From Farm House to the White House - 912 Freedom Library

Farm House to the White House, by William M. Thayer 56
Washington never saw his mother again. She died Aug. 25, 1789. Her last days were characterized by that
cheerful resignation to the divine will for which she was ever distinguished, and she passed away in the
triumphs of Christian faith.
Her remains were laid in the burial ground of Fredericksburg, in a spot which she selected, because it was
situated near the place where she was wont to retire for meditation and prayer. For many years her grave was
unmarked by slab or monument; but in 1833, Silas E. Barrows, Esq., of New York City, undertook the
erection of a monument at his own expense.
On the seventh day of May of that year, President Jackson laid the corner-stone in the presence of a great
concourse of people. It was estimated that more than fifteen thousand persons assembled to honor the dead.
The plan of the monument was pyramidical, and the height of the obelisk forty-five feet. A colossal bust of
Washington adorned the shaft, surmounted by the American eagle sustaining a civic crown above the hero's
head, and with the simple inscription:
MARY, THE MOTHER OF WASHINGTON.
From President Jackson's eulogy on the interesting occasion, we make the following brief extract:
"In the grave before us lie the remains of his mother. Long has it been unmarked by any monumental tablet,
but not unhonored. You have undertaken the pious duty of erecting a column to her name, and of inscribing
upon it the simple but affecting words, 'Mary, the Mother of Washington.' No eulogy could be higher, and it
appeals to the heart of every American.... The mother and son are beyond the reach of human applause, but
the bright example of paternal and filial excellence which their conduct furnishes cannot but produce the most
salutary effects upon our countrymen. Let their example be before us from the first lesson which is taught the
child, till the mother's duties yield to the course of preparation and action which nature prescribes for him....
"Fellow citizens, at your request, and in your name, I now deposit this plate in the spot destined for it; and
when the American pilgrim shall, in after ages, come up to this high and holy place, and lay his hand upon
this sacred column, may he recall the virtues of her who sleeps beneath, and depart with his affections purified
and his piety strengthened, while he invokes blessings upon the mother of Washington."
John Adams wrote to his wife concerning a certain statesman: "In reading history, you will generally observe,
when you find a great character, whether a general, a statesman, or a philosopher, some female about him,
either in the character of a mother, wife, or sister, who has knowledge and ambition above the ordinary level
of women; and that much of his eminence is owing to her precepts, example, or instigation in some shape or
other."
This remark was remarkably illustrated in the career of Washington. He always acknowledged his
indebtedness to maternal influence. He could say, with John Quincy Adams, "Such as I have been, whatever it
was; such as I am, whatever it is; and such as I hope to be in all futurity, must be ascribed, under Providence,
to the precepts and example of my mother."
Historians and poets, statesmen and orators, have ever accorded to the mother of Washington a signal
influence to determine his character and career. And so universal is this sentiment, that the American people
consider that the noblest tribute to her memory is the inscription upon her monument:
MARY, THE MOTHER OF WASHINGTON.
VII.