George wouldve gone to england to school but for his fathers death, instead mary hatch together tutors and schools for george and betty and the younger boys and provided them with enough polish despite a real essence of any cash to help the mingle with frederick best society. She could only afford to lend george the money to pay for his dancing lessons. In his first little tiny eye q writes about paying his mother back for his dancing lessons, which taught of not just dancing but also correct posture and they cared of a well bred man. George had is, like marys devotional books, he got the famous book on rules of civility to learn how to be a gentleman at a young age. Mary bought betty a a temblor k which allowed her to do needlework that put her in sort of things gentry class girls would learn. She kept her sons wigs here there were four wigs. She kept them all extremely well taken care of, and they found an unbelievable stash of weak curlers, ceramic wig curlers that are still there after 200 years. Archaeologists have found the remains of the card table. So the obviously played cards and games. And all of her children, like mary, married up. Im not committing the practice what i think she did the best she could and deserves credit for working to get her kids under very difficult straits, to get her kids the social opportunities to travel in mary in virginias elite circle. The biographers have accused her of being overprotective but she doesnt seem to have been that way. She let george go for several months on a surveying trip where he encountered all kinds of dangers, native americans or savages as they wouldve said. Soon afterwards, george accompanied his brother to the caribbean in search of a cure for his brothers tv. Instead, he got smallpox, george, not his brother, and tv wasnt here. Sure. When george decided to join brad x campaign against the french and indians in 1755, mary travel 50 miles from fredericksburg to plead with them not to go. She was frightened. She had nursed him back to health after about a smallpox. She knew she couldnt prevent it from going but she was alarmed, as george wrote. Pulitzer prize winning Thomas Flexner has her quote damping angrily out of mount vernon after failing to change his mind. Mind. Theres a evidence for stepping. Historians have seen this as our desire to 4chan which is psychologically traumatic story but it doesnt capture what george witness, which was her fear and concern, they could because he been sick more than once, though smallpox was only one of a series of illnesses she had nursed him through. In followup letters, george after that scene, he assured her braddock was in a prodigious commander and you wouldnt be suffering from british snobbery or humiliating treatment, something they both discussed obviously. And george invited her to stay at mount vernon with his younger brother johnny who is going to look after mount vernon while he was away. She did. She spent a lot of time there, and johnny and the woman that became his wife named the first child after her. After the failed campaign, he suffered several more bouts of bad illness and he frequently stayed at his mothers house to be taken care. These passages never make it into the biographies of george, and mary wrote that george was the main victim of the mother. Nor did biographers recommends george seem to enjoy a invoking his mother stupid he wrote about the number of forces that god shot out from under him at the number of muster balls that had gone through his tape. He obviously liked playing her and making her more fearful. The relationship was more complex and interesting than the story of the victimized son of a nasty mother. Then theres the issue of money. Mary stepped into adolescence parentless. She suffered from the massive death of other children in the chesapeake in this era suffered but in a greater degree than most. Historians have hesitated to try and diagnose what the psychological syndrome that might result from these kinds of widespread deaths, but it doesnt seem like a stretch to say they predisposed mary to fears of abandonment, want, and made her struggle with author formidable will to be selfreliant. After her mothers death, mary stayed on and how she lived with her mother, which now belong o her elder stepsister elizabeth and her new husband. Mary and elizabeth late mothers overseer sued the estate successfully for back pay. Mary wouldve watched him fill up and take off with the crops from the farm. Must been a frightening moment at they cant imagine she, i can imagine she might never have forgotten it. Mary spinner adolescence puppy to mentor sisters house and taking care of her growing family. She acquired to have frugality and ceaseless work. Decades later george wrote a poor young relative girl, advising her to make yourself useful, using the example of young girl of 16, unnamed young girl 16 come so responsible she ran a whole hassle. Pretty clear to me and the clear that the virtuous model was his mother. Early on a ship of land and slates give merit of ultimate habit but probably not much flexibility and understanding that role. Our devotional text guided her. Her devotional. Tried to live by the readings, and she taught her children and her grandchildren from these books. The central lesson was world of cory was nothing. What was essential was being a good christian so when that came, god would welcome you to heaven. On earth what should be a good steward of what was entrusted to you in life. All else is vanity and flattery. She believed these things fervently, and she taught them to her