George Washington Raised Martha's Children and Grandchildren as His Own The 'Father of the Nation' stressed education among his family's younger generations and even offered advice on navigating love.

FEB 7, 2020

George Washington Raised Martha's Children and Grandchildren as His Own

The 'Father of the Nation' stressed education among his family's younger generations and even offered advice on navigating love.

DAVE ROOS

FROM HISTORY .COM

George Washington, the “Father of the Nation,” had no biological children of his own. But during his 40-year marriage to Martha, the Revolutionary War hero and first president presided over a Mount Vernon estate filled with her children and grandchildren, and by their accounts was a beloved father figure.

Why did George and Martha have no children of their own? There’s almost nothing in the historical record that conclusively answers what was then (and now) a private question, but that hasn’t stopped people from guessing. Modern theories range from tuberculosis-induced sterility to, in Martha’s case, a severe bout of measles.

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