The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1908-02-20

WeStmOrelan0 county, IN
the old-fashioned farm
house on the Potomac, where he was
born. You have all seen pictures of
this house, with its low, slanting roof
and its two huge chimneys, one at
each end, outside the house. It was
burned down when Washington was
about four years old; and the family
then removed to a farm on the Rap
pahannock. opposite Fredericksburg,
in Stafford County
At this latter place young Wash
ington received the rudiments Of edu-
cation at an old field school-house,"
humble enough in its pretensions,
and kept by one of his fathers ten
ants, named Hobby, who was also the
sexton of the parish. The instruc-
ton doled out to him was of the
simplest kind-reading, writing and
ciphering, and, later on, surveying;
but this was supplemented by excel
lent training at home
On the broad meadows of the Rap
pahannock, near by his home, Wash
ington gave the first exhibition of his
martial inclinatiOns. The boys at
Master Hobby's school were divided
into two military companies; and the
rivalry between them was sustained
by many a parade, sham fight and
SNOWFALL battles and snow-fort
sieges. One of these spirited con-
tests took place on a 22d of Febru-
arg, and the account has come down
pretty straight, and presents an ex-
citing picture OF that old time
It was the February OF 1743, and
Washington was eleven years old.
The day was damp and stormy, with
plenty of snow; and the two sides
had 1t out on the meadows. Of
course, Washington was the leader
on one side, and a boy named Will
liam Bustle commanded the rival
troop. The mimic battle terminated
in WashingtOn's favor, the other side
being so completely pummelled that
we do not hear anything more Of
the claims of William Bustle.
When Washington was sixteen, he
gave up going to school, and became
a surveyor This took him out into
the woods, and he had to encounter
all sorts of dangers and risks His
sixteenth birthday he passed in the
wilds of Western Virginia, where he
was surveying vast tract Of land
for it's owner, Lord Fairfax. He had
now fairly entered upon the stern
business of life. We can imagine
the rude camp, the brilliant freight
under the trees, and the cool winds
blowing down from the hills. as
young Washington ate his late supper
On the 22d of February, 1913, in
the wilderness of the great Kanawha
Valley.
His next birthday he spent at
Mount Vernon, where he had gone to
live with his brother Lawrence. He
was then a tall, fine looking fellow,
with manly ways, and had had his
first love affair-a sort of boy and
girl attachment with Anne Carey, his
'Flowland beauty" On February %,
1852, George and his brother Law
renee were On their way home from
q trip to Barbados, whittier they
had gone in the hope of finding
health for the master of Mount Yer
non, who tie same gear died at his
beautiful home. which was afterward
to be inseparably associated with the
younger brother.
About this time Governor Dinwid-
die, of Virginia. commissioned Wash
ington as an officer in the army; and
he was sent the next year as a COM
missioner to a French fort, claimed
to have been built as q hostile demon
stratiOn on English lands He was
absent abont three months on his
mission, which he accomplished with
tact and Judgment. But the war
cloud spread in broader and darker
shadow, and February %, 1854, saw
George Washington at Alexandria
collecting military supplies for use
in the impending conflict. In that
war Washington received his first
baptism of fire, and is said to have
fired the first shot that ushered in
the old French War.
Washington's birthday in 1855
was spent in the Northern States, he
being on mission to Governor Shir-
ley, of Massachusetts, at Boston. He
was absent from February 4 to March
%, and the whole Journey was made
on horseback. At his next anniver-
sary we find him laying papers be-
fore the Earl of Loudon, with the
object of having the Virginian troops,