WAGON JACK MADE IN 1764 BY PETER MOHR
YORK, PA.
USED IN REPAIRING WASHINGTON’S CARRIAGES AT MT. VERNON

An original feature restored as Washington had it, was a “Ha Ha” wall extending from opposite the barn to the summer house, also a screen wall flanking the road from the barn to the kitchen.

Summer House

Summer House

On the brow of the steep hillside, south of the Mansion, overlooking the river, is the summer house. It commands a beautiful view of the broad Potomac, with the Maryland hills beyond, and doubtless was a favorite resort in “ye olden time.” It was restored in 1886, the funds being raised by the Vice-Regent for Louisiana, Mrs. Ida A. Richardson, through the school children of her State. The deep cellar under the summer house was intended for an ice house, but it is believed to have been abandoned as such when another was constructed in a more convenient locality north of the Mansion.

The wooded slope below the summer house was utilized by Washington for his deer paddock, which was restored and stocked with Virginia deer, in 1887, by the sons of the late Mrs. Robert Campbell, Vice-Regent for Missouri.

Telescope

Mount Vernon Wharf

Mount Vernon Wharf

Washington shipped much of his farm produce and supplies by water—and today are landed at the wharf many pilgrims to the home and tomb of the “Father of His Country.” The custom of tolling a bell as a mark of respect to his memory is hallowed by its observance for more than a century.

The present covering of the wharf was provided in 1891 by Mrs. Phoebe A. Hearst, late Vice-Regent for California. The parapet for protection of the public was given by the Vice-Regent for the State of Washington, and the Iron Gates by the Vice-Regent for Oregon.

Mrs. Hearst also caused to be built the substantial stone sea-wall as a necessary protection to the wooded shore against wave-wash during storms. This important improvement has enabled the Association to complete the filling of neighboring ravines and swamps, thus accomplishing a valuable reclamation now utilized as meadow land.

From the wharf a road and walk lead to the Tomb and Mansion.

Land Barometer

Ship Barometer

Old Tomb

Old Tomb

On the edge of the hill, midway down the road leading to the wharf, an iron-railed enclosure marks where Washington’s remains rested from 1799 until 1831. This vault was constructed by George Washington, but later, believing it to be insecure, he planned another tomb, which his executors built. In April, 1831, all bodies in the old vault were transferred to the new tomb.

The cause of apprehension as to safety of the old structure, resulting in its abandonment, was the frequency of landslides near it.

Extensive repairs to the old tomb were made in 1887 by the Vice-Regent for Michigan. The iron railing was found necessary for protection.

In 1908 the broad flight of brick steps was completely rebuilt, the original material, suitable for the purpose, being used again.

Washington Family

New Tomb
“Within this enclosure rest the remains of General George Washington.”

New Tomb

This plain statement empaneled above the doorway of the rigidly simple brick vault at once marks its importance. Within the doubly ironed portals may be seen two marble sarcophagi; that on the right contains the body of General Washington and the one on the left the remains of his wife. At the rear of this open vault, and connected with it through a square iron door, is an inner vault containing the remains of many of the Washington family. To the memory of Bushrod Washington and John Augustine Washington, successors of the General (whose bodies are within the vault), marble shafts were erected in front of the tomb, while to the east are the graves of Nellie Custis and her daughter.

Washington selected this site for the vault only a few months before he died. His executors carried out his explicit directions as to construction, which accounts for its extreme simplicity. Because of Washington’s distaste for display, the character of this tomb should never be changed. Extensive repairs for the preservation of the original structure were made by the Association in 1886. To this hallowed spot come pilgrims from every land.

Within this Enclosure Rest the remains of Genl George Washington.

