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Like her husband, Martha’s letters also mention divine Providence. Writing to Mercy Otis Warren from Valley Forge on March 7, 1778, she says, “...indeed I think providence was very bountiful in her goodness to your state....would bountiful providence aim a like stroke at Genl Howe, the measure of my happiness would be compleat.”⁸³

Writing to Mrs. Elizabeth Powel on January 18, 1788, Martha said, “She is blessed however with a charming family of children, and Providence has been bountiful in giving her resolution and strength of body and mind to be able to undertake the care that have developed upon her.”⁸⁴

The long absences created by the war required Martha to move to the winter quarters of the army so that they could seek to have a measure of family life in the eight-year-long war.⁸⁵ Mrs. Washington’s first trip to join her husband was to Cambridge, Massachusetts. She stopped first in Philadelphia, where she wrote to a friend, “I don’t doubt but you have seen the Figure our arrival made in the Philadelphia paper— and I left it in as great pomp as if I had been a very great somebody.”⁸⁶

By Washington’s own testimony, throughout his life, he was a happily married man. On September 20, 1759, he wrote, “I am now I believe fixed at this Seat [Mount Vernon] with an agreeable Consort [Mrs. Martha Washington] for Life and hope to find more happiness in retirement [from service in the British Army at the end of the French and Indian War] than I ever experienced amidst a wide and bustling World.”⁸⁷

On June 18, 1775, he wrote, “My Dearest: ...You may believe me, my dear Patsy,... that I should enjoy more real happiness in one month with you at home, than I have the most distant prospect of finding abroad, if my stay were to be seven times seven years.”⁸⁸ On May 23, 1785, he wrote, “I have always considered marriage as the most interesting event of one’s life, the foundation of happiness or misery.”⁸⁹ George did not think he would marry a second time if Martha died before him.⁹⁰

Martha did not like public life, and had, like her husband, hoped to stay at Mount Vernon after his retirement from the military. Yet, she willingly, if reluctantly, followed.⁹¹ She even compared herself at one point to a “state prisoner.”⁹² But finally, through the help of friends and her own spiritual growth, she was able to make the transition effectively so that she could become a great help to the President in his many responsibilities.⁹³ It was Martha’s practice to keep constantly employed.⁹⁴

Martha’s faith as a Christian manifested itself especially as she faced the death of her husband⁹⁵ and of her sister.⁹⁶ But the death of Patsy, her daughter, was a particular moment of great sorrow and of faith for the entire family. Martha’s son, John Parke Custis, wrote a letter reminding Martha of the Christian faith of the family, and in this way sought to comfort her at the time of the loss of Patsy.⁹⁷ Washington had expressed his deep concern for the physical sufferings of his stepdaughter Patsy Custis⁹⁸ and prayed fervently for her as she died. George Washington Parke Custis wrote of Washington’s prayer for Patsy,

Her delicate health, or, perhaps her fond affection for the only father she had ever known, so endeared her to the “general,” that he knelt at her dying bed, and with a passionate burst of tears, prayed aloud that her life might be spared, unconscious that even then her spirit had departed.⁹⁹

In his “Diary,” Washington wrote: “June 19. At home all day. About five o’clock poor Patsy Custis Died Suddenly.” Writing to Burwell Bassett the next day, he explained the circumstances of Patsy’s death and expressed his belief that, “the Sweet Innocent Girl Entered into a more happy and peaceful abode than any she has met with in the afflicted Path she hitherto has trod.”¹⁰⁰

But the ravages of death had not finished their assaults on Martha’s family. She had lost her first husband, her sister, her daughter, and soon it would be her son Jacky as well. Although Jacky’s prayers had been offered for the General’s success,¹⁰¹ he stayed home and married and raised a family. In 1774 Jacky, i.e., John Parke Custis, married Eleanor Calvert, who became the parents of Nelly Parke Custis and George Washington Parke Custis. Near the end of the war in 1781, John Parke Custis served as a civilian aide to General Washington. But on November 5, 1781, he died—less than three weeks after the British surrender at Yorktown. He had contracted camp fever or typhoid at the Battle of Yorktown. His wife, Martha Washington and General Washington were all present when he died. Writing about his father, George Washington Parke Custis stated, “In a little while the poor sufferer expired. Washington, tenderly embracing the bereaved wife and mother, observed to the weeping group around the remains of him he so dearly loved, ‘From this moment I adopt his two youngest children as my own.’”¹⁰²

Finally on December 24th, Christmas Eve, 1783, General Washington returned to Mount Vernon for the first time to stay since the beginning of the war. Martha would enjoy the life with her husband for sixteen more years, until he passed away in 1799. During all of those years, his adopted children Nelly and young George Washington lived in the presence of George and Martha. The children had a most unique opportunity to observe their faith.

