John Washington (February 12, 1633 – September 16, 1677) was an English Virginia planter and politician. He was the English ancestor and paternal great-grandfather of George Washington, first president of the United States of America.
Early life and family[]
John Washington was born in 1633 in Purleigh, Essex, England.[1]
When John was eight his father enrolled him in Charterhouse School in London to begin preparing for an academic career. In the wake of the English Civil War, however, the royalist Lawrence Washington was stripped of his clerical 'don' post and became an Anglican rector who ministered to an impoverished parish in Essex.[2] During this time, his sons were barred from entering Oxford.[2] John Washington, his mother and siblings were given shelter by his relative Sir Edwin Sandys.
John Washington found an apprenticeship with a London merchant through his Sandys relatives, which provided a valuable education in colonial trade.
In 1656 Washington found a position on a merchant ship engaged in transporting tobacco to European markets and left his home in Tring for the Colony of Virginia.[3] Washington was the ship's "supercargo" (superintendent of the cargo).[4] In 1657, the ship foundered in the Potomac River. Although the vessel was repaired, Washington elected to remain in the colony.[5]
Survey of 1674, certified by Thomas Lee, for 5,000-acre land grant to John Washington and Nicholas Spencer. Acreage later known as Mount Vernon
Colony of Virginia[]
While first in Virginia, Washington stayed at the house of Col. Nathaniel Pope, a planter. During this stay, he fell in love with his host's daughter Anne. He settled at a site on Bridges Creek.[6]
After his marriage to Anne Pope, John began purchasing property with the help of his father and brothers in law in Westmoreland County of the Northern Neck.[5] Washington became a successful planter. He depended on the labor of slaves and indentured servants to cultivate tobacco and kitchen crops. He was selected for the Virginia House of Burgesses and became a politician in the colony.[5]
During the events leading to Bacon's Rebellion in 1676, Washington was appointed a colonel in the Virginia militia. He led a company to back a group of Marylanders during a planned parley with the opposition and American Indian leaders. The militia killed six chiefs of various tribes, and their peoples retaliated for the massacre in later raids and attacks against the colonists.[7] Governor William Berkeley strongly criticized Washington for the murders of the American Indian chiefs, but colonists supported Washington in the massacre. Relations between the Indians and colonists deteriorated.[8]
Marriage and family[]
He married Anne Pope in 1658.[1]
They had three children together:
- Lawrence Washington (b.c.1659—1698)[1]
- John Washington (b.c.1661–1698)
- Anne Washington (b.c. 1662–1697)[1]
After Anne Pope's death, Washington married Anne Gerrard. When his second wife died, as well, John Washington married Anne's younger sister, Frances Gerrard.
Washington and his first wife Anne are buried at what is now called the George Washington Birthplace National Monument, in present-day Colonial Beach, Virginia. His vault is the largest in the small family burial plot.
Legacy and honors[]
The name of the local parish of the Anglican Church (the established church in colonial Virginia, and thereby a tax district of the county) was changed to Washington in his honor.[5]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "John Washington and His Descendants", The George Washington Foundation
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Randall, p. 10.
- ↑ Murray Neil. The Washingtons of Tring. Hertfordshire Genealogy. Retrieved on 3 April 2015.
- ↑ Levy, Philip. Upon this Lans: The Seven Generations of the Washington Family and the Residents of Popes Creek and Mattox Neck
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Haas, Irvin (1992). Historic Homes of the American Presidents. Courier Dover Publications, 7. ISBN 0-486-26751-2.
- ↑ Marquis, A.N. Company. Who's Who In America, vol. 1:Historical Volume (1607-1896), revised ed., Marquis, A.N. Company., 1967.
- ↑ Richardson, Abby Sage (1875). The History of Our Country: From Its Discovery by Columbus to the Celebration of the Centennial Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. H. O. Houghton and Company, [page needed].
- ↑ Lodge, Henry Cabot (1917). George Washington. Houghton Mifflin, 36.
Bibliography[]
- Randall, Willard Sterne (1997). George Washington: A Life. New York: Holt & Co..
External links[]
- Washington of Adwick; Origin of the Washington family, Rotherhamweb.co.uk
- John Washington on ThePeerage.com
- George Washington artifacts
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