The Regents and Vice-Regents of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association of the Union Since its Organization, with Dates of Appointment

MISS ANN PAMELA CUNNINGHAM, Regent, 1853-1873
(Resigned, 1873; Died, May 1, 1875)
Vice-Regents
1858— 1 Mrs. Anna Cora Ogden Ritchie resigned 1866 Virginia
2 Mrs. Alice H. Dickinson resigned 1859 North Carolina
3 Mrs. Philoclea Edgeworth Eve died 1889 Georgia
4 Mrs. Octavia Walton Levert died 1877 Alabama
5 Mrs. Catharine A. McWillie died 1872 Mississippi
6 Mrs. Margaretta S. Morse resigned 1872 Louisiana
7 Mrs. Mary Rutledge Fogg died 1872 Tennessee
8 Mrs. Elizabeth M. Walton resigned 1858 Missouri
9 Miss Mary Morris Hamilton resigned 1866 New York
10 Mrs. Louisa Ingersoll Greenough resigned 1865 Massachusetts
11 Mrs. Abba Isabella Little resigned 1866 Maine
12 Mrs. Catherine Willis Murat died 1867 Florida
13 Mrs. Mary Booth Goodrich resigned 1864 Connecticut
14 Miss Phœbe Ann Ogden died 1867 New Jersey
15 Mrs. Alice Key Pendleton resigned 1863
died 1885 Ohio
16 Mrs. Abby Wheaton Chace died 1892 Rhode Island
17 Mrs. Jane Maria van Antwerp died 1870 Iowa
18 Mrs. Margaret Ann Comegys died 1888 Delaware
19 Mrs. Hannah Blake Farnsworth died 1879 Michigan
20 Mrs. Sarah King Hale resigned 1861 New Hampshire
21 Mrs. Martha Mitchell died 1902 Wisconsin
22 Mrs. Rosa Vertner Johnson Jeffries died 1894 Kentucky
Mrs. Janet M. C. Riggs, Acting Vice-Regent District of Columbia
1859— 23 Mrs. Elizabeth Willard Barry died 1883 Illinois
24 Mrs. Sarah J. Sibley died 1869 Minnesota
25 Mrs. Mary Pepperell Jarvis Cutts resigned 1878 Vermont
26 Miss Lily Lytle Macalester died 1891 Pennsylvania
27 Mrs. Magdalen G. Blanding resigned 1884 California
28 Mrs. Harriet B. Fitch died 1880 Indiana
29 Mrs. Sarah H. Johnson died 1866 Arkansas
30 Mrs. Letitia Harper Walker died 1908 North Carolina
1860— 31 Mrs. Ann Lucas Hunt died 1878 Missouri
32 Mrs. Mary Chesnut died 1867 South Carolina
1866— 33 Mrs. Margaret J. M. Sweat died 1908 Maine
34 Miss Emily L. Harper died 1891 Maryland
35 Mrs. Lucy H. Pickens died 1899 North Carolina
36 Mrs. M. E. Hickman resigned 1874 Nevada
37 Mrs. M. A. Stearns resigned 1873 New Hampshire
38 Mrs. Emily R. M. Hewson resigned 1872 Ohio
39 Miss Ella Hutchins resigned 1872 Texas
1867— 40 Mrs. Janet M. C. Riggs resigned 1868
died 1871 District of Columbia
41 Mrs. Maria Brooks resigned 1876 New York
42 Mrs. Matilda W. Emory resigned 1873 District of Columbia
1868— 43 Mrs. Nancy Wade Halsted died 1891 New Jersey
44 Mrs. Nannie C. Yulee died 1884 Florida
1870— 45 Mrs. Susan E. Johnson Hudson died 1913 Connecticut
46 Mrs. Ella Bassett Washington died 1898 West Virginia
1872— 47 Mrs. Betsy C. Mason died 1873 Virginia
48 Mrs. A. P. Dillon resigned 1873
died 1898 Iowa
49 Mrs. C. L. Scott resigned 1878 Arkansas
1873— 50 Mrs. William Balfour resigned 1875 Mississippi
51 Mrs. Mary T. Barnes died 1912 District of Columbia
52 Mrs. David Urquehart resigned 1876 Louisiana
53 Miss M. E. Maverick resigned 1873 Texas
MRS. LILY LYTLE MACALESTER BERGHMAN, Second Regent
(Made Acting Regent, 1873; Regent, June, 1874; Died, 1891)
1874— 54 Mrs. Emma Read Ball died 1918 Virginia
55 Mrs. Aaron V. Brown died 1889 Tennessee
1875— 56 Mrs. Elizabeth Lytle Broadwell died 1890 Ohio
57 Mrs. John P. Jones resigned 1876 Nevada
1876— 58 Mrs. Jennie Meeker Ward died 1910 Kansas
59 Mrs. Justine van Rensselaer Townsend died 1912 New York
1878— 60 Mrs. J. Gregory Smith resigned 1884 Vermont
1879— 61 Miss Alice M. Longfellow Massachusetts
62 Mrs. Robert Campbell died 1882 Missouri
1880— 63 Mrs. Ida A. Richardson died 1910 Louisiana
1882— 64 Mrs. Ella S. Herbert died 1884 Alabama
Vice-Regents
