A love story for America

On January 6, 1759, George Washington married a widow named Martha Dandridge Custis. She would become the first First Lady.

Martha was in her late teens when she caught the eye of Daniel Parke Custis, one of the most eligible, and wealthy, bachelors in Virginia. He was also twenty years older than she. Daniel’s father was initially opposed to the marriage because the prospective bride’s family was not as wealthy as he would have liked. However, Martha had been schooled in useful skills, like music, religion, reading, and dancing, most beneficial for the wife of a wealthy plantation owner.

After seven years of marriage and four children (two of whom died as toddlers) Daniel died suddenly, leaving Martha, now 26, a very wealthy widow with two children. Martha now managed the extensive Custis estate and business interests. Needless to say, Martha had many suitors, but she chose George Washington, a wealthy Virginia land-owner. It is estimated that Martha brought about 15,000 acres of land to the marriage when she came to live at Mt. Vernon with her two children, “Jacky” and “Patsy,” aged six and four. George never had any children of his own and adored his two step-children.

The next sixteen years have been referred to as the “golden years” at Mount Vernon as George and Martha lived the lives of Virginia planters. George conducted business while taking a role in Virginia politics. Martha supervised the education of her children and entertained friends.

When George Washington took command of the Continental Army in 1775, Martha, now in her mid-40s, found herself leaving the peaceful existence at Mt. Vernon to spend time with George at his winter quarters.

America was fighting two wars, one for independence from the British and the second against smallpox. George knew that the smallpox virus was crippling his army. Ninety percent of deaths were caused by disease and not the sword of the enemy. Most of the British troops had been infected with a less-deadly form of the disease that was widespread throughout Europe, giving them the advantage of immunity.

On January 6, 1777, George Washington ordered the first state-funded immunization mandate. At a time when inoculation itself was a crude and often deadly process, he ordered Dr. William Shippen, Jr. to inoculate all the forces that came through Philadelphia. Defeating the British was impressive, but attacking the smallpox virus was strategic.

George Washington, our nation’s first president, died on December 14, 1799. Returning home with laryngitis and a sore throat after riding horseback in the cold and snow, he suffered with a high fever. Even though he was bled four times and given a potion of molasses, vinegar and butter to gargle, he died from a throat infection at the age of 67. There was no vaccine that could save him.

George Washington had led some of the fiercest fighting for our independence from Britain. He oversaw the Constitutional Convention that took place in Philadelphia as James Madison wrote the Constitution. All 56 delegates signed it, giving their unyielding approval. George Washington was, indeed, the “Father of our Country.”

Martha was devastated. She had been keeping watch over her husband for almost forty-one years. She retreated to an attic room at Mount Vernon and instructed others to answer the volumes of mail coming in from all over the world.

On January 6, 2021, this democracy, our democracy, was brutally attacked. Democracy is not about politics. It is who we are. It is what we believe in as a nation.