The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1875-03-13

though ho wa bred ~ ITO hw. iht
law vas not broad Toe bin, Md Al
ho retired ~ tho counlfy ~ look
after his nndo KitsOha n0ok u
mornoos Lawrence must have
been u man VI some significance, fOr
lo was made mas or Of NOrlhnmp.
ton. and When Blun Hal ruidcd tho
mOnastcrics, Lawrence boing idcn.
tilted with the cause Ol reformation,
came in for share Of what IN vrl-
CUR parlancc might be called tho
"swag" IN other words the king
made II grant TO him of tho mon
astic lands Of SuIgravc. Near this
was Althorp, the family seat Of the
Spencers, and the Lady Spencer Of
that day was the daughter Of Sir
Thomas Kitson, and consequently
the first cousin of Lawrence Wash.
,ngton. The rector of the parish
was DR.. Layton, who was Lord
Cromwells prime commissioner for
the dissolution of monastcries, by
which we reach another cause, in
addition to his blood relationship
to the Spencers, of why the lands
Of Sulgrave should have been given
to Lawrence Washington.
For three generations the Wash
inglons held Sulgravc, taking rank
among the nobility and landed
gontry of the country, but after
that their fortunes waned. Sulgravo
was sold, and the family retired to
the parish Of Brington, under the
care and patronage ~ it were of
poor relationship to the Spencer's.
Prosperity, however, came to them
here quickly, and it came in way
to prove the responsibility of their
lineage. The eldest son of the fam
lily married the halfsister of George
Villiers, duke of Buckingham, and
thus we see the Washngtons inter
marrying with two Of the best fam
lilies in all England. The Washing
ton who emigrated to America in
1857 was the grandfather Of the hero
who sleeps on the banks of the
Potomac. In 1862 he was knighted
by James l., and it is known that he
was on the most friendly terms with
the Spencers down to the very eve
of the civil war. In chat struggle
the Washingtons drew their swords
for the king. Sir Henry Washing
ton led the storming party at Bris-
tol, and defended Worcester. Sir
Henry held the rank Of COLONEL, and
was u man so noted for his bravery
that it became provcrb in tho
army when difficulty arose :
Away with it," quoth Washington.
In Brington church are two sep
ulchraI 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 cres-
cent appropriate to u younger
brother. We have transcript of
this shield, and from it we are con-
strained to believe that the United
States flag as seen now very GER
tainly took its origin. In this
shield are five horizontal stripes, of
alternate gules and white, as are
those of the national flag, while the
three stars in the upper stripe have
the parallel popularity of being
five-pointed. All this may not be
of interest to those who care very
little whether George Washington
had II grandfather or not, but then
again there may be others who will
not think any the less of the father
of the great republic because his
ancestors fought against Cromwell
and his lronsidcs to keep Charles
head upon his shoulders.