SCOUTING AT MOUNT VERNON We are delighted that you have chosen to bring your Scouts to the home of George Washington. This booklet is designed to help your Scouts make the most of their visit to Mount Vernon. It provides introductory information on George Washington and his Virginia plantation, detailed information on the outbuildings and grounds, and suggestions for activities. We hope you enjoy your visit! SPECIAL ACTIVITIES FOR SCOUTS The following activities relating to George Washington are available for Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts visiting Mount Vernon (See page 14 for available participation patches): • Walk the Mount Vernon Historic Trail (year round). • Visit the Pioneer Farm site. (April - October) • Read a biography of George Washington (year round). • Lay a wreath at the Tomb of George Washington to honor the Father of our Country. For further information, please refer to mountvernon.org. Patches and pins may be purchased from our online shop or at The Shops at Mount Vernon on the day of your visit. Copyright ©2015 Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association THE HOME OF GEORGE WASHINGTON Mount Vernon, the home of George and Martha Washington, sits on a bluff above the Potomac River just south of Washington, D.C. Once through the gate, you enter a public area of more than 40 acres, virtually unchanged in appearance from 1799, the last year of George Washington’s life. Mount Vernon was George Washington’s home for 45 years. During that time he gave personal attention to every part of the estate. He expanded and remodeled the Mansion, choosing its vivid colors, rich wood graining, furniture, pictures and engravings. Washington also redesigned Mount Vernon’s grounds and oversaw the construction of its outbuildings, gardens and lanes. As you explore Mount Vernon, you will discover George Washington’s interests and personality in everything you see. You can also visit the Tomb where Washington is buried, along with his wife, Martha, and other members of his family. Your Scouts will learn firsthand about life at Mount Vernon. You will see where food was prepared, where clothing was washed and ironed, wool and flax woven, and meat cured by the enslaved workers. You can also learn about the slaves by visiting the quarters where they lived, the reconstructed slave cabin, and the memorial at the slave burial ground. Experience the Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center and the Ford Orientation Center, which include 25 theaters and galleries that tell the detailed story of George Washington's life. More than 500 original artifacts, eleven History Channel videos, and a Revolutionary War immersive experience (with "snow/fog") illuminate the remarkable story of the first American hero. Please dress to be outdoors, regardless of the weather, as you will be outside during most of your visit. To fully experience Mount Vernon, plan on a visit of three-four hours. Guides will be in the Mansion and at various locations throughout the grounds to tell you about life at Mount Vernon and to answer questions. For information about purchasing other educational materials on George Washington and Mount Vernon, including books, videos, posters and a complete biography lesson on George Washington, please contact The Shops at Mount Vernon, 703-799-8691, or write to The Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, Attn: Retail Department, P.O. Box 110, Mount Vernon, Virginia 22121. LIFE OF GEORGE WASHINGTON 1657 John Washington, great-grandfather of George, sails from England to settle in Virginia. In 1674, he is granted the Mount Vernon home site, then known as Little Hunting Creek plantation. 1732 George, first child of Augustine and Mary Ball Washington, is born (February 22) at Popes Creek Plantation in Westmoreland County, Virginia. George has two elder half-brothers from his father’s first marriage. 1735-39 The Washington family lives at Little Hunting Creek. In 1739 the family moves about 40 miles south to Ferry Farm, near Fredericksburg, Virginia. 1743 Augustine Washington dies, leaving George fatherless at age 11. George’s elder half -brother, Lawrence, inherits Little Hunting Creek and renames it Mount Vernon, for his commanding officer, British Admiral Edward Vernon of the Royal Navy. 1752 George Washington receives a commission as a Major in the Virginia Regiment. The following year he travels to French outposts on the Ohio River on a diplomatic mission for Virginia Governor Dinwiddie. 1754 After the death of his half-brother, Lawrence, George Washington leases Mount Vernon from Lawrence’s widow. He becomes the owner of the estate after her death seven years later. 1755 George Washington becomes a Volunteer Aide on the staff of General Edward Braddock, British commander in the French and Indian War. Later, Washington is promoted to Colonel and commands the Virginia Regiment in the Shenandoah Valley for three years. 