children intensely, most of all george who was her first and the person impairment who also begin to rely as he became older. During the 16 sorry, 1760, george became irritated this is after his marriage and the going is gone away and everyone is married out and she is poor than ever. She begins asking george vogel bits of money, five pounds, six pounds, eight pounds, as much as 20 pounds one time. He was then married to martha. His wealth opened him up to large avenues of credit with the london merchants which was very tempting. The couple bought elegant close, traveled in a new english carriage. They acquired more land and asleep people and made improvements on medford. Tobacco prices were falling and george was going deeply into debt. He hated that but he saw his own, his fellow planters escalating consumption as a trap from which they could not emerge because their cant show each other how successful they work with all those things they would buy. This competition fed a vicious cycle and he was 10,000 pounds in debt by the 17 60s. His younger brother borrowed enormous sums, 500 pounds from him, but the thing that really called him were his mothers request for five, ten, 15 pounds, which were requests that would keep her out of debt as she was so cash poor. At the end of the decade, in 1777 he decided to stop his mothers request and decide to take over the farm, make a protective and put her in house in town. She chose a house. He bought it. She went to live there. She still had land that was hers and should go to visit but she was no longer at the farm. He doesnt seem to have made much Progress Making the farm profitable. During the war it was first rented and then it was sold. George turned his attention rapidly to the growing imperial crisis and stop complaining about his mother. When he left for the revolution he had his overseer and manager, his cousin, a his mother the rent he owed her for the tools and livestock on the farm, and insulate people. During the war, the farm was sold after it was rented. During the revolution mary suffered like other White Virginians from rising taxes, scarce food, no salt, a fear of the british, fear of slave uprising, fear of both smallpox and inoculation process. She was responsible for growing enough corn to feed her enslavement of women and she couldnt always do. She complained of nearly starving. As a land and slave owning old woman should become a vulnerable target. Poor white men like her overseer were angry about their exploitation and he could take offense at the confusion and the class conflict and become much more dramatically. In the absence of any powerful man checking on her overseer, cheater for much of the war. Her youngest son charles was to help her look after the farm was drinking heavily in any case i wasnt paying attention. This is sort of concluding anecdote, and then i will stop outside to go on quite so long. Shortly before the battle of yorktown, terri and her new by children and grandchildren were evacuated. They feared the british were going to come to fredericksburg because the was in arms manufacturer of their run i her soninlaw. Instead, the british went to yorktown. Nevertheless, mary who is not quite 80 had just recovered from an illness, tract 100 miles across the shana door into the alleghenies where her son samuel and Charles Anderson the law all had homes. They all crammed into one little house, daniels house, and within three weeks, her son samuel died and her soninlaw who had been all of her relatives probably the most responsible in making sure everything was okay with her, they both died, and betty almost died from the stress and our own ailments, which were many. Under these circumstances, mary talk to anyone and i go and who would about how poor she was and how hard times was, and she wondered out loud about how she could pay her taxes because she would lose the last piece of property she had if she couldnt pay her taxes. Charles was drunk and negligent. George was gone, and johnny lived far away, didnt seem to be paying attention. She was giving completely lost, and the anxiety of living to the war alone had put her in a crisis of fear. It was at this terrible moment the summit in the Virginia Assembly raised the issue of a possible pension for mary. The president of the Assembly Benjamin harrison, as i mentioned, washingtons friend, wrote washington and told about the subject being raised and that it stop this discussion knowing it would be embarrassing to washington. When george heard, he was enraged at the potential slide to his reputation. He wrote harrison and all of his siblings defending himself and his behavior towards his mother, and accusing her of imaginary needs and of having no sense of propriety. Historians have use of this is damning evidence of a great, insensitivity and perhaps seeing this as as a worst of many indignities that he had to endure at her hands. George said quite correctly that he didnt know what difficulties she labored under. He had not seen her for seven years. But then he went on to say she couldnt labor under any real difficulties because her whole family friend to take care of her. But half of her family had just died. That he could take care of her because the estate was 7000 pounds in debt. Johnny wasnt paying any attention at all, and you know, it was a nightmare and mary really didnt know what to do. George had not spent he spent the war as the commanderinchief of the continental army, and although he endured many of the course and danger, he was never in danger of starving or this issues of inflation and so