John Washington

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For other people named John Washington, see John Washington (disambiguation).

John Washington
Born	John Washington 1633/4 Purleigh, Essex, England
Died	1677 (aged 45–46) Washington Parish, Westmoreland County, Virginia, British America
Cause of death	Suicide
Ethnicity	English
Occupation	Planter and politician
Religion	Anglicanism
Spouse(s)	Anne Pope (1st), Anne Gerrard (2nd), Frances Gerrard (3rd),
Children	Lawrence, John II and Anne.
Parents	Lawrence Washington, Amphillis Twigden.

John Washington (1633/4–1677) was an English Virginia planter and politician. He was the immigrant ancestor and great-grandfather of George Washington, first president of the United States of America.

Early life and family

Washington, son of Lawrence Washington and Amphillis Twigden, was born at Purleigh, Essex in 1633/4. He came to own an estate situated in South Cave, East Yorkshire before he emigrated to the Colony of Virginia in 1656. He had been second officer on a merchant ship that foundered in the Potomac River, but left after the ship was refloated.^[1]

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

Washington first came to Virginia in 1656 and stayed at the house of Col. Nathaniel Pope, a plantation owner. During this stay, he fell in love with his host's daughter Anne.

After his marriage to Anne Pope and the wedding gift from Anne's father of 700 acres (2.8 km²) on Mattox Creek in Westmoreland County of the Northern Neck,^[1] 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.^[1]

During the events leading to Bacon's Rebellion, 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.^[2] The 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.^[3]

Marriage and family

He married Anne Pope in 1657.

They had three children together:

Lawrence Washington, born 1659;
John Washington II, born 1661; and
Anne Washington, born 1662.

After Anne Pope's death, Washington married Anne Gerrard. She also died before him. For his third wife, he married her 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 Virginia, and thereby a tax district of the county) was changed to Washington in his honor.^[1]

References

↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Irvin Haas (1992). Historic Homes of the American Presidents. Courier Dover Publications. ISBN 0-486-26751-2.
↑ Abby Sage Richardson (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.
↑ Henry Cabot Lodge (1917). George Washington. Houghton Mifflin.

External links

v t e The Washington family

First generation	Lawrence Washington (1602–1653)

Second generation	John Washington

Third generation	Lawrence Washington (1659–1698)

Fourth generation	Augustine Washington

Fifth generation	Lawrence Washington (1718–1752) Augustine Washington, Jr. George Washington Betty Washington Lewis Samuel Washington John Augustine Washington Charles Washington

Sixth generation	William Washington Bushrod Washington George Steptoe Washington Lawrence Augustine Washington George William Washington

Seventh generation	John Thornton Augustine Washington George Corbin Washington

Eighth generation	Lawrence Berry Washington Lewis Washington Benjamin Franklin Washington William D. Washington Eugenia Washington

Washington family residences Abingdon Arlington House Beall-Air Blakeley Cedar Lawn Claymont Court Fairfield Ferry Farm George Washington Birthplace National Monument Happy Retreat Harewood Kenmore Mary Washington House Mount Vernon Richwood Hall Ridgedale Rising Sun Tavern River Farm Sulgrave Washington Old Hall

Persondata
Name	Washington, John
Alternative names
Short description	Grear-grandfather of George Washington
Date of birth	1633/4
Place of birth	Purleigh, Essex, England
Date of death	1677
Place of death	Washington Parish, Westmoreland County, Virginia, British America

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