and the conserva-
tory. Nowadays, when the ladies of the
Mt. Vernon Association make their an
nual visit to the estate, for one week each
summer, not all q them are able to lind
convenient quarters in the mansion itself,
and so three or four of them sleep in the
old servants quarters over the spinning
house. In the spinning house, Also
colored woman, who is a direct descend
ant of one of Washington's slaves. gives
lessons in spinning with the wheel, and
in weaving after the manner of antiquity.
Mt. Vernon is a fine old place-the
very type of a Virginia estate of the
olden time-and the mansion itself is a
perfect specimen of the colonial style of
Viii at ho- onhiavn6
a sort of renaissance. 1t has the grand
air, and, kept as it is, in the best of re-
pair it seems to defy the ravages of
years. And yet it could not have been
so comfortable in some respects as mod
ern dwellings are for furnaces and steam
heat were unknown in Washington's day,
and there were not even efficient stoves.
The immortal George was not the man
to deny himself reasonable luxuries. On
one occasion he imported a carpet from
abroad, and the cost of it was so great
that his political opponents set up
howl To stife this outburst Washington
refused to receive the carpet or to pay the
duty charged on it. and it was bought in
at auction by Philadelphia lady, a de-
scendant of whom presented it recently to
the Mt. Vernon Association. Thus this
historic floor covering finds itself at last
in the place for which it was originally
destined.
If the former owner, redivivus were to
enter the house. he would find that the
interior looks somewhat otherwise than
it did of old. Its lower floor bears to
some extent the aspect of a museum,
where are gathered together all sorts of
Al.
line, in fact, that the ladies of the asso-
citation have been able to secure by gift,
purchase or borrowing. All the objects
displayed are very neatly arranged, but
they hardly lend the aspect of home or
domesticity. There is quite a library of
Washngton'S writings. and various docu-
ments in his delicate hand are framed on
the walls. Not altogether appropriate in
the collection, perhaps, is the veritable
key of the Bastile, which formerly be-
longed to the Smithsonian Institution
The latter, at that time, had no place for
curios, and so gave it TO Mt. Vernon.
There is one very serious objection TO
the gathering of all these priceless Wash
ington relics at Mt. Vernon. and that is
the danger of fire. The mansion is by
no means freproof, and any fine day the
while affair may so up in smoke, to the
great irreparable loss of the nation. 1t
is believed by many conservative persons
that while the historic mansion itself
ought to be carefully preserved, the relics
which it now contains would be more
wisely deposited in some fireproof struc-
ture at the national capital. As it is,
every possible precaution against fire is
taken.
1t must be said that every effort has
been made to retain as far as possible
the original statu quo of the mansions
interior. Upstairs it is to-day pretty
much as it was when Washington last
saw it, He died in bedroom on the sec
ond floor. and therein is still TO be seen
the couch on which he passe away. 1t
is a typical old-fashioned bed, with four
tall and slender posts at the corners;
hung, too. with the original white dimity
curtains that adorned it a century ago
and covered with the same white spread.
The other articles of furniture in the
room are those which were there when
Washington had it. being lent by various
descendants. In corner. as if he had
them handy for use, are some. of the
things which went to make up his camp
equipage while in the field.
More than one ghost is said to haunt
the famous old mansion. the most notable
of the phantoms in question being that
of Washington himself True, he has
never been known to present himself in
the form of an apparition, but several
persons who have slept in his bedroom
have declared in the most positive man
ner that they felt his presence, as that
of brooding something which watched
them. On one occasion, not long ago. two
ladies attempted to occupy the bed. but
the sense of the presence was so strong
that they were unable to sleep, and,
though it was summer time, they spent
the night shivering together in a corner
A colonnade connects the house with
the great kitchen, in which the cooking
used to be done when a state dinner was
given in the mansion by Washington. 1t
is said that footsteps. confidently believed
to be those of Washington himself, are
frequently heard passing along it.