2 1759 George Washington marries the widowed Martha Dandridge Custis. They settle at Mount Vernon with her two young children, John (Jacky) Parke Custis and Martha (Patsy) Parke Custis. 1759-75 Active in Virginia politics, Washington serves as a member of the House of Burgesses, which meets in Williamsburg. 1774 George Washington is a delegate to the Virginia Convention where he is named one of the state’s delegates to the First Continental Congress which meets in Philadelphia. 1775-83 George Washington attends the Second Continental Congress where he is appointed General and Commander in Chief of the Continental Army, a position he holds throughout the American Revolution. 1787 George Washington is a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, representing Virginia, and is chosen as presiding officer of the Convention. 1789-97 Unanimously elected, George Washington serves as President of the United States. The seat of government is in New York for the first year and then in Philadelphia for the remainder of his two terms. 1799 General Washington dies at Mount Vernon on December 14 at the age of 67 from a throat infection called quinsy. Mrs. Washington dies in 1802 at the age of 70. FAST FACTS • As a boy George Washington studied reading, arithmetic, geography, astronomy and surveying. Spelling and hand writing were practiced by writing in a “copybook.” • George Washington’s immediate family included a younger sister and three younger brothers. He also had two older half-brothers. • At the age of 16, he went on a surveying trip across the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Virginia frontier. He became a life-long surveyor. • He had reddish brown hair, blue eyes, and stood 6 feet 2 1/2 inches tall. • He had no children of his own, but helped raise Martha’s two children and two of her four grandchildren. The grandchildren they raised were Nelly (Eleanor Parke Custis) and Washy (George Washington Parke Custis). • He was a vestryman and warden at Pohick Church (Truro Parish) and a vestryman at Christ Church in Alexandria. • He did not have wooden false teeth. He did have dentures but they were made of lead, animal teeth, ivory, and some of his own teeth. A set of his dentures is on display in the Donald W. Reynolds Education Center. • George Washington did not wear a wig. Wigs were popular in the 18th century and were worn by many men, but General Washington simply powdered his own hair and tied it in the back, military style. • Contrary to popular belief, he did not chop down a cherry tree as a boy. Mason Weems wrote this story, which concludes with Washington confessing to his father because he “cannot tell a lie,” after the General’s death. It has been repeated so many times it is often accepted as true. 3 THE MOUNT VERNON HISTORIC TRAIL This is a self-guided walking tour of Mount Vernon. GREENHOUSE AND SLAVE QUARTERS (#3-4) Numbers in parenthesis ( ) correspond to those on the map included in this guide. Please use the questions The Greenhouse and Slave Quarters building was first provided to help guide your Scout Troop as they tour built between 1785 and 1792. During winter months, a the estate. History Interpreters will provide fire was kept burning to keep delicate plants in the interpretation as you tour the inside of the Mansion. greenhouse from freezing. On a cold winter night in 1835, the greenhouse burned after the fire got out of ENTRANCE GATE (#1) control. The building you see today was built in 1950, on the foundations of the original greenhouse, using George Washington’s Mount Vernon was a plantation old handmade bricks. Just as it did in George of five farms totaling almost 8,000 acres. Today Mount Washington’s time, the building now includes a stove Vernon is approximately 500 acres, corresponding room, the shoemaker’s room used by William Lee, and closely to the original Mansion House Farm. In 1858 the the quarters which housed slave families. property was purchased by the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association from General Washington’s great- GREENHOUSE (#3) grandnephew, John Augustine Washington, Jr. Today, the estate has been returned to its appearance at the In 1785, George Washington built a handsome time of Washington’s death in 1799. greenhouse. A visitor described it as a complete Greenhouse which at this season is a vast, a great source of UPPER GARDEN (#2) pleasure. Plants from every part of the world seem to flourish The upper garden is an example of an 18th-century in the neatly furnished apartment... Here Washington pleasure garden for guests and others to enjoy. This grew more exotic plants such as orange and lemon garden, the vineyard, and other planted areas around trees, oleander from the Carolinas, and palm trees from the Mansion were under the care of a head gardener the West Indies. and the assigned to him.