Mary Ball Washington

Mary Ball Washington
Portrait of Mary Ball Washington by Robert Edge Pine in 1786.
Born	Mary Ball (1708-11-30)November 30, 1708 Lively, Lancaster County, Colony of Virginia
Died	August 26, 1789(1789-08-26) (aged 80) Spotsylvania County, Colony of Virginia
Spouse(s)	Augustine Washington
Children	George Washington, 5 others

Closeup of the Mary Ball Washington House (1772-1789) in Fredericksburg, Virginia

Mary Ball Washington, born Mary Ball (November 30, 1708 – August 26, 1789), was the second wife of Augustine Washington, a planter in Virginia, and the mother of George Washington, the first President of the United States, and five other children.

Life

Mary Ball was born in 1708 in Lively, Virginia in Lancaster County. She was the only child of Joseph Matthäus Ball and his second wife, the widow Mary Johnson. She was of three quarters English and one quarter Dutch descent.^[1] Fatherless at three and orphaned at twelve, Mary Ball was placed under the guardianship of George Eskridge, a lawyer, in accordance with the terms of her mother's will.

Mary Ball met the widower Augustine Washington and they married on March 6, 1731 when she was 22 years old. It was her first marriage and his second. At age 37, Augustine had four children by his first wife, Jane Butler Washington; however, only two of them survived to adulthood.

Together, Mary and Augustine had the following children:

George - (1732–1799)
Betty - (1733–1797)
Samuel - (1734–1781)
John Augustine - (1736–1787)
Charles - (1738–1799)
Mildred - (1739–1740)

The Ancestry of George Washington can also be found on the Mount Vernon website.^[2]

Augustine died in 1743. Unlike most widows in Virginia at the time, Mary Ball Washington never remarried. She managed the estate and plantation with the help of others until her eldest son came of age. She lived to see that son, George Washington, command the Continental Army to independence and be inaugurated as the first President of the United States in 1789.

Mrs. Washington was said to be openly opposed to her son's revolutionary politics and, according to French officers based in Virginia during the war, she was a Loyalist sympathizer.^[3]

Mary Washington was by no means poor despite the fact that she petitioned the Government of Virginia claiming to be destitute.^[4] Her son, George, purchased her a fine house in Fredericksburg, where she lived from 1772 until her death in 1789. In her will, Mary Washington left George the majority of her lands and appointed him as her executor.

Mary Washington frequently visited her daughter Betty and her husband Fielding Lewis at their Kenmore Plantation outside Fredericksburg. She had a favorite "meditation rock" that was close to the Lewis mansion. Tradition has it that this was her favorite retreat for reading and prayer. She asked Betty to bury her there after her death, and her daughter arranged that.

Legacy and honors

Several monuments have been erected to Mary Ball Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia, where she lived from 1772 until her death in 1789.
The Mary Washington House in Fredericksburg has been preserved by Preservation Virginia (formerly known as the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities)who, in mid-2012, signed an agreement passing ownership to the "Washington Heritage Museums" beginning by 2015. The residence is open to the public and operated as a historic house museum. It contains a fine collection of antique furnishings, some with Washington family provenance.
Mary Ball Washington is buried on the grounds of Kenmore, the former home of her daughter and son-in-law Fielding and Betty Lewis. Kenmore is operated as a house museum and is open regularly for public tours.
A monument to Mary Ball Washington was erected in 1833 and dedicated by President Andrew Jackson. It was left unfinished until a women's organization formed in the late nineteenth century and raised money for the monument. The Mary Washington Memorial Association used social events and balls to raise money for the cause. The new memorial was dedicated by President Grover Cleveland in 1894 at her grave site.
The University of Mary Washington, a public university in Fredericksburg, Virginia, was named for her.
The Mary Washington Hospital,^[5] located in Fredericksburg, is named for her.

Notes

↑ "George Washington Genealogy". Archives. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
↑ Archived May 24, 2011 at the Wayback Machine
↑ George Washington: A Life by Willard Stearne Randall (1997). New York: Henry Holt and Company, Inc. page 440. ISBN 0-8050-5992-X
↑ George Washington: A Life by Willard Stearne Randall (1997). New York: Henry Holt and Company, Inc. page 440. ISBN 0-8050-5992-X
↑ http://www.medicorp.org/mwh/

External links

Wikisource has the text of a 1920 Encyclopedia Americana article about Mary Ball Washington.

