Washington - What You Didn't Know

I was reading 1776 today and I found out some interesting things that I hadn't known about George Washington before.  Believe it or not:

~ His entire estate was 54,000 acres!  Dang!

~ He was rumored to be the richest man in all of the colonies after marrying a rich (in money and land) widow, but in reality probably wasn't in the top ten.

~ He also had such an astounding love of architecture that whenever his army would make camp, he'd wander the surrounding area for a beautiful English manor that had been abandonned by its loyalist owners.  According to the book, he especially preferred river-front views.

~ He had was passionate about parties, and used to host them so often and so large, that he had to expand his dining room up to the second floor, even though it was already larger than most dining rooms of modern times!  His library was also renown for being very extensive.

~ He was so into building that he was almost always adding on to his home.

~ He liked hunting so much that when he decided to chase an animal, he would sometimes spend over six hours in pursuit of it!  That's stamina!

~ He owned over 100 slaves!  Even though he was a fighter for freedom, like many other leaders, that wasn't uncommon to still own slaves.

I just thought it was kind of interesting!!  I had known he was wealthy, but not like that!=)

Tags: Life, History