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Washington Family Tomb

GPS Coordinates: 38.7068111, -77.0887642
Closest Address: 3200 Mount Vernon Memorial Highway, Alexandria, VA 22121

Washington Family Tomb

Tomb of Washington Erected 1830-31, Site & materials specified in Washington’s Will

Washington's Headquarters flag joins the American flag outside of the tomb of George and Martha Washington.


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Here follows an excerpt from the Atlas Obscura website:

Civil War Graffiti at Washington's Tomb
Mount Vernon
Alexandria, Virginia
The tomb was guarded by soldiers from both sides of the war, and some left their initials carved in the brick.

You can’t help but feel a patriotic solace when visiting the grave of George and Martha Washington at Mount Vernon. It is quite a surprising site to see. One might expect a grand and elaborate monument to the founding father, but the modest tomb actually fits the president’s reserved and private personality.

One interesting feature of the tomb site are the many graffiti marks, initials, and dates left by Civil War soldiers from both the North and South during the course of the war.

No actual battles took place at Mount Vernon, but the land did change hands from time to time throughout the war. Sometimes Union soldiers guarded Washington’s grave and sometimes Confederate soldiers watched. Boredom had to set in quickly, and there was little to do to pass the time. So, at some point soldiers started leaving their initials and dates etched in the red brick of Washington’s tomb. This was not done out of disrespect or vandalism; it was more of a testament to the time soldiers stood guard there.

Know Before You Go
Washington's grave at Mount Vernon takes a bit of a hike to get to, but is worth the extra steps to see. Many of Washington's family members are also buried in the area. Follow the signs after you have seen the mansion, and they will take you directly to the tomb. This is a place of respectful silence as visitors offer their thoughts, reflections, prayers, and tears to one of America's Founding Fathers.


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Here follows an excerpt from the Annandale Chamber of Commerce website:

The Death of George Washington
A Glimpse into the Past of Demaine Funeral Home

The Demaine Funeral Home finds its origin dating back to 1789 when families would turn to their local cabinetmaker to build a casket.
Ingle & McMunn, was such a business in early Alexandria, who had in their employ a young and promising cabinetmaker, William Demaine. It was Demaine, only in his mid-teens, who thought it foolish that families should have to wait for a coffin to be made, and used his free time to build an assortment in advance. However, when an exhausted and cold messenger banged on the shop’s door, early on Sunday morning in December with the news that Gen. George Washington, at the age of 67, had died at 10:20 pm the night before, it was truly a morning never to be forgotten.

It was December 14th, 1799, when Washington’s personal secretary, Tobias Lear sent this messenger to embark on the 14 mile ride from the Mt. Vernon estate with the General’s measurements to have a casket made.

Gen. Washington, at six feet-three and a half inches tall, was a giant of a man for his time, which eliminated considering any casket in stock. Besides, this was no ordinary citizen, and called for something befitting the Father of Our Country. A mahogany casket, lined in lead, was decided upon.

While no account of exactly who did what was ever recorded, it follows that the proprietors, Joseph and Henry Ingle would have lent their wood-working talents to such an important task, as well as call upon the experience of William Demaine who was largely responsible for coffin construction at the Ingle & McMunn firm. Washington’s request was to be buried no sooner than three days after his passing in order to allow time to notify friends and family. Both of Washington’s attending physicians, Dr. Dick, and Dr. Craig, not certain as to the cause of Washington’s death were concerned that it could be communicable, and insisted that the funeral not be delayed, due to weather or otherwise, past the fourth day. All other work in the shop was put aside, in order to tackle the demanding deadline and unprecedented request.

Washington’s body was not embalmed, but pleased in a room just off the rear porch at Mt. Vernon with the windows open, allowing the December chill to preserve his body until burial. Time was needed for Gen. Washington’s brother, Beauregard Washington, among others, to be informed and to ride from Philadelphia for the service. The Rev. Thomas David, rector of Christ Episcopal Church in Alexandria, where Washington attended, was asked to perform the religious portion of the funeral. Historical information provided by the Demaine Funeral Home, compiled by Diane Downey.

