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The Digital Encyclopedia of George Washington

Explore the wide range of subjects related to George Washington’s world and the colonial and founding eras.

The Digital Encyclopedia of George Washington was generously supported by Richard and Bonnie Dial in memory of Irby and George Prendergast.

Agriculture (14)
American Revolution (136)
American West (18)
Animals (12)
Artists (15)
Enslaved Community and Slavery (52)
Family (28)
Food and Drink (14)
Gardens (5)
Mansion (15)
Military (31)
Mount Vernon (22)
Objects (13)
Personal (71)
Politics (28)
Preservation (20)
Presidency (37)
Servants and Laborers (58)

Agriculture

16-Sided Barn

The 16-Sided barn on Washington's Dogue Run farm was one of the most innovative structures at Mount Vernon

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William Moultrie was a planter, legislator, and South Carolina’s highest-rankling Continental officer, finishing the Revolutionary War with the rank of major general. After the war he served as the president…

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American West

Proclamation Line of 1763

The Proclamation Line of 1763 was a British-produced boundary marked in the Appalachian Mountains at the Eastern Continental Divide.

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Animals

Hogs

Months before his death, George Washington admitted that while he had "a large stock of Hogs—the precise number is unknown." During this period, Washington let his hogs run free to feed on vegetable…

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Artists

Washington Irving

Washington Irving was one of the most famous American authors of the nineteenth century. While he is primarily remembered for short stories such as “Rip van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow…

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Enslaved Community and Slavery

Hercules

Hercules Posey (1747?-1812) was an enslaved cook for George Washington during the 1780s and 90s. A renowned chef during his lifetime, Hercules self-emancipated from Mount Vernon in 1797.

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Family

Elizabeth Parke Custis Law

Elizabeth Parke Custis Law was the eldest of Martha Washington's four surviving grandchildren.

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Food and Drink

Recipe for Small Beer

George Washington’s recipe for “Small Beer” appears in a 1757 notebook of his, which can be found today in its original form at the New York Public Library.

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Gardens

Upper Garden

The upper garden was established in the 1760s and paralleled the lower or kitchen garden to its south. This garden was initially planted with fruit and nut trees, and was walled and rectangular in shape…

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Mansion

New Room

Washington's New Room is the largest and most ornate of the rooms found within the Mount Vernon mansion.

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Military

George Baylor

General George Washington named George Baylor an aide-de-camp in the General Orders for August 15, 1775.

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Mount Vernon

Tomb

Learn more about the New Tomb at Mount Vernon - the Washington's final resting place.

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Objects

Bastille Key

In 1790 George Washington received the key to the Bastille prison from an appreciative Marquis de Lafayette. It remains at Mount Vernon to this day.

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Personal

George Washington and Ballooning

During George Washington?s lifetime lighter-than-air travel was first demonstrated. As a person who embraced new technologies, he was aware of and showed interest in the development of balloons.

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Politics

Timothy Pickering

A Federalist politician, Timothy Pickering was appointed to several federal positions by President George Washington, most notably Postmaster General, Secretary of War, and Secretary of State. He later…

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Preservation

Allied visits to Mount Vernon during the Second World War

From 1939 to 1945, an unprecedented number of foreign dignitaries visited Mount Vernon during their official tours of the United States.

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Presidency

Neutrality Proclamation

On April 22, 1793, President George Washington issued a Neutrality Proclamation to define the policy of the United States in response to the spreading war in Europe.

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