1885— 65 Mrs. Elizabeth B. Adams Rathbone resigned 1919
died 1923 Michigan
66 Mrs. Mary T. Leiter died 1913 Illinois
67 Mrs. Janet de Kay King died 1896 Vermont
68 Mrs. Elizabeth Woodward died 1987 Kentucky
1888— 69 Miss Harriet Clayton Comegys Elected Regent 1909 Delaware
70 Mrs. Fannie Gilchrist Baker died 1901 Florida
1889— 71 Mrs. Alice Hill died 1908 Colorado
72 Mrs. Rebecca B. Flandrau died 1912 Minnesota
73 Mrs. Phœbe A. Hearst died 1919 California
1890— 74 Mrs. A. R. Winder died 1906 New Hampshire
1891— 75 Mrs. Georgia Page Wilder died 1914 Georgia
MRS. JUSTINE Van RENSSELAER TOWNSEND, Third Regent
(Elected Temporary Regent, December, 1891; Regent, June, 1892; Died, 1912)
1893— 76 Mrs. Geo. R. Goldsborough resigned 1904
died 1906 Maryland
77 Mrs. J. Dundas Lippincott died 1894 Pennsylvania
78 Miss Mary Lloyd Pendleton resigned 1897 Ohio
79 Mrs. Philip Schuyler resigned 1894 New York
80 Mrs. Christine Blair Graham died 1915 Missouri
81 Mrs. Francis Stevens Conover died 1914 New Jersey
82 Mrs. Mary Polk Yeatman Webb died 1917 Tennessee
1894— 83 Miss Lelia Herbert died 1897 Alabama
1895— 84 Mrs. Robert H. Clarkson resigned 1900
died 1902 Nebraska
85 Mrs. William Ames died 1904 Rhode Island
86 Miss Amy Townsend died 1920 New York
1896— 87 Mrs. Charles Custis Harrison died 1922 Pennsylvania
88 Mrs. Thomas S. Maxey Texas
1897— 89 Mrs. James E. Campbell resigned 1902 Ohio
1900— 90 Mrs. Robert D. Johnston Alabama
91 Mrs. Charles F. Manderson died 1916 Nebraska
92 Mrs. Eugene van Rensselaer died 1924 West Virginia
1901— 93 Mrs. John Julius Pringle died 1921 South Carolina
94 Mrs. William F. Barret died 1920 Kentucky
95 Mrs. Charles Denby died 1906 Indiana
1905— 96 Mrs. Henry W. Rogers Maryland
1907— 97 Mrs. Lewis Irwin died 1916 Ohio
98 Miss Mary F. Failing Oregon
99 Mrs. Eliza Ferry Leary Washington
100 Mrs. Frances Jones Ricks resigned 1914 Mississippi
101 Mrs. J. Carter Brown Rhode Island
1909— 102 Mrs. A. B. Andrews died 1915 North Carolina
MISS HARRIET CLAYTON COMEGYS, Fourth Regent
(Elected, May, 1909; Resigned, May, 1927; Died, August, 1927)
1911— 103 Mrs. Alice H. Richards Maine
104 Miss Mary Evarts resigned 1923 Vermont
105 Mrs. Antoine Lentilhon Foster Delaware
1912— 106 Miss Annie Ragan King Louisiana
107 Miss Jane A. Riggs District of Columbia
1913— 108 Mrs. Horace Mann Towner Iowa
109 Mrs. Thomas Palmer Denham Florida
1914— 110 Miss Harriet L. Huntress died 1922 New Hampshire
111 Mrs. Charles Eliot Furness Minnesota
112 Mrs. Benjamin D. Walcott Indiana
113 Mrs. Lucien M. Hanks Wisconsin
1915— 114 Miss Annie Burr Jennings Connecticut
115 Mrs. Willard Hall Bradford New Jersey
1916— 116 Mrs. Charles Nagel Missouri
117 Mrs. George A. Carpenter Illinois
118 Miss Mary Govan Billups Mississippi
119 Mrs. John V. Abrahams resigned 1921 Kansas
1919— 120 Mrs. William Ewen Shipp North Carolina
121 Mrs. Horton Pope Colorado
122 Mrs. Charles J. Livingood Ohio
123 Mrs. Jefferson Randolph Anderson Georgia
124 Mrs. Celsus Price Perrie resigned 1922 Arkansas
1920— 125 Mrs. Horace van Deventer Tennessee
126 Mrs. Charles Stetson Wheeler California
1921— 127 Mrs. William Ruffin Cox died 1925 Virginia
1922— 128 Mrs. Henry Gold Danforth New York
1923— 129 Miss Mary Mason Scott Kentucky
130 Mrs. Alexander C. Troup Nebraska
131 Mrs. John Reynolds Shelton Kansas
132 Mrs. Edward H. Parker died 1924 Michigan
1924— 133 Miss Mary Evarts Vermont
1924— 134 Miss Virginia Leigh Porcher South Carolina
135 Mrs. William R. Mercer resigned 1928 Pennsylvania
136 Miss Constance Lee Peterkin West Virginia
1925— 137 Mrs. Benjamin S. Warren Michigan
1927— 138 Mrs. Fairfax Harrison Virginia
MRS. ALICE H. RICHARDS, Fifth Regent
(Elected, May, 1927)

