Random Small But Poignant Facts We Just Learned About George Washington (13 items)

• 

  (#1) He Loved Dogs So Much That He Once Called For A Ceasefire To Return His Enemy's Terrier

  George Washington delighted in dogs. As a hunter, he kept a well-stocked kennel of hounds at Mount Vernon, and he's often credited with helping develop the American foxhound breed. Like many dog owners, Washington gave his dogs unique names like Tipsy and Truelove.

  Washington's love of dogs even guided his conduct on the battlefield. While leading troops at the Battle of Germantown in 1777, some soldiers picked up a lost terrier. Its collar indicated it belonged to General William Howe, head of British troops. Washington groomed the dog, called for a suspension of hostilities, and returned the terrier with a note to Howe:

  General Washington's compliments to General Howe. General Washington does himself the pleasure to return to him a dog, which accidentally fell into his hands, and, by the inscription on the collar, appears to belong to General Howe.
• 

  (#2) He Was A Devoted Father To His Stepchildren, Grandchildren, And Wards

  George Washington never fathered his own children. Martha Custis had children from her first marriage, and it is likely that Washington was rendered sterile from sickness. 

  Washington raised and loved his wife's surviving children - John and Patsy - as if they were his biological children. He also helped raise his stepgrandchildren, nieces, and nephews.

  Though he was a disciplinarian, Washington tried to guide his young charges on matters of the heart as well.  
• 

  (#3) The Brother He 'Idolized' Passed Prematurely

  George Washington had three older half-siblings from his father's first marriage: Lawrence, Augustine, and Jane. 

  George was especially close to Lawrence, whom he "idolized." Given the age difference - Lawrence was 16 years older than George - and the fact that their father passed in 1743, Lawrence became a father figure to his younger brother.

  When Lawrence came down with what was probably tuberculosis, George accompanied his brother to Barbados for what they hoped was better air in 1751. It didn't work. Lawrence succumbed to his ailments the next year.

  Lawrence's passing was one of the tragedies of George's young life.
• 

  (#4) He Had Been Unlucky In Love Before He Met His Future Wife

  A 26-year-old George Washington married 27-year-old Martha Custis, a wealthy widow, in 1759. But though their marriage was happy and loving, Custis wasn't his only love.

  Washington proposed to Custis after no less than three other women - Frances Alexander, Betsy Fauntleroy, and Mary Eliza Philipse - had rejected his proposals of marriage.

  Before he became attached to Custis, Washington's greatest love was Sally Fairfax. Though he found happiness with his wife, Washington could never shake what he had felt for Fairfax in his youth. In 1798, he wrote her a letter claiming he could never "eradicate from my mind the recollection of those happy moments, the happiest in my life, which I have enjoyed in your company."
• 

  (#5) Soldiers Performed His Favorite Play At Valley Forge

  One of George Washington's favorite pastimes was going to the theater. As biographer Ron Chernow recounts, Washington once "attended the theater five nights" during a single week in June 1770.

  In fact, he loved the theater so much that he even had soldiers perform a play at Valley Forge, since he thought it would be good for morale. They performed Cato, which happened to be Washington's favorite play.
• 

  (#6) He Lost His Mother To Breast Cancer Just Before He Was Elected President

  George Washington's relationship with his mother, Mary Ball Washington, was strained. She often turned to George, her eldest son, for help and financial assistance, which he came to resent. After all, as a young widow with six children, her position was precarious.

  His mother passed two years short of seeing her son become the first president of the United States. In August 1787, she succumbed to breast cancer.
• 

  (#7) He Opted To Lead The New Nation Without A Salary

  Admirers claimed George Washington embodied civic virtue when he declined a salary as the first president of the United States. 

  But rather than an act of patriotic benevolence, Washington's move was a smart one. He only asked that, in place of a salary, Congress pay for his expenses incurred in office. He ended up spending $25,000, which is what he would have received in the form of a salary. 
• 

  (#8) He Loved Dancing For Hours On End

  Though George Washington is best remembered for his skill on the battlefield, he was also well known for his skill on the dance floor.

  Like many gentlemen of his class, Washington had studied dance as a young man and could demonstate his refinement through dancing. Though tall, he was famously graceful. 

  The American Revolution didn't even stop Washington from dancing. After attending a ball in March 1779, General Nathanael Greene recalled, "His Excellency [General Washington] and Mrs. Greene danced upwards of three hours without once sitting down."
• 

  (#9) As A Boy, He Was So Committed To Becoming A Gentleman That He Copied Out 110 Rules Of Etiquette

  Though born to a wealthy family, George Washington likely didn't get a formal education. His hopes of going to England for school were dashed when his father passed when Washington was 11. His schooling probably stopped when he was 15. But that didn't mean that he stopped educating himself.

  Part of his self-education meant refining his manners so that he could embody gentlemanly virtues. To do this, the young Washington actually memorized manners by copying out 110 rules from an etiquette book dictating how to behave.
• 

  (#10) A Bout With Smallpox Left Him Permanently Scarred

  One of the most feared diseases of the 18th century was smallpox, which could have been fatal or disfigured survivors.

  George Washington came down with smallpox in 1751 when he was in Barbados. Though he survived - after weeks of suffering the intense symptoms - the disease permanently touched him: The pox left scars on his face. Washington was lucky, however, since his scarring was relatively mild.
• 

  (#11) His Will Granted Freedom To His Enslaved Workers - Sort Of

  Slavery was undeniably part of George Washington's life. He began owning people when he was 11, when his late father left him 10 enslaved workers. His eventual inheritance of Mount Vernon, marriage to Martha Custis, and slave purchases ultimately yielded him 317 enslaved men, women, and children.

  By the end of his life, Washington believed that freeing his enslaved workers was good for his legacy. Therefore, his will decreed that the enslaved people who belonged to him would be freed. In fact, he was the only Founding Father to request manumission in his will.

  But it wasn't that simple. Washington stipulated that the enslaved should be freed on the passing of his wife. She eventually freed them before her passing, though she kept the enslaved humans owned by the Custis family.
• 

  (#12) His Lifelong Dental Issues Likely Left Him In Constant Pain

  George Washington struggled with dental issues his entire life. Consequently, he lost teeth and had some extracted to the point that he required dentures. Washington's dentures were from a variety of materials, perhaps including teeth from enslaved people.

  Though Washington was dependent on the dentures to eat and speak, they were painful to wear and required him to avoid hard food.
• 

  (#13) He Inherited Mount Vernon Only After Multiple Family Members Passed

  Perhaps no place is as closely associated with George Washington as Mount Vernon, his Virginia plantation - but he almost never even owned it.

  George probably didn't grow up expecting to acquire Mount Vernon. It was supposed to go to his older half-brother Lawrence, and that's exactly where it went when their shared father, Augustine Washington, expired in 1743. 

  Lawrence prematurely passed in 1752, so Mount Vernon went to his young daughter Sarah. After Sarah's passing, the estate went to her mother and, finally, to George.

New Random Displays    Display All By Ranking