George Washington

February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799 1st President of the United States, 1789–1797 Senior Officer of the Army, 1798–1799 Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, 1775–1783 Second Continental Congress, 1775 First Continental Congress, 1774

Military career Revolutionary War	Military career French and Indian War Jumonville Glen Battle of Fort Necessity Forbes Expedition Washington and the American Revolution Commander-in-chief, Continental Army Boston campaign Siege of Boston New York and New Jersey campaign Delaware River crossing Battle of Trenton Philadelphia campaign Valley Forge Battle of Saratoga Yorktown campaign Siege of Yorktown Culper spy ring Newburgh Conspiracy Newburgh letter Established, Badge of Military Merit Purple Heart Aides-de-Camp Commander-in-Chief's headquarters Morristown and Ford Mansion Horses: Nelson and Blueskin

Other U.S. Founding events	1769 Virginia Association Continental Association 1774 Fairfax Resolves Court of Appeals in Cases of Capture 1785 Mount Vernon Conference Chairman, 1787 Constitutional Convention

Presidency	United States presidential election, 1788–89 1792 First inauguration inaugural bible Second inauguration Title of "Mr. President" United States Cabinet Secretary of State Attorney General Secretary of the Treasury Secretary of War Judiciary Act of 1789 Nonintercourse Act Whiskey Rebellion Militia Act of 1792 Coinage Act of 1792 United States Mint Proclamation of Neutrality Neutrality Act of 1794 Jay Treaty Pinckney's Treaty Slave Trade Act of 1794 Residence Act Thanksgiving Proclamation Farewell Address State of the Union Address 1790 1791 1792 1793 1796 Cabinet Federal judicial appointments

Views and public image	Presidential library The Papers of George Washington Washington and religion Washington and slavery Legacy

Life and homes	Early life Birthplace Ferry Farm boyhood home Mount Vernon Gristmill Woodlawn Plantation Samuel Osgood House, First Presidential Mansion Alexander Macomb House, Second Presidential Mansion President's House, Philadelphia Germantown White House Custis estate Potomac Company James River and Kanawha Canal Mountain Road Lottery Congressional Gold Medal Thanks of Congress President General, Society of the Cincinnati Washington College Washington and Lee University

Memorials and depictions	Washington, D.C. Washington state Washington Monument Mount Rushmore Washington's Birthday Purple Heart The Apotheosis of Washington George Washington (Houdon) George Washington (Ceracchi) Washington Crossing the Delaware Unfinished portrait Lansdowne portrait The Washington Family portrait Washington at Princeton painting George Washington University Washington University Washington Masonic National Memorial George Washington Memorial Parkway George Washington Bridge Washington and Jefferson National Forests Washington Monument, Baltimore Washington, D.C. statue List of monuments List of places Postage stamps Washington-Franklin Issues 1932 bicentennial Currency Washington quarter Washington dollar Cultural depictions George Washington (1984 miniseries 1986 sequel)

Related	Bibliography Founding Fathers of the United States Republicanism Federalist Party Federalist Era Virginia dynasty Coat of arms Cherry-tree anecdote River Farm Washington's Crossing 1751 Barbados trip Category Syng inkstand General of the Armies American Philosophical Society American Revolution patriots Mount Vernon Ladies' Association

Ancestry and family	Martha Washington (wife) John Parke Custis (stepson) George Washington Parke Custis (step-grandson, adopted son) Eleanor Parke Custis (step-granddaughter, adopted daughter) Augustine Washington (father) Mary Ball (mother) Lawrence Washington (half-brother) Augustine Washington, Jr. (half-brother) Betty Washington Lewis (sister) Samuel Washington (brother) John A. Washington (brother) Charles Washington (brother) Lawrence Washington (grandfather) John Washington (great-grandfather) Bushrod Washington (nephew)

John Adams → Commons Wikibooks Wikiquote Wikisource texts American Revolutionary War Portal

Authority control	WorldCat VIAF: 63130848 LCCN: n88670487

Mary Ball Washington

Life

Legacy and honors

See also

Notes

External links