King George Washington, Cherry Trees and Wooden Teeth???? June 14th, 2011

Driving tree-lined Virginia State Highway 1 to Mount Vernon it is easy to imagine George Washington and his many guests traveling the same route over 200 years ago.

Mount Vernon is a magical place. It has been open to the public for more than 140 years and over 75 million people have visited the estate.  The house and gardens still look  like they did when George Washington lived there .

As much as you may have learned about George Washington in school, there is still more to discover about this great man.  The visitor's center and museum are vast resources of information about the father of our country. The stories many of us may have heard during childhood are just that- stories.

There aren't many details about George Washington's childhood. His father died when he was relatively young.  He wasn't able to go abroad for an education as his half-brothers did.  The story of the Cherry Tree was fictional.  The 6'2", 175 pound, athletic Washington worried about his teeth incessantly spending a small fortune on toothbrushes and visiting the best dentists of his day.  Despite all of this he started loosing his teeth in his 20's!  His false teeth were not made out of wood- they were made out of wire, hippopotamus ivory and human teeth. Washington felt as though he deserved an appointment within the British Military, but was never given this opportunity.  He married, Martha Custis, a wealthy widow who had two children from a previous marriage. George and Martha never had any children of their own. 

George Washington was a man ahead of his times in many ways. For example, he developed a 7 year crop rotation for his farm and he had his soilders vaccinated against Small Pox. He also understood the importance of human waste removal and sanitation.

It is interesting to note that George Washington could have easily made himself king or dictator. Think about how different our country would be today if he did not peacefully resign from power after the revoultion or his presidency!

George Washington did not die of a cold, he died from epiglottitis.  The epiglottis is a flap of tissue that closes of the trachea and prevents food from going into the lungs when swallowing.  It is a life threatening condition that may be treated with antibiotics.