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George Washington
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Choose an alternate description of this item written for these projects:
- MHS 225th Anniversary
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[ This description is from the project: Revolutionary-era Art and Artifacts ]
This life study portrait of George Washington was completed by Christian Gullager (1759-1826) in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1789. Washington noted the sitting in his diary: "Sat for hours in the forenoon ... at the request of Mr. Brick..."
George Washington was born in 1735 in Westmoreland County, Virginia to Augustine and Mary (Ball) Washington. He married Martha (Dandridge) Custis, a widow, in 1759. He worked as a surveyor in Virginia, served as commander in the Virginia Regiment during the 1750s and was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1758. From 1775 to 1783, Washington was commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, and he was the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. He died at his Mount Vernon estate in 1799.