The Washington times., 1935-07-03
NOW
Romantic Tale of
Virginia Mdnse
OLD KENMORE
BY HELEN ESSARY

QOOTS WlQe open, welcoming
crowds of tourists to the place
which George Washington loved
next to Mount Vernon"
Mistress Betty Washington
Lewis, sister of General Wash.
ington, and her husband, Col.
Fielding Lewis, used to live at
Kenmore.
A few years ago the famous
old mansion was about to be
torn down to make way for a
block of apartments. Certain
wise women of Fredericksburg
organized a Society for the
Preservation and Restoration of
Kenmore. In actual cash the
association had in its treasury
exactly II cents.
Yet so great was the enthuSi-
assn Of the Kenmore ladies that
they raised enough money to
buy the house and restore it.
Now it is almost completely fur
niShed in the period in which it
was born.
The story of Kenmore is
closely linked with the fortunes
Of the Virginia patriots who
helped make the Republic. The
house was built by a man of
great influence in the colony
Col. Fielding Lewis.
Colonel Lewis had come to
Fredericksburg in 1746 from
Gloucester county. His first
wife, Katherine Washington,
was the daughter of the Wash
1ngtons of Pine Grove Farm.
Colonel Lewis was extremely
wealthy, member of the Vir.
ginia House of Burgesses and a
colonel of the Spotsylvania
troops. Naturally, such a per-
sonage took an important place
In Fredericksburg.
Soon Colonel Lewis was left
a widoWer with one small son.
With him, as it frequently hap
pened in the colonies, the period
of Widowerhood was one of quick
consolation. Not long after
his wife died, Colonel Lewis met
Betty Washington, sister of
George Washington. Betty was
sixteen, but the bereaved Col
onel promptly asked permission
to pay his addresses to her.
Betty was at first amused at
the offer but finally agreed to
marry him. Young George
Washington rode down from
Mount Vernon in a. coach and
four to give his little sister
away.
Fielding Lewis was eager to
please his young bride. Shortly
after the wedding he bought 861
acres of the finest land around
Fredericksburg. His young
brother-in-law, George, lately
home from the Barbados, was
selected to survey the land.
Rumor in the town declared
that young MISTRESS Betty
Lewis was to have the finest
house in the Old Dominion, her
wealthy and adoring husband
having so ordered.
Such house as Kenmore was
not built in a day. Although
the work of construction was
begun in 1852, it was not
actually completed until Is
years later.
The main part of the work
was done years before the deli
cate frescoing for which the
house is particularly distin-
quiShed. The frescoing was not
completed until after the bat
tie of Trenton in 1776.
Then General Washington
sent two captured Hessian SOL
diers down to Kenmore to do
in plaster the decorations his
sister had been wanting.
Over the mantel in the Great
Room, they put the beautiful
frescoing that moralizes accord.
ing to Aesop. George Washing
ton selected the subjects of the
fables in order to guide the
minds of Betty Lewis children.
One frescoe points out the de-
fusion of flattery. Another tells
the story of the fox, the crow,
and the piece of cheese. A third
is the story of the wolf in
sleeps clothing.
Lavish frescoing is perhaps
the most interesting ornamen-
tation of the mansion. In the
drawing room an elaborate cell.
ing represents the four seasons.
A sheaf of palms typifies spring.
Grapes are the emblem of sum-
mer. Acorns symbolic fall, and
miStletoe indicates winter.
The doorway of Kenmore is
typical of the best Georgian
manner of the period. The wide,
deep windows of the garden side
of the house look down a path
to the home of Mary Ball
washington, the mother of
George Washington.
"Old Miss Mary" used to live
across the Rappahannock at
Ferry Farm. Her son George
worried about her living alone,
except for servants. Tried to
make her settle at Kenmore.
Miss May" preferred her indie
pendence. George built her a
cottage which, after years of
persuading, she decided to oc.
cupy.
After the Revolutionary War,
Colonel Lewis died. He had
spent most of his fortune max