Undertaker Services

“Today we rely on the services of a funeral home director, or undertaker, for much of the burial preparation for decease loved ones. In the eighteenth century, an undertaker was in fact a contractor -- one who undertakes to provide a service. Any service. Since embalming was not yet a standard practice, nor were corpses laid out in funeral homes, an undertaker as we know him/her today did not exist at the time of Washington’s death.” (1)

According to the THE BURIAL OF GENERAL GEORGE WASHINGTON, The Lesser Known Participants by Richard Klingenmaier: “In the eighteenth century all supporting services for a funeral were provided by various individuals hired for their specific skills. In England, where most early American burial practices originated, the burial process in the 18th century was much more clearly defined and better organized as a service industry. The participants were Undertakers, Coffin Makers, and Funeral Furnishers. They were often competitors, but also provided material support to each other. All three were distinct branches of the English funeral trade. The Undertaker, who might be his own coffin maker, generally provided funerals to the lower end of the social scale, and therefore, they were less elaborate. Whereas, the Coffin Maker made his living by making his own coffins, selling them directly or indirectly to customers, and occasionally performed funerals.

The Funeral Furnisher, on the other hand, purchased his coffins from the coffin maker, or made his own, including dressing and upholstering them himself, and provided from his special warehouse supply of soft furnishings, all the other required accessories -- special coffin hardware, "grave clothing," black crepe, family hatchments, mourning hat and arm bands, gloves, shrouds, palls, cloaks, mourning clothing, and hearse, carriages and horses. It was the Funeral Furnisher who catered to the wealthy.

In late eighteenth century Alexandria the more organized and competitive funeral trade as practiced in England had not yet been established. In the case of George Washington's funeral arrangements, the Washington estate was served by individuals who provided distinct burial preparation services, as individual undertakers or contractors.

The cost of a late eighteenth century funeral would depend on the decease's place in society as well as how much the family could afford. The most expensive part of the burial process could be the burial casket. Probably less than 1% of burials, however, included caskets constructed of expensive mahogany; most people were buried in less expensive, plain wooden caskets made of pine, walnut, poplar, or cherry, or in the case of the very poor, simply wrapped in a burial shroud and placed in the grave. Clearly the wealthy and those considered the social and/or political elite -- including George Washington -- could and were expected to afford a more elaborate burial. Cost escalated if specialized labor was employed rather than services provided by family and employees. If you had to hire a grave digger, have someone wash, dress and coifed the deceased for burial.

The Ingles billed Washington's estate $99.25; $88.00 for the casket with engraved silver plates and furnished with black lace, handles and a covered case with lifters. An additional $11.25 was charged for hiring a coach, a bier, and a horse for delivery. A coppersmith and plumber located a block away on South Fairfax Street, was probably tasked by the Ingle brothers directly to provide the lead liner, for which he was paid 14 pounds 10 shillings (roughly $59.00 in 1799 currency).

George Washington's funeral costs (those actually billed to his estate) were about 260.00 dollars in U.S. currency of 1799. That figure equates to approximately 62 British pounds at that time. The value of those 62 pounds in modern-day dollars (2010) has been calculated to be $6,386.30 while interestingly, the average cost of a modern-day funeral is calculated to be about $7,000 according to the insurance industry.

Following instructions in his will, Washington's military funeral took place on December 18, 1799 at Mount Vernon restricted to family, friends, and associates, rather than a grandiose state funeral. The funeral started at 3:00 PM, when a schooner moored in the Potomac began firing its guns every minute. Inscriptions on the silver-plate of Washington's coffin included Surge Ad Judicium, meaning rise to judgement, and Gloria Deo meaning glory to God.

Military officers and fellow masons served as pallbearers while a musical band from Alexandria played a funeral dirge. A masonic apron and Washington's sword adorned his coffin. Washington's body was interred inside his communal family vault at his beloved home. Mount Vernon has since become a patriotic destination for the American public to pay tribute to George Washington and for his contributions as the first President under the Constitution, and for his leadership as Commanding General during the American Revolutionary War.”

TOOLS OF THE TRADE:

The very wood working tools, handed down from generation to generation in the Demaine family, and used by William Demaine in the shaping and molding of the first president’s casket, are displayed, from time to time, at the present Demaine Funeral home locations in Alexandria and Springfield.


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Here follows an excerpt from the Fairfax Genealogical Society website:

WASHINGTON FAMILY TOMB at MOUNT VERNON
On the grounds of Mount Vernon, home of George Washington
South Alexandria, Virginia USA

Original Information from Volume 5 of the Gravestone Books

The Washington Family Tomb is located on the grounds of the estate “Mount Vernon,” home of George Washington, the first president of the United States of America. Mount Vernon is located at the end of the George Washington Memorial Parkway, along the Potomac River, south of the City of Alexandria. The house and grounds are open to the public.

