Good afternoon everyone! It's a joy to
see you on this August day of 1777. Mrs. Washington at your service.
And I am understanding that there are a few people who might have some questions for me, which I am more than happy to answer. It has been some time since I've
been down to the Capitol City, what with my travels to the encampments
taking up the majority of the last year or so. But I've come down to the city on
in fact some family matters. My nephews, the Bassett boys, are due to have their
smallpox inoculations and since I had my smallpox inoculation last year in '76, I
thought to take them back to Mount Vernon with me, where they could undergo
the inoculation and the quarantine surrounded by those who love them very
much. But of course, while I was here, the mayor
and the City Council of Williamsburg have decided to waylay my journey for a
day or two because they have intentions of presenting me with with a gold medal
and the freedom of the city which I think I am NOT, I should not have that
honor for. Now, I understand that they are in fact for my husband, not for me, but I
shall take them in his place. And so while I am waiting upon the mayor to
call upon me, I thought to make myself available to you should you have any
questions. It has, I said, been some time since I've come down to Williamsburg, so
I wanted to make myself available to you. It's been an interesting turn of events
over the past few years. You know I was born not 25 miles from this place, out in
New Kent County, and I have to tell you Williamsburg has always been like a
second home to me. My father, being a clerk of the county, came in to
Williamsburg on government business quite frequently and I, being the eldest
of all of my siblings, well I of course would join him with as
much frequency as possible. And growing up, everyone has known me here. However
I've noticed over the past year or so, that instead of calling me Mrs.
Washington, they now call me Lady Washington, which is a title that I have
had bestowed upon me over the past few years in traveling with my husband to
the winter encampments. But I am hoping my friends, that while we are together,
that you might call me just Mrs. Washington, for you are old and dear
friends to me. But here I should cease speaking and I should like to know what
you should wish to speak on. I have my man Mr. Smith, just on the other side of
the room from me and he has told me that there are several questions that perhaps
you should like for me to answer. So I shall ask Mr. Smith, is there a question
for me? [Offscreen] They are rolling in Mrs. Washington. Are you ready? [Mrs. Washington] I am sir. [Offscreen] The
first question is about you and your time in Virginia and around this entire
country. It's about the differences between living in Williamsburg versus
living at your home at Mount Vernon. I see the question is the differences in
living in and around Williamsburg as compared to Mount Vernon. Well I will be
perfectly honest with you, I do not know if I could ever truly qualify myself as
having lived in Williamsburg. I was born near here along the Pamunkey River at my
family estate called Chestnut Grove and as I've said it's only some 25 miles
away from the capital city. Although I do, well, I retain the life rights to several
pieces of property here in Williamsburg anything with Custis on the name I have
life rights to as Mr. Custis was my first husband and upon his death I
received my widow's share which was one third of his real property to have use of during my life, including the great Custis Square House that's on the back
street here. And I would say though, that the Colonel and I did spend the first
three months of our marriage here in Williamsburg. Well, he was a Colonel then
I should say. But other than that, I cannot truly qualify myself as living in
Williamsburg. In fact right now, I am staying at the
town home of my sister's mother-in-law Mrs. Dawson, who is always so kind to
open her doors. But comparing Williamsburg to Mount Vernon well they
are as different as night and day. The first time I ever saw
Mount Vernon, it was only about three months after my marriage to Colonel
Washington, as he was then. I had never seen Mount Vernon, only had it described
to me by Colonel Washington. We left in April from Williamsburg and when we
arrived on April 6th of '59 I saw for the first time, what was going to be my home.
At the time it was a house. At the time it was a bachelor's house. But not long
after we moved in with my two children it truly did become a home and Mount
Vernon is well, it is so pleasantly situated right there on the banks of the
Potomac and enjoying that wonderful view every morning is something that I think
is a blessing from God. But I will say, that one of the best parts of living in
the country, are absolutely the vegetables. They cannot be compared to
our vegetables that we have in the gardens up at Mount Vernon, compared to
what we can grow here in Williamsburg. I hope that answered your question.
