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The Digital Encyclopedia of George Washington

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The Legend of George Washington's Baptism

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Adam Stephen (ca. 1721-1791)

Adam Stephen’s career was curiously intertwined with that of George Washington’s. Having served with the British Navy, Stephen was a requisite complement to the younger and inexperienced Washington during the first years of the French & Indian War. He was also a rival to George Washington’s early political ambitions and acquisition of western lands.

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Alexandria Academy

Incorporated by the Virginia Assembly in 1786, the Alexandria Academy, located in George Washington’s home community of Alexandria, Virginia, embodied his commitment to the education of all Americans, including the poor and women. Washington contributed significantly to the Academy during his life and with provisions in his will, as well as advising its Board of Trustees of his vision for the establishment.

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Alexandria, Virginia

As the nearest large city to Mount Vernon, George Washington spent many days and nights in Alexandria, Virginia.

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Ancestry of William Costin New

Ancestry of William Costin

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Barbados

In 1749, George Washington's half-brother Lawrence fell ill with a cough. By 1751 the illness matured?

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Belvoir

The estate and manor of the prominent Fairfax family of Virginia, Belvoir was located on a peninsula?

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Bible

The Bible was the most accessible and influential book in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century America. George Washington, like most gentlemen of his time and social standing, was acquainted with it, specifically the King James Bible, and he liberally seasoned his discourse with biblical phrases and allusions. Washington?s papers contain hundreds of biblical quotations, figures of speech, idioms, proverbs, and allusions. No literary text is referenced more frequently in his writings.

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Bier Carriers

The following individuals served as the bier carriers at George Washington's funeral.

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Catharine Sawbridge Macaulay Graham (1731-1791)

Catharine Sawbridge Macaulay Graham was a prominent English historian and writer at the forefront of radical transatlantic politics in the eighteenth century.

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Centennial of Washington's Birthday

In February 1832, Congress was engaged in a fierce set of debates over tariff legislation. While tariff?

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Cherry Tree Myth

The cherry tree myth is the most well-known and longest enduring legend about George Washington.

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Christ Church, Alexandria

Located in Alexandria, Virginia, Christ Church opened its doors in 1773 to serve the Church of England's Fairfax Parish. George Washington helped fund the construction of the church, and his personal bible was presented to the parishioners of Christ Church in 1804, by George Washington Parke Custis.

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Commemoration of George Washington's Birthday

Since 1879, "George Washington's Birthday" has been a legal work holiday for employees of the Federal?

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Courtship

On the morning of January 6, 1759, a young widow named Martha Dandridge Custis married a young man named?

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David Humphreys (1752 – 1818)

Colonel David Humphreys served as a soldier, secretary, diplomat, and biographer for George Washington. A close friend of the Washingtons, Humphreys was an eyewitness and active participant in the early years of the United States. His correspondence with Washington is a valuable tool for historians.

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David Stuart (1753-1814)

David Stuart was a prominent Virginia doctor, politician. He was also the husband of Eleanor “Nelly” Calvert Custis Stuart, the widow of Martha Washington’s son, John “Jacky” Parke Custis. Stuart was a frequent correspondent and close advisor to George Washington. President Washington appointed Stuart as one of three commissioners in charge of planning the new Federal City of Washington, D.C.

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Education

George Washington's education resulted from a process of close study and imitation of the Virginia elite?

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Eulogies

After George Washington died on the evening of December 14, 1799, news spread slowly from Mount Vernon to the rest of the young republic. However, once people heard the surprising news, they expressed their grief and gratitude in over 400 mourning ceremonies...

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Father of His Country

George Washington?s critical role during the Revolutionary War, Constitutional Convention, and his two?

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Fisher Ames (1758 - 1808)

A politician and skilled orator, Fisher Ames served in the first four federal Congresses and was a leader of the New England Federalists. His political views were defined by distrust of popular politics, belief that laws were necessary to sustain liberty, and support for a strong centralized national government.

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Freemasonry

Washington joined the Masons in 1752 at the age of 20 and was a lifelong member.

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Friends

George Washington's friendships were selective but often long-lasting, loyal, and integral to his public?

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Funeral Ministers

Four ministers spoke at George Washington's funeral, each with their own connection to Washington.

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George Augustine Washington (ca. 1759-1793)

The firstborn of George Washington’s youngest brother, Charles and his wife, Mildred Thornton Washington, George Augustine Washington was a favored nephew of George Washington.

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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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George Washington and Entertainment

George Washington enjoyed a wide variety of the types of public entertainment available to eighteenth century Americans.

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George Washington and Religion

Learn more about Washington's views on religion and his religious practices

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George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette

George Washington met the nineteen-year-old Marquis de Lafayette on August 5, 1777, less than a week?

