George Washington, Maryland, and Mount Vernon: The Cultural Landscape Luke J. Pecoraro, PhD Director of Archaeology, George Washington s Mount Vernon
Late Archaic Period: 2500 1200 BC
Contact Period: 1609 1675 Doeg Indians, Village of Tauxenant
The Washington/Spencer Grant: 1675/1677 Brent Map, 1690
The Broad Creek community: 1696
Phase I: c. 1735 1752 Augustine and Lawrence Washington Colonel John Washington patented what would eventually be called the Mount Vernon neck in 1677. Augustine Washington purchased the lands from his sister in 1726 and built the first house here in 1735 (and possibly two outbuildings, a dairy and a storehouse). Lawrence inherited Mount Vernon from Augustine in 1743 and possibly added outbuildings including a kitchen, wash house, blacksmith shop, and slave quarter. Married Anne Fairfax. Owned 37 slaves at the time of his death in 1752.
Nathaniel Chapman and Mount Aventine Chapman was an ironmaster who worked with Augustine Washington; Augustine owned an ironworks on Accokeek Creek, VA, 6 miles north of Fredericksburg. In 1747 Chapman and Lawrence Washington became founding members of the Ohio Company of Virginia; he then started the Chapman Company, which was begun to develop the seaport of Alexandria, VA (1749). In 1750 he purchased 580 acres in Charles County where he built a new home called Mount Aventine. He operated a ferry to Virginia, and Lawrence Washington and young George Washington were frequent visitors.
Phase II: 1752 1783 George and Martha Washington After leasing Mount Vernon for a decade, George Washington inherited Mount Vernon in 1762. Married Martha Dandridge Custis in 1759. Because her first husband died intestate, Martha Washington received the lifetime use of 1/3 of his property (dower share).
To be SOLD for ready money, at Rover s Delight in Fairfax County, on Monday the 23d inst. (October). A TRACT of valuable LAND in said county, lying on Potowmack tiver, adjoining to the land on which the subscriber now keeps ferry, and very fit for farming. On the premises is a large barn, 60 feet by 30, framed and shingled; eight framed barracks 16 feet square; a large corn-house, and sundry other houses, with a good fishery appertaining. At the same time and place, and upon the same terms, will likewise be sold, about twenty-five choice SLAVES, consisting of men, women, and children. Also, sundry horses, cattle, sheep, and hogs; together with various kinds of household furniture and implements of husbandry. The money arising from the sales to be paid into the hands of George Washington, Esq. (Virginia Gazette 1769: October 19:2)
Thomas Marshall and Marshall Hall William Marshall patents 500 acres in 1650; Thomas Marshall I (1696-1759) builds a brick house in c. 1725. He operates a store, and is a successful merchant. Thomas Marshall II (1731-1801) carried on the family business and became a close friend of George Washington. During the American Revolution he attended meetings of the Continental Congress and was active in politics. The Marshall Family records from the 18 th century are amongst the best preserved in the region, as is Thomas Marshall II s probate inventory; his estate owned 80 slaves at the time of his death in 1803.
Plantation Industry: Blacksmithing
Plantation Industry: Shad Fishing
St. John s Episcopal Church (1766-68) Current structure goes up between 1766-68. Prominent area residents involved in financing the work including Col. Enoch Magruder, and members of the Addison and Lyles families. During this period, Rev. Henry Addison (1717-1789) is the rector of St. John s, and also establishes a school. Addison visits Mount Vernon from Dec. 29-31, 1772; this appears to be George Washington s first mention of St. John s church Addison remained loyal to Britain, and left Maryland in September of 1775. He returned to British-occupied New York in 1781, and stayed until the evacuation in 1783. He returned to Maryland in 1784.
Want Water and Col. William Lyles In 1779 Col. Enoch Magruder s daughter Sarah marries Col. William Lyles; they are granted Enoch Magruder s Want Water. William Lyles and his brother Henry are investors with George Washington in the Potomac Company. Both Henry and William serve in the Third Maryland Regiment in the Revolutionary War. William Lyles rents a house in Alexandria in 1782; operates a distillery and dry goods store. Multiple mentions of visits to Mount Vernon while Washington is home in the 1780s.
Battersea/Harmony Hall Col. Enoch Magruder builds a brick house he names Battersea in 1769. In 1786 he leaves Battersea to his daughter, Sarah Lyles. It is *possible* that George Washington visited Lyles at Battersea. In 1792, John and Walter Dulaney Addison rent the house for one year from Lyles. Walter Dulaney Addison s wife Elizabeth Hesselius Addison begins calling the house Harmony Hall.
Phase III: 1783 1799 George and Martha Washington George Washington inherited 10 slaves at age 11 from his father, Augustine. By his death in 1799, the community had grown to 317 individuals. 41 of these individuals were rented from a neighbor. George Washington s slaves were emancipated in 1801 (123). Dower slaves were divided among the Custis grandchildren upon Martha s death in 1802 (153). Documentary research suggests that 660 people were enslaved by the Washington-Custis families from 1743-1799.
Rev. Walter Dulaney Addison Reverend Addison's family descended from John Addison, who emigrated from England in 1677. The latter's son, Thomas Addison (1679-1727) built the family home, Oxon Hill, across the Potomac River from Alexandria. Several members of this large extended family had business and social dealings with George Washington. One of the four ministers who took part in George Washington s funeral at Mount Vernon on December 18, 1799, was the Reverend Addison. The eldest son of Thomas Addison (died 1774 or 1775), of Oxon Hill, Maryland, and Rebecca Dulaney Addison, the daughter of Walter Dulaney (died 1773) of Annapolis, Walter Dulaney Addison was born in 1769, two years after his parents' marriage. Reverend Addison came to dinner at Mount Vernon with several other people on May 31, 1798. At the time of George Washington's death, Reverend Addison was serving as rector of the Episcopal Church in Oxon Hill. Addison bitterly opposed slavery, and freed the enslaved population he inherited in 1792.
Lives Bound Together Exhibit: 2016 2020