History

In the spring, the daffodils still bloom, but Belvoir is no more. Long ago, the charred ruins of the lovely mansion crumbled to the ground along with its memories of candlelit balls and the sounds of coaches on cobblestone. Yet a love story remains. It is little known and less spoken of, but still an integral part of America’s colonial history. It is a chapter in the life of the American hero, George Washington, who loved, passionately, the lady at Belvoir his neighbor and the wife of his best friend, George William Fairfax. Proper credit has never been given Sally for the important role she played in Washington’s early life. Instead, she has been regarded mainly as a flirtatious Southern belle, a brainless beauty. Untrue!

The eldest and most fascinating of the four daughters of Col. Wilson Cary, owner of Ceelys Plantation near Hampton, Sally was born in 1730 to great wealth and luxury. The Cary plantation was the center of society along the lower James River. Gentry from near and far often visited, as did officers from foreign ships that sailed into port.

As the colonel was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, the family, during sessions, stayed at their Williamsburg townhouse and took advantage of the town’s many social events, including Assembly balls at the Governor’s Palace. A strict guardian of his four pretty daughters—Sally (Sarah), Mary, Anne and Elizabeth—the colonel was quick to discourage any suitor who was not wealthy, not from a prominent family or otherwise unacceptable as a future son-in-law. He was particularly selective of Sally’s beaux for, as everyone knew, she was his favorite. He had personally overseen her education. Let a man without wealth or family background approach the colonel for permission to call upon Sally, and he would be sent packing with the words, “If that is your mission here, sir, you may as well order your horse. My daughter is accustomed to her coach and six.”

Sally, at age 18, was highly educated and intelligent, knowledgeable of world affairs, music, art, literature and dance. She read books from her father’s vast library. She was also feminine, a coquette—and, as yet, unmarried. Many of her friends were not only married but had become parents as well. Not that Sally seemed to mind, for beaux were still plentiful and parties numerous, and she had every material wish fulfilled by her doting father. She spent her days visiting friends, attending teas (often with her mother or sisters) and learning the latest gossip of Williamsburg.