John Washington, George Washington’s great grandfather, acquired the land along Little Hunting Creek where Mount Vernon stands today in 1674, according to a brochure about the estate. John Washington left the land to his son Lawrence, who devised it to his daughter Mildred. In 1726, Mildred sold Mount Vernon to her brother Augustine, George Washington’s father.

George Washington, the first child of Augustine Washington and Mary Ball, was born at the family home, Popes Creek Plantation in Westmoreland County, Virginia, in 1732. Augustine Washington and his family lived at Mount Vernon from 1735 to 1739, according to the brochure. In 1740, Augustine deeded Mount Vernon to George’s elder half brother, Lawrence Washington. It was Lawrence who named the estate “Mount Vernon,” reports John W. Wayland in The Washingtons and Their Homes, “in honor of Admiral Vernon, under whom he had served in the West Indies.” Augustine Washington died in 1743. That same year, Lawrence Washington married and brought his wife to live at Mount Vernon.

After the age of 16, George Washington lived at Mount Vernon with his half brother Lawrence and his wife Ann Fairfax. Before his death in 1743, Wayland says, Lawrence directed in his will that a “proper vault” be constructed for himself and his family. George Washington leased Mount Vernon from Ann Fairfax Washington in 1754, and inherited the property upon her death in 1761, according to the brochure.

In January 1759, George Washington married Martha Dandridge Custis, widow of Daniel Parke Custis. She came to Mount Vernon with her two children, John (“Jackie”) Parke Custis and Martha (“Patsy”) Parke Custis. After Jackie’s death in 1781, George and Martha Washington reared his two youngest children, Eleanor (“Nelly”) Parke Custis and George Washington Parke Custis.

George Washington worked as a surveyor as a young man and served in the French and Indian War for five years. He was a delegate to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia in 1775, and was appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. He did not return to Mount Vernon until the fall of 1781, when he stopped briefly on his way to Yorktown, according to the Mount Vernon brochure. During the years of his absence, the estate was managed by his cousin, Lund Washington. A 1969 Historic American Buildings Survey Inventory of Mount Vernon credits “their voluminous correspondence” with providing much information about the mansion and plantation.

In 1783, Washington resigned his army commission and retired to Mount Vernon. He returned to public life in 1787 to preside over the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. During his tenure as President of the United States from 1789 to 1797, Washington was able to return to Mount Vernon only fifteen times. He retired to his estate at the end of his second term.

George Washington died in the master bedroom at Mount Vernon on 14 December 1799. In his will, which was published with related documents by Fairfax County in 1957, Washington requested that he be buried at Mount Vernon and set out directions for the construction of a new family tomb to replace the one built for his half brother:

The family Vault at Mount Vernon requiring repairs and being improperly situated besides, I desire that a new one of Brick, and upon a larger scale, may be built, at the foot of what is commonly called the Vineyard Inclosure,--on the ground which is marked out.--In which my remains, with those of my deceased relatives (now in the old Vault) and such others of my family as may chuse (sic) to be entombed there, may be deposited.--And it is my express desire that my Corpse may be interred in a private manner, without parade, or funeral oration.--


Shortly after Washington’s death, Congress made plans to erect a marble monument to his memory and entomb his remains beneath it in the new Capitol building in the District of Columbia. Martha Washington agreed to this proposal and a crypt was begun under the Capitol dome, according to Mount Vernon, Virginia: An Illustrated Handbook by the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association. The project was never finished. Washington’s executors, in the meantime, proceeded with Washington’s wishes for a new family tomb. It was completed in 1831, and George and Martha Washington (who died in 1802), along with other family members, were removed from the old vault to the new tomb, according to the Handbook.

In his will, George Washington devised the Mount Vernon estate to his nephew Bushrod Washington, son of John Augustine Washington. When Bushrod Washington died in 1829, the Handbook states that he left the Mansion House and 1200 acres of the estate to his nephew John Augustine Washington who survived Bushrod by just three years. His widow Jane conveyed Mount Vernon to their son John Augustine Washington, Jr. in 1850, according to Washington and His Neighbors by Charles W. Stetson.

By the time John A. Washington, Jr. had acquired his ancestor’s estate, the property had fallen into decline. Stetson reports that he turned down private offers to purchase Mount Vernon which was still a “Mecca” for visitors stopping to honor the “Father of Our Country.” But these early tourists brought the need for preservation and protection to the attention of the public. Ann Pamela Cunningham of South Carolina, described by Stetson as “an invalid of dauntless spirit,” rallied the public to purchase Mount Vernon and was instrumental in forming The Mount Vernon Ladies Association of the Union, the oldest national preservation organization in America, which was chartered by the State of Virginia in 1856. The Ladies took possession of Mount Vernon in 1858, and Miss Cunningham served as the first Regent.