Mr. Smith? [Offscreen] Well you've already been speaking about home and your domestic life, so there's a question and about your husband. What are your favorite qualities
of the General? [Mrs. Washington] My favorite qualities of the General? I have to remember that I'm
speaking to the public don't I? You know, my husband is an interesting fellow.
He is one whom, and I'm sure that if you have had the pleasure of spending any
time with him, there are in fact two General Washingtons. There is the
General, the commander-in-chief of the Continental forces, and then there is my
husband. I am blessed to know the man behind the uniform and he is one,
in our many years of marriage at this point, that I've always found to be very kind,
warm. And from the infancy of our relationship we have always acted as
partners to one another, and that is something that I cherish in our very
successful and up to this point, long, marriage. We are happiest when we are
together and thankfully he and I both understand that about each other and we
try and be around one another as often as we can. Which has had me traveling to
the winter encampments of the army for the past several years, something that I
never in a million years thought growing up along the banks of the Pamunkey River
that I would be involved with. But there you are. Life is always giving you new
and exciting challenges to undertake. Wouldn't you agree Mr. Smith? [Offscreen] What are your duties at the winter encampments? [Mrs. Washington] My duties at the encampments? Well, I can tell you Mr.
Smith, it is not to pick up a musket with a bayonet on it and drill with the
soldiers. No, my responsibilities. My husband is the commander in chief of the
army however during the encampments, the fighting dies down but the politicking
does not. And while my husband may be a master over the battlefield, the
dining table, that is my battlefield. Thus when I come
to the winter encampments, be it in Cambridge or Morristown or wherever the
army might find itself, I find that my duty is twofold. One, to provide comfort to my husband but two, to manage his dining table, for there
are countless foreign dignitaries, congressmen, their wives, local
dignitaries, who grace the winter encampments to see the state of the
Continental Army, and to see if it is something worth supporting and investing
in. And when I host a dinner for them, it is my hope that they see the best of
what the army can offer. And so I manage my husband's household which is my duty
at home and it is my duty wherever he is. For I have discovered
that our house could be anywhere, but home is where the two of us are together.
Mr. Smith? [Offscreen] Katie asks about quarantine and illness. Have you ever been quarantined?
[Mrs. Washington] Oh Katie! You're asking about quarantining and I am assuming you were speaking about
the smallpox inoculation. Yes, I have been quarantined before. Last summer in the
summer of '76, I took it upon myself to become inoculated from the smallpox
right there in Philadelphia. My husband was not sure that I was going to go
through with it. I had just been with him in Cambridge and in and around Boston
when the city was evacuated and I saw the devastation that the smallpox
rendered to that once, very proud city and I took it upon myself to realize
that if I was truly going to be helpful, to not only the army, but to my husband,
then I needed to take all precautions that I could. And so on the way home, I
stopped in Philadelphia in May of '76 and I received the smallpox inoculation. John
Hancock offered me his home to recuperate in and undergo the quarantine,
but I did not wish to put any more burden on Mrs. Hancock, so I took the
inoculation and the quarantine in Mr. Randolph's lodging house. Now, the
inoculation Katie, if you have not heard of it, it is truly nothing to be
frightened of. In fact, we have known of the smallpox inoculation for many, many
years, coming not only to England but to America in '17 and '21, and all it requires
of you is to have a small cut somewhere on the scarf of your skin, be it on your
arm or be it on your thigh, no thicker than the width of a piece of paper, and
on the lancet that makes that cut, of course, there's a bit of matter from
someone who has had a mild case of the smallpox. Once it is in your blood, it is
then bound and the hope is, is that you contract a mild form of the smallpox,
undergo a quarantine so that you do not spread it to anyone else, and by the time
you have had the scabs fall off from you, then you are rendered
immune from the disease. I took the inoculation very well, having
only a very few pustules upon me and none on my face, thank heavens. But it has
rendered me immune and it has rendered my ability to have service to my husband
that much more valuable, so much so that my husband saw the wonderful effects of
the inoculation and has encouraged Congress to have the entire army
inoculated and those inoculations began earlier this year in January of '77. So it
is our hope that the American army will not be devastated by that speckled
monster. Mr. Smith? [Offscreen] That sounds terrifying. [Mrs. Washington] Oh thank you Mr. Smith. [Offscreen] I'm glad you survived. [Mrs. Washington] Thank you, I am too. I would love it to change the subject.
