less it!
God bless you all!" Just before he expired, he said, "Jefferson
survives;" but at one o'clock that very day, Jefferson rendered
up his spirit to his Maker. The family residence of John Adams
at Quincy is the residence of his distinguished son, John Quincy
Adams.

MRS. WASHINGTON.

Martha Dandridge was born in the county of New Kent, Virginia, in May,
1732. Her education was entirely of a domestic character, there being
no schools in the region where she dwelt. As she grew up, she was
distinguished for personal beauty, pleasing manners, and general
amiability of demeanor. She frequently appeared at the court of
Williamsburg, then held by the royal governors of Virginia, and became
a general favorite.

At the age of seventeen, she was married to Daniel Park Custis, of her
native county, and the new-married couple were settled at the White
House, on the banks of the Pamunkey River. Mr. Custis devoted himself
to agricultural pursuits, and became an eminently successful planter.
They had four children, two of whom died at an early period. Martha
arrived at womanhood, and died at Mount Vernon, in 1770, and John
perished at the age of twenty-seven, while in the service of his
country, at the siege of Yorktown, in 1781. Mr. Custis died at about
middle age, leaving his widow, still young, yet possessed of an ample
fortune. Beside extensive landed estates, she had L30,000 sterling in
money.

[Illustration: MRS. WASHINGTON.]

Mrs. Custis was sole executor of her husband's will, and she appears
to have been well qualified to discharge the duties which devolved
upon her. She conducted her affairs with surprising ability, and the
concerns of her extensive fortune seemed to thrive under her
management. In 1758, Colonel Washington, then twenty-six years of age,
became accidentally acquainted with the fair widow, and, after a brief
courtship, they were married. This occurred in 1759. Soon after, they
removed to Mount Vernon, which henceforward became their permanent
residence.

Mrs. Washington had no children by this second marriage. Martha and
John Custis were, however, fully adopted into the affections of her
present husband. In discharging her various domestic duties, and
rearing her children, time flowed smoothly on for almost twenty years.
In 1775, Washington, being appointed commander-in-chief of the
American army, proceeded to Cambridge, and did not return to Mount
Vernon t