george washington's tomb....along with martha
the original tomb of george washington...before they
moved it
the view on the walk to george washington's tomb
while touring the mansion we saw their bedroom where he died in 1799, after a two-day illness. it is believed that he died of
epiglottitis. it didn’t help that his doctors also bled five pints of blood out of him(i read this somewhere). antibiotic would probably have saved Washington, but antibiotics had not been invented. an emergency tracheotomy would have made all the difference, but it was not a normal procedure at that time. washington could hardly speak as he was dying. martha was there as were three doctors and others. one doctor was james craik, who had been with wthrough the french & indian war and the terrible battle of monongahela, as well as the revolutionary war. washington’s last words are reported by his personal secretary, tobias lear, as follows:
”at about 10 o'clock, he (washington) made several attempts to speak to me; at length he said, "i am just going. have me decently buried, and do not let my body be put into the vault in less than three days after i am dead." i bowed assent, for I could not speak. he then looked at me again, and said, "do you understand me?" i replied, "yes.""tis well," he said.another interesting part of the visit was Washington’s Tomb. he designed a new family tomb because the original family tomb nearer to the potomac was disintegrating. the new tomb was built to his specifications after his death. above the tomb on the outside is a block of engraved granite that reads, “within this sarcophagus rest the remains of genl. george washington." looking into the tomb you see the marble sarcophagus where washington rests. next to it is martha’s sarcophagus. out of sight, behind a small door are the bodies of 25 more family members. the tomb is simple, sparse, and unremarkable except for an engraved slab of marble inset into the back wall. as per washington’s plans, it is the only thing in the tomb that has any words on it and reads as follows:
John XI:VVVI Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die yet he shall live.