[Offscreen] How about pets? We have several questions about pets. What animals do you have at your plantations? What are their names? [Mrs. Washington] Well, pets we do have a vast
number of animals on the estate some of whom I think I could qualify as pet. Some
of whom I think would be more qualifying as working animals, for instance my
husband the General has 35 foxhounds that he keeps in a kennel right off of
the main mansion house there. He visits them every morning and every evening
when he is at home, but I do not truly consider them pets even though some of
them have very sweet names like Sweet Lips and True Love. But truthfully I
think what I would consider a pet is, I do have, well I have always found birds
to be very fascinating. In fact, one time my husband purchased a bird from a man
who had sailed his ship up from the West Indies. We keep them on the back porch as
it were, but we keep those in cages and I think I would qualify those more as pets
than my husband's foxhounds. And then of course we have a wide assortment of
horses and other animals that are used for our farming as well. [Offscreen] Any of them have names? I mean like Mr. Jefferson? Have you named
any of them Mr. Jefferson or Mr. Hamilton? [Mrs. Washington] I don't think that I would name any of my
animals after Mr. Jefferson or Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Smith.
Although would you like me to? [Offscreen] Yes. Your prized cow. [Mrs. Washington] My prized cow?! I shall take it into consideration. [Offscreen] We have questions about food. Yes? [Offscreen] About how you set a table what food do you like to bake or what food you like to cook or what food do you serve others when they're sitting at your table? [Mrs. Washington] One of my favorite subjects is of course food and
of course dining. For that is an art form that I have been trained by my mother
since I was a very young girl. My mother trained myself and my sisters to be
Roman matrons over our households and it is from the dining table that indeed we,
the ladies of the household can affect the most change sometimes. We are very
regimented in our schedule at Mount Vernon. My husband rises very early, as do I. He tends to rise a bit before I do but
breakfast every morning is at seven o'clock sharp and it is usually a light
fare, perhaps of cold meats from the night before, tea, coffee, chocolate. My
husband prefers hoecakes drenched in honey and at least two bowls
of tea. We take our dinner, our afternoon meal strictly at three o'clock. My
husband allows about five minutes variance for pocket watches, but then the
meal begins and that I believe is, would you consider our more lavish meal of the
day. My dining table always have has a boiled
ham at the head of it and right down the middle are four or five different meats.
There are vegetables to go all the way around the outside and we of course
employ the French style of service, which means that everyone serves whatever is
in front of their plate. So the first 10 minutes or so of the meal you have
plates whizzing all around the table with people shouting over one another
saying exactly what they wish, but once the plates are served then that is the
first course of the meal. Then of course that is cleared away and the next course
we might have, tarts and pies, and then of course those
are cleared away and we might have a fruit or dessert or perhaps nuts.
So that meal can take several hours. We of course then oftentimes have tea again
at seven o'clock in the evening and depending upon what our company might
wish we would also have another lighter meal later on in the evening. Our, well I
should say my day, is quite occupied with what is going on out of my kitchen.
One of the first people that I meet with every single morning is my cook and she
is also one of the last people that I see every morning. We have quite, uh well
a routine with one another as it were. I hope that answers your question Mr.
