Legends of the Skyline Drive and the Great Valley of Virginia Part 16

Thereafter, Betty Lewis tried conducting a small boarding school at Kenmore, but again money had to be raised and piece after piece of the land was sold to obtain it. Finally, in 1796, the mansion and its contents were sold and Betty Lewis went to live with her daughter. She died the next year.

After many vicissitudes in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Kenmore was saved for posterity, in 1922, through the great enthusiasm and hard work of a group of women who later formed the Kenmore a.s.sociation. Through the efforts of this a.s.sociation, the exterior and the interiors of Kenmore were expertly restored to their original charming appearance and it has been furnished with original pieces of the period, many of which have an actual connection with the family.

Who the architect of Kenmore was, is unknown. It is very probable that Fielding Lewis himself had much to do with the planning of it, making use of books on English architecture. The mansion is typical of the formal architecture of Tidewater Virginia in the mid-eighteenth century.

Flanked on each side by smaller service buildings, both of which are identical in size and appearance, the group is symmetrical around the central entrance. The exteriors present a picture of fine restraint and dignity. Four uniformly placed chimneys in the end walls serve eight fireplaces. The windows are well proportioned in relation to the main walls. The walls, of brick laid in Flemish bond, or brickwork pattern, are two feet thick--unusually heavy construction for a house of even this size.

The princ.i.p.al rooms, of stately proportions, are remarkable for their design and ornament. The richly modelled ceilings, cornices, and overmantels are outstanding examples of ornamental plater-work--quite unsurpa.s.sed by anything of its kind in America. It has always been said and never contradicted that these ornamental features were planned by George Washington himself.

To the right, as one enters the Reception Hall, tinted in pastel blue-gray, is the well designed main stairway, a noteworthy feature of which is the delicately carved lotus leaf ornament. In back is the prized grandfather clock which originally belonged to Mary Washington.

Pa.s.sing through the arched doorway at the rear of the Hall, one enters the Great Room. For the magnificent ceiling of this room, Colonel Lewis employed the same French decorator whom Washington had employed for the ornamental ceilings at Mount Vernon. The design motif includes four horns of plenty. Tradition has it that the overmantel in the Great Room was done at a later time than the other decorations by two Hessian soldiers captured at the Battle of Trenton. The design, an adaptation of aesop's fable of the fox, the crow, and the piece of cheese, is supposed to have been suggested by George Washington at the request of his sister; this particular fable being chosen to teach his nephews to beware of flattery. The rich red of the brocade draperies contrasts with the light green of the walls and the white of the ceiling and mantel. A crystal chandelier of old Waterford gla.s.s forms a sparkling accent in the middle of the room. The floor is covered almost entirely with an early eighteenth century Oushak rug. The furniture in this room as well as elsewhere generally is American of Chippendale design. Of particular note are two portraits of Fielding, and two of Betty Lewis--all four by Wollaston.

The ceiling of the Library has the four seasons for its decorative motif and the overmantel is a design of fruits and flowers. The walls, like those of the Great Room, are tinted a soft green.

"The Swan and Crown" of the Washington crest is carved in the woodwork under the mantel in the Dining Room. The walls are a deep blue-green, the woodwork a lighter matching shade. Draperies are a soft green brocade. The service building on the Dining Room side of the House contains the kitchen.

On the second floor are the master bedrooms and guest room where General Lafayette and many another distinguished visitor stayed. These eighteenth century rooms, so well treated and furnished, serve as timeless models of good taste in bedrooms.

Next to Mount Vernon, George Washington was most interested in Kenmore.

He had taken a keen interest from the beginning in the building of the House and the landscaping of the grounds. After the War he set out thirteen chestnut trees near the House, one for each of the original thirteen States. One of these still lives. Mary Washington, mother of George and Betty, lived in the cottage on the estate, not far from the Main House; a home her son had provided for her at the beginning of the War.

