5 Chapter 4 Country Life

Chapter 4 Country Life George had seen enough of war. He gave up his command and returned to Virginia. His brother Lawrence's wife had died. She had no living children. So Mount Vernon now belonged to George. He intended to live there peacefully for the rest of his life.

At a dance George met a very rich young widow with two young children. Her name was Martha Custis She was short and plump with a warm smile. She knew the same people George knew. They both wanted the same kind of country life. In all ways it was a good match. "I have found an agreeable partner," he wrote to a friend. On January 6, 1759, they were married. They both were twenty-seven years old. Although never wildly in love, there was a strong bond between

them. Martha called George "Old Man" or "Papa." Sadly, they had no children together. But he doted upon little Patsy and her older brother Jacky. PATSY AND JACKY

JACKY CUSTIS WAS FOUR AND HIS YOUNGER SISTER, PATSY, WAS TWO WHEN THEIR MOTHER MARRIED GEORGE WASHINGTON. GEORGE WAS GOOD TO HIS STEPCHILDREN. HE ORDERED FINE CLOTHES AND TOYS FOR THEM FROM ENGLAND. (GEORGE WAS VERY UPSET WHEN A DOLL FOR PATSY DIDN'T ARRIVE ON TIME.) PATSY WAS A SWEET GIRL. FROM THE TIME SHE WAS VERY YOUNG SHE HAD SEIZURES, WHICH GREW WORSE AS SHE GOT OLDER. DOCTORS HAD NO IDEA HOW TO HELP HER. SHE DIED AFTER A SEIZURE WHEN SHE WAS ONLY SEVENTEEN.

JACKY WAS A SPOILED AND LAZY BOY. ALL HE WANTED WAS TO HAVE FUN. HE LASTED ONLY A FEW MONTHS AT COLLEGE IN NEW YORK BEFORE COMING HOME. HE WAS A FAILURE AS A FARMER AND DIED AT TWENTY-SIX, JUST WEEKS AFTER HIS STEPFATHER'S ARMY WON THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. JACKY'S SON AND DAUGTHER WERE RAISED AT MOUNT VERNON BY GEORGE AND MARTHA. (JACKY'S WIFE AND TWO OLDER

DAUGHTERS LIVED NEARBY IN VIRGINIA.) AS FOR WHY GEORGE WASHINGTON HAD NO FAMILY OF HIS OWN, MANY HISTORIANS THINK SMALLPOX LEFT HIM UNABLE TO HAVE CHILDREN. Both George and Martha loved to entertain. When he was a much older man, he claimed he and Martha hadn't dined alone in twenty years!