Dining with the Washingtons

Washington and French General Lafayette at Mt. Vernon

Previous blog posts have tried to convey that it's quite possible it was the peculiarly disciplined and dynamic character of George Washington, as much as or more than any other reason at the time, that secured the possibility of an independent American identity.  Since the spring growing season is hopefully on us, it's impressive to think that Washington was a farmer first and foremost and that in fact, at an early period in the war, 1776, after a horrific defeat at New York, he wrote in his journal that he wondered if it might not have been a better life altogether to have lived more simply off the land 'in a wigwam' and skipped the generalship altogether.  For him, then, one of the real tragedies of becoming America, was being torn away from his elaborate and truly beloved farm at Mt. Vernon Virginia.

In 1765 Washington abandoned growing tobacco altogether, an unusually progressive concept at the time, and instead turned to wheat production as his main source of produce and farming income. He ran his own gristmill (one of the most advanced designs of the time),

five distinct farms as well as gardens for vegetables, herbs, and fruit, "The food and dining at Mount Vernon reflected the Washington's personal tastes as well as the socially accepted styles of the day.  Throughout the seasons, its farms yielded a wide selection of vegetables and fruit, including an abundance of root vegetables, beans, lettuces, apples, pears, berries and figs.  Meat, fish, and fowl were also plentiful. Hams cured in the smokehouse under Martha Washington's supervision held particular prominence on the family's tables and were often shipped as gifts domestically and abroad.  In addition, George and Martha were especially fond of fish and shellfish, and so oysters, lobsters, shad, and cod were often served."  It does have to be necessarily understood that this kind of ambition and production in farming was directly possible because Washington owned approximately 300 slaves at the time.  In all, Mt. Vernon as a farm was an economy onto itself. It not only fed and supplied the Washington family and the slaves but an astonishing number of dining guests: "In 1774, the last full year before he set off for the war, Washington recorded having dinner guests on 136 of the 207 days he was home and overnight guests on 125 of those days ... In 1785, two years after the war's official end, the Washingtons welcomed dinner guests 225 times and overnight guests 235 times.  In 1798 alone, the Washingtons entertained at least 656 dinner guests and 677 overnight guests at Mt. Vernon."

Needless to say, farming for Washington was as much a passion as a cottage industry built to sustain family, laborers, and a continual line of expected and unexpected visitors.  Although the Washingtons divulged later in life that those who came unannounced had become a tiring burden, a short story one particular visitor relates goes a long way in understanding southern culture and values of the time.  A man by the name of Watson had arrived to visit and spent two of the "richest days" of his life virtually alone in the accompaniment of Washington. One night, after dinner, Watson had begun to suffer a severe cough from a long-standing cold.  After he retired to his room, where his cough became more violent, "the door of my room was gently opened, and on drawing my bed-curtains, to my utter astonishment, I beheld Washington himself, standing at my bed-side, with a bowl of hot tea in his hand."