Washington's Youth

When vacation came George Washington was always ready for a ride across-country to make his brother Lawrence a visit. After his marriage the latter had built a fine house on his estate. He called the place Mount Vernon, in honor of his former naval commander and friend.

The young man was well liked by his neighbors, so they elected him to represent them in the House of Burgesses. His home was an attractive place, and frequently friends or traveling strangers tested the hospitality of the master and mistress.

George Washington was always sure of a warm welcome and delightful entertainment at Mount Vernon. He was fond of the society of older men. He enjoyed listening to their discussions of business and politics, their talk of the development of western lands, of colonies, of old England, of universities, of courts and camps. The guests at his brother's table were usually men of experience, and their lively talk had in it much to interest and inform a wide-awake youth.

The boy himself at first took small part in these discussions, but when he answered a question or ventured a comment it showed so much sense that it received flattering consideration. Though reticent, George Washington was by no means bashful. He had too true a sense of relative values to underestimate his on worth, and always had a large measure of self-respect.

His fondness for the society of older men was encouraged by Lawrence Washington and his friends. All liked the tall, thoughtful boy, whose calm gray eyes looked straight at one when he talked, who was always ready but never in a hurry. He made a good companion, and did not seem in the way when the conversation was such that he did not understand and to which he could not contribute.

He was an appreciative listener and could ask sensible questions, and when it came to the hunt he was as good a rider as any: fearless and enduring, he attracted attention by his splendid horsemanship. Lord Fairfax, the brother of Lawrence Washington's father-in-law, was especially pleased with the youth. Lord Fairfax had spent most of his life in England, and had been a man of fashion as well as a man of affairs.

He had written for the Spectator,  and was as clever in speech as in print. He had not been in America long enough to lose his interest in England nor to be fully acquainted with colonial life.

Among the people he had met in the new world, few listened with interest so untiring and who was so keen to talk of his past life as this brother of Lawrence Washington. His pleasure in young Washington's society did not consist solely in the satisfaction one takes in giving information and pleasure to one eager to learn.

For, while he had found many who could discourse at length on Virginia and America, he had found few who could tell him exactly what he wanted to know about Fairfax County or Virginia manners and customs so accurately and in so few words as this clear-headed boy. In spite of the difference in their ages, a strong friendship sprang up between the two.

At Mount Vernon and at Belvoir, the Fairfax estate, George Washington came in contact with the best people in the colony: men and women whose rough, active life had not at all made them forget elaborate courtesy and stately manners. Living on the verge of the wilderness, they, so far as possible, lived in the style prevailing in "merrie" England.

A coach-and-six on Virginia's undrained, ungraded roads, for state occasions yes, and gowns of stiff brocade, and powdered wigs, sparkling wines, and shining swords and duels, if need be! Among such people the youth learned never to be careless in appearance, speech, or manner. With so much to recommend him and with so many influential friends, this younger brother had no difficulty in getting a start in business.

When he was sixteen years old he was entrusted by Lord Fairfax with an important piece of work. Lord Fairfax had a vast estate in the wilderness beyond the mountains. He planned to build for himself a great mansion on this estate and go there to live. First, however, he wanted the land surveyed and a reliable map of it drawn. He knew of George Washington's interest in surveying, and asked him if he would be willing to undertake the survey of his land.

The responsibility did not awe the inexperienced boy. He readily consented, for a compensation of about a doubloon a day, to take charge of the survey. Early in March, before the snow was all melted in the deep mountain ravines, he started on the expedition, with the nephew of Lord Fairfax for company. The youths had good horses and set out for the wilderness in high spirits.

They went first to his lordship's "quarters," where the directors and the employes on the great estate lived. Then, with little luggage, and with assistants to carry chain and transit, axes, and other implements with which to do the heavy work of marking boundaries, Washington and his friend commenced their journey through almost unexplored territory. Inns there were none; so the surveying party had to depend on the hospitality of the few scattered settlers for lodging at night.

The accommodations offered them were of the poorest, and after a single night's experience in sleeping in the close loft of a settler's cabin, with nothing but unclean straw for covering, the fastidious Washington chose to spend his nights wrapped in his cloak on the ground by the fire.

At one time they fell in with a party of Indians. Washington had seen very little of the Indians, and his curiosity concerning them was keen. With presents he induced them to give a war dance for his benefit. He made careful notes in his diary concerning the savages and also about the pioneers he met in his travels.

The weather was unsettled. The bridgeless rivers and creeks were swollen; roads were almost impassable where there was any pretense of a road. But Washington had not expected a frolic. When the weather would permit he pushed the work of surveying with business-like rapidity.

On stormy days he worked over his maps and reports. He had all his life ridden much going from his mother's home to his brother's, and he had, unconsciously almost, learned many important lessons about watersheds, natural drainage, forests, good soils, etc., and this knowledge enabled him to make valuable observations.

When, early in April, he returned to Belvoir he gave a most satisfactory report of work done. Lord Fairfax was greatly pleased, and, it is supposed, used his influence to have Washington appointed public surveyor. At any rate, Washington received the appointment, and was kept busy on the frontier with line and transit for three years.

During those years he learned much about the country that was to be of service to him later. With wonted thrift he made note of desirable tracts of land that he or some friend of his should one day purchase. But more important than that, he acquired wood love and knowledge of the pioneers and the Indians on his various surveying expeditions that were to help him in time of need.

His experience on the frontier made him strong and hardy but never coarsened him. He spent much of his leisure time at Mount Vernon with his brother, or with Lord Fairfax at Greenway Court. Lord Fairfax had built a comfortable lodge on his estate and lived in simple plenty—farming, hunting, or reading at pleasure, and always glad to have young Washington to share either business or pastime with him.

Under his guidance, in the days spent at Greenway Court, Washington read a good deal of English history and became familiar with the essays of Addison and Steele. He must have enjoyed especially the Sir Roger de Coverly papers, since he could scarcely be blind to the points of similarity between that worthy character and his generous but sometimes eccentric host.

While George Washington was growing into robust manhood, his brother Lawrence was failing in health. The devotion of the brothers had strengthened with years. The younger now spent as much time as possible at Mount Vernon, and in his quiet, capable way took charge of much of the business of the estate, relieving Lawrence of care and responsibility wherever he could, till the latter came to look to his brother for advice and help as well as comradeship.

When the doctors said a trip to the West Indies might prove beneficial to Lawrence, George, at his request, gave up his position as surveyor and went South with him. It was his first voyage, and the two men took great pleasure in the novel scenes and experiences. Unfortunately, they accepted an invitation to dine at a house where one of the members of the family had small-pox.

They were aware of the danger, and George wrote in his journal that he accepted the invitation with some reluctance. Well he might, for in due time he was taken ill with the dreaded disease. After an illness of some three weeks he was, however, well and strong again.

For a time it was hoped that Lawrence Washington's health was decidedly benefited by the change. But the relief proved only temporary, and he died soon after his return to Mount Vernon. He showed his great love and trust in his half-brother by leaving to him the management of the fortune of his wife and daughter, and by willing to him the greater part of that fortune provided he should outlive them.