Mary Ball Washington (1708 – 1789) was the second wife to Augustine Washington (after the first wife,
Jane Butler, died) and was also the mother of
George Washington.
Mary Ball Washington was born as
Mary Ball in
1708 in
Lively,
Lancaster County, Virginia. She was the only child of Joseph Ball and his second wife, the widow Mary Johnson, whose maiden name and origins are not known. Fatherless at 3 and orphaned at 12, she was placed, in accordance with the terms of her mother's will, under the guardianship of
George Eskridge, a lawyer.
Mary Ball met
Augustine Washington and they married on March 6, 1731. It was her first marriage and his second. Augustine had four children with his first wife, Jane Butler Washington however, only two of them lived to adulthood. Together, Mary and Augustine had the following children:
Augustine died in 1743. Unlike most widows in
Virginia at the time, Mary Ball Washington never remarried. She lived to see her son, George Washington, inaugurated as
President in 1789.
Washington's relationship with his mother was forever strained. Although she was by no means poor, she regularly complained to outsiders that she was destitute and neglected by her children, much to George's embarrassment. Animosity between mother and son persisted until her death from cancer in the first year of his presidency.
Mary Ball Washington was buried on the Lewis plantation, a few steps from "
Meditation Rock." Tradition has it that this was her favorite retreat for reading, prayer, and
meditation.
Legacy
- There are many monuments to Mary Ball Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia, where she lived from 1772 until her death in 1789.
- The house purchased for her by her son George has been preserved by APVA Preservation Virginia and is open to the public as a historic house museum. It contains a fine collection of antique furnishings, some with Washington family provenance.
- Mary Ball Washington is buried near Kenmore, the former home of her daughter and son-in-law Fielding and Betty Lewis. Kenmore is also open regularly for public tours.
- A monument to Mary Ball Washington was erected in 1833 and dedicated by President Andrew Jackson. It was left unfinished until a new one was dedicated by President Grover Cleveland in 1894.
See also
