John Washington

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John Washington (* 1633 in Purleigh , Essex , England , † 1677 in Westmoreland County , Colony of Virginia ) was the English ancestor and great-grandfather of George Washington , the first President of the United States of America .
After emigrating to the English colonies in the New World , he worked there as a planter and politician in Virginia.

Life

Time in England

John Washington was born in 1633 in the English village of Purleigh, Essex, to Amphilis (nee Twigden ) and Lawrence Washington .

At the age of eight he was enrolled by his father in the Charterhouse School in London to prepare him for his intended academic career. In the turmoil of the English Civil War, John's father Lawrence Washington was (an avowed Royalist ) from his earlier clerical duties given birth and instead as an Anglican rector in a small poor Parish used in Essex (parish). During this time his sons were denied access to the University of Oxford . John Washington stayed with their relative Sir Edwin Sandys with his mother and siblings.

Thanks to Sandy's connections, John Washington was later able to begin an apprenticeship with a London trader, who gave him valuable training in colonial trade .

In 1656 Washington invested in a merchant ship that was engaged in the tobacco trade. He left his old home from Tring and crossed over to Virginia in America , England . On board, John Washington was the second officer . In 1657 the ship ran aground on the banks of the Potomac River in Virginia. On this occasion, Washington decided to want to stay in the colony , even after the ship was repaired.

Working in Virginia

During the early days in America, Washington stayed in the home of Nathaniel Pope, a plantation owner . During his stay, he fell in love with Anne, his host's daughter. In 1657 John Washington settled in Bridges Creek .

He became a very successful planter after his marriage to Anne Pope and her dowry of 700 acres (2.8 km 2 ) of land on Mattox Creek in Westmoreland County . Washington was dependent on slave labor and indenture for the cultivation and production of tobacco and culinary herbs . John Washington was later called to the House of Burgesses , the first legislative assembly of representatives in Virginia or North America in general.

During the events of the Bacon's Rebellion in 1676, Washington was appointed Colonel in the Virginia Militia . During planned negotiations with the other side and some Indian tribal leaders , he and his troops supported a group from Maryland . Washington's militia killed six tribal chiefs from various tribes, whose members took revenge for this massacre in later attacks and raids against the colonists. Although Governor William Berkeley condemned Washington sharply for the murders of the Indian chiefs, these found great support in the broad colonial population. Relations between the Indians and settlers had deteriorated permanently.

John Washington died on his Westmoreland County plantation in 1677.

Family and marriage

John Washington married Anne Pope in 1658.

They had 3 children together:

After the death of Anne Pope, Washington married Anne Gerard (1637–1676). After her death, he married Anne's older daughter Frances Gerard (1628–1677) for the third time.

John Washington and his first wife Anne are buried at the former family home in what is now Colonial Beach , Virginia. His grave is the largest in the Washington family grave.

literature

  • Randall, Willard Stars: George Washington: A Life , 1997, Holt & Co., New York

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Randall, page 10
  2. ^ Murray Neil, "The Washingtons of Tring," www.Hertfordshire Genealogy.co.uk, Retrieved November 19, 2015.
  3. ^ Marquis, AN Company. Who's Who In America , vol. 1: Historical Volume (1607-1896), revised ed., Marquis, AN Company., 1967.
  4. ^ Irvin Haas: Historic Homes of the American Presidents , 1992, Courier Dover Publications, p. 7, ISBN 0-486-26751-2 .
  5. Jump up ↑ Richardson, Abby Sage: The History of Our Country: From Its Discovery by Columbus to the Celebration of the Centennial Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence , 1875, HO Houghton and Company
  6. ^ Henry Cabot Lodge : George Washington Houghton Mifflin , 1917
  7. ^ "John Washington and His Descendants," The George Washington Foundation
personal data
SURNAME Washington, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English planter and politician as well as the great-grandfather of George Washington, the first President of the United States of America
DATE OF BIRTH 1633
PLACE OF BIRTH Purleigh , Essex , England
DATE OF DEATH 1677
Place of death Westmoreland County , Virginia