On August 30, 1774, two Virginians arrived by carriage at George Washington’s home, Mount Vernon.  It was Patrick Henry and Edmund Pendleton.  Henry and Pendleton planned to spend the night at Mount Vernon and on the morning of August 31, 1774 they would depart with Washington to go to Philadelphia and attend the First Continental Congress.  These three Virginians would be joined in Philadelphia by Richard Henry Lee, Peyton Randolph, Benjamin Harrison, and Richard Bland to form the Virginia delegation at the congress.  This was the first time delegates from twelve of the American colonies met in the lead up to the Revolutionary War.

They had no idea what this congress would lead to.  For the first time, men from colonies as far north as New Hampshire and far south as South Carolina would be meeting.  The disparate colonies were coming together in response to the British Parliament’s harsh measures levied earlier that year.

As the three Virginians left Mount Vernon on August 31, Edmund Pendleton remembered how Martha Washington bid them goodbye.  She had no idea that the events that would follow would result in her husband being gone from Mount Vernon for nearly eight years.

Pendleton wrote: “I was most pleased with Mrs. Washington and her spirit. She seemed ready to make any sacrifice and was cheerful though I knew she felt anxious. She talked like a Spartan mother to her son going to battle. ‘I hope you will stand firm – I know George will,’ she said. The dear little woman was busy from morning to night in domestic duties, but she gave us much time in conversation and affording us entertainment. When we set off in the morning, she stood in the door and cheered us with the good words, ‘God be with you gentlemen.’”

Make sure to follow Emerging Revolutionary War on Facebook as we attend events to mark the 250^th anniversary of the First Continental Congress next weekend in Philadelphia.  We will be doing videos throughout the weekend and will post them later to our YouTube channel.