Tom and Martha were married on her father’s plantation in Virginia on New Years Day, 1772. He was 29 and she was a widow at 24. Tom described their marriage as “ten years of uncheckered happiness.” Martha died at the age of 33.
Tom never remarried, as he once promised Martha. But Tom somehow continued to be busy and to find joy in his surroundings, his accomplishments, his inventions, and his books. “I cannot live without books,” he cried.
A good example of this kind of happiness is found in the life of an old entertainer. He was a guest on a TV show. He kept the studio roaring with laughter at his commentary and insights. The master of ceremonies asked him: “How come you’re so happy?”
One thing about Benjamin Franklin is that he finished much better than he had started out. If you’ve read his Autobiography, which I hope by now you have, you know that Ben left his family, his brother’s printing business, and his city of Boston, at the early age of 17. And that with only a few pennies to his name.
Yesterday I advised you not to become a snollygoster. Then I went to my dictionary and defined snollygoster for you. It is a clever unscrupulous person. A person who is smart and clever, but who has no scruples.
Many of you are fans of Mary Higgins Clark and her murder mystery novels. What you may not know is that Ms. Clark wrote an interesting book about George and Martha Washington. It’s titled “Mount Vernon Love Story, A Novel of George and Martha Washington.”
A life lived in liberty