The restoration of the grounds was undertaken by the Garden Club of Virginia in 1929 with funds obtained from the public partic.i.p.ation in the first "Virginia Garden Week." One feature of this work is the brick wall around the premises, built in 1930. The sunken turf driveway is the original driveway that used to surround a gra.s.sy circle. Handsome box bushes, ancient and familiar features of Virginia estates, flank the approaches to the House now as of old. The gardens, too, contain flowers that Betty Washington must have enjoyed--bushes of lilac, mock orange, and bridal wreath and beds of pansies, sweet william, phlox, verbena and lilies of the valley.

Kenmore, a background of those lives who helped so importantly to mould the destinies of our nation, vividly portrays the art and the culture of its time.

The Mary Washington House

There stands on the corner of Charles and Lewis Streets in Fredericksburg, Virginia, an unpretentious but charming little house.

There is no spot in America more sacred. It was the home of Mary Ball Washington, wife of Augustine Washington, and the mother of George Washington.

It is recorded that on Dec. 8, 1761 lots 107 and 108 upon which the Mary Washington House stands were sold by Fielding Lewis and Betty, his wife, with all houses, trees, woods, under-woods, profits commodities, hereditaments and appurtenances whatsoever, to Michael Robinson for 250 and bought by George Washington Sept. 18, 1772 for 275.

After remodeling and adding to the house, George Washington moved his mother from the Ferry Farm, which had been her home since 1739, to Fredericksburg and it was here that she spent her last days.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "THE MARY WASHINGTON HOUSE", FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA]

It was here that she received the courier sent by General Washington to tell her of the victory at Trenton. It was here that Washington came after the Battle of Yorktown with the French and American officers and she received him with thanksgiving after an absence of nearly seven years. It was here he came in December, 1783, when Fredericksburg gave the Peace Ball in his honor, and it was at that time that he made his memorable reply to Mayor McWilliams in which he spoke of Fredericksburg as "the place of my growing infancy."

It was here that the Marquis de LaFayette came to pay his respects to her, who was the mother of the greatest American. She received him in her garden, met all his fine phrases with dignity and gave him her blessing when he bade her goodbye.

It was here, March 12, 1789, that Washington came to receive his mother's blessing before he went on to New York to his inauguration.

This was his last farewell to his mother. She did not not live to see him again. It was here she died Aug. 25, 1789. Town and country a.s.sembled to do honor at her burial. Her remains lie near the "Meditation Rock" where she requested to be buried and a stately monument "erected by her country-women" marks her last resting place.

Except for a portion of the house at Epping Forest, where she was born, the Mary Washington House in Fredericksburg is the only house now standing in which Mary Washington lived.

It pa.s.sed into various hands and finally in 1890 it was about to be sold to the Chicago Exposition but through Mrs. Robert C. Beale and Mrs.

Spotswood W. Carmichael, the a.s.sociation for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities was appealed to. Mrs. Joseph Bryan of blessed memory was at that time President and from her own means advanced the money to purchase it, $4,500, and the place was saved.

In 1929, through the generosity of Mr. George A. Ball of Muncie, Ind., the first work of restoration on the house was done. Mr. Ball also purchased for the A. P. V. A. the adjoining house and garden for a home for the custodian.

In 1930 the house was redecorated and refurnished by Mr. and Mrs.

Francis P. Garvan. The original colors have been restored and contemporary fabrics used for all draperies and coverings.

The furnishings, with the exception of a few pieces that belonged to Mary Washington, are authentic antiques loaned from the Mabel Brady Garvan Inst.i.tute of American Arts and Crafts at Yale University. The original mantels and paneling are interesting.

The old English-type garden is especially beautiful. The boxwood she planted still grows there, as well as the flowers of her time. The original sun-dial still marks the sunny hours.

Rising Sun Tavern

Was built about 1760 by Charles Washington, a brother of George Washington. It was first known as the Washington Tavern and later as the Eagle Tavern. The following advertis.e.m.e.nt appeared in the _Virginia Gazette_, published in Williamsburg in 1776:

"FALMOUTH, _March 25, 1776_.

