“I live a very dull life here and know nothing that passes in the town — I never go to any public place; indeed I think I am more like a state prisoner than anything else.”

— Martha Washington

Letter to her niece Fanny Basset Washington (October 1789), as quoted in Memorials of Washington and of Mary, his Mother, and Martha, his Wife (1887) edited by James Walter, Robert Cary, p. 267
Context: I live a very dull life here and know nothing that passes in the town — I never go to any public place; indeed I think I am more like a state prisoner than anything else. There are certain bounds set for me which I must not depart from; and as I cannot do as I like, I am obstinate, and stay at home a great deal.

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Martha Washington 7

First Lady of the United States 1731–1802

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“I live a very dull life here and know nothing that passes in the town — I never go to any public place; indeed I think I am more like a state prisoner than anything else.”

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