Smith? [Offscreen] We have so many questions that are almost exactly the same and I hesitate to
dig into your personal life much further but everyone wants to know how you met
George. [Mrs. Washington] Which George? [Offscreen] Well I suppose your husband George Washington. [Mrs. Washington] Ah! I'm shocked
Mr. Smith, that you would be so informal as to call him George.
I don't even call him that [Offscreen] I'm just reading what the people write. [Mrs. Washington] I see. Well,
I well I am not shocked my friends that you wish to know how I met my husband.
Well it happened many years ago, as you can understand. First of all,
you must understand General Washington is not my first husband. I was married
when I was 18 years old to my next-door neighbor in fact out of New Kent County.
A man who, well he moved to the area when I was 4 years old and he was 24 years
old. Daniel Park Custis. He was of the great Custis family that had some
holdings out on the eastern shore but even more here in Williamsburg and I
remember as a child seeing Mr. Custis and always wondering why he looked so
sad and my mother always told me when I was a very young that I was being
impertinent to ask about the private lives of others. But when I was about 15
or so and I began coming to more social events in the capital city I truly began
to understand Mr. Custis. You see, he was the son of John Custis the fourth, who was the owner of Custis Square, just here on the
backstreet in Williamsburg and Mr. Custis was a difficult man, some might
say. When his son Daniel was finally able to escape his tyrannical grasp he was 24
and he chose an estate not so far away from Williamsburg, 25 miles as the crow
flies out in New Kent called the White House, which just so happens to be four
miles upriver from my childhood home of Chestnut Grove. Well by the time I was 17
Mr. Custis and I, well our neighborly friendship turned into a deep affection
and we decided that we should very much like to be married. Mr. Custis was not
altogether thrilled with the notion of his son and heir of the Custis estate
marrying the daughter of a clerk but after some prudent conversations Mr.
Custis was convinced. In fact, I think he even told one of our friends that he
should wish Daniel to have me over any lady in Virginia and indeed he was just
as enamored with Daniel, with me as Daniel was all owing to a prudent speech
that I made to him. My mother has always taught me the power of words. Well
regardless we married in May when I was 18 and we, friends, had seven very happy
years of marriage and four beautiful children that the Lord blessed us with.
My son survives but then my Daniel was taken from me. It was the summer of '57.
There had been an illness in the Pamunkey area. It affected many of the
children along the area and indeed our son John was affected by it. It was an
infection of the throat. We called Dr. Carter out from Williamsburg, in fact
several times, to attend to Jackie during that time and just as Jack was
recovering from it Daniel was stricken with it and he was gone within four days. Which left me a widow with, at that time, two small children and an entire estate to manage,
for Daniel passed away without writing a will. And I was named the administratrix
of the entirety of the Custis estate, which included at that time, over
seventeen thousand seven hundred acres of property spread over six county, three
hundred slaves, bank stocks in London, thousands of pounds of tobacco in
transit to our factors and my two children, who by law, were orphans as
their father had died or left me. And I decided to take my new duties and
responsibilities very seriously. My children's legacy was left to me to
manage and I did have the assistance of several very kind gentlemen during that
time. Mr. Robinson, the former speaker became the guardian to my children. Mr.
Nicholas the now former treasurer became well, a trusted advisor and my brother
Bartholomew of course gave me advices as well. But I decided to keep to myself
during that time, not coming into Williamsburg as frequently as perhaps I
had once and after about well, almost a year of being widowed my neighbors out
of New Kent, the Chamberlain's decided that that they would like to play cupid.
They invited me to their estate and Mrs. Chamberlain would not let me leave until
her husband Richard had come home from Williamsburg. When Mr. Chamberlain
finally arrived from Williamsburg he had brought a very distinguished guest with
him. A very tall, redheaded, blushing up to his eyebrows Colonel Washington, who had
been in Williamsburg attending again to some private business. Mr. and Mrs.
