Mount Vernon, the home and burial-place of George Washington, is
seventeen miles below the city of Washington, the mansion-house, being
in full view, standing among the trees on the top of a bluff, rising
about two hundred feet above the river. As the steamboat approaches,
its bell is tolled, this being the universal custom on nearing or
passing Washington's tomb. It originated in the reverence of a British
officer, Commodore Gordon, who, during the invasion of the Capital in
August, 1814, sailed past Mount Vernon, and as a mark of respect for
the dead had the bell of his ship, the "Sea Horse," tolled. The
"Hunting Creek Estate" was originally a domain of about eight thousand
acres; and Augustine Washington, dying in 1743, bequeathed it to
Lawrence Washington, who, having served in the Spanish wars under
Admiral Vernon, named it Mount Vernon in his honor. George Washington
was born in 1732, in Westmoreland County, farther down the Potomac,
and when a boy lived near Fredericksburg, on the Rappahannock River.
In 1752 he inherited Mount Vernon from Lawrence, and after his death
the estate passed to his nephew, Bushrod Washington, subsequently
descending to other members of the family. Congress repeatedly
endeavored to have Washington's remains removed to the crypt under the
rotunda of the Capitol originally constructed for their reception, but
the family always refused, knowing it was his desire to rest at Mount
Vernon. The grounds and buildings being in danger of falling into
dilapidation, and the estate passing under control of strangers, a
patriotic movement began throughout the country for the purchase of
the portion containing the tomb and mansion. The Virginia
Legislature, in 1856, passed an act authorizing the sale, and under
the auspices of a number of energetic ladies who formed the "Mount
Vernon Association," assisted by the oratory of Edward Everett, who
traversed the country making a special plea for help, a tract of two
hundred acres was bought for $200,000, being enlarged by subsequent
gifts to two hundred and thirty-five acres. These ladies and their
successors have since taken charge, restoring and beautifying the
estate, which is faithfully preserved as a patriotic heritage and
place of pilgrimage for visitors from all parts of the world.
The steamboat lands at Washington's wharf at the foot of the bluff,
where he formerly loaded his barges with flour ground at his own mill,
shipping most of it from Alexandria to the West Indies. The road from
the wharf leads up a ravine cut diagonally in the face of the bluff,
directly to Washington's tomb, and alongside the ravine are several
weeping willows that were brought from Napoleon's grave at St. Helena.
Washington's will directed that his tomb "shall be built of brick,"
and it is a plain square brick structure, with a wide arched gateway
in front and double iron gates. Above is the inscription on a marble
slab, "Within this enclosure rests the remains of General George
Washington." The vault is about twelve feet square, the interior being
plainly seen through the gates. It has upon the floor two large stone
coffins, that on the right hand containing Washington, and that on
the left his widow Martha, who survived him over a year. In a closed
vault at the rear are the remains of numerous relatives, and in front
of the tomb monuments are erected to several of them. No monument
marks the hero, but carved upon the coffin is the American
coat-of-arms, with the single word "Washington."
The road, farther ascending the bluff, passes the original tomb, with
the old tombstone antedating Washington and bearing the words
"Washington Family." This was the tomb, then containing the remains,
which Lafayette visited in 1824, escorted by a military guard from
Alexandria to Mount Vernon, paying homage to the dead amid salvos of
cannon reverberating across the broad Potomac. It is a round-topped
and slightly elevated oven-shaped vault. The road at the top of the
bluff reaches the mansion, standing in a commanding position, with a
fine view over the river to the Maryland shore. It is a long wooden
house, with an ample porch facing the river. It is built with
simplicity, two stories high, and contains eighteen rooms, there being
a small surmounting cupola for a lookout. The central portion is the
original house built by Lawrence Washington, who called it his
"villa," and afterwards George Washington extended it by a large
square wing at each end, and when these were added he gave it the more
dignified title of the "Mansion." The house is ninety-six feet long
and thirty feet wide, the porch, extending along the whole front,
fifteen feet wide, its top being even with the roof, thus covering the
windows of both stories. Eight large square wooden columns support the
roof of the porch. Behind the house, on either side, curved colonnades
lead to the kitchens, with other outbuildings beyond. There are
various farm buildings, and a brick barn and stable, the bricks of
which it is built having been brought out from England about the time
Washington was born, being readily carried in those days as ballast in
the vessels coming out for Virginia tobacco. The front of the mansion
faces east, and it has within a central hall with apartments on either
hand. At the back, beyond the outbuildings and the barn, stretches the
carriage road, which in Washington's time was the main entrance, off
to the porter's lodge, on the high road, at the boundary of the
present estate, about three-quarters of a mile away. Everything is
quiet, and in the thorough repose befitting such a great man's tomb;
and this is the modest mansion on the banks of the Potomac that was
the home of one of the noblest Americans.