Lawrence Washington (1718–1752) cause of death tuberculosis
Civilian life
Washington was married in July 1743 to Anne Fairfax (1728–1761), the eldest daughter of English-born Colonel William Fairfax of neighboring Belvoir, and his late wife Sarah (née Walker), born to a prominent family in the Bahamas, where Fairfax had been working when they married. The marriage of the 15-year-old Anne to the newly returned 25-year-old army veteran appears to have been prompted by Anne's disclosure to her parents that the family's minister, the Reverend Charles Green of Truro Parish, had taken opportunities with her.About the time of his marriage he began the rebuilding of a house on the site of his father's earlier residence on Little Hunting Creek, naming it Mount Vernon in honor of his wartime commander.The new county of Fairfax was created (from northern Prince William County) in 1742. Washington was elected to Virginia's House of Burgesses in 1744 as a representative for Fairfax (both the county and the family.) In 1747, he joined with his father-in-law and other prominent landowners and businessmen in the Northern Neck to create the Ohio Company of Virginia, with the intention of opening trade to the American interior linked to the Potomac River.  To do so, the Company required an "entrepôt", a gateway for trade.  The site of Hugh West's tobacco warehouse, on the western banks of the Potomac near the mouth of (Great) Hunting Creek, was deemed a suitable location because its deep water access allowed ships from London to sail directly to the wharf.  But, the local tobacco planters wanted to site a new town away from the river (and its "played out" tobacco fields) and further upstream on Hunting Creek.  During the legislative session of 1748–49, Washington had the role of promoting the river site and securing the votes necessary to approve a new town on the Potomac, where it would best serve the interests of the Ohio Company.
In May 1749, Governor William Gooch signed an Act to establish the town of Alexandria. Washington was granted permission to "be absent from the Service of the House, for the Recovery of his Health."  Prior to the first public auction of town lots in July 1749, Washington sailed to London to conduct business on behalf of the Ohio Company, and to consult English physicians regarding his health.  His younger brother George, an aspiring land surveyor, attended the "Public Vendue" (auction). He copied the town map, "A Plan of Alexandria, Now Belhaven", and listed the selling prices of the individual lots for his brother. Although established as "Alexandria", the town was immediately called "Belhaven" – in honor of Scottish patriot John Hamilton, 2nd Lord Belhaven. In 1751, the town council held the "Belhaven Lottery" to raise money for a city hall, and George Washington's correspondence throughout the French and Indian War of the late 1750s referred to "Belhaven".
George Washington accompanied his half-brother Lawrence to the warm springs at Bath (present-day Berkeley Springs, West Virginia). Lawrence visited these frequently to improve his health, as he had contracted tuberculosis. In the summer of 1749 Lawrence sailed for England to seek medical advice.In 1751, they took a ship to the island of Barbados hoping that a stay in the warm tropical climate might help Lawrence, who was now very ill with tuberculosis. (This was the only ocean crossing taken by George Washington during his lifetime; his other future travels did not extend beyond the borders of the future United States of America).  In Barbados, George Washington contracted smallpox; although he suffered some scarring on his face, his survival meant he was immune to other attacks. Smallpox later caused the most deaths during the American Revolutionary War, and more people died of disease than of battle wounds.Lawrence Washington died of tuberculosis at his Mount Vernon home in July 1752.  His widow Anne remarried into the Lee family shortly thereafter. Twenty-year-old George lived at, and managed, the Mount Vernon plantation.  Upon the death of Lawrence's widow Anne, George Washington inherited the estate at Mount Vernon.
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