Mary Ball Washington

Mary Ball Washington ( * 1708 in Lively, Lancaster County, Virginia; † August 25, 1789 at the Mary Washington House in Fredericksburg ) was the second wife of Augustine Washington and the mother of George Washington.

Life

She was born as Mary Ball and was the only child of Joseph Ball and his second wife, the widow Mary Johnson, whose birth name and origin are not known. Her father died when she was three years old; when she also lost her mother at age twelve, was, according to the last wishes of her mother, the lawyer George Eskridge her guardian.

On March 6, 1731, married the widower Augustine Washington. Augustine had four children reached from his first marriage to Jane Butler, of which only two survived into adulthood. From 1738 they lived at today's Ferry Farm. The couple got together six more children:

• George Washington (1732-1799)
• Betty Washington Lewis (1733-1797)
• Samuel Washington (1734-1781)
• John Augustine Washington (1736-1787)
• Charles Washington (1738-1799)
• Mildred Washington (1739-1740)

Augustine died 1743rd Unlike most widows this time in Virginia, Mary Ball Washington did not marry again. She lived to see her son George Washington was sworn in as U.S. president.

Washington's relationship with his mother was his life very tense. Although she was by no means poor, she complained regularly from outsiders about the fact that she was destitute and would neglect of their children, much to Georges embarrassment. So he bought her a house in 1772 (today the Mary Washington House ) in Fredericksburg, where she lived until her death. The animosity between mother and son continued until her death from cancer in the first year of his presidency. As a sign of mourning members of Congress wore a black armband 30 days and decided to erect a monument in her honor.

Mary Ball Washington was on the Lewis plantation, in Kenmore, the home of her daughter Betty and her son- Fielding Lewis, buried, near the "Meditation Rock". According to tradition, this was her favorite retreat, to read, to pray and meditate.

Commemoration

• There are many monuments to Mary Ball Washington in Fredericksburg
• The Mary Washington House, which was acquired by George Washington for her, was obtained from the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities and now open as a historical museum to the public. It contains a collection of antique furniture, which partly comes from the family Washonton.
• The University of Mary Washington, a public university in Fredericksburg, was named after Mary Washington.
• It was also the Mary Washington Hospital, with 437 beds, named after her.