A-Z Index

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

16-Sided Barn

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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American Revolution

Battle of Second Trenton

Battle of Second Trenton

On 2 January 1777, a Continental Army force led by George Washington successfully repulsed a British attack in Trenton, New Jersey by soldiers under the command of Lord Charles Cornwallis.

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American West

Bullskin Lands

Bullskin Lands

Bullskin Run, also known as Bullskin Creek, is a tributary of the Shenandoah River, located in present-day Jefferson County West Virginia, formerly part of Frederick County in Virginia.  The surrounding…

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Animals

Hogs

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

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

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

Augustine Washington

Augustine Washington

Augustine Washington (1694-1743) was the father of George Washington and the original owner of Mount Vernon.

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Food and Drink

Recipe for Small Beer

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

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

Venetian Window

Venetian Window

The Venetian (also called Palladian) window on the north elevation of Mount Vernon is one of the house's most distinctive features. The window illuminates the large dining room (known as the new room)…

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Military

Andrew Lewis

Andrew Lewis

Andrew Lewis served as one of George Washington’s principal officers in the Virginia Regiment during the French and Indian War.

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Mount Vernon

Tomb

Tomb

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

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Objects

Bastille Key

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

The Legend of George Washington's Baptism

The Legend of George Washington's Baptism

Although George Washington was baptized into the Anglican Church by sprinkling as an infant on April 5, 1732, descendants of the Baptist chaplain John Gano (1727-1804) claimed that Washington asked Gano…

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Politics

Robert Morris

Robert Morris

Robert Morris was a financier of the American Revolution, delegate to the Second Continental Congress, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and senator from Pennsylvania. Given Morris’s personal…

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Preservation

Early Refurnishing Efforts: Old Chamber

Early Refurnishing Efforts: Old Chamber

As the Mount Vernon Ladies Association?s larger interpretation of Mount Vernon has evolved since its possession of the mansion in 1860, so have the decoration and furnishings of the first floor bedchamber?which…

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Presidency

George Washington and the Supreme Court

George Washington and the Supreme Court

Article III of the Constitution specifically called for a Supreme Court and other inferior courts as Congress saw fit to establish. Once the new federal government began operation in the spring of 1789…

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Servants and Laborers

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