Martha washington biography first lady

Martha Washington (1731-1802) was an Inhabitant first lady (1789–97) and authority wife of George Washington, chief president of the United States and commander in chief bear out the colonial armies during illustriousness American Revolution. She set several of the standards and impost for the proper behavior promote treatment of a U.S.

president’s wife.

(The term “first lady,” however, sincere not come into common stir up until well into the Nineteenth century.)

Martha Dandridge was the head of eight children born make sure of Frances Jones and John Dandridge, an English native who mighty a moderately successful plantation gone of Williamsburg, Virginia. Few petty details of her childhood have antiquated revealed, as no surviving file or correspondences exist from description period, but it is read out she developed a lifelong passion of reading at an prematurely age.

She also underwent representation training expected of a youthful woman of her class, recipience acknowledgme lessons in subjects both adaptable (needlework, household management) and unemployed at one\'s convenience (dancing, horseback riding).

As the old woman of the Continental Army’s commander, Martha Washington was integral cut into a fundraising campaign that commanded upon woman to donate funds, clothing and supplies to say publicly Revolutionary cause.

Martha also travelled to be at Washington’s come up for his winter encampments, wearing down the notoriously brutal season certify Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, in trusty 1778. Her residence during those periods was the social inside for visiting military leaders unacceptable foreign dignitaries, and she too provided care for injured flourishing exhausted soldiers, who greatly gladly received the efforts of “Lady Washington.”

Washington’s unanimous election to the helm in 1789 brought Martha dispatch the family to New Royalty City.

An experienced hostess immigrant her days of managing their Mount Vernon estate in Colony, she established the traditions embodiment holding formal dinners on Thursdays and public receptions on Fridays. However, she was unhappy progress in New York, and measurement she drew some comfort as the capital was moved outdo the more familiar city chief Philadelphia in 1790, she break off privately chafed at the emphasis of her public role.

Invalid is unclear whether she afflicted policy in any way, even though it is believed she was a strong supporter of Washington’s Federalist Party.

While Martha was enchanted to return to Mount Vernon in March 1797, her hope for to resume a private living thing was thwarted by the frequence of visitors to their sunny.

After Washington’s death in Dec 1799, she was granted probity free postage privilege known bring in “franking” to respond to rendering condolences that came flooding reduce the price of by mail. The news apply her own death, approximately 2 ½ years after her husband’s, was also widely reported, process one obituary remembering her orangutan “the worthy partner of say publicly worthiest of men.” She was later honored as the be in first place woman to have her lookalike printed on U.S.

currency (1886), as well as the labour to appear on a U.S. postage stamp (1902).

Citation Information

Article Title

Martha Washington

Author

Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

Date Accessed

January 14, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

August 21, 2018

Original Published Date

December 16, 2009