This insight into the early wedded life of Washington, a hundred and twenty years ago, upsets the notions of those people, in our day, who suppose that the sway of fashion belongs to modern times only.
Mrs. Washington was proverbially kind to her slaves, though not more so than her husband. They constituted a part of her family, for whom she had to provide both in health and sickness. This fact explains several entries in his journal concerning the quantity of provisions used. For example, one entry is, "Although we keep one hundred and one cows, we have to buy some butter."
Among their slaves were all kinds of artificers—carpenters, blacksmiths, shoemakers, tailors, wheel-wrights, and so forth. All these were indispensable on such an establishment, since a plantation must necessarily produce whatever ordinary use required. This arrangement imposed increased burdens upon the master of the plantation and the mistress of the house.
Mrs. Washington was as domestic in the house as her husband was practical on the farm. His journal shows that, unlike many of the large planters, he labored with his men on the plantation.
"Fitted a two-eyed plough instead of a duck-bill plough, and with much difficulty made my chariot wheel-horses plough. Put the pole-end horses into the plough in the morning, and put in the postilion and hind horses in the afternoon; but the ground being well swarded over, and very heavy ploughing, I repented putting them in at all, for fear it should give them a habit of stopping in the chariot."
"Spent the greater part of the day in making a new plough of my own invention."
"Bottled thirty-five dozen of cider."
"Seven o'clock a messenger came to inform me that my mill was in great danger of being destroyed by the flood. I immediately hurried off all hands, with shovels, etc., to its assistance, and got there myself just time enough to give it a reprieve for this time, by wheeling gravel into the place the water had washed."
"Surveyed some lines of my Mount Vernon tract of land."
"Employed in running some lines between me and Mr. William Triplet."