One hundred years ago this year, a group of far-sighted women led the efforts to save Historic Kenmore, the family home of Betty Washington Lewis, President George Washington’s, and her husband, Fielding, from commercial development.
Don’t forget to honor mom this weekend. Here’s a list of some fun activities happening in our area.
Prince William County
5/8 & 5/9 –
Mother’s Day Tours at all Prince William County Historic Sites – (County Wide) – 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.; Free for Mothers and children under 6. Does your Mom enjoy history, visiting beautiful historic houses, picturesque gardens, and hearing juicy, dramatic stories of the past? Then treat her to a tour of one of Prince William County’s historic sites for Mother’s Day!
5/8
Flower Workshop for Mother’s Day – (Haymarket) This free workshop is an hour and a half exercise for Mother’s Day.
Fielding Lewis was born on July 7, 1725, at Warner Hall in Gloucester County, the third of seven children of John Lewis IV (also known as Colonel John Lewis) and Frances Fielding Lewis. His mother died in 1731 from complications related to childbirth, and during the winter of 1734–1735 John Lewis married Priscilla Churchhill Carter, the widow of Robert Carter II and inheritor of £2,500 from his will. Her son, Robert Carter III, spent two years at Warner Hall before attending school.
On April 6, 1742, John Lewis bought 406 acres of land in Fredericksburg, a growing port town on the Rappahannock River in Spotsylvania County and the site of a state tobacco inspection station. Soon he established a store that sold a wide variety of items including clothing, rum, sugar, and writing supplies that were likely imported from abroad on Lewis-owned ships. In 1744, John Thornton, who previously owned a tavern in Fredericksburg, became the factor, or manager, of Lewis’s business. By April 1