Mrs. Washington's daughter died in 1770, after a lingering and painful disease. It was a terrible blow to her; and how severe a blow it was to her husband may be learned from the following incident:
Coming into the room when his wife's face was buried in her hands, convulsed with grief, he burst into tears, kneeled beside the bed, and poured out his soul in a most fervent prayer that God would yet spare the dear girl for the sake of her mother, and for Christ's sake. She had already breathed her last a moment before he entered the room; but, in his great sympathy for his wife, and his own passionate grief, the fact was unrecognized, and he sought relief in prayer.
The son was between sixteen and seventeen years of age when the daughter died, and was beginning to be a very wayward boy. He was sent to an Episcopal school at Annapolis, Maryland, where he attended to fox-hunting and other amusements more than he did to his studies. He fell in love, also, with Eleanor Calvert, daughter of Benedict Calvert of Mount Airy, and he entered into a matrimonial engagement with her. Mrs. Washington was very much tried by the course of the young man, and, after canvassing the whole subject carefully with her husband, he addressed a letter to Miss Calvert's father, which was a compliment alike to his head and heart. It was a very long letter, and we have space for brief extracts only:
Mount Vernon, April 3, 1773.
"Dear Sir,—I am now set down to write to you on a subject of importance, and of no small embarrassment to me. My son-in-law and ward, Mr. Custis, has paid his addresses to your second daughter, and, having made some progress in her affections, has solicited her in marriage. How far a union of this sort may be agreeable to you, you best can tell; but I should think myself wanting in candor were I not to confess that Miss Nelly's amiable qualities are acknowledged on all hands, and that an alliance with your family will be pleasing to his.
"This acknowledgment being made, you must permit me to add sir, that at this, or in any short time, his youth, inexperience, and unripened education, are, and will be, insuperable obstacles, in my opinion, to the completion of the marriage. As his guardian, I consider it my indispensable duty to endeavor to carry him through a regular course of education, and to guard his youth to a more advanced age, before an event on which his own peace and the happiness of another are to depend, takes place....
"If the affection which they have avowed for each other is fixed upon a solid basis, it will receive no diminution in the course of two or three years, in which time he may prosecute his studies, and thereby render himself more deserving of the lady and useful to society. If, unfortunately, as they are both young, there should be an abatement of affection on either side, or both, it had better precede, than follow, marriage.
"Delivering my sentiments thus freely will not, I hope, lead you into a belief that I am desirous of breaking off the match. To postpone it is all I have in view; for I shall recommend to the young gentleman, with the warmth that becomes a man of honor, to consider himself as much engaged to your daughter as if the indissoluble knot was tied; and, as the surest means of affecting this, to apply himself closely to his studies, by which he will, in a great measure, avoid those little flirtations with other young ladies, that may, by dividing the attention, contribute not a little to divide the affections."
The result of this correspondence was that Washington took young Custis to King's (now Columbia) College, New York City, and entered him for two years. But love had so much more control of his heart than learning had of his head, that he remained there only a few months, when he returned to Mount Vernon, and was married to Miss Calvert on Feb. 3, 1774. The couple were nineteen and seventeen years of age, respectively, and their marriage proved a very fortunate event for themselves, and the families on both sides.
The following incident, illustrative of Washington's fine personal appearance, transpired when he accompanied his step-son to New York. It is from the pen of Mr. Custis:
"It was boasted at the table of the British governor that a regiment, just landed from England, contained among its officers some of the finest specimens of martial elegance in his Majesty's service; in fact, the most superb-looking fellows ever landed upon the shores of the new World. 'I wager your excellency a pair of gloves,' said Mrs. Morris, an American lady, 'that I will show you a finer man in the procession to-morrow than your excellency can select from your famous regiment;'—'Done, madam!' replied the governor. The morrow came (the fourth of June), and the procession, in honor of the birthday of the king, advanced through Broadway to the strains of military music. As the troops filed before the governor, he pointed out to the lady several officers by name, claiming her admiration for their superior persons and brilliant equipments. In rear of the troops came a band of officers not on duty, colonial officers, and strangers of distinction. Immediately, on their approach, the attention of the governor was seen to be directed toward a tall and martial figure, that marched with grave and measured tread, apparently indifferent to the scene around him. The lady now archly observed, 'I perceive that your excellency's eyes are turned to the right object; what say you to your wager now, sir?'—'Lost, madam,' replied the gallant governor; 'when I laid my wager I was not aware that Colonel Washington was in New York.'"
Washington kept his own books at the same time that he attended to the business of his vast estates. The same neatness, method, and accuracy characterized his accounts at Mount Vernon that characterized his writing books at Mr. Williams' school. They were models.
When Mrs. Washington went to Mount Vernon to live, the mansion contained only four square rooms on the ground. In this condition it remained until the close of the Revolution.
During the Revolution she was wont to spend the winter with her husband in his winter quarters. The accommodations were always meagre. One of these winters he occupied a small frame house, unfurnished in the second story. The general could get along with the meagre comforts, but he desired better accommodations for his wife. So he sent for a young mechanic and fellow-apprentice.