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[Illustration: U. S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR * March 3, 1849]
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fred A. Seaton, _Secretary_
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
Conrad L. Wirth, _Director_
_HISTORICAL HANDBOOK NUMBER TWENTY-SIX_
This publication is one of a series of handbooks describing the
historical and archeological areas in the National Park System
administered by the National Park Service of the United States
Department of the Interior. It is printed by the Government Printing
Office and may be purchased from the Superintendent of Documents,
Washington 25, D. C. Price 25 cents.
_GEORGE WASHINGTON BIRTHPLACE
National Monument
Virginia_
_by J. Paul Hudson_
[Illustration: Surveyor]
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE HISTORICAL HANDBOOK SERIES No. 26
Washington, D. C., 1956
_The National Park System, of which George Washington Birthplace
National Monument is a unit, is dedicated to conserving the scenic,
scientific, and historic heritage of the United States for the benefit
and enjoyment of its people._
[Illustration: NATIONAL PARK SERVICE * DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR]
_Contents_
_Page_
JOHN WASHINGTON 5
LAWRENCE WASHINGTON 6
AUGUSTINE WASHINGTON 10
Early Life 10
First Marriage 10
Purchase of Popes Creek Farm 12
Building the Birthplace Home 12
The Birthplace 12
Second Marriage 14
Virginia in 1732 14
GEORGE WASHINGTON 16
THE DISASTROUS FIRE 22
A CENTURY OF NEGLECT 23
THE SAVING OF WASHINGTON'S BIRTHPLACE 27
GUIDE TO THE AREA 33
HOW TO REACH THE MONUMENT 43
ABOUT YOUR VISIT 43
RELATED AREAS 44
ADMINISTRATION 44
SUGGESTED READINGS 44
[Illustration: _George Washington, colonel of the Virginia militia
at the age of 40._ From a painting by Charles Willson Peale.
Courtesy, Washington and Lee University.]
_GEORGE WASHINGTON_
_"... His integrity was most pure, his justice the most inflexible I
have ever known, no motives ... of friendship or hatred being able to
bias his decision. He was, indeed, in every sense of the words, a wise,
a good, and a great man.... His heart was not warm in its affections;
but he exactly calculated every man's value and gave him a solid esteem
proportioned to it.... Although in the circle of his friends ... he took
a free share in conversation, his colloquial talents were not above
mediocrity, possessing neither copiousness of ideas, nor fluency of
words.... Yet he wrote readily, rather diffusely, in an easy and correct
style.... On the whole, his character was, in its mass, perfect, in
nothing bad, in few points indifferent; and it may truly be said, that
never did nature and fortune combine more perfectly to make a man great,
and to place him in the same constellation with whatever worthies have
merited from man an everlasting remembrance. For his was the singular
destiny and merit, of leading the armies of his country successfully
through an arduous war, for the establishment of its independence; of
conducting its councils through the birth of a government, new in its
forms and principles, until it had settled down into a quiet and orderly
train; and of scrupulously obeying the laws through the whole of his
career, civil and military, of which the history of the world furnishes
no other example...."_
Thomas Jefferson in a letter to Dr. Walter Jones, January 2, 1814, more
than 14 years after Washington's death.
[Illustration: _A scene along Popes Creek, 200 feet from the
birthplace home of George Washington._]
[Illustration: Sundial]
"A place of rose and thyme and scented earth,
A place the world forgot,
But here a matchless flower came to birth--
Time paused and blessed the spot."
--_Inscription on the sundial in the herb garden, Washington's
Birthplace._
The story of the Washington family plantation in Westmoreland County,
Va., where George Washington was born on February 22, 1732, may be
divided into 3 main parts. The first relates to the activities of the
early Washingtons who lived on the plantation during the latter third of
the 17th century and fourscore years of the 18th century--a period
covering 115 years. During that time the plantation between Bridges
Creek and Popes Creek grew; successive members of the Washington family
became prosperous planters, acquired large landholdings, and attained
important civic and political offices in their county and colony. The
climactic year of this first period was 1732--the 6th year in the reign
of King George II and the 125th year in the history of the colony--when
George, the son of Augustine and Mary Ball Washington, was born. The
period ends during the American Revolution when the home in which George
first saw the light of day accidentally caught fire, burned to the
ground, and was abandoned as a homesite.