WASHINGTON’S ALLEGED LACK OF CHRISTIAN WITNESS TO CHILDREN

The Washingtons had their share of experiences in rearing children, since they reared not only Martha’s children, but her grandchildren as well. Martha had her share of trying to get the kids to places,¹⁰³ having them practice their music lessons,¹⁰⁴ and making room for a young, newlywed couple in the house until the first children would be born.¹⁰⁵

As we have seen, Martha was called a Christian by those who wrote to her. Her son Jacky called her a Christian when he wrote a strong comforting Christian message from his college upon hearing of Patsy’s death. In that same letter, he declared his belief that Patsy was in “bliss,” and George, having prayed for her, wrote that she had entered “a more happy and peaceful abode.” Washington was surrounded by Christians in his family. Was Washington himself a Christian? According to author Rupert Hughes, the answer was no. He based his argument on the writings of nineteenth century historian, Moncure Conway:

Etchings of Alfred the Great (AD 849-899), the English king who established the Christian kingdom of England, graced the dinning room at Mount Vernon

The Reverend Doctor Moncure D. Conway makes a statement that is impressive in view of the emphasis unjustifiably laid on the imaginary doctrine that Washington was brought up in an atmosphere of intense religion: “In his many letters to his adopted nephew and young relatives, he admonishes them about their morals, but in no case have I been able to discover any suggestion that they should read the Bible, keep the Sabbath, go to church, or any warning against Infidelity....If Washington were, indeed, so fervent a Christian as to deserve the name of “a soldier of the cross,” often given to him by the clergy, it is puzzling that there should be such difficulty in finding a number of fervent proofs of his ardor.”¹⁰⁶

The only problem with Conway’s argument is that, even if the preceding is true, it would not prove that Washington was a Deist. It might well reveal an inconsistent Christian, or that Washington was not an effective Christian parent. But these bare facts do not prove that he was a Deist. To prove that Washington was a Deist, Conway would have to show that Washington rejected the Bible as divine revelation; that he denied the deity of Christ, and that he was perhaps anti-clerical or that he denied Providence. But all of these conclusions cannot be drawn from this argument from silence. For example, Washington apparently did not refer to Providence at his death. Does this mean he no longer believed it? Washington never wrote the great Revolutionary War phrase, “No Taxation Without Representation.” Does that mean that he did not believe it, or that it was not an issue for him? The argument from silence alone is always inadequate to prove a point.

As we conclude this chapter, we wish to respond to Conway’s objections by considering Washington’s Christian witness to his adopted grandchildren and their testimony to his Christian faith. First, it is important to remember that the Washington family always provided prayer books and Bibles for their children.¹⁰⁷ Further, Washington was concerned for their well-being and trusted in Providence to protect them.¹⁰⁸ He was deeply concerned to find the right tutor for young George Washington Parke Custis¹⁰⁹ as there had been for his father, John Parke Custis.¹¹⁰ Washington often imparted moral advice to his family members.¹¹¹ He was also concerned to let others know that his political activities would always be governed by principles of moral virtue.¹¹²

Washington was deeply concerned about the appropriate school to train his children in.¹¹³ Is there a reason why Washington’s children never attended William and Mary? Washington was often in Williamsburg for his work with the House of Burgesses and he was asked to be chancellor of the school. One possible reason why Washington’s children were at Annapolis, or Princeton, or the University of Pennsylvania, and why Washington loved Harvard (for its high moral standards), is the same as why they did not attend William and Mary—he saw that the students were not receiving adequate discipline as well as the glimmers of the infidelity of Deism that were beginning to be evident in the classroom.¹¹⁴

His teaching and counseling of young George Washington Parke Custis reveal a commitment to both morals and biblical ideas. Washington’s letters to young George do emphasize wise choices and moral actions.¹¹⁵ Some emphasize submitting to the authority of the teachers and tutors. But these tutors, such as Reverend Stanhope Smith of Princeton, were eminently Christian scholars.¹¹⁶ This admonition to submit to the teaching of such a devout Christian scholar was, in fact, a Christian witness. Washington had assured that his step-grandson was being trained by the finest Christian educator in the country.¹¹⁷ Further, one of the letters is explicitly theological and biblical.¹¹⁸ In fact, in this letter dated 1798, Washington gives his young grandson a double scriptural admonition: “Dear Washington:...a fear that your application to books is not such as it ought to be, and that the hours that might be more profitably employed at your studies are mispent in this manner. Recollect again the saying of the wise man, “There is a time for all things,” and sure I am this is not a time for a boy of your age to enter into engagements which might end in sorrow and repentance.”¹¹⁹ Washington’s remark brings together words from Ecclesiastes 3:1 and 2 Corinthians 7:10. (emphasis ours)

We believe that Washington’s actions and words show that he was pointing his children to the Christian faith. When one remembers that Washington took them to church, read sermons to them at home, along with giving them such counsel, and sending them to study under devout Christian teachers, the objections of Conway evaporate. Moreover, it is important to realize that many of these childhood letters between Washington and his grandson have not survived.

