Archive for December, 2010

Today a statue of George Washington and Seneca leader Guyasuta, a guide to Washington and his party in 1753, overlooks Pittsburgh.

On December 29, 1790, George Washington reassured the Seneca Nation via a speech that it would receive fair and friendly treatment under the new U.S. government. He assured the Native Americans that they had a right to sell or refuse to sell land, that they would be treated fairly by the government and that they had the right to take grievances to court.

Washington’s first term in office was largely focused on domestic issues, which included relations with the area’s various tribes. Washington placed a premium on establishing a peaceful co-existance with Native Americans, whom he gained first-hand experience with during his adventures in the wilderness before and during the French and Indian War.

During the summer of 1790, Washington had invited 26 chiefs and a young Creek diplomat for a lavish week of dinners, parades and diplomatic ceremonies, during which the chiefs signed the Treaty of New York, which drew new boundaries for a sovereign Creek Nation.

Despite Washington’s best intentions, little success resulted from the policies he hoped to establish for Native Americans. With settlers pushing westward and economic gains to be made from land located on the frontier, profit and personal interest trumped Washington’s ideology.

For Washington’s full speech to the Seneca, see below.

Continue reading On This Day in 1790: GW Talks With the Seneca »

During the Christmas season, Mount Vernon was crowded with the Washingtons’ friends and relatives who traversed poor roads and perilous rivers to celebrate alongside the president and Martha Washington. The presence of so many extra guests made sleeping accommodations tight, and the Washingtons turned to the eighteenth-century version of the sofa bed: the settee bedstead.

During the day, the settee bedstead provided comfortable seating. At night, however, the seat came off, a bed frame was pulled out from the interior, and the seat back was lifted to form a canopy, complete with curtains that encircled the head of the sleeper, something akin to a regular canopy bed.

The term metamorphic or deception furniture is used to describe pieces such as this, because of their ability to change shape. Like the modern sofa bed, the settee bedstead was perfect for small spaces since it combined two kinds of furniture in one compact form.

George Washington purchased a “Setee bed and furniture” in 1774 from an estate sale at Belvoir, the plantation that belonged to his neighbors and friends, George William and Sally Fairfax. The inventory taken after Washington’s death records a settee bedstead in Mount Vernon’s Little Parlor — a room that served as the family’s informal gathering space and also housed Nelly Custis’s harpsichord. George Washington Parke Custis purchased his grandfather’s settee bedstead in 1802, but unfortunately we do not know what happened to it after that.

Settee bedsteads are extremely rare and one similar to Washington’s is on exhibit at Mount Vernon today. Made sometime between 1760 and 1780 the replacement, like the original, was likely constructed in England and shipped to the colonies since there is no evidence that this kind of metamorphic bed was ever produced in colonial America.

Visitors can see the settee bedstead fully opened and ready for overnight guests in the Little Parlor as part of the Christmas at Mount Vernon holiday celebration through Jan. 6.

Object Spotlight is a regular feature on George Washington Wired that highlights some of the household belongings that Washington came into contact with in his daily life.

Settee bedstead: Purchased by the MVLA through the generosity of Mount Vernon Friends of the Collection in 2002; 2002.007.001

Long before Christmas lights and far predating the arrival of the Christmas tree in America, the Washingtons were likely sprucing up their Mansion during the holidays with a little bit of greenery and a lot of feast-worthy foods. Assistant curator Laura Simo takes us on a tour of all things holiday in the Mansion this season.

In the political frenzy that is Sunday morning’s news talk shows, Mount Vernon will make a guest appearance when various scenes from the estate’s “Christmas at Mount Vernon” appear in the end credits of Chris Wallace’s “Fox News Sunday.” As we’re drumming our fingers in suspense — who will appear, Martha Washington, Aladdin the camel, Apple the presidentially pardoned turkey? — please set your DVR for Dec. 26 at 9 a.m. EST (check your listings to confirm time where you live).