Pohick Church

Pohick Church

The parish church of Mount Vernon, six miles distant from the Mansion, was built during the years 1768-70 from the plans drawn by General Washington, who was a member of the building committee. He was a vestryman of the parish for twenty years, and for the greater part of that time was a regular attendant at service, never permitting, as Bishop Meade says, “the weather or company to keep him from church.” Subsequently Washington became connected with Christ Church, Alexandria, where today his family pew may be seen as he used it.

Pohick Church, during the Civil War, was occupied at times by Federal troops and all the interior furnishings were destroyed. The late Vice-Regent for Michigan, Mrs. E. B. A. Rathbone, worked untiringly in the interest of the church, and to her are due the large additions to its endowment fund. Through the efforts of Miss Amy Townsend, former Vice-Regent for New York, both interior and exterior have been faithfully restored to their original appearance at the time of Washington.

To The
Unknown Dead
of
Pohick Church
This
Tribute of Respect
is paid the
Many Parishioners
Buried in this Hallowed Churchyard
The Records are Lost & the Graves
Cannot now be Identified
1925

MOUNT VERNON
Modification of an original map drawn by George Washington

High-resolution Map

MAP OF THE ESTATE OF MOUNT VERNON, VA.
Photographed, Engraved and Printed by The Beck Engraving Co., Phila.

High-resolution Map

Transcriber’s Notes