The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1875-03-09
GEORGE wAsHINGToN's FAMILY.

GEORGE WASHINGTON'S FAMILY.
SOME INTERESTING FACTS CONCERNING IT
PROBABLE ORIGIN OF THE AMERICAN FLAG.
The st. Louis Republican gives the follow
ing bit of biographical history: The Wash
ington's were North of England people, who
sometime lived in Durham, then Ian
csshire. and finally in Northamptonshire.
1t is safe to go back to the reign OF the
Seventh and Eighth Harrys for a founder.
and we find him in Sir Thomas Kitson,
one of the great merchants who developed
the wool trade. The first of the family to
settle In the rich pasturage of the midland
country of Northampton was Lawrence
Washington, whose mother was a Kitson.
Lawrence was barrister, but gave up his
profession of the law for the good and
ancient reason, perhaps, that though he
was bred to the law, the law was not bred
for him, and so he retired to the country to
look after his Uncle Kitson's hocks OF
merinos. Lawrence must have been a man
fsome significance, for he was made mayor
of Northampton, and when Bluff Hal
raided the monasteries, Lawrence being
Identified with the cause of reformation
came in for share of what in vulgar par
lance might be called the "swag" in other
words, the king made grant to him of the
monastic lauds OF Sulgrave. Near this was
Althorp, the family seat of the Spencers,
and the Lady Spencer of that dav was the
sequently the first cousin OF Lawrence Wash
iRgton. The rector of the parish was DIR.
Layton, who was Lord Cromwell's prime
commissioner for the dissolution of monas-
teries, by which we reach another cause in
addition to his blood relationship to the
Spencers, of why the lands ofSulgraye should
be given to Lawrence Washington. For
three generations the Washingtons held
Sulgrsve. taking rank among the nobility
and landed gentry OF the country, bur after
that their fortunes waned. Sulgrave was
sold, and the family retired to the parish of
BringtOn under the care and patronage as it
were of poor relationship OF the Spencers.
Prosperity, however, came to them here
quickly, and it came to in way to prove
the responsibility of their lineage. The
eldest son of the family married the MALT
sister of George VIlliers, duke of Bucking-
ham, and thus we see the Washingtonsi inter-
marrying with
TWO OF THE BEST FAMILIES
In all England. The Washington who emf
grated to America in 1867 was the grand
father of the hero who sleeps on the banks
ofthe Potomac. In 1862 he was knighted by
James l., and il is known that he was on
the most friendly terms with the SpencerS
down to the very eve Of the civil war. In
that struggle the Washingtons drew their
swords for the king. Sir Henry Washing
JOu Iou bno 6OOiAlibS parry az DilSbOIs dElu
defended Worcester. Sir Henry held the
rank of colonel, and was man so noted for
his bravery that it became proverb in the
army when difficulty arose: Away with it,"
quoth Washington. In Brington church
are twosepulchral stones, one bearing
the date Of 1916 over the grave
of the father of Washington. the
emigrant, in which his arms appear
impaled with those of his wife. The other
stone covers the remains of his uncle, and
presents on bass the simple family shield
with the crescent appropriate to younger
brother We have before us transcript OF
this shield, and from it we are constrained
to believe that the United States flag as seen
now very certainly took its origin. In this
shield are d We horizontal stripes, of alternate
gules and white, as are those of the national
flag, while the three stars in che upper stripe
have the parallel popularity of being five
pointed. All of this may not be of interest
to those who care very little whether George
Washington had grand father or not, but
then again there may be others who will
not think any the less of the Father OF the
Great Repub bic because his ancestors fought
against Cromwell and his Ironsides to keep
Charles's head upon his shoulders.