Editing Martha Washington (section)

==Later life and death (1797–1802)==
[[File:Collier's 1921 Washington George Martha's chamber.jpg|thumb|Washington's chambers after her husband's death]]
The Washingtons left the capital immediately after the [[inauguration of John Adams]], making the return journey to Mount Vernon, which by then had begun to decay.<ref name="gould"/>{{Rp|page=12}} Again they went into retirement, and they saw to several renovations for their home.<ref name="schneider"/>{{Rp|page=9}} In the years after the presidency, the Washingtons received more visitors than ever, from friends and strangers alike. They eventually took in one of the former president's nephews, [[Lawrence Lewis (1767–1839)|Lawrence Lewis]], to serve as secretary, and he would eventually marry Washington's granddaughter Nelly.<ref name="gould"/>{{Rp|page=13}}

Washington feared that her husband would again be called away to lead a [[Provisional Army of the United States|provisional army]] against France, but no such conflict took place.
Her husband died of a severe throat infection on December 14, 1799, at the age of 67.<ref>{{cite web|last=Wallenborn|first=White McKenzie, M.D.|title=George Washington's Terminal Illness: A Modern Medical Analysis of the Last Illness and Death of George Washington|year=1999|url=https://washingtonpapers.org/resources/articles/illness/|work=[[The Papers of George Washington]]|publisher=University of Virginia|access-date=July 28, 2023|quote=The onset of epiglottitis is usually acute and fulminating. Sore throat, hoarseness, dysphagia (difficulty swallowing), and respiratory distress accompanied by drooling, shortness of breath, rapid pulse, and inspiratory stridor (harsh high pitched respiratory noise heard while the patient is inhaling [breathing in]) develop in rapid order. Death from this dysorder is caused by obstruction of the patient’s airway and is very painful and frightening.}}</ref> As a widow, Washington spent her final years living in a [[garret]] where she knitted, sewed, and responded to letters. Though she was the legal owner of her husband's property, she gave control of its business affairs to her relatives.<ref name="schneider"/>{{Rp|page=9}} She also inherited her husband's slaves on the condition that they be freed upon her death. Fearing that these slaves might hurt her, she freed them. She did not have the authority to free her dower slaves, and she chose not to free the one slave, Elish, whom she personally owned.<ref name="slaves"/>

Washington retained an interest in the presidency after her tenure as first lady, beginning the tradition of advising her successors.<ref name="feinberg"/>{{Rp|page=124}} The Washington family long disliked [[Thomas Jefferson]] and [[Jeffersonian democracy|Jeffersonian]] politics, in part because of the central role he played in criticizing the Washington administration.<ref name="gould"/>{{Rp|page=11}} Washington took offense when Jefferson became president, as she felt that he did not give adequate respect to the office.<ref name="boller"/>{{Rp|page=8}} 

[[File:Tomb of George and Martha Washington.jpg | thumb | 220x124px | right | Tomb of George Washington (Right) and Martha Washington (Left)]]
Washington's health, always somewhat precarious, declined after her husband's death.<ref name="life">{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150908035119/http://marthawashington.us/exhibits/show/martha-washington--a-life/the-twilight-years|archive-date=September 8, 2015|url=http://marthawashington.us/exhibits/show/martha-washington--a-life/the-twilight-years|title=The Twilight Years: The Deaths of George and Martha Washington|work=Martha's biography|publisher=Martha Washington – A Life|access-date=October 4, 2015}}</ref> She had anticipated her death since that of her husband. When she developed a fever in 1802, she burned all of her husband's letters to her, summoned a clergyman to administer last communion, and chose her funeral dress.<ref name="boller"/>{{Rp|page=8}} Two and a half years after the death of her husband, Washington died on May 22, 1802, at the age of 70.<ref name="life"/> Following her death, Washington's body was interred in the original Washington family tomb vault at Mount Vernon.<ref name="tomb">{{cite encyclopedia|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117154607/http://www.mountvernon.org/research-collections/digital-encyclopedia/article/the-tomb/|archive-date=November 17, 2015|url=http://www.mountvernon.org/research-collections/digital-encyclopedia/article/the-tomb/|title=The Tomb|encyclopedia=George Washington's Mount Vernon: Digital Encyclopedia|publisher=[[Mount Vernon Ladies' Association]]|year=2015|access-date=December 2, 2015}}</ref> In 1831, the surviving executors of George's estate removed the bodies of the Washingtons from the old vault to a similar structure within the present enclosure at Mount Vernon.<ref name="tomb"/>