George washington children
Sarah (Cary) Fairfax ( - )
Sarah(Sally)Fairfax formerly Cary
Daughter of Wilson Cary and Sarah (Pate) Cary
Sister of Mary (Cary) Ambler, Wilson Miles Cary, Anne (Cary) Nicholas and Elizabeth (Cary) Fairfax
[children unknown]
Profile last modified | Created 7 Mar
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Biography
Sarah "Sally" Fairfax was born in into one of Virginia's oldest and wealthiest families.
Her forefather, Miles Cary of Bristol, England, came to America in the midth century and established himself as a Virginia nobleman. Sally's father, Wilson Cary was a member of the House of Burgesses and he inherited one of Virginia's largest fortunes and the family estate, Ceelys on the James.
The eldest of Wilson Cary's four daughters, Sally was the most sought-after and a grande belle in Virginia society.
The Cary and Fairfax families were living remnants of European feudalism and English aristocracy. Although she had many suitors, George William Fairfax eventually won Sally's heart.
Sally Cary married George William Fairfax on December 17, , and the couple moved into the Belvoir Plantation with his father, William Fairfax.
George William's sister, Anne Fairfax, married Lawrence Washington - the beloved older half-brother of George Washington - soon after her brother wed Sally.
Wishing to advance his brother's fortunes, Lawrence introduced George to George William Fairfax.
Young George Washington began to visit Belvoir frequently. A friendship grew between the two men, despite the fact that Fairfax was considerably older. Yet a relationship also blossomed between Sally and Washington.
Sally fairfax biography death
Sarah "Sally" Cary Fairfax ( – in Bath, England) was the wife of George William Fairfax (–), a prominent member of the landed gentry of late Colonial Virginia and the mistress of the Virginia plantation and estate of Belvoir.A romantic and emotional young man, Washington craved the company of attractive women, but he was socially handicapped by his shyness and his modest financial resources. By the time he was 25, he had fallen painfully in love several times, and on at least two occasions his proposals of marriage had been rejected. Sally was well-educated, and as a young man with limited education and a low rung on the social ladder, George Washington was impressed with this attractive and intelligent woman.
She was a key inspiration for the future President to elevate himself to a higher social, cultural, and intellectual sphere, which is clear in his letters to her.
Sally fairfax letters: Sally and her husband, opened a new world of history, philosophy, and literature to Washington. Washington was quite taken with the young couple, and emulated their societal practices to the best of his abilities.
When his brother Lawrence died in , George Washington inherited the plantation next door to Belvoir, which would become Mount Vernon. Being a bachelor, the Fairfax family apparently took him under their wings. Surviving letters and diaries show that Sally taught Washington the social graces, and how to dance which became a lifelong passion for him.
The legend of the alleged love affair between George Washington and Sally Fairfax is based on a couple of letters from George Washington to Sally. The first, written while he was serving in the Forbes campaign, on September 12, , is the primary source of this story:
Tis true, I profess myself a Votary to Love… I feel the force of her amiable beauties in the recollection of a thousand tender passages that I wish to obliterate, till I am bid to revive them – but experience alas!
Sadly reminds me how Impossible this is.
Two years older than Washington, the slim and sophisticated Sally was the daughter-in-law of his former employer and the wife of his good friend.
She was also a notorious flirt, and may not have realized how deeply she had affected the impressionable Washington.
Another of Washington's letters to Sally leave no doubt as to the depth of his passion – and frustration – in this impossible love. Even after his engagement to another, he wrote to her pledging his devotion and declaring:
Misconstrue not my meaning; doubt it not, nor expose it.
The world has no business to know the object of my love declared in this manner to you, when I want to conceal it.
Sally is well-remembered for being the woman George Washington was apparently in love with just before his marriage to Martha Dandridge Custis.
Sally and George William Fairfax were the most frequent visitors to Mount Vernon, where George and Martha offered generous but down-to-earth hospitality.
Martha, known as a homebody, took special interest in cooking and often appeared with a ring of kitchen keys tied at her wide waist.
Sally fairfax biography Sarah "Sally" Cary Fairfax ( – in Bath, England) was the wife of George William Fairfax (–), a prominent member of the landed gentry of late Colonial Virginia and the mistress of the Virginia plantation and estate of Belvoir.The two couples parted company in when the Fairfaxes moved to England - George William was a Loyalist (supported the British). They had every intention of returning to America after the war was over, but Fairfax's fortunes had been lost during the American Revolution, preventing them from ever returning.
George William Fairfax died in
There were signs of regret on Sally's part in the end. She wrote to her sister-in-law in
I know now that the worthy man is to be preferred to the high-born who has not merit to recommend him When we enquire into the family of these mighty men we find them the very lowest of people.
Sally Cary Fairfax lived alone until her death in [1]
George and Sally left no issue.
" Sarah, b. ; m.
Sally fairfax biography wikipedia Sally and her husband, opened a new world of history, philosophy, and literature to Washington. Washington was quite taken with the young couple, and emulated their societal practices to the best of his abilities.George William Fairfax, of 'Belvoir.'"[2]
Rental Records on Loudoun County Lands, Belvoir and Berkeley Plantations. Kept by Bataitle Muse, Manager for Mrs. Sarah Fairfax and Bearing Notations by Wilson Miles Cary, Executor.[3]
Sources
- Biography:
- Cary, Wilson Miles and Fairfax Harrison.
Sally Cary: A Long Hidden Romance of Washington's Life (New York: De Vinne Press, ). See especially p. 19, on which George Washington's secret lover is identified as Sally Cary, the daughter of Sally (Pate) Cary and granddaughter of Col. John Pate of Poropotank, in Gloucester County, Virginia.
- Hardy, Stella Pickett, Colonial Families of the Southern States of America: A History and Genealogy of Colonial Families who Settled in the Colonies Prior to the Revolution, New York : Tobias A.
Wright, (Print.)
- The History of American Women - Sally Cary Fairfax, found at
Footnotes
- ↑Wikipedia: Sally Cary Fairfax
- ↑ Hardy, Colonial Families of the Southern States of America: , p.Sally fairfax portrait Historians have long speculated that Washington was referring to himself and Sally. However, as she was the wife of close friend George William Fairfax, and due to his own approaching marriage, love between them was impossible.
- ↑ "Virginia, United States records," image of , Virginia. Plantation Records – FamilySearch (Mar 30, ); Acc. , Battaile Muse Rental Book
Acknowledgments
- Click the Changes tab for the details of contributions by Bruce Porter and others.
Connections to Kings: Sally is 16 degrees from Martin King, 17 degrees from Barbara Ann King, 13 degrees from George King, 16 degrees from Philip King, 19 degrees from Truby King, 13 degrees from Louis XIV de France, 10 degrees from King Charles III Mountbatten-Windsor, 14 degrees from Amos Owens, 16 degrees from Gabrielle Roy, 20 degrees from Richard Seddon, 22 degrees from Pometacom Wampanoag and 28 degrees from Charlemagne Carolingian on our single family tree.
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