The first item in George Washington’s will specified that the whole estate was to go to his wife Martha “except such parts thereof as are specifically disposed of hereafter.” Specific bequeaths were made to the trustees of the Alexandria Academy (Washington’s shares in the city bank, for the construction of a school to provide free education to orphans) and the Liberty Hall Academy (his shares in the James River Company, for the academy’s benefit). Washington also called for his shares in the Potomac Company to form an endowment to a future university in Washington, D.C. (it was ultimately never built).
Having no children of his own, Washington was close with his many nieces and nephews and with Martha’s children from a previous marriage (per Slate). In his will, he forgave debts owed him by the estates of his brother and brother-in-law and forgave educational loans to his nephews. He also arranged for a tract of land leased to his brother Samuel to be left to the heirs of Samuel’s deceased son; granted a lot in Manchester, Virginia to his nephew William Augustine Washington; and carved out a section of the Mount Vernon estate for his nephew Bushrod, who later inherited it in whole.
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Washington’s will also gave his family members certain personal effects. Each of his five nephews was given a sword, though the blades came with an express command that they not be unsheathed — except in the cause of self-defense or the defense of America.