Chamberlain saw fit to reintroduce us and left us to our own devices and now
you must understand friends, I knew of Colonel Washington. We all knew of
Washington by that time. He had come to some fame in the late war with the
French and the Indians. I think his journals have even been published at
that time and so it was a happy reintroduction of an old friend, but one
thing that truly impressed me upon our first meeting was the fact that Colonel
Washington, he asked me what I wanted to do, which was unlike many of the other
gentlemen because friends, there were so many gentlemen who were so eager to help me during that time. So many gentlemen who were renewing friendships that I did
not know existed and every one of them had a piece of advice to give me. What I
should do with my property. What I should do with my children, with my people. Not a
single one of them asked me what I wanted to do until Colonel Washington. He
intrigued me and after we spoke for an entirely too long of time I asked him
that when next he were in the area that perhaps he would stop by my estate of
the White House. And he was back in two weeks. We are both very determined people, that started several meetings betwixt us in that early spring of '58 and in not a
short amount of time later we decided that we should very much like to be
partners with one another. And I agreed to marry him. And then he went away for
nine months. He was still engaged with the army and he had promised to go on
Forbes expedition. But at the end of it he came back to Williamsburg, resigned
his commission and arrived at my estate, the White House, on Christmas Eve of '58
and we were married two weeks later on January 6th of '59. And I will be honest
with you friends, I did not marry a soldier. I married a farmer, so our life
together already has had many twists and turns but I
cannot think of sharing it with anyone better than General Washington. I hope
that answers your question. Mr. Smith? [Offscreen] You enjoy being married? [Mrs. Washington] Do I enjoy being married? Well, I should certainly hope so. Yes, I do enjoy
being very married, very much. The general and I, as I've said, we tend to work as
partners with one another. Always asking one another's advices on anything that
might affect the household or the Washington family and I think that I
have found my equal in many ways, so I am very blessed to have a partner such as
General Washington. [Offscreen] Your eyes light up when you talk about him. [Mrs. Washington] Thank you Mr. Smith. [Offscreen] There are several comments about your clothing. Oh, my clothing! [Offscreen] Grace says your gown is gorgeous. [Mrs. Washington] Thank you Grace! [Offscreen] Caitlin wants to know about not just these
clothes, but your other clothing. How many shoes do you have? [Mrs. Washington] How many shoes, well I
must admit to you Caitlin I, I am a little bit of a clotheshorse.
I do enjoy clothes. I do enjoy shoes but I will also be honest with you Caitlin,
clothing is a very powerful thing for us ladies, because it it is an outward
appearance of exactly what we wish society to know about us. For instance,
when I was Mrs. Custis, I dressed appropriately in silks and hoops and had
my hair piled on top of my head and powdered every time that I was out in
public. But I have discovered over the last several years, that fashion is a
very powerful tool. I will give you an example. When I was traveling to the
first winter encampment back in '75 my husband called for me to join him at
Cambridge and I will be honest, I hesitated for a time but eventually when
I decided to take the journey I realized that people were watching me. They were
watching what I did. What I said. What I didn't do. And they were watching what I
wore and I realized that as my husband represented each and every soul under
his command, that my duty as his lady was to represent those at home. To give,
to give those left at home some type of guidance as to how to embrace this new
idea of being Republican. And so I ceased wearing any type of English import
during that time adopting only homespun. So ceased powdering my hair as you can
see. Ceased having our people wear their livery because we wished to be a
representation of what we wish the country to show - frugality and industry.