So did George Washington Parke Custis believe that his grandfather was a Christian? Conway says that Washington did not give a Christian witness to him. What witness does the younger George give of Washington’s faith?

General Washington was always a strict and decorous observer of the Sabbath. He invariably attended divine service once a day, when within reach of a place of worship. His respect for the clergy, as a body, was shown by public entertainments to them....On Sunday no visitors were admitted to the president’s house, save the immediate relatives of the family, with only one exception: Mr. Speaker Trumbull, since governor of Connecticut, and who had been confidential secretary to the chief in the War of the Revolution, was in the habit of spending an hour with the president, on Sunday evenings. Trumbull practiced the lesson of punctuality, which he learned in the service of the olden time, with such accuracy, that the porter, by consulting his clock, could tell when to stand ready to open to the Speaker’s Bell, as it was called in the family, from the circumstance of no hand other than the speaker’s touching the bell on the evenings of the Sabbath.¹²⁰

Later he adds what happened on the presidential Sabbath days.

On Sundays, unless the weather was uncommonly severe, the President and Mrs Washington attended divine service at Christ church; and in the evenings, the President read to Mrs. Washington, in her chamber, a sermon, or some portion from the sacred writings. No visitors, with the exception of Mr. Speaker Trumbull, were admitted to the [President’s quarters] on Sundays.¹²¹

Apparently Washington’s adage of “deeds not words” was utilized to convey to his grandson the importance of the Sabbath, the significance of regular worship, and the value of the reading of the scriptures. Conway’s charges are eviscerated in light of the testimony of the one who was allegedly not evangelized by Washington!

Similarly, Washington and his granddaughter, Nelly Custis, were clearly very close. Nelly Custis was counseled by Washington on the topic of falling in love in a most personal and memorable way in a keenly insightful letter.¹²² When he heard that her suitor was moving her toward considering marriage, he wanted her to “relate all your feelings to me on this occasion: or as a Quaker would say, ‘all the workings of the spirit within.”¹²³ Washington soon gave his approval, and a candlelight wedding occurred at Mount Vernon.¹²⁴ Washington also provided land for Nelly and her husband to build their new home upon.¹²⁵

Nellie Custis’ testimony to Washington’s Christianity, in our opinion, given her personal relationship with her parents George and Martha Washington, is conclusive evidence that Washington was not a Deist.

He was a silent, thoughtful man. He spoke little generally; never of himself. I never heard him relate a single act of his life during the war. I have often seen him perfectly abstracted, his lips moving, but no sound was perceptible. I have sometimes made him laugh most heartily from sympathy with my joyous and extravagant spirits. I was, probably, one of the last persons on earth to whom he would have addressed serious conversation, particularly when he knew that I had the most perfect model of female excellence ever with me as my monitress, who acted the part of a tender and devoted parent, loving me as only a mother can love, and never extenuating or approving in me what she disapproved in others. She never omitted her private devotions, or her public duties; she and her husband were so perfectly united and happy that he must have been a Christian. She had no doubts, or fears for him. After forty years of devoted affection and uninterrupted happiness, she resigned him without a murmur into the arms of his Saviour and his God, with the assured hope of eternal felicity. Is it necessary that any one should certify, “General Washington avowed himself to me a believer in Christianity”? As well may we question his patriotism, his heroic, disinterested devotion to his country. His mottoes were, “Deeds, Not Words”; and “For God and My Country.”

With sentiments of esteem,

I am,

Nelly Custis¹²⁶

Nellie Custis’ testimony to Washington’s Christianity, in our opinion, given her personal relationship with her grandparents George and Martha Washington, demonstrates the impossibility of conceiving of Washington as a Deist. Her conclusion has no legitimate retort—“Is it necessary that any one should certify, ‘General Washington avowed himself to me a believer in Christianity’? As well may we question his patriotism, his heroic, disinterested devotion to his country. His mottoes were, ‘Deeds, Not Words’; and ‘For God and My Country.’”