George and Martha Washington at Rockingham

One of the activities Ashley and I did together when she was homeschooled was volunteer at Rockingham in Kingston, NJ. In 1783 General George Washington headquartered at the Berrien Home, now known as Rockingham. The home itself has been moved away from the quarry and is an historic site run by the State of New Jersey. 

Dressed in a Colonial gown made by my friend Carin, Ashley told school groups about what life was like for a child from a wealthy family. I often wore a gown borrowed from the house's collection and stood back while she spoke to groups of students. As she was in first or second grade, and New Jersey history is covered in the Fourth Grade curriculum, she was often speaking to children older than her. She mesmerized them. Or at least that's how I remember the days. Ashley might have had a different opinion.

I've toured the house a couple of times since those days. Once for their annual candlelight tour led by students from Montgomery High School.

I returned on June 1st to hear George and Martha Washington and learn about their lives. As far as we know, Martha never followed the General to Rockingham, though she did visit him throughout the war to help keep up his morale.

I've met George Washington over the years. Living in the Princeton area, it is not  uncommon to have him appear at historic programs. It has gotten to the point where we refer to them by nicknames (Young George, Col. Hand George, Stacy's George), much as we used to do to distinguish between the different Mad Hatters at Disneyland. Sweet is the only nickname I remember, but there were many. Different groups of friends had different nicknames for the same Hatters.

Martha is the one who stole the show. With a lilting Southern accent and a soft word for the love of her life, she regaled us with stories and portraits of her children. Yes, her children. She and George did not have any children together. She was an incredibly wealthy young widow with two small children. He was a slightly younger tall and handsome man from a good family. He was the oldest of six, but he also had two older half brothers from an earlier marriage. They are the ones who inherited their father's wealth. He knew he had to marry well in order to advance in the colonies. At the time he was seeking a royal commission because he was loyal to the Crown. That clearly changed.

When they married he pursued his dream of becoming a gentleman farmer. They wed on the 12th Night in January 1959 (January 6) and moved to the two-and-a-half story Mount Vernon that April. In 1768, Martha's two remaining children, Jacky and Patsy, were 14 and 12, respectively. The others had died much younger. Patsy had violent seizures and stayed home. Jacky dropped out of school to marry and run his own estate. He was only 18, his bride, Nellie, was only 16. Nellie was close to Patsy, and Martha treated her as her own daughter. Patsy died on June 19, 1773 following a seizure. Martha was devastated. She did not attend Jacky and Nellie's wedding.

Six months later the Boston Tea Party took place and George changed allegiances.

1774 was the last year of peace in our nation. George was elected as a delegate from Virginia to the first Continental Congress, and reelected in 1775 to the second Continental Congress. At the meeting he wore a Virginal regimental uniform to show he was ready to fight. He hadn't worn that uniform in 16 years since he served. John Adams signed him up as the leader of the troops.

George invited his wife to Massachusetts for a visit. They knew their lives had changed forever. She tried to make a home for George wherever he went from Newburg to Morristown (NJ) to Valley Forge (PA). She even got inoculated against small pox. She lifted the morale of the soldiers, hosted tea parties, social events, sewing and knitting circles, dinner parties, and even dances. A side of the war I know very little about. This helped George keep his soldiers.

On September 3, 1783 the Treaty of Paris was signed making them free sovereign states. General George Washington wrote his farewell letter to the troops from Rockingham. He returned to Mount Vernon to live out his days as a gentleman farmer as he helped raise their four grandchildren following the death of his son to typhus. Their daughter-in-law remarried Dr. David Stewart. Over the course of her life she had 23 children. George and Martha raised the youngest two, Nellie and Washy, which was common practice in the day.

After rewriting the articles of confederation into the Constitution, in 1787 the delegates met again to finalize the Constitution and send it to the states to be signed. In 1788, New Hampshire became the ninth state to sign it making it the ruling document. On March 30, 1788 gentleman farmer George Washington was unanimously elected as our first President. He served two terms from 1789-1793, and again from 1793-1797. He was a logical choice for many reasons, including since he did not have any sons there was no chance of turning him into monarch. Oddly enough it was Abigail Adams who explained this to Martha Washington. Abigail later became First Lady when her husband, John, became the second POTUS, and became mother of the President when her son, John Quincy Adams, became our sixth leader.

George and Martha wrote many letters to each other, but Martha burned them after his death in 1799. He was only 67. His last words were "'Tis well." She was too grief stricken to attend his funeral. She died two and a half years later on May 27, 1802.

None of what they said was new information. It was lovely in how it was presented, but nothing a quick search on the internet would not turn up. Their presentation made it feel fresh. Listening to them in this era of constant information, I was reminded how long things used to take. For example, it took FOUR MONTHS for the Constitution to be written and another NINE MONTHS for the Constitution to travel from Philadelphia to the other states to be signed. 

These days we can't go a couple of hours without news.

Life moved at a slower pace.

"George" lives in Ohio. "Martha" is from New Jersey. Their website is www.georgemarthawashington250.com. As we gear up for our nation's semiquincentennial (250th anniversary) they are available to help groups celebrate.