And so the Washington family understand the importance of fashion and we try and
use it to our best advantage when we can. [Offscreen] Is that a role that you take on as a, as a woman at large in the 18th century? It is a role that I take on as a lady at
large, but there is a distinction between a lady and a woman. I am understanding
that while I might not have a voice in the House of Burgesses, I have a voice in
every time I walk down the street and representing not only myself but my
family and we where we stand politically as well. [Offscreen] Bethenny wants to know if you foresee the roles of women changing because of this revolution. [Mrs. Washington] Oh Bethenny
you have asked quite an interesting question. Do I foresee the roles of women
changing because of this revolution? I have already seen the role of women
change. I have seen women taking up where their husbands have left them. Managing
businesses, trades, shops, estates. I have seen women asked to play their part in
this fight already melting clock weights into bullets, donating monies and
clothing to our soldiery. We women have always had an active role to play but I
have seen now more than perhaps I have seen any time previously, women taking a
step outside of the shadows of the domestic realm and truly taking on more
responsibilities. I cannot see how this will not change women's roles and for
the better I think. Wouldn't you agree Mr. Smith? [Offscreen] Absolutely. We have several questions about military, in your involvement with
military. One question that stuck out is what kind of encouragement might you
have for people with military families? I understand. The question is what
encouragement would I give to those of military families? What I would tell you
is, that I am one of you. I am a soldier's wife. I did not marry a soldier as I've
said, but I find myself now married to one and I understand the sacrifice that
not only your husband, your brother and your son might be making by fighting
alongside General Washington, but also the sacrifice that you are making at
home. It is a great burden left to those of us at home and it is one that I
acknowledge and respect because I too am feeling that burden. But know that you
are seen. Know that you are loved and you are one of many and we have a
responsibility to care for our neighbors during this great time of need and
crisis. [Offscreen] There's a question about dancing. LeeAnn seems to suggest that she knows
that George Washington loves to dance and wonders if you equally love to dance? [Mrs. Washington] I don't believe that it is any great secret that my husband is a very fine
dancer. When he was very young in fact, paid to have his own dancing lessons. But
yes, my husband is a very fine dancer and he outshines me on the dance floor. I
profess that I have some proficiency in dancing but I understand that my place
at a ball is to watch my husband dance with any lady that he might wish to. And
I am very happy to allow him to do that because I prefer to watch him dance. I
think he finds a great deal of happiness and release perhaps, whenever we have balls and assemblies and he is able to step on the
dance floor, so I'm more than happy to allow him that comfort. [Offscreen] Can we talk about your upbringing, your childhood? What education did you have? What was your family life like as a child? My education and family life
as a child. Well as we've touched on briefly, I was born some 25 miles from
well, where I am seated just now out of New Kent County right along the banks of
the Pamunkey River at my father's estate of Chestnut Grove. Now my father comes
from England. He arrived with my uncle William early on and he established
himself right there in New Kent County and he purchased an estate called
Chestnut Grove, met my mother Francis Jones, who has roots here in Williamsburg
as well. In fact my great-grandfather Roland Jones were the first rector of
Bruton Parish Church. But they met and they married and one year later out I
came. I am the first of all of my siblings. I am the eldest of all eight
Dandridge siblings and we had in my opinion quite an idyllic childhood right
along the banks of the Pamunkey River. As the eldest of course, I had special
responsibilities because it was my responsibility to be a good example to
my siblings, which I don't know if I always was but I tried to be. And I have
grown very fond and very close to several of my siblings. My brother
Bartholomew and my sister Anna Maria in particular, the three of us are very
close with one another and we keep in constant correspondence. But you asked
about education. I was educated very typically for a young lady at the time,
mostly at the hands of my mother. It is almost an expectation that women passed
down the oral tradition of educating their daughters and how to manage a
household which has an extraordinarily large number of different facets to it.
Everything that happens under my roof I am aware of, I am capable of doing or are
more than capable, instructing someone else to do and so I must not only care
for all of those under my roof but all of those people who are around my house.