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George Washington and Travel

George Washington traveled extensively within the boundaries of the United States, though only went abroad once in his lifetime - to the island of Barbados.

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George Washington in Popular Culture

Popular culture's understanding of George Washington is driven as much by myth as fact, given Washington's?

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George Washington's Library

During his lifetime, George Washington amassed a library consisting of over 900 books, plus dozens of pamphlets and other publications, for a total of more than 1,200 titles.

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George Washington's Papers

George Washington both produced and received a large number of letters, documents, accounts, and notes?

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George Washington's Will

Washington's will legally assigned his property to his heirs and freed his enslaved workers.

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Georges Washington de Lafayette

On December 24, 1779, during a brief year living in France during the American Revolution, the Marquis?

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Honorary French Citizenship

On August 26, 1792, during the early stages of the French Revolution, the National Assembly of France granted honorary French Citizenship to "men who, through their Writings and their Courage, have Served the Cause of liberty and prepared the freedom of the people."

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Horsemanship

Throughout George Washington's life, whether engaged in battle or observing his farms, he was frequently in the company of a horse. The excellence and confidence with which Washington rode was derived from a combination of practice and natural ability. Unlike many wealthy horse owners, Washington often checked the conditions of his horses personally and closely supervised the slaves who maintained the horses? stables.

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James Alexander Hamilton (1788-1878)

James Alexander Hamilton (1788-1878) was the generational bridge between his father, Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804), and his daughter, Mary Morris Hamilton Schuyler (1818-1877), a major fundraiser in New York for the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association from 1858 to 1866.

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James Craik

Dr. James Craik was born in the parish of Kirkbean, County Kirkcudbright, near Dumfries in Scotland in?

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James Wilson (1742-1798)

As the only person who signed the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, and served as a Supreme Court Justice, James Wilson of Pennsylvania made important contributions to American democracy. During the Constitutional Convention, Wilson successfully proposed a unitary executive elected through an electoral college system and negotiated the Three-Fifths Compromise that paved the way for the Constitution’s adoption. Wilson spent the last years of life as a Supreme Court Justice. During his time on the court, financial difficulties distracted him from his duties. Wilson died in 1798, at the age of 55.

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John Greenwood (1760-1819)

Dr. John Greenwood served as George Washington’s personal dentist. Greenwood made and sold to Washington the four sets of dentures that he used throughout his presidency and until the end of his life. His contributions to dentistry went beyond Washington’s dentures and included his 1790 invention of the first foot-powered drill, which he called the “dental foot engine.” Greenwood also served as a fifer during the American Revolution and his grandson later published The Revolutionary Services of John Greenwood of Boston and New York, 1775-1833, a memoir of Greenwood’s service during the war.

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Joice Heth (c.1756 -1836)

Joice Heth was an enslaved African American woman whom P. T. Barnum marketed as George Washington’s 161-year-old nurse. Historians do not agree on her actual birth date, although most believe that she was born in 1756, which would have made her around 80 years old at the time of her death in 1836 in New York City. Heth, and Barnum's stories about her, captivated thousands of Americans in the early United States, but they have also been a source of controversy.

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King's College

King’s College in New York City (today Columbia University), was created in 1754 by a Royal charter from King George II as an Anglican college, headed by the Church of England.

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Lord Fairfax

Thomas, Baron Cameron, sixth Lord Fairfax, was George Washington's mentor, neighbor, employer, and friend.

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Lucy Knox (1756-1824)

Lucy Flucker Knox (1756-1824) defied eighteenth-century gender roles throughout her life. Rather than marrying a man of equal class, Lucy disobeyed her family’s wishes and married her true love, Henry Knox, who would become a major general of the Continental Army. After her family disowned her for marrying below her class, Lucy began a new life alongside Henry, even joining him at Continental Army camps after struggling to raise a newborn alone during the American Revolution.

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Mercy Otis Warren (1728-1814)

Mercy Otis Warren was a gifted playwright, poet, and historian, as well as a revolutionary woman who symbolized and promoted the ideas and principles upon which the United States was established during the American Revolution.

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Mourning George Washington

Mourning in response to George Washington's death on December 14, 1799 reflected contemporary public?

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Mourning Washington by Laborers at Mount Vernon

Suits of mourning clothes with appropriate buttons were purchased almost immediately for Lawrence Lewis?

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New York

New York City played an important role in the public life of George Washington, spanning the final five decades of the eighteenth century.

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Pallbearers

The following individuals served as the pallbearers at George Washington's funeral:

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Parson Weems

Written a year after Washington's death, Weems' biography served as the point of origin for many long-held myths about Washington, in particular the famous cherry tree story.

