father to a son full worthy of the highest trust.

Of Washington's relations with his brother Charles, we know but little.
Charles was a plain, simple man who worked hard and raised a big family.
In his will Washington remembers them all, and one of the sons of Charles
we know was appointed to a position upon Lafayette's staff on Washington's
request.

The only one of Washington's family that resembled him closely was his
sister Betty. The contour of her face was almost identical with his, and
she was so proud of it that she often wore her hair in a queue and donned
his hat and sword for the amusement of visitors. Betty married Fielding
Lewis, and two of her sons acted as private secretaries to Washington
while he was President. One of these sons--Lawrence Lewis--married Nellie
Custis, the adopted daughter of Washington and granddaughter of Mrs.
Washington, and the couple, by Washington's will, became part-owners of
Mount Vernon. The man who can figure out the exact relationship of Nellie
Custis' children to Washington deserves a medal.

We do not know much of Washington's father: if he exerted any special
influence on his children we do not know it. He died when George was
eleven years old, and the boy then went to live at the "Hunting Creek
Place" with his half-brother Lawrence, that he might attend school.
Lawrence had served in the English navy under Admiral Vernon, and, in
honor of his chief, changed the name of his home and called it Mount
Vernon. Mount Vernon then consisted of twenty-five hundred acres, mostly a
tangle of forest, with a small house and log stables. The tract had
descended to Lawrence from his father, with provision that it should fall
to George if Lawrence died without issue. Lawrence married, and when he
died, aged thirty-two, he left a daughter, Mildred, who died two years