I must always be prepared for whomever might come to call. Then they
might stay for two days or twenty and my mother prepared me and my sisters to
manage a household with great efficiency, and that is an education that I was very
much hoping to pass down to my daughter. But I'm very happy to have the honor of
passing it to my nieces now. [Offscreen] We just have a few more time for questions, so if
there are any other questions that people want to write in, I think now is
the time to do it. [Mrs. Washington] Certainly. [Offscreen] One question that stuck out to me is about horse
riding and riding side saddle specifically? [Mrs. Washington] Riding aside? Yes! [Offscreen] Riding aside? Is it
difficult to do? Is this something you learned early on? [Mrs. Washington] I did
learn early on. The question is in regards to riding and appropriate riding
for ladies of course. Yes, ladies do, as I'm sure you all know, we have different
saddles than the gentlemen, we have women's saddles or ladies saddles, and
rather than being astride we ride aside and yes, it is something that I learned
to do as a child. In fact, one time my father purchased me a pony and I took it
across the Pamunkey to my uncle's home of Elson Green showing off to my
cousins, of course, as was expected when you have a new pony and I noticed that
my mother and my aunt were not paying attention to me on the front porch and
so I told them that I would ride my pony on into the house unless they stopped me.
They stopped me with one look and in that one look, I recognized that if I
were wise I would turn my pony around return him back to the stables and
return and sit very quietly beside my mother for the rest of the day, and that
it's exactly what I did do. But yes, I have very much enjoyed riding for almost
as long as I could remember. I cannot say that I have ridden as much in the past
few years, but when I was younger, I truly enjoyed it. Yes Mr. Smith? You seem very
pleased with yourself. [Offscreen] Well I'm very busy over here. I'm doing three things at once and unfortunately one of them is not listening to you. There's a lovely question about becoming a patriot versus growing
up a loyalist. Can you walk us through that journey for you? What was it like and
is there a moment when you, was it a switch? Did you know the moment that you
became a patriot or was it? [Mrs. Washington] Oh my goodness. What a fascinating question. The question
is, growing up a loyalist and realizing when I was Patriot. But you know, before I
even begin to answer it we must even think about the words used. Loyalist and
patriot. They are one in the same, are they not? I truly guess it depends upon
which, which side you choose to consider yourself of. Yes. I think that all of us
could agree that we were born and raised as English citizens and it has been all
I have ever known. But you asked about the moment that I realized that I was
going to support this great cause of American independency and I think
that it was not one lightning moment when I realized it, but a series of small
almost imperceptible movements toward that decision. But there was one moment
when I realized that our family was past the point of no return, if you will. My
husband attended the Congress several times and when he went last in '75, he
took with him a military uniform. Not putting himself forward for any type of
position but more acknowledging that Virginia was ready to stand with
military might if necessary. At that Congress they appointed my husband as the commander-in-chief of the Continental forces. He wrote to me from Philadelphia
telling me of the Congress's decision and his great anxiety that accepting
that command has brought upon him, because he knew the uneasiness that it
would present to me. It is something that we had spoken of
many times before as almost an inevitability, but when I saw those words
written on that piece of paper and understanding that my husband wrote in
that same letter that he had enclosed a will. It was like a splash of cold water
in my face. My husband was prepared to die for this cause. He still is. And that,
I think, was the moment when I realized that my husband's duty is to this
country, the United States of America. And my duty is to him and I will support
whatever cause that he might find himself in, to our last hour. I hope that
answers your question. [Offscreen] That was beautiful. [Mrs. Washington] Thank you Mr. Smith. [Offscreen] You should write that down. [Mrs. Washington] I'll leave that to Mr. Jefferson. [Offscreen] I suppose we're at the end. Is there anything you want to say to the citizens of this fledgling Republic. Well friends, it
has been an honor spending this time with you. Admittedly, I have missed you
all greatly for as I've said at the beginning it has been some time since
I've been down to the city. But speaking with you and reliving old times and
speaking about the current situation has warmed my heart in a way that I don't
think that I truly understood that I needed. And so I thank you for that. It is
always an honor coming down to the capital city and engaging with friends,
new and old alike and I am hoping friends, that the next time that we can
engage in polite conversation as we have, my husband will be able to join us. We
will be at peace and he will be a private citizen once again. Until that time my friends, it is always a joy.
