Religious Practices of the Washington Family

Over the years they lived at Mount Vernon, George and Martha Washington worshiped at Christ Church in Alexandria and Pohick Church, which Washington had taken a part in establishing, in Truro Parish. The Washington family maintained pews in both churches. However, attendance at either church required a roughly one-and-a-half to two-hour trip by horseback or coach, each way. A scholar who closely examined Washington's diaries for evidence of church-going found that he typically attended an average of one Sunday per month (a frequency dictated in Virginia society by both custom and the law) prior to the Revolution. Studies of church attendance of other individuals in colonial Virginia vary from indentured servant John Harrower's average rate of 14% to Colonel William Byrd II's mean of about 50%, while a 1724 survey by the Anglican Church showed an attendance rate of 22-77% in 11 Virginia parishes.⁴

During church services, Washington was described as "attentive" and "respectful." He generally stood "as was then the custom... during the devotional parts of the service," while his wife followed the training of her youth and knelt.

The Washingtons’ church-going habits were noticeably more regular during the presidency. Washington’s efforts to set an example as president were certainly a consideration. He admitted so in a letter written at the close of his presidency to the officials of the churches he attended in Philadelphia. Washington acknowledged that his attendance "on public worship" was "prompted by a high sense of duty" and his subsequent gratitude for "the liberal and interesting discourses which have been delivered." The Washington family’s more frequent church attendance might also be attributable to a more mundane reason, such as the better roads and shorter distance needed to travel to church in the cities of New York and Philadelphia. As president, Washington attended first Saint Paul's Church and later Trinity Church in New York, and both Saint Peter's Church and Christ Church in Philadelphia.

According to two of Mrs. Washington’s grandchildren, who were raised by the Washingtons, making visits and receiving visitors were generally prohibited by the family on Sundays during Washington's presidency. Washington would often read aloud sermons "and other sacred writings" to his family on that day. Among the books acquired by Mrs. Washington over the years were at least two collections of sermons, purchased during Washington's presidency, quite likely the very ones the grandchildren remembered. By the time of Washington's death in 1799, the family library included approximately 35 titles relating to religion, a bit less than 7 percent of the total.

Mealtime Prayers

Surviving descriptions by guests of the Washingtons indicate that prayers were sometimes offered at mealtimes. It was not unusual at this period for people to say prayers at the beginning and end of a meal. One guest at Mount Vernon, Amariah Frost, made a point of mentioning that no prayers were offered at dinner on the day he ate with the Washington family. Another guest, however, the Reverend John Latta, recorded that Washington asked him to "officiate in [his] clerical character" at both the beginning and end of the meal.

Whether this was done out of deference to, or affection for, a guest is impossible to say. However, according to another minister's recollection of the executive mansion during Washington's administration, Washington himself generally stood and said grace before Congressional dinners, unless there was a clergyman present, who could be asked to say prayers before and after the meal. A letter to Mrs. Washington from her son, assuring her that he offered thanks to God at the end of his breakfast while away at college, certainly suggests that such prayers were important to Mrs. Washington.