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Patrick Lyon (1769-1829)

Patrick Lyon was a Scottish-born Philadelphia blacksmith. In 1798, he was arrested and wrongfully imprisoned for robbing the Bank of Pennsylvania. In response, he filed and won one of the first malicious prosecution suits in the history of the United States. He went on to become a prominent businessman and the inventor of the water-throwing hydraulic engine, the precursor to the modern fire engine. In 1825, he commissioned a portrait of himself by John Neagle, entitled Pat Lyon at the Forge, widely regarded as one of the finest examples of early American realistic portraiture.

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Personality

Reflecting on the life of George Washington, the Columbian Reader (a textbook utilized in school rooms?

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Peyton Randolph (1721-1775)

Peyton Randolph served as the Speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses and President of the First Continental Congress and Second Continental Congress. Before his election to the House of Burgesses, Randolph was appointed Virginia’s Attorney General and served during the British imperial crisis that led to the American Revolution.

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Philip John Schuyler (1733–1804)

Philip John Schuyler (c. 1733 – 1804) served as a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolution and was a member of the First United States Senate. Schuyler played a key role in the American victory at the Battle of Saratoga, as well as in earlier campaigns including the Invasion of Canada, and the Battles of Lake Champlain and Fort Ticonderoga. Coming from a family deeply rooted in the Dutch-influenced culture of New York, Schuyler was a member of the civic and social elite representing New York in the Continental Congress and the United States Senate.

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Pohick Church

Close by Mount Vernon, George Washington remained a loyal vestryman of Pohick Church.

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Rhode Island

The following represents accounts of George Washington's visits and connections to Rhode Island, spanning from his military service during the French and Indian War through the presidency.

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Rocky Hill Experiment

At the close of the Revolutionary War in 1783, General George Washington suddenly found himself, uncharacteristically, with lots of time on his hands. Late that summer he took up residence at a farm house outside of Princeton, New Jersey, where Congress was meeting while awaiting the arrival from France of the signed Treaty of Paris, formally ending the war. Meanwhile, Washington found the time to conduct a scientific experiment to solve a mystery.

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Sally Fairfax

Sally Cary Fairfax was an early friend of George Washington's.

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Sarah Livingston Jay (1756-1802)

Sarah Livingston Jay was a prominent early American and one of the first socialites in the United States. The spouse of John Jay, she was one of the first American women to experience the royal courts of Spain and France. She also served in an unofficial capacity as wife to the President of the Continental Congress, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, and the Chief Justice of the United States, as well as in the official role of First Lady of New York.

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Shingas (fl. 1740-1763)

Shingas, an Unami sachem of the Lenape (also known also as the Delawares) represented his people during diplomatic negotiations with colonial powers in the Seven Years’ War in the 1750s and 1760s. During the war, Shingas and the Lenape tenuously sided with the French, earning notoriety for their guerrilla tactics and frontier combat. Still, Shingas was no mere warrior – rather he navigated the shifting alliances as a shrewd diplomat and military leader of a people at constant risk of invasion by colonial and native rivals.

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Smallpox

In the early years of the American Revolution, George Washington faced an invisible killer that he had?

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Social Education

Social education in colonial America went beyond academic learning.

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Spurious Quotations

The following is a list of quotations misattributed to George Washington that have been sent to the Mount?

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Stephen Moylan (ca. 1737-1811)

Born in County Cork, Ireland, Stephen Moylan was a firm supporter of the War for American Independence and an early and active member of the staff of General George Washington.

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The Death of George Washington

George Washington died on December 14, 1799.

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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 to baptize him by immersion at Valley Forge during the Revolutionary War (1775-1783). Despite Gano’s descendants attesting to the veracity of the story through signing affidavits and Washington’s baptism allegedly occurring in front of forty-two witnesses, no evidence has yet been discovered to confirm the account.

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The Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour

At some point before the age of sixteen, George Washington wrote The Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour?

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The Style of Martha Washington

Remaining images of Martha Washington are abundant. However, those drawn directly from her life are scarce?

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Vine and Fig Tree

"Under their vine and fig tree" is a phrase quoted in the Hebrew Scriptures in three different places:?

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Washington's Views on Health

Not quite three months before his death, George Washington commented in a letter to his farm manager that health was "amongst (if not the most) precious gift of Heaven," and noted that without it "we are but little capable of business, or enjoyment."1 Then sixty-seven years old, Washington had lived long enough and experienced illness close up?both in terms of his own health and that of his family and friends?to understand the importance of good health.

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Wooden Teeth Myth

Next to the Cherry Tree legend, the story that George Washington wore wooden dentures arguably remains the most widespread.

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