Where the cherry tree grew : the story of Ferry Farm, George Washington's boyhood home / Philip Levy.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Levy, Philip, 1963-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Washington, George, 1732-1799.

Ferry Farm (Stafford County, Va.)--History.

Ferry Farm (Stafford County, Va.).

Washington, George, 1732-1799--Homes and haunts--Virginia--Stafford County.

Washington, George.

Washington, George, 1732-1799--Childhood and youth.

Washington, George, 1732-1799--Family.

Historic preservation--Virginia--Stafford County--Case studies.

Historic preservation.

Families.

History.

Virginia--Stafford County.

Genre:

Case studies.

Physical Description:

260 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

New York, N.Y. : St. Martin's Press, 2013.

Summary:

Ferry Farm's heralds have been varied. They have seen these acres as a perfect paradise, a place where the trees bent under the weight of their own fruit for a farm boy to learn of God's bounty. Others have called it a barren tract, a place with no agricultural merit to speak of-only the poor and sparse home of a shrewish, unlettered mother and not much more. Some saw in it a peaceful rustic retreat while others saw it only as a war-torn battlefield. For some people, crossing the river away from slavery and to freedom, it was the place they dreamed of seeing all their lives....

So many possibilities for meaning, so many possible histories, and so many people. But, through the years, one name hung over the land no matter what the narrative. One name stood out, from all the many who had worked its acres or lived in and around its sequence of five farmsteads. One name topped the list of all of the others who walked the land, mapped and drew it, and profited from it (or sought to). Over and over, to many ends, in many voices, and in many contexts, real and fictional, the land said "Washington." Book jacket.

Contents:

"Welcome to Ferry Farm"

From unburned woods to "Clear and distinct" views

The Washingtons make a home at the Falls

George Washington, master of Ferry Farm

Washington's parting survey and the parson's pen

Memory encamps on a field of clover

Mary Washington's grave and the "Terrible advertisement"

The farmer and the Bicentennial

From Weems to Walmart

The land tells its story

The truth about the cherry tree.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [235]-252) and index.

ISBN:

9780312641863

0312641869

OCLC:

795010246