The second period spans a hundred years--a century when the birthplace
site was neglected, and was all but forgotten by a growing nation which
showed little or no interest in preserving the birthplace of its great
military leader and first president. Wild honeysuckle and bramble
thickets covered the foundations of the burned home; the place was
forgotten for so many years that knowledge of the exact location and use
of many of the plantation buildings became lost.
[Illustration: PATERNAL ANCESTRY OF GEORGE WASHINGTON]
PATERNAL ANCESTRY OF GEORGE WASHINGTON
Col. JOHN WASHINGTON
Born 1632, founder of Washington family in Virginia, 1656-57.
Died Sept. 1677.
ANNE POPE
Daughter of Lt. Col. Nathaniel Pope.
Married 1658, died 1669.
Capt. LAWRENCE WASHINGTON (1)
Born Sept. 1659, Westmoreland Co., Va.
Died 1698.
MILDRED WARNER, GEORGE GALE (2)
Daughter of Augustine Warner.
Married 1690, died 1701.
Capt. AUGUSTINE WASHINGTON
Born 1694.
Died 1743.
(1) JANE BUTLER
Born 1699.
Married 1715.
Died 1729.
Butler, died young.
Lawrence, of Mt. Vernon.
Augustine, inherited Wakefield.
Jane.
(2) MARY BALL
Daughter of Joseph Ball.
Born 1708.
Married 1731.
Died 1789.
GEORGE WASHINGTON
Born February 11, 1732 (Old Style); or February 22, 1732 (New
Style).
Married Jan. 19, 1759.
Died Dec. 14, 1799.
MARTHA (DANDRIDGE) CUSTIS
Widow of Daniel Parke Custis.
Elizabeth.
Samuel.
John Augustine.
Charles.
Mildred.
[Illustration: _Wine bottle seal found near homesite of John
Washington, and drawing of a bottle of the period._]
The third and last period of the story covers the years when the Federal
Government, various individuals, and patriotic organizations became
interested in preserving the historic site; a period culminating in the
preservation of the ancient plantation by the Wakefield National
Memorial Association and the United States Government.
_John Washington_
In late 1656, or early 1657, John Washington, about 24 years old,
arrived in the Potomac River in Westmoreland County, Va., as mate of the
Ketch, _Sea Horse of London_. Owing to a disagreement with the owner and
captain of the vessel, Edward Prescott, John decided to remain in
Virginia.
Of John's early history little is known. He was born in England about
1632, son of the Reverend Lawrence Washington (M.A., B.D., Fellow of
Brasenose College, Oxford, Rector of Purleigh, Essex) and Amphillis
Twigden of Northamptonshire. In November 1640, Charles I presented John
with a "scholar's place" at Sutton Hospital (Charterhouse School), but
owing to a long waiting list he did not receive an appointment and
appears to have been educated elsewhere.
A year or two after his arrival in Virginia, John married Anne Pope and,
in 1659, was given land on Mattox Creek by his father-in-law, Col.
Nathaniel Pope. Here their first son, Lawrence (George's grandfather),
was born in September 1659. John quickly took rank with the important
men of his community. In 1661 he was elected a vestryman of his church.
The same year he was appointed coroner, and in 1662 he was made justice
of Westmoreland County Court. In 1664 a distinct honor was accorded
him--the changing of the name of Appomattox Parish in Westmoreland
County to Washington Parish, the one it bears today.
On December 3, 1664, John Washington purchased from David Anderson 100
acres on the east side of Bridges Creek (only a short distance from its
confluence with the Potomac River), and there he and Anne established
their second home. Known as the Bridges Creek plantation, it was the
first tract of land acquired by a Washington on the area which today is
designated as George Washington Birthplace National Monument. There John
and his family lived and prospered, and there he developed his tidewater
plantation and carried out many important duties for his King and
colony. (Seventy-eight years after John acquired the Bridges Creek
property it was purchased by George's father, Augustine Washington, and
for the first time became a part of the plantation which later became
known as "Wakefield".)
