The Lewises of Woodlawn
Preservation of the Washington Family Legacy

 


Woodlawn, lithograph by John Robert Murray, 1825. Courtesy of Woodlawn, NTHP.
Major and Mrs. Lewis with General Lafayette and their families at Woodlawn.
Woodlawn was an active social center in early America. Visitors could expect to be entertained on a lavish scale by the first President's closest family members. Lawrence and Eleanor Lewis placed numerous likenesses of the Washingtons throughout their home and preserved a collection of family related articles which they would use and share with their guests. During its first forty years, Woodlawn was well known to presidents, explorers, military heros, and world travelers.
The Washington Family by Edward Savage (attr.), 1789-98. Courtesy of Woodlawn, NTHP.
One of the most celebrated images in early America shows the domestic side of the President. The young Eleanor is featured center, with her brother to Washington's right. The liveried enslaved person may represent Chistopher Sheels.

Hospitality at Woodlawn was learned at Mount Vernon where Eleanor "Nelly" Parke Custis was raised by her grandmother Martha Washington. Together with her brother George Washington Park Custis, the children lived as wards and heirs of the President. They became well known during Washington's administrations in New York and Philadelphia, and were immortalized in Edward Savage's Washington Family.

Eleanor Parke Custis Lewis by John Trumball, ca. 1825 after Gilbert Stuart, c. 1800. Courtesey of Woodlawn, NTHP.
Eleanor Custis,
age 21

It was during Washington's retirement that he called for his nephew, Major Lawrence Lewis to serve as his social secretary; to entertain visitors and guests who came to Mount Vernon to meet and pay homage to the first president. During the time of Lawrence's employment at Mount Vernon, he and Eleanor met and shortly thereafter announced their engagement. The two were married at Mount Vernon on February 22, 1799, Washington's last birthday.