Lulu and Keith in front of Mt Vernon. We had the place to ourselves today.
When we built our home in Woodland Drives - Tallahassee - we wanted to emulate the Bellevue Plantation - the home of Catherine Murat. Her plantation was just a couple of miles west of our home. They moved her house to the Tallahassee Museum.
Today - my main objective of the tour was to verify the information about Catherine Murat and her saving of George Washington's home - Mt Vernon. Catherine is the great grand niece of the father of our country. She married Prince Achille Murat - the nephew of Napoleon. When he died - she bought and ran her big plantation.
In the 1850's - Mount Vernon was in ruins. No one cared much for it - it was about to be torn down. A group was formed called the Mount Vernon Ladies Association. Catherine was the chairperson for Florida. Under her leadership - Florida produced more money per capita than any other state. The money was used to restore this wonderful structure.
When George and Martha ran this miniature village - they had 318 slaves. On his death the slaves were freed. He died in his bed on the second floor - and he was buried in the family vault out in the back yard. He hired the architect to build the capital city that was named after him. He had the pleasure of overseeing the start - including setting the corner stone of the Capitol.
Today - February 22nd - is Washington's real birthday. They had a special admission 2 for $22 - get it. With the new snow - there were very few visitors.
They had some information about Catherine Murat.
 |
| Although it looks like limestone - the entire building is made of pine wood. It is in a constant state of repair. |
Several of the out buildings were connected by covered porticos.
Even the roof shingles are made of wood - although they looked like clay tiles.
Washington's study was behind the green shutters - his bedroom where he died was on the second floor. After he died - Martha closed the room and moved to the third floor.
Keith was inspecting the all-wood blacksmith shop. It will get siding that emulates limestone blocks.
Catherine Murat - the wife of Prince Murat - was recognized there.
She was named a Princess of France when she married Prince Achille Murat. She returned to France for a while after her husband died.
George was a little over 6-2. Martha was 4-11. There is a giant underground museum there that reviews their lives.
No comments:
Post a Comment