Blogging from Mount Vernon

I'm staying on the Mount Vernon estate as part of my fellowship at the library here. I'll post some photos of the estate later in the week, but I cannot pass up the opportunity to blog from America's most famous home.

Two new letters that I'm looking were sent by Bushrod to Martha right after George's death. He explained various aspects of George's will and their effect on her. On a couple of points, though, he said that the legal issues were complex and thus he would "consult with General Marshall" on his next trip to Philadelphia and that they would advise her of their joint opinion. (People called Marshall "General" because of his rank in the Virginia militia.) At that time, Marshall was a member of Congress serving in Philadelphia.

The upshot is that Bushrod and Marshall already had a close professional relationship before they served on the Court. (I have some other examples of this in my draft of the book, but I had not read this particular letter until now.)

I also want to give a shout-out to an excellent book I've picked up here by Matthew Costello called The Property of the Nation, George Washington's Tomb, Mount Vernon, and the Memory of the First President, which was published by the University Press of Kansas in 2019. It's a great read and very insightful.