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Mount Vernon’s Curt Viebranz On The Real George & Martha Washington

February 9, 2015

Grateful American™ TV Show co-hosts David Bruce Smith and Hope Katz Gibbs talked to Curt Viebranz, president and CEO of the Mt. Vernon Foundation, about the Real George and Martha Washington.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

1. Washington was a surveyor at 16. He earned more money than most lawyers.

2. He was a savvy businessman–and perhaps the most successful among the Founding Fathers. Mount Vernon operated a fishing business that harvested more than one million herring, and a gristmill that produced widely distributed whiskey.

3. Washington purchased the estate from his brother’s widow, Anne Fairfax, and continued to enlarge it–even while he was at Valley Forge, and President.

4. Like Thomas Jefferson, Washington had an extensive garden; he raised fruits, vegetables, nuts, and flowers.

5. Washington had bad teeth. His dentures are displayed at Mount Vernon, and so are Martha’s petite wedding dress and shoes.

6. What about Washington’s relationship with Martha? How did they meet? And what do we know about their love and marriage?

Find out all about it–and more–on the Grateful American ™ TV Show.

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