First. One sheet folded to make four quarto pages. Blue paper with mill mark, folded as mailed, else about fine. Dated 4 July 1854 from Mobile, Alabama to Octavia Le Vert of Georgia: "...sending herewith to you a publication entitled 'Mount Vernon Addresses to the Ladies of the South' -- a subscription paper for the Ladies to raise funds for the purchase of Mt. Vernon, and setting it apart to the uses of a pious patriotism, -- and a note which with them has been addressed by a known hand, to me, from Augusta, Georgia." The unnamed correspondent further states: "How can I better comply with the wishes of those generous and spirited ladies of Georgia... than by committing their cause, here to the grand-daughter of a signer from that State of the Declaration which has made this the great holiday of our happy land...." Neither the publication nor the other mentioned note are present. The letter is attractive, and exhibits considerable revision. After his death, George Washington's estate changed hands among his descendents several times, with none capable of keeping up the grounds or meeting the demands of visitors. Mt. Vernon was in considerable disrepair by 1853, when a group of women banded together, specifically appealing to other American women, to raise funds to purchase and preserve the home of the nation's greatest hero (a movement which met some resistance because it implied that men were incapable of such preservation). Octavia Walton Le Vert (1811-1877), the granddaughter of George Walton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was a child prodigy who named the capital of Florida on behalf of her father, then the territorial governor. A prominent public speaker, she was known to many of the most important figures of her time including General Lafayette, Queen Victoria, Edgar Allan Poe, Washington Irving, Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, Daniel Webster, and General Beauregard. She joined and became a great force in the Association, serving as its Vice Regent from 1858 until her death. An interesting and pleasing example of American women's activism applied to a patriotic, and ultimately successful cause (the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association took possession of the property in 1860). . (more information)

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