Stranica 334 [334]
OCR
JE PoeTtTOoOMAG AND RAPPARANNOCEK with a room above for servants. The stables were on the corner; the garden and orchard in front and on the side. The land was a part of the Kenmore estate. Mary Washington loved flowers and transplanted many from her former home. Calycanthus and box, said to have been planted by her, still grow in this garden. The same sun-dial marks the passing days. How we would listen could her flowers speak and tell us of those days! After the Revolution, when states had sprung from colonies, George Washington, on a visit to his mother, planted thirteen horse chestnut trees along a walk leading from this house to Kenmore. One of these trees still lives. The change from Ferry Farm was great, for one who loved wide spaces and plantation life. Yet, Mary Washington made no complaint. “George thought it best,’’ she said. [Iredericksburg was in a direct line from eastern to southern colonies. Courter after courier would appear at this cottage door with dispatches that told of victory or defeat. Those trying years, when her son was leading the Continental forces, Mary was praying, and with calmness she remonstrated with her daughter for undue excitements. ‘The sister of the Commanding General should be an example of faith and fortitude,”’ she said. Knitted socks, garments and provisions, the fruit of her thrift and economy, were sent the General in camp for distribution among the soldiers. November 11, 1791, Washington arrived in Fredericksburg with his staff of French and American officers, en route from Yorktown to Philadelphia. Leaving his retinue, he walked unattended to the unpretentious cottage, where his mother awaited him. She was alone. She bade him welcome, with a warm embrace and the endearing name “George.’’ She spoke much of old times and old friends, but of his glory, not one word. Her only appearance in public as the hero’s mother was at a ball given in Fredericksburg. In the autumn of 1784 LaFayette, for the sole purpose of paying his respect to Washington’s mother, visited Fred[207 |
