2 Chapter 1 A Boy from Virginia

Chapter I A Boy from Virginia On the night of February 22, 1732, Augustine Washington sat at a table by candlelight. A family Bible lay open before him. Gus, as everyone called him, was a tobacco farmer in the colony of

Virginia. With a pen made from the quill of a turkey, he wrote down the name of his son—George—who had been born that very morning. George's mother, Mary, was Gus's second wife. (His first wife had died, leaving him with two teenage sons.) One night not long before George was born, a bolt of lightning shot down the chimney of the Washingtons' farmhouse. It killed a woman who was visiting Mary. Mary worried that the lightning was a sign of bad luck. It might mean that there'd be something wrong with her baby. But George was a strong, healthy baby. People said he looked like his mother. He grew into a tall, athletic boy who loved to ride horses through the green countryside. In later years he was known as the best horseman in Virginia.

When George was about seven, the family moved to Ferry Farm. It was across the river from Fredericksburg, Virginia. By this time George had a younger sister, Betty, and three younger brothers—Samuel, John, and Charles. (People said George

and Betty looked a lot alike. As a grown woman, she would do funny imitations of her famous brother!) There isn't any information about how George and his father got along. But we do know he wasn't close to his mother. Mary Washington was a cold, bossy woman. All George's friends were scared of her. Strangely, she never took pride in her eldest son, not even after he became president. His letters to her would begin "Honored Madam" instead of "Dear Mother." And he never introduced his wife, Martha, to her! A FAMOUS LIE MANY GENERATIONS OF SCHOOLCHILDREN LEARNED THE STORY OF GEORGE WASHINGTON CHOPPING DOWN A CHERRY TREE ON HIS FAMILY'S FARM. WHEN HIS ANGRY FATHER ASKED WHO HAD

DONE SUCH A TERRIBLE THING, GEORGE CONFESSED RIGHT AWAY. "I CANNOT TELL A LIE," HE SAID. "PA, IT WAS I WHO CHOPPED IT DOWN." THE STORY SHOWED HOW HONEST GEORGE WAS, EVEN AS A SMALL BOY. THE STORY, HOWEVER, WAS ENTIRELY MADE UP. SOON AFTER WASHINGTON'S DEATH, A MAN NAMED MASON LOCKE WEEMS WROTE A BOOK ABOUT THE FIRST PRESIDENT. WEEMS WANTED WASHINGTON TO SEEM PERFECT. AND SO HE MADE UP STORIES SUCH AS THE ONE ABOUT THE CHERRY TREE. IT TOOK MORE THAN A HUNDRED YEARS BEFORE THE TRUTH CAME OUT ABOUT THE UNTRUTHFUL BOOK.

The person he loved best in the world was his kind half-brother Lawrence. Lawrence was Gus's oldest son. He was fourteen years older than George. Lawrence had gone to school in England.