The new Washington Family Tomb and surrounding area was surveyed in 1923 and 1997. The tomb stands southwest of the Mansion House. Two white marble sarcophagi stand behind an iron gate in the brick vault. A sign at the site reads:

Tomb of Washington
Erected 1830-31
Site & material specified
in Washington’s will


A stone tablet mounted over the gate to the tomb interior is inscribed:

Within this Enclosure
Rest
the remains of
Genl George Washington.


George Washington’s sarcophagus lies to the right within the vestibule. The arms and insignia of the United States are carved onto the top of the sarcophagus with his name inscribed at the foot of the sarcophagus:

George Washington


Martha Washington’s sarcophagus lies to the left. On the top are the words:

Martha
Consort of
Washington


And at foot of her sarcophagus:

Died May 22 1802.
Aged 70 years.


According to a docent at the Washington Family Tomb in the fall of 1997, 25 other family members in regular-style coffins are entombed in the new vault. The old tomb, a short distance to the east, has been restored and visitors can stop to visit it on the way to the new family tomb. Information from the library at Mount Vernon obtained by the Virginia Room of the Fairfax City Regional Library lists the following entombments which were moved from the old tomb to the new vault in 1831:

Name Birth Death
Jane Washington
daughter of Lawrence & Ann Washington 1744 1745
Fairfax Washington
son of Lawrence & Ann Washington 1746 1747
Mildred Washington
daughter of Lawrence & Ann Washington 1748 1749
Lawrence Washington
George Washington’s elder half brother ca. 1718 1752
Sarah Washington
daughter of Lawrence & Ann Washington 1750 ca. 1754
Martha Parke Custis
“Patsy”
daughter of Martha Washington ca. 1757 1773
George Fayette Washington
son of George Augustine & Frances Bassett Washington 1787 1787
George Augustine Washington
George Washington’s nephew ca. 1758 1793
Frances Bassett Washington Lear
Martha Washington’s niece
widow of George Augustine Washington,
who later married Tobias Lear 1767 1796
_____ Peter
daughter of Thomas & Martha Parke Custis Peter[1] ca. 1795 1800
Martha Betty Lewis
daughter of Lawrence & Eleanor Parke Custis Lewis[2] 1801 1802
Ann Aylette Washington Robinson
daughter of William Augustine & Jane Washington
wife of William Robinson 1783 1804
William Augustine Washington
son of Augustine[3] & Ann Aylette Washington 1757 1810
Mary Lee Washington Herbert
daughter of Corbin[4] & Hannah Lee Washington
wife of Noblet Herbert ca. 1795 1827
Noblet Herbert ca. 1821-1826
Jane Herbert
daughter of Noblet & Mary Lee Washington Herbert ca. 1821-1826
Robert Herbert
son of Noblet & Mary Lee Washington Herbert ca. 1821-1826
Bushrod Washington
George Washington’s nephew and heir to Mount Vernon 1762 1829
Julia Ann Blackburn Washington
wife of Bushrod Washington 1768 1829
Bushrod Washington
fourth child of William Augustine & Jane Washington
husband of Henrietta Bryan Spotswood 1785 1831

Information from the library at Mount Vernon lists the following entombments in the new Washington Family Tomb after 1831:

John Augustine Washington II
son of Corbin & Hannah Lee Washington
husband of Jane Charlotte Blackburn
inherited Mount Vernon from Bushrod Washington 1789 1832
Eliza Parke Custis Law
granddaughter of Martha Washington 1776 1832
Lawrence Lewis
son of Fielding & Betty Washington Lewis[5]
husband of Eleanor Parke Custis 1767 1839
_____ Johnson
child of the Reverend W. Philando Chase & Eliza Washington Johnson 1842
Jane Charlotte Blackburn Washington
wife of John Augustine Washington II 1786 1855

Two large marble obelisks which stand in front of the new vault were erected as memorials to the private owners of Mount Vernon after George Washington’s death. Both shafts were carved by “A. Gaddis Fecit. Balto”:

