Washington Winter Show 2014

54 This page is sponsored by Sara Davis and JoAnn Zuercher MRS. BALL, A KEEPER OF VIRGINIA TRADITIONS Emma More Read Ball of Richmond, Virginia, an influential early Vice Regent, was the wife of Charles Burgess Ball, who was related to George Washington through the Ball family and was a great grandson of George Washington’s brother Charles. Miss Cunningham chose Mrs. Ball, in 1874, for her “enthusiastic loyalty to the Washington and Ball families” and for her “intimate knowledge of the traditions of each.” During the Association’s early years, the Mansion remained largely empty. Vice Regents adopted individual rooms, taking charge of furnishing them. Mrs. Ball assumed responsibility for the Washingtons’ bedchamber and began the arduous task of restoring the room to its intended domestic arrangement. While other Vice Regents appointed their rooms with period furnishings and suitable reproductions, Mrs. Ball sought original Washington family pieces. With her keen knowledge of the family’s many branches, she negotiated with George Washington Parke Custis Lee for the loan of the great mahogany bedstead on which General Washington died. Lee donated this bed, among the most important objects in the Mount Vernon collection, in 1908. Mrs. Ball also negotiated with Mary Custis Lee for the return of Washington’s square shaving stand, which is today prominently displayed in the bedchamber. In 1911 the Association sent Mrs. Ball to England to research the history of the Ball and Washington families. She gathered considerable information for a book on the life and ancestry of Mary Ball Washington, the mother of the Father of Our Country. Although she never completed that project, the Association secured her records, which are now available to researchers in the Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington. Emma More Read Ball served as the Association’s Vice Regent for Virginia from 1874 until her death in 1918 — a remarkable 44 years. Her husband was closely related to the first president and her family connections helped secure the return of many important original objects. Mrs. Ball took charge of furnishing the Washingtons’ bedchamber, and negotiated the return of the custom-made mahogany bed upon which the general died. (Photo by Robert Shenk)