on, didnt affect them in a very personal way. It took him a long time when he came back to fredericksburg at the end of the war to understand why it was economically such a disaster area and why the end of the war didnt just make things pick up. Both george and mary had a kind of rhetorical habit of exaggerating their poverty, and perhaps they both wrote from time to time i will be ruined. I am ruined. Im about to be ruined. Perhaps he felt this was the kind of thing she was doing. But she simply wasnt. I cant prove of the discussion arose in the Virginia Assembly but i have a theory because a bitter enemy of george was to within the assembly and he lived close to where mary had been evacuated. Its perfectly possible that he used the occasion and heard hue gossip and use the occasion to embarrass george. I cant prove this, but in any case, it doesnt really matter. What is important is that in 2010 the story comes down to us like this in the most recent biography of mary and george. Ron chernow wrote this fight of marys complaint she had a amassed such substantial holdings george alone inherited 400 acres of valuable pineland. All of this property have been followed by womanhood seen fit to petition the Virginia Legislature for private pension dreams were because of her sons allegedly collect. I think a better verb that amassed would even help on for dear life. Of course the last piece of property that mary ellen and ship out it since she was three years old. She had already given the of the fuse to johnny. Theres no evidence that the was ever a petition and theres no evidence she was the petition herself. Only that she spoke often about her money worries. Mary looked carefully, pinched pennies, worried about, much more as she got older. She never had much of a chance in life to be compliant. Circumstances of her life didnt allow for it. Her war experience did not soother or maker sweeter, but she wasnt inventing or difficulties. George historians have use their imaginations generously towards him but without exception about it impossible to bring any generosity or real scholarship to imagining his mothers life. What theyve done is to repeat stories that were established in the 40s and 50s, particularly by Douglas Freeman and his definitive biography. They havent bothered to go back and check for themselves what her life was like. Mary and george shared grid, persistence, a sense of duty, very clear ideas of right and wrong, had identities depend on hard work and vigilance. They were critical, but then, i complained when the perceived things going wrong, which often did. They were both tall and strong and good horse people. They both a commanding presence. These traits looked more becoming on her son when he was fighting to create an independent nation than they did on his mother, trying to survive the war that he worked so hard to provoke and fight. George, although he was very he had blind spots about his mother. This doesnt diminish his greatness but it shouldnt diminish her humanity either. Thank you. [applause] questions . I think there are microphones on both sides of the room. If you dont mind, its being recorded so it you could speak into the mic. Okay. Can you hear me now . Yes. A couple of questions. You are talking about her well into her 80s into her 70s. She died as before, when she was about 80. So after all that she went through, very often when you get older you sort of lose your faculties, and your children, now, roll their eyes a little bit. Is there a lot of evidence of that, have just thought she was losing her faculties . Theres contrary evidence. George said, i can remember the quote word for word, he said, while she became very, very frail she never lost her wits, that she was sharp up until the end. Theres a question, on the that she probably sort of, the traits that you as a young person become a bit exaggerated as you get older. I think our worries, for anxiety and probably her tendency to repeat herself, you know. But she does not at all seem to have lost her acuity. I see. At how old was she when she had george . You know, its not entirely clear because its not clear when she was born. She was born maybe 1709, and she had george in 1732. Approximately. Last question is, did you find anything other than the devotion to religion tender about her story, youthful about her along glcm any sweetness, any indication of sweetness . Or was it just a better life that snowballed into further bitterness . No. Im sorry that ive given speedy you didnt give that impression at all, but she was always suffering. She had a lot of difficulties in her life. I think she had temple for one thing should something of a sense of humor. At one point she describes itself as an old its a wry sense of humor. She describes herself as an old almanac quite out of date. She was immensely fond of her small children. I think it gave her real joy. I mean, that she experienced real joy having little ones. Its clear that she was an affectionate mother. All of her children, her grandchildren were a normalcy fond of her. She would tell them these stories a devotional books. So you got to learn yet. She was a good dancer. She went to dances in fredericksburg as a widow, and she was ship play the pleasures and her life. She started out top bell. I thought so, you know, you and pleasures and a Bright Outlook usually come about how tough it then when youre young you the whole world ahead of you. Right. She loves horseback riding. It gave her a lot of independence. Gave her joy. Yes. Thank you. Sure. The farm in fredericksburg has just opened up a