Within the vault Lie buried
the mortal remains of
Bushrod Washington,
An associate Justice,
of the Supreme Court of the U. S.
He died in Philadelphia,
Nov’r 26th 1829;
Aged 68
By his side is interred
his devoted Wife
Anna Blackburn,
Who survived her beloved
Husband but two days.
Aged 60.
Judge Washington.
Was the Son of
John Augustine Washington
and the Nephew of
Genl George Washington,
Who appointed him
one of his Executors.
And bequeathed him Mount Vernon.
As a Judge he was Wise and Just.
“A man of Truth, hating covetousness.”
Firm in every honourable purpose and pursuit,
Yet gentle humane and condescending.
A sincere Christian, Doing in all things the will of his Master,
And resting his hope of eternal happiness, []ove on the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
This humble Monument to the memory of the
venerated Judge and his beloved Wife
Is placed here by her Niece the
Widow of his nephew. John A. Washington.
Sacred To the memory of
John Augustine,
son of
Corbin & Hannah Lee
Washington,
& Nephew of
Judge Bushrod Washington
Who appointed him one
of his Executors,
And bequeathed him Mount Vernon,
where he died June 16 1832,
aged 43.
His strength of mind
His firm integrity,
and pure Republican principles were known
to all who were familiar with him.
His mortal remains
are interred within the Vault.
And this humble monument to his worth.
His purity and unostentatious Excellence in all
the relations of Life is
Erected by his widow. (sic)
Sacred To the memory of
Jane Charlotte Blackburn,
Devoted wife of
John Augustine Washington.
Born Aug. 23rd 1786.
Died Sept. 6th 1855.
Whose remains are interred in this vault.
“The beloved Persis who
labored much in the Lord.”
In memory
of
John Augustine
Washington
Lt. Col. C. S. A.
1820-1861
and his wife
Eleanor Love Selden
1824-1860
Last private owners of
Mount Vernon.
Buried at
Charlestown West Virginia.


The memorial to Lt. Col. John Augustine Washington and his wife was not recorded by the 1923 surveyor, nor was it mentioned in the 1958 Handbook. It is possible that this part of the inscription was added more recently.

According to the information from the library at Mount Vernon, there are three burials to the east of the new Washington Family Tomb. Two obelisks which stand at this spot within a tall wrought iron fence are inscribed:


Sacred to the memory of
Eleanor Parke Lewis,
Granddaughter of Mrs & adopted daughter of General Washington
Reared under the roof of the
Father of his County,
this Lady was not more remarkable
for the beauty of her person
than for the superiority of her mind.
She lived to be admired, and died
to be regretted on the 15th of July 1852
in the 74th year of her age.


Sacred To the memory of
Mrs M. E. A. Conrad
Wife of Chs M. Conrad
of New Orleans.
Daughter of
Lawc & Eleanor P. Lewis
and Grand Niece of
Genl George Washington
Born April 1st 1813
at Woodlawn Fairfax Co Va,
and died Sept. 21st 1839
at Pass Christian Missi
in the 27th Year of her age.
Erected to the Memory of
a beloved Wife
by her Husband.
If the possession of every
Virtue that adorns or dignifies
her sex could have warded off
the stroke of death she would
have been immortal & those
who mourn her untimely end
are consoled by the reflection
that those Virtues seemed better
to fit her for the abode to which
her Spirit has fled than for
that which it has abandoned.
To the memory of
Charles M. Conrad.[6]
Died in New Orleans.
Feb. 11 1878
Aged 73 years


The list from the Mount Vernon library indicates that M. E. Angela Lewis Conrad was moved to this site in 1842. It includes a third burial east of the Washington Family Tomb:

Angela Lewis Conrad
daughter of M. E. Angela Lewis & Charles M. Conrad 1836 1837

When the site was surveyed in 1923, the following inscriptions were recorded, but they were not found in 1997, nor are they included on the library’s list:

To the memory of
Charles Anjelo
Eldest son of
Charles M. & M. E. A. Conrad
Died in New Orleans
Sept. 23 1892
aged 55 years.
Lawrence Lewis
second son of
Charles M. & M. E. A. Conrad
Died in Baltimore Co. Md.
Aug. 1883
aged 44 years.


No Updates from Volume 6 of the Gravestone Books

[1] Martha Parke Custis Peter was Martha Washington’s granddaughter.
[2] Eleanor Parke Custis Lewis was Martha Washington’s granddaughter.
[3] George Washington’s half brother.
[4] George Washington’s nephew.
[5] George Washington’s sister.
[6] The information from the Mount Vernon library does not list Charles M. Conrad as a burial or entombment at this site.

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