The Strength of Martha Washington
February 17, 2010
by Amy Siskind
|We’ve all been well schooled on the historic importance of our country’s first president, George Washington. Yesterday, I had a chance to learn about another amazing individual in her own right – Martha Washington.
Martha met George when she was 27, he was 26. She was a widow with a young daughter and son. Martha also had given birth to two other children, both of whom had died at a very early age. Interestingly, George and Martha did not have any children together; although that’s a fact that is rarely highlighted in our history books. History does however typically put a big asterik next to women unable to conceive.
George did raise Martha’s two children as if they were his own. Later, when Martha’s son passed away as a young man while at war, George and Martha would raise his two children, their grandchildren.
For much of their married life, George was off at war or political happenings. Martha of course had help running the vast estate of Mount Vernon, but she was left to tend to the many of the huge tasks of the estate. In those days in Virgina, anyone who happened to stop in was given a Virginia welcome which included room and board, gratis, for as long as the visitor chose to stay. In one year alone, Martha hosted 677 guests!
Despite the nature of war in the 18th century, Martha bravely made an annual pilgrimage to see her husband’s troops – most frequently in the cold of winter in severe conditions. In a five year war span, George only made it home once – so Martha made it her business to see him – journeying to give both he and his troops a morale boost. She spent a winter at Valley Forge with her husband and the troops.
There was an amazing quote by Abagail Adams – wish I had written it down and if anyone can find it and leave it as a comment, most appreciated. The comment was to the effect that while George as our country’s first president would be our head of state, Martha as our county’s first lady would be our county’s heart.
In the end, Martha outlived all four of her children and both of her husbands. When George suddenly passed away unexpectedly in 1799 at the age of 67, Martha locked the door to what had been their bedroom – never to enter again. She moved herself to a third floor bedroom where she lived for the next 2 years until her death at 70.
Martha, like many of our country’s untold heroines, was a woman of amazing strength, courage and character. An unsung heroine of her time.
Please stay tuned to our blog in March as we tell the stories of so many other important heroines as part of Women’s History Month.
Thanks! Very interesting.
What a wonderful bio of Martha. Who knows much about Martha except that she was George’s wife? Not many. I love seeing her life fleshed out here. Seems like she was a unique and resilient woman and I loved reading your words about her relationship with George and her courageous character. So many first ladies did so much more than just sit around having tea (as some would say), didn’t they?
Being from Massachusetts, I’ve always been a great fan of Abigail Adams, but I’m not familiar with the quotation you reference, Amy. Somewhere in my vast collection of books, I have a copy of “My Dearest Friend,” a collection of John and Abigail Adams’s letters. I’ll see if I can find it and look for the quote about Martha Washington. It has been said that during George’s presidency, while John Adams was VP, Abigail and Martha became great friends. Somehow that comforts me.
Both the Adamses and the Washingtons endured long separations during their marriages, but the correspondence between George and Martha was destroyed (probably by Martha after George’s death) while over 1,000 letters between John and Abigail survive. Reading that correspondence took my breath away. What a treasure! (I gotta find that book.)
Indeed a great woman!
There is some discussion about George Washington being sterile due to a bout with smallpox and/or TB
“Martha of course had help running the vast estate of Mount Vernon, but she was left to tend to the many of the huge tasks of the estate”.
Had Help? Isn’t that a slightly odd choice of words. Put that way, one would think Martha looked in the local paper and hired herself a nanny. Having help, of course, meant that she had a plantation with somewhere between 200-300 slaves.
Brian,
The “had help” meant that George Washington hired an employee to help oversee the vast businesses run out of Mount Vernon in his absence – including, as you describe, the plantation. That said, there were still literally hundreds of visitors staying at the Washington’s home each year. So yes, this was a major undertaking.
Leave your Response Want an avatar? Get a gravatar!
Community Room
February 6, 2012 at 4:25 pm
January 30, 2012 at 2:36 pm
January 26, 2012 at 4:38 pm
January 23, 2012 at 1:04 pm
January 15, 2012 at 11:37 am
January 9, 2012 at 6:36 pm
January 7, 2012 at 10:10 pm
January 5, 2012 at 9:31 am
BUILD your NETWORK
Our Network of College Women
Protecting our Teenage Girls
We’re in the Media »
Click to see our latest stories in the media
More Stories »Recent Comments
The Latest from our Blog
Archives
Pioneer Mentors
Blogroll
Find us Online
Subscribe Entries (RSS) | Comments (RSS)
The New Agenda is a 501(c)(4) organization dedicated to improving the lives of women and girls by bringing about systemic change in the media, at the workplace, at school and at home. More...