Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1910-02-17

ton and other Virginia relics. 1t is
owned and cared for by the Society for Preservation Of
Virginia Antiquities. The superintendent is II. c. Beale,
who, with his wife, occupies the house.
The big living room on the ground floor and to the
left of the entrance is that in which Mrs. Washington
died. AS nearly as possible it is preserved as Mrs.
Washington kept it. A rare old mahogany tester bed
stands on that part of the floor where stood Mrs. Wash
tngton's bed.
The walls are lined with steel engravings which be-
longed to Mrs. Washington and some of these were her
property when she was Mary Ball before her marriage
to Augustine Washington, and came from her girlhood
home, "Epping Forest" in Lancaster county, about 80
miles from Fredericksburg. The room in the rear OF
this living and sleeping room was the dining room and
the same table around which the Washingtons ate
stands in the middle of the floor. The dining room is
bare of carpets or rugs and was in Mrs. Washingtons
time. The furnishings are plain and simple.
1t was four months before the death of Mary Wash
ington that George Washington took his final leave OF
his mother. This was directly before his departure for
New York for Inauguration as the first president News
of his mothers death came to him In a letter from Col.
Burgess Ball The president was at dinner with Baron
Won Steuben and Gov. st. Clair. The letter was handed
the president by his nephew and private secretary, Rod
ert Lewis. After slowly reading it, Washington retired
to his private room and remained there for some time.
He then wrote this letter to his sister, Betty Washing
ton Lewis, at Fredericksburg:
INV Dear Sister: Col. Balls letter gave me the first
account Of my mothers death. Since that have re-
ceived Mrs. Carriers letter, written at your request, and
previous to both / was prepared for the event by adVices
of her illness coming from your son Robert.
awful and affecting as the death of a parent is,
there is consolation in knowing that heaven has spared
sours to an age which few attain and favored her with
-+be ful enjoyment Of her mental faculties and as much
bodily strength as usually falls to fourscore' Under
these circumstances and in the hope that she is trans
lated to a happier place, 1t is the duty OF her relatives
to Weld submission to the decree of the Creator.
when I was last in Fredericksburg I took final leave
of my mother, never expecting to see her more
"Your afectionate brother,
GEORGE WASHINGTON"
Tbree DAVIS after her death Mrs. Washington was
buried. The grave was dug in the grounds Of her daugh.
ter Betty. The site Of the grave was near a group OF
rocks jutting out of a hillside overlooking a tranquil
little valley between Fredericksburg and Maryes
Heights. one Of the bloodiest battle ridges or the CIVIL
war. This little group of gray rocks was a favorlte spot
with Mrs. Washington.
She retired there in fair weather to knit, pray and
read her Bible. Because of this association with Mrs.
Washington these are now called the "Oratory rocks.
They are shaded by heavy oak trees. 1t was a shady
place in the days of Mrs. Washington and the trees that
ehielded her from the sun survived till 1852, when they
were torn to death by the storm of shot that rolled over
the grave of the mother Of George Washington in the
battle between the Army of Northern Virginia and the
Army Of the Potomac.
susan REVERE Hetzel, in a history of the Mary Wash
tngton association, writes of Mrs. Washington's funeral
as follows:
business was suspended in the city of Fredericks
burg: Grape hung from the houses. The church was
thronged with her friends and %neighbors. Her body was
followed by her loving daughter and grandchildren to 9
place chosen by herself to be her resting place near the
granite powders now cdneu III OTdtoIy iochs, WAoi'
she loved to retire and pray for her beloved son during
the troublesome days of the American revolution. INT
coffin was carried from the church on mems shoulders
the knoll where the grave was dug was covered by TIM
concourse of mourners and spectators. for they had los
cot only the mother Of the president but an old and be
aaved friend.
mThe mourning was general all over the country. Pres
and pulpit made note Of the event. Members of con
gress wore Grape for 80 days as for a distinguished off
cial. Congress passed a resolution to erect a monumen
TO the mother Of Washington and to that resolution
President Washington responded in a note Of thanks
adding:
az attribute all my success in life to the moral, In
tellectual and physical education which I received fror
my mother"
The government never erected the monument Gale
for in the resolution. Washington's administrations wer
hampered by the Indian wars, the whisky insurrectio
and Shay's rebellion; Adams term was taken up wit
che French troubles and the threatened war with tn
directory; Jefersons administration was filled with tn