Special Collections at The George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon
PO Box 3600Mount Vernon, VA 22121
Telephone: 703-799-3600
URL: http://archives.mountvernon.org
Katherine Hoarn, Special Collections Librarian and Rebecca Baird, Archivist
Administrative Information
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research during scheduled appointments. Researchers must complete the Washington Library's Special Collections and Archives Registration Form before access is provided. The library reserves the right to restrict access to certain items for preservation purposes.
Preferred Citation
[Name and date of item], Lawrence Washington collection of Washington family papers, [Folder], Special Collections, The George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon [hereafter Washington Library], Mount Vernon, Virginia.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This collection of family papers was received as a gift in three installments from Lawrence Washington of Alexandria, a descendant of Lawrence Washington, 1854-1920. The gift was accessioned in 1977.
Biographical / Historical
Lawrence Washington, 1854-1920: Lawrence Washington was the fifth child and eldest son of John Augustine Washington III and Eleanor Love Selden Washington. He was born at Mount Vernon on January 14, 1854. He married Frances Willis Lackland on June 14, 1876, and the couple had twelve children, including Anne Madison and Patty Willis Washington, who inherited a large collection of Washington relics from their father.
John Augustine Washington III, 1821-1861: John Augustine Washington was the great-grandnephew of George Washington and the
last Washington to own Mount Vernon before its sale to the Mount Vernon Ladies Association (MVLA). He was born on May 3,
1821 to John Augustine Washington II and Jane Charlotte Blackburn Washington. He graduated from the University of Virginia
in 1840, and returned to Mount Vernon to manage the declining estate with his widowed mother's permission. In 1843, he married
Eleanor Love Selden with whom he had seven children. He sold 200 acres of Mount Vernon to the MVLA in 1858 for $200,000, and
he and his family moved to Waveland plantation in Fauquier County 
, Virginia in 1860. He served as aide-de-camp to General Robert E. 
Lee , but was shot by a bushwhacker and died one week later on September 13, 1861.
Jane Charlotte Blackburn Washington, 1786-1855: Jane Charlotte Blackburn was born on August 23, 1786 at Rippon Lodge, Prince
William, Virginia to Major Richard Scott Blackburn and Judith Blackburn. She married John Augustine Washington II and had
five children, three of whom lived to adulthood – Anna Maria Thomasina Washington Alexander, John Augustine Washington III,
and Richard Scott Blackburn Thomas. The couple lived at Blakely plantation near Charles Town, West Virginia, until the death
of Bushrod Washington in 1829, who left the property of Mount Vernon to John Augustine Washington II in his will. When her
husband died in 1832, Jane Charlotte Washington inherited Mount Vernon and vowed to maintain the estate to the best of her
ability. She insisted her oldest son, John Augustine Washington III, attend college to better prepare him to someday manage
the family's properties. He graduated from the University of Virginia in 1840 and a year later began overseeing all business
at Mount Vernon for his mother. Jane Charlotte Washington died in 1855 and is buried at Mount Vernon with her husband.
Scope and Contents
A large portion of this collection consists of letters to and from John Augustine Washington III related to the sale of Mount Vernon. Other items include family wills, legal documents, receipts, correspondence related to Washington relics, as well as several photographs and miscellany. Inclusive dates, 1787-1932.
Arrangement
Chronological, with undated material at the end.
Related Material
Additional manuscripts related to John Augustine Washington III and his family can be found in the Historic Manuscript Collection, Elswyth Thane Beebe Collection of Washington Family Papers, John Augustine Washington III and Eleanor Love Selden Correspondence, John Augustine Washington III and descendants papers, John Augustine Washington III and Mount Vernon Ladies' Association (MVLA) Collection.
Separated Material
The original donation of material included 54 letters to and from Ann Pamela Cunningham and John Augustine Washington III. These letters were separated and added to the Early Records of the MVLA collection (MVLA Archives).
Significant Persons Associated With the Collection
- Alexander, Judith Ball Blackburn, 1796-1866
- Custis, George Washington Parke, 1781-1857
- Dallas, George Mifflin, 1792-1864
- Davis, John Wesley, 1799-1859
- Herbert, Bushrod Washington, -1888
- Lear, Tobias, 1762-1816
- Lee, Samuel Phillips, 1812-1897
- Page, Thomas Nelson, 1853-1922
- Washington, Bushrod, 1762-1829
- Washington, Corbin, 1764-1799
- Washington, Hannah Bushrod, approximately 1738-1804
- Washington, Jane Charlotte Blackburn, 1786-1855
- Washington, John Augustine, II, 1789-1832
- Washington, John Augustine, III, 1821-1861
- Washington, Julia Ann Blackburn, 1768-1829
- Washington, Lawrence, 1854-1920
Container List
Autograph note, 1 p. Copied from the New-York Journal, and Weekly Register.
Autograph letter, 1 p. with integral address panel. Macomb informs Lear, "the house which the Count de Moustier occupied, is at the service of the President from the 1st of May next."
Autograph letter signed, 1 p. Washington to Mount Vernon. A letter of introduction for a visitor from England who wants to visit Mount Vernon. Story adds regards from Chief Justice John Marshall.
Autograph letter signed, 2 p. with integral address panel. Boston to Mount Vernon. Newell writes asking for clippings of "green box" or any other shrubbery from the garden of Washington at Mount Vernon.
Autograph letter signed, 4 p. Washington City to Mount Vernon. Writes of politics and hopes John Augustine can visit him in the Federal City soon.
Autograph letter signed, 4 p. with integral address panel. Washington to Mount Vernon.