reconstruction of a house, they imagined that he was raised in. Digit any input and how theyre telling the story that you just told . Its about mary. If not, you have any reaction to what they are saying about mary at the new form . Thats a nice question. I havent been there since they started to do tours, but i certainly spent a lot of time talking to the archaeologists. I think what did that is diabetes. Theres a woman named laura who is the one who wrote a wonderful piece on the weight curlers and other stuff. Weve been wig codis. Weve been in a lot of conversations. I think there are pleased to have story about mary that is archival he based. As far as i know we dont disagree. They are remarkable historians, although they are archaeologists they are also historians. Thank you so much for your lecture. I cant wait to read your book. A couple questions. One, could you talk about her relationship to betty . Because there were very close. And just mention and doing the tour of her house in fredericksburg, the kaiser said that she was known for writing her horse. I think in her 60s, writing her horse up and down the streets in fredericksburg, that she was pretty active. So it coincides with your story about really speedy she loved horses. She kept and got in of the house so she could look at the ones she liked best. Theres a famous story about george breaking and then actually killing one of her colts she was very fond of. They were very courageous writers. Im surprised in her 60s she wouldve been doing im remembering 60s. It was certainly sent into her years that you would not think someone would be riding a horse was riding up and down i would say that gentry women with more money tended not to ride as much as mary did. She was accustomed to a period when she was just going up as the girl. She had a lot of independence, and girls would have at that point back, but im going to switch this off. That wouldnt be wise. As the center went on and class differences became much more structured and defined, most women stop doing it. But mary loved it. She did at some point when george, when george got married, this wouldve been 1760, 1759, 1760, 59, im blanking on it, but she was on two canes. So i dont know if that was a permanent or i thought she then was in a single carriage after that, but i could be wrong. That just kind of stuck with me from the two of her house. Talk a little about the other material, theres so little of her own letters. What other materials are available . There are people other people in fredericksburg who talked about her in their letters . One of the things that was hopeless or early down it was incredibly religious orders all kinds of litigious so theres those kinds of letters. Court records, which are fascinating. She had a halfbrother in england who wrote or sometimes very sort of patriarchal, this is what you should think kind of letter, and do it this way and stuff. But she had respect for them and she kept up that correspondence. So there are three perhaps letters, to me thats a treasure trove of letters. An awful lot of it comes down to georges correspondence and triangulating it with other diaries and what other people are saying. All of the people in town, many of them were related to the washingtons. There are occasionally cousins saying things that you could sort of figure out where she was and what she was doing. Her relationship with betty was i think as close as a new relationship. She was there for every birth and every death, and they help each other, they didnt correspond because they were quite close, physically, but i think the most important bonds were helping each other in ways of sort of work and providing apples or honey or whatever it was. So that was i think the relationship of her life, basically. Thanks. Do we know anything about the relationship between martha and mary . Not that much. At mount vernon they think they didnt get along particularly well. Certainly they were quite different types of women, and many of georges biographers have assumed that he was desperate to get away from this gloomy old rigid mother and got bubbly martha. I think, george brought martha often to fredericksburg. There were many more visits than his biographers sort of have so they really did know each other. And patsy, marthas daughter who was the epileptic, with seized within epileptic fit at marys house and the allstate over for a while. They commiserated. I mean, it just wasnt as simple as they didnt like each other. Mary always in the notes to george always centered dearest i mean, very affectionate communicated messages to martha. Mary didnt have any smalltalk. She didnt go to mount vernon and sort of enjoy elite company and she didnt dress up. She wore what they she were a ship which is the kind of thing they were in the early 18th century, and there were people got fancier she didnt do that. It was embarrassing to george, but but i think they felt she wasnt quite reasonable in the kind of company that they always kept after they became grandees, you know, certainly after the presidency. I dont think there was animosity. I just think there was a kind of bad fit, different lifestyle. Thank you very much. Sure. Any other questions . Okay. Thank you so much for coming. [applause] folks, that will be at book signing the books at the cash register. All right. Welcome everybody. Just a couple bits of housekeeping for you, as you probably noticed were being filled were being filled by cspan. It is not like but it will be broadcast in the future. So if you want to see the place where youve been on tv, you can let g