He was an early riser, when at home, getting up always at 6 o’clock. His first morning task was to gather the fresh eggs. He was very fond of chickens and always kept a number of them. “I begin my day,” he says, “by seeing how many eggs I can find, or how many little chicks there are that are just beginning to creep through the shells.... I like to find the new eggs myself, and I am selfish enough to permit no one else to do this....”[[37]]
He was very fond of animals of all kinds, but the pig was his favorite. He always kept a number of the very finest breeds of Berkshires and Poland Chinas. After gathering the fresh eggs, his next job was feeding the pigs. After that came a visit to the cows. He always kept a good garden, too, and a part of the early morning was given to working in it. He had a very peculiar custom or idea about his garden work. He always worked barefooted. He said that there was something in the soil that gave one strength and health and power,—but you had to get it by direct contact with the soil.
After this early morning round of work was done, he mounted his horse for an hour’s ride. He usually rode over the college farm and thoroughly inspected it; then to the dairy, and all over the college grounds, to see that everything was going as it should.
After breakfast, he went to his office and gave his attention to the day’s mail, which averaged daily about 125 incoming and 800 outgoing letters. Later in the day he would visit classrooms, inspect the building that was going on, go to the great dining hall at dinner, go to the shops, talk to the students and to the members of the faculty as he met them. Just before supper he would call for his horse again and go off for an hour’s ride or for a hunt. Sometimes he would walk rather than ride. While on these walks, he would often run for a couple of miles at top speed. After supper, there was usually a meeting of some kind,—a committee or faculty meeting, or conference with a delegation of visitors. Chapel exercises, devotional in character, came at 8:30. And after that, very frequently, there was an inspection of the dormitories.
He had three children, Portia, Booker, and Davidson. One of his greatest pleasures was to take the children for a long walk on Sunday afternoons. They would tramp for miles through the fields and woods, gathering flowers or nuts or berries. They studied the trees, the flowers, and the birds. They waded in the streams, ran footraces, and played games.
Every night after supper he would romp and play with the children. He would roll on the floor, let the children ride on his back, play all sorts of jolly games, or he would tell stories. He was an excellent story-teller, and it was always a treat to hear the wonderful tales he could tell.
Washington was married three times. His first wife, as stated in a previous chapter, was Fannie M. Smith, of Malden, who died in 1884, leaving a daughter, Portia. The second marriage was to Olivia Davidson, who had been a teacher at Tuskegee from its beginning. She had been of wonderful assistance to Washington in the early days of Tuskegee. She was the mother of the two boys, Booker, Jr., and Davidson. His third marriage was to Margaret Murray, of Mississippi, a graduate of Fisk University and for several years a teacher at Tuskegee. This marriage occurred in 1892. Mrs. Washington has had a very useful and distinguished career. No woman of her race has helped her people so much in recent years. She will be remembered not merely as the wife of Booker Washington, but for her own remarkable service to her people.
Booker T. Washington and His Family
Washington was a man of unusual personal appearance. From the description that James Creelman gave of him on the occasion of his famous speech in Atlanta, it can readily be seen that he was a man of commanding and striking personality. Wherever he went he attracted attention.