Page 36 - Family cookbook v30_Neat

30

Dining room in Betty Washington and Fielding Lewis’ mansion in Fredericksburg.

months after the American victory at Yorktown, Fielding died, with The Commonwealth of Virginia still owing

him some 7,000 pounds.

After his death, Betty continued to live in the mansion for many years until her declining health and wealth
made it too difficult to maintain. Her post‐war life was not easy, but she was purportedly a good manager. She

paid her taxes and met her obligations on time, sometimes renting out her slaves to do so. She still had several
children at home and had to pay for their education. At one point, Betty decided to try running a small

boarding school at her estate, though she had to sell land to support the effort.

In 1783 she requested her brother, George to order a chariot for her. “By next February, I shall have the money

to pay for it...a plain neet one with harness for four horses. I should chuse my name in a sipher [crest].”

In the summer of 1789 Betty spent much of her time taking care of her mother who was suffering from breast
cancer. When Mrs. Washington died, Betty oversaw the disposition of her estate at the request of her brother,

George, who was the official executor.

By 1790, Betty had health concerns of her own and wrote an unwitnessed will. By 1792 her illnesses were

becoming more and more debilitating, but she continued on doing what needed to be done. She had in her
care several of Fielding Jr.’s children including Ann from our line. In a letter to her brother George, Betty wrote,

“Fielding is so distressed that his children would go naked if it was not for the assistance I give him.” In the fall
of 1792, Betty took in yet another child, Harriot, who was the orphaned daughter of her brother Samuel. Har‐

riot stayed with her Aunt Betty for four years until she married in 1796.