The widow Washington : the life of Mary Washington
(Book)

Book Cover
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Published
New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2019.
Status
Central - Adult Biography
B WASHING M
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LocationCall NumberStatus
Central - Adult BiographyB WASHING MAvailable
Central - Adult BiographyB WASHING MAvailable

Description

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Published
New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2019.
Format
Book
Physical Desc
xix, 360 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : black and white illustrations ; 24 cm
Language
English

Notes

Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Description
The Widow Washington is the first life of Mary Ball Washington, George Washington's mother, based on archival sources. Her son's biographers have, for the most part, painted her as self-centered and crude, a trial and an obstacle to her son. But the records tell a very different story. Mary Ball, the daughter of a wealthy planter and a formerly indentured servant, was orphaned very young and grew up in an atmosphere of work, frugality, and piety. She married the older planter Augustine Washington and had five children with him before his death eleven years later. As a widow deprived of most of her late husband's properties, Mary struggled to raise her children and secure them places among Virginia's elite. In her later years, she had a contested relationship with her wealthy son and struggled with fears of poverty and helplessness. Yet Mary Ball Washington had a stronger impact on George than mothers like her usually had on their sons, and she taught him many of the moral and religious principles by which he lived. The two were strikingly similar, though the commanding demeanor, persistence, athleticism, penny-pinching, and irascibility that they shared have served the memory of the country's father immeasurably better than that of his mother. Martha Saxton's The Widow Washington is a necessary and deeply insightful corrective, telling the story of Mary's long, arduous life on its own terms, and not as her son's satellite. -- from Amazon.

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Citations

APA Citation, 7th Edition (style guide)

Saxton, M. (2019). The widow Washington: the life of Mary Washington (First edition.). Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)

Saxton, Martha. 2019. The Widow Washington: The Life of Mary Washington. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities (Notes and Bibliography) Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)

Saxton, Martha. The Widow Washington: The Life of Mary Washington Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2019.

MLA Citation, 9th Edition (style guide)

Saxton, Martha. The Widow Washington: The Life of Mary Washington First edition., Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2019.

Note! Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy. Citation formats are based on standards as of August 2021.

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