Mary Ball Washington

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"Mary Washington" redirects here. For the university, see University of Mary Washington.

Mary Ball Washington (1708 – 1789) was the mother of George Washington.

Mary Ball Washington was born as Mary Ball in 1708 in Lancaster County, Virginia, British America. She was the only child of Joseph Ball and his second wife, Mary Johnson (née Montagu) [1].

Mary Ball met Augustine Washington and they married in 1730. It was her first marriage and his second. Augustine had four children with his first wife, Jane Butler Washington however, only 2 of them lived to adulthood. Together, Mary and Augustine had the following children:

Augustine died in 1743. Unlike most widows in Virginia at the time, Mary Ball Washington never remarried. She lived to see her son, George Washington, inaugurated as President in 1789. She died four months later.

Mary Ball Washington was buried on the Lewis Plantation a few steps from "Meditation Rock." Tradition has it that this was her favorite retreat for reading, prayer, and meditation.

[edit] Legacy

There are many monuments to Mary Ball Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia, where she lived from 1772 until her death in 1789.
The house purchased for her by her son George has been preserved by APVA Preservation Virginia and is open to the public as a historic house museum. It contains a fine collection of antique furnishings, some with Washington family provenance.
Mary Ball Washington is buried near Kenmore, the former home of her daughter and son-in-law Fielding and Betty Lewis. Kenmore is also open regularly for public tours.
A monument to Mary Ball Washington was erected in 1833 and dedicated by President Andrew Jackson. But was left unfinished until a new one was dedicated by President Grover Cleveland in 1894. [2]
The University of Mary Washington, a public university in Fredericksburg, Virginia, was also named after Mary Washington.