"William Smith takes this method to acquaint his friends, and the publick in general, that he intends to open tavern, on Monday the 22nd day of April next, in the house lately occupied by Colonel George Weedon, in the town of Fredericksburg. He has laid in a good stock of liquors, and will use his utmost endeavors to give general satisfaction. N.B. 'A good cook wench wanted, on hire'."

[Ill.u.s.tration: "RISING SUN TAVERN", FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA]

It was the favorite meeting place of such patriots as Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, James Monroe, George Washington, General Hugh Mercer, George Mason, John Marshall, the Lees, and other noted men, who gathered here to protest against unjust treatment by the mother country and to discuss the proper steps to rid the country of tyranny. It was said to be a hot-bed of sedition and that here much of the head work of the Revolution was done.

When the news came to Fredericksburg that the governor, Lord Dunmore, had secretly removed twenty barrels of gunpowder from the public magazine in Williamsburg, also the news of the battle of Lexington, there was great excitement and indignation. Immediately six hundred armed men from the town and surrounding country, at the call of Patrick Henry, a.s.sembled in Fredericksburg and offered their services to defend their country. More than one hundred men were dispatched to Richmond and Williamsburg to ascertain the condition of affairs. They were advised there by Washington, Peyton Randolph, Edmund Pendleton and other leaders to disband and delay action at least for a while or until general plans of resistance could be decided upon. Returning to Fredericksburg they called a meeting and reluctantly agreed to disperse, but before doing so adopted resolutions bitterly denouncing Dunmore's action, and without fear or evasion declared that the troops would preserve their liberty at the hazard of their lives and fortune. They pledged themselves to re-a.s.semble at a moment's warning and by force of arms defend the laws and rights of this or any other sister colony from unjust invasion, and concluded with the significant words, "G.o.d save the liberties of America."

This was on April 29, 1775, twenty-one days prior to the celebrated Mecklenburg declaration and more than one year before the great Declaration of Independence of July 4, 1776.

It has always been said that this meeting was held at the Rising Sun Tavern. (Reference: Quinn's _History of Fredericksburg_, Howison's _History of Virginia_, Forces' _Archives_, quoted in _William and Mary Quarterly_ in October, 1909.)

But in addition to giving their attention to the serious questions of the day, could we but raise the curtain of Time we no doubt would witness a gay scene typical of colonial days with courtly gentlemen in powdered wigs, knee breeches, ruffled blouses, and silver-buckled slippers, or perhaps in the rougher garb of the pioneer traveler playing cards and partaking of the various drinks served by a venerable old slave and his young negro a.s.sistants. It is recorded that George Washington played cards here and "lost as usual," and that he was afraid those Fredericksburg fellows were "too smart for him."

Here General Weedon kept the post office. This was a distributing point for mails coming in from the far north and south on horse-back or stage-coach. Picture the eager crowd awaiting the arrival of the slow courier.

LaFayette and his staff of French and American officers visited the Rising Sun Tavern Nov. 11, 1781, en route from Yorktown to Philadelphia. In December, 1824, LaFayette again visited Fredericksburg, and was given a ball at the Rising Sun Tavern.

In 1907 the a.s.sociation for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities bought the property from Judge A. W. Wallace, whose family had owned it since 1792. It was in a very bad state of dilapidation, and only the loving interest and hard work of a few patriotic ladies made possible the necessary repairs and saved to posterity this historic old building with its wealth of a.s.sociations with the people and events which shaped our nation.

The a.s.sociation for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities has recently completed extensive repairs and the visitor will find it one of the most interesting places in the city to visit. It is attractively furnished with antique pieces of the Colonial period, many having great historic value.

One may see a desk owned and used by Thomas Jefferson, a chair which belonged to James Monroe, a rare copy of an autographed letter from Mary Washington to her son George Washington, bra.s.s andirons, pewter-hooded candles, Betty lamp, immense iron key for a wine cellar, bra.s.s candle-sticks, iron candle snuffers, pewter ink-well, antique piano, high boy, needle-point sampler worked by a nine-year-old child, spinning wheel and reel, stage coach sign dated 1775, large early American desk, old iron cooking utensils used by slaves cooking by an open fireplace, and many other interesting things.

[Ill.u.s.tration]