About 1672, John was commissioned a lieutenant colonel in the county
militia and, in 1675, was directed to raise troops to conduct a campaign
against the Doeg Indians in Maryland who had made forays into Virginia
and murdered three citizens. On at least two occasions, John represented
his county in the Virginia House of Burgesses and attended its sessions
at Jamestown, the "Capital Cittie" of the colony. In 1676 he actively
supported Royal Governor William Berkeley against rebellious Nathaniel
Bacon and his followers, and later was awarded 9,950 pounds of tobacco
for his part in raising forces to aid in suppressing the rebellion.
By importing servants whose land "headrights" he could claim by
purchase, by original patent, and by taking up grants of deserted land,
John yearly added to his holdings, and at the time of his death owned
several thousand acres of land in tidewater Virginia, including the
property on the Potomac which later became known as Mount Vernon. John
died in 1677 and was buried in the family cemetery at Bridges Creek,
about 1¼ miles northwest of the site where his illustrious
great-grandson, George, was born 55 years later.
_Lawrence Washington_
Lawrence Washington was 5 years old when his parents moved from Mattox
Creek to the Bridges Creek plantation. Except for a few months when he
may have attended grammar school in England, he lived at Bridges Creek
until early manhood. He was 18 when his father, John Washington, died;
being the eldest son, he inherited the largest share of the land. As he
grew and matured, he became a man of means, culture, and ability, and
during his short life-span of 39 years he was honored with the highest
political offices which the citizens of Westmoreland County could
bestow.
[Illustration: _The memorial house built in 1931 by the Wakefield
National Memorial Association to commemorate the birthplace of
George Washington._]
[Illustration: _Ax and hoe of the 17th century unearthed at Bridges
Creek, near where John Washington lived, 1664-77._]
Following in his father's footsteps, he served as justice of the Court
of Westmoreland County, as an officer in the county militia, and a
member of the Virginia House of Burgesses. He was first elected to the
latter office when only 25, serving four terms as a burgess in the
Colonial Assembly at Jamestown. Another position he held for several
years was sheriff of Westmoreland County.
In 1690 Lawrence married Mildred Warner of Gloucester County, Va.,
daughter of a prominent planter, Augustine Warner, who at one time had
been speaker of the House of Burgesses and a member of the Governor's
council. Their second son, Augustine, born in 1694, was destined to
become the father of George Washington.
Lawrence Washington died in 1698, and was interred in the family
cemetery at Bridges Creek. He left a sizeable estate to his wife and
three children (his personal property alone consisted of £406 and 32,509
pounds of tobacco), and to each of the two Anglican churches in
Washington Parish he provided for "a Pulpett Cloth & Cushion."
[Illustration: The Popes Creek-Bridges Creek Plantation (_known as
Wakefield about 1773_) & adjacent lands where the early Washingtons
lived & prospered.]
GEORGE WASHINGTON BIRTHPLACE NATIONAL MONUMENT
--_area_--
_Mattox Creek Farm_
_John Washington, great-grandfather of George and founder of the
Washington family in Virginia, landed near here in 1656-57. Here John
and his wife, Anne Pope, were given land by John's father-in-law, Col.
Nathaniel Pope. Here their first son, Lawrence (George's grandfather),
was born in 1659. Lawrence inherited the Mattox Creek farm when his
father died in 1677._
_The Bridges Creek Farm_
_John Washington (George's great-grandfather) purchased 100 acres of
land here in 1664 and established his second home in Virginia, where he
lived for 15 years--until his death in 1677. Here Lawrence Washington
(George's grandfather) lived as a boy. George's father, Augustine
Washington, acquired the land in 1742. Here John Washington, the
emigrant, established the family burying ground; and in the cemetery are
buried George's father, grandfather, and great-grandfather._
_Here young George made one of his first surveys--in 1747, at the age of
15._
_Church Point_
_Mattox Episcopal Church was located here about 2½ mi. from Popes Creek
where Geo. Washington was born. George may have been Baptized here on
April 5, 1752._