From the dust jacket:
Out of a lifetime of research into American history, Elswyth Thane has written a vivid account of the little-known "children" of Mount Vernon. Although he remained childless, George Washington was very much a father to a host of young people who filled his life with the typical joys and cares of parenthood.
The varied lives and fortunes of these family members–Martha Washington's children by her first marriage, her grand-children, and the offspring of Washington's brother Samuel–are described here in rich detail. Washington himself emerges as a warm and devoted human being, a strong contrast to the formal image history has given us.
The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association urged Miss Thane to write this book, and, with its full cooperation, she has turned to original correspondence and other documents to re-create the world of Federalist America, an often neglected period of our history. Washington's winter headquarters at Cambridge, Massachusetts, the glittering society of Philadelphia, the gracious elegance of the great Virginia plantations, the muddy streets of Washington, D. C., in-the-building–these and other scenes are brought to life in a fascinating and intimate chronicle of the past, which is surprisingly contemporary in its concern with the timeless problems of youth.
ELSWYTH THANE is widely known and admired as a biographer and historian. Her life of Washington, Potomac Squire, has become a classic. Her other works include Washington's Lady, Mount Vernon Is Ours and Young Mr. Disraeli, as well as the popular Williamsburg novels and two plays. The widow of the famous naturalist and writer, Dr. William Beebe, Miss Thane lives in Vermont.
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