Autograph letter signed, 1 p. Mount Vernon. Draft with corrections. Washington writes strongly refusing requests to land at Mount Vernon from a steamboat.
Autograph letter signed, 2 p. Clay-Mont. Herbert writes to Washington about the portion of the estate of their deceased uncle, Bushrod Washington, that passed through the Herbert family line.
Autograph document signed, 4 p.
Autograph document signed, 8 p.
Autograph document signed, 3 p.
Autograph letter signed, 4 p. Mount Vernon. Draft with corrections. Washington responds to a proposal from the Board of Commissioners authorized by an act of Congress to purchase the estate of Mount Vernon as a military asylum. Washington hopes to retain part of the estate as a residence for his family.
Autograph letter signed, 1 p. Washington to Mount Vernon. A letter regarding purchasing Mount Vernon to turn it into an asylum for old veterans.
Autograph letter signed, 1 p. Washington. A letter regarding purchasing 200 acres of the Mount Vernon estate for $200,000 to create a military asylum.
Autograph letter signed, 3p. with integral address panel. Alexandria.
Autograph letter signed, 1 p. Mount Vernon. Correspondence about the sale of Mount Vernon.
Autograph letter signed, 4 p. Mount Vernon. Draft copy. About the possible sale of Mount Vernon to the state of Virginia.
Autograph letter signed, 4 p. Richmond. Correspondence about the sale of Mount Vernon.
Autograph letter signed, 3 p. Draft copy. Mount Vernon. Correspondence about the sale of Mount Vernon.
Autograph letter signed, 1 p. with integral address panel. Richmond to Mount Vernon. Correspondence about the sale of Mount Vernon.
Autograph letter, 3 p. Retained copy. Mount Vernon. Correspondence about the sale of Mount Vernon to the United States. Washington writes, "A desire to know that Mount Vernon is placed beyond the chances and changes of Family fortune, in hands where it will be permanently preserved and taken care of, and never applied to any unworthy purpose, is the principal indeed I may say the only inducement I have to place it in the possession of the United States."
Autograph letter signed, 1 p. Correspondence about the sale of Mount Vernon. Taylor writes that the House has decided to establish the military asylum closer to Richmond and not to purchase Mount Vernon.
Autograph letter signed, 2 p. Washington City. Parker writes on behalf of the directors of the steamboats George Washington and Thomas Collyer to renegotiate the fees paid to John Augustine Washington for landing at Mount Vernon. Parker writes that the route to Mount Vernon is "not near as good as it was formerly" because "the great bulk of the citizens have visited the place."
A bill to incorporate the Mount Vernon Ladies Association of the Union, and to authorize the purchase of a part of Mount Vernon.
Autograph letter signed, 2 p. Draft copy. Mount Vernon. Washington issues a statement to the publishers of a journal regarding his sale of Mount Vernon. In a crossed out line, he mentions "a Lady in South Carolina," Ann Pamela Cunningham.
Autograph letter signed, 2 p. with autograph document, 1 p. Washington. A letter announcing the resolution of the United States Agricultural Society to purchase Mount Vernon to establish a National Institution from the Promotion of Agriculture. With a manuscript resolution from the fifth annual meeting of the Society held at the Smithsonian Institution, attested and signed by Marshall P. Wilder.
Autograph letter signed, 1 p. Draft copy. Mount Vernon. Washington responds to an offer from the United States Agricultural Society to purchase Mount Vernon to establish a National Institution for the Promotion of Agriculture.
Autograph letter signed, 1 p. Savannah.
Autograph letter signed, 1 p. Savannah. Request for proof that Mount Vernon was sold for $250,000 in order to defend Washington against critics.
Autograph letter signed, 2 p. Mount Vernon. Draft copy. Washington declines Lawson's request for correspondence regarding the sale of Mount Vernon.
Autograph letter, 2 p. New York. A rambling letter arguing for the protection of Mount Vernon as the seed of the spirit of Jesus Christ in George Washington. Docketed in the hand of John Augustine Washington III, "a specimen of the nonsense I am subjected to."
Autograph letter signed, 1 p. with integral address panel.
Autograph note signed, 1 p. Receipt for $40.75 of interest from the estate of John Augustine Washington II.
Autograph document, 2 p. A list of the division of the property of John Augustine Washington III amongst his children, including lots from the Mount Vernon farm.
Autograph document signed, 4 p.
Autograph document signed, 9 p.
Typescript document signed, 6 p.
Typescript document signed, 4 p.
Partially printed, with manuscript additions, 2 p. An acknowledgement from the Smithsonian Institution for items received from Lawrence Washington: a bible signed by George Washington, an oil portrait of Lawrence Washington, and Lawrence Washington's naval commission.
Typescript letter signed, 1 p. Alexandria.
1 p. Acknowledgement of a "Copy of a recently discovered Cipher used in Colonial times" given by Lawrence Washington to the State Department Library.
Autograph letter signed, 1 p.
Typescript letter signed, incomplete, only page 2.
Document signed, 11 p.
Typescript signed, 1 p. Kittery, Maine to Washington, D.C. A letter commemorating the George Washington Bicentennial Airplane Flight to Commemorate the 157th Anniversary of the Founding of the United States Postal Service.
Autograph letter signed, 1 p. Written in a child's hand.
Autograph letter signed. Jane reminds her son to read his Bible and use his prayer book. She also writes about selling vegetables at market and farm work.
Cabinet card of the "Residence of Lawrence Washington in Fauquier" by Philips, Cole and Reed of Alexandria and Bedford City, Virginia, circa 1870-1900
Typescript, 3 p.
2 unidentified photographic portraits of men, one in a military uniform.