A man of handsome property by the death of Lawrence Washington's daughter, he had become by his marriage one of the richest men of the country.

Acknowledged to be the first soldier on the continent, respected and trusted in public, successful and happy in private life, he had attained before he was thirty to all that Virginia could give of wealth, prosperity, and honor, a fact of which he was well aware, for there never breathed a man more wisely contented than George Washington at this period.
He made his home at Mount Vernon, adding many acres to the estate, and giving to it his best attention.

It is needless to say that he was successful, for that was the ease with everything he undertook.

He loved country life, and he was the best and most prosperous planter in Virginia, which was really a more difficult achievement than the mere statement implies.

Genuinely profitable farming in Virginia was not common, for the general system was a bad one.