The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1889-11-08
wAsHiNcroN's ANCESTRY.

WAsHiNcroN's ANCESTRY.
Traced Ba ok to "a Malignant 10y.
alist.''
The American line of ancestry of
George Washington, has been clearly
traced to John Washington, who
with his brother Lawrence crossed the
ocean to Virginia about 1867. But
hitherto. says the Hartford Courant
it has been impossible to take up the
family line again in England. An Eng
lish Investigator, Sir Isaac Heard,
published the conjecture that these
two emigrants were sons of Lawrence
Washington of Sulgrave, who died in
1915 leaving two sons of those names.
The conjecture was taken as fact in the
History Of Northamptonshire." But
in 1868 Isaac j. Greenwood of New
York first cast doubt upon it, and in
1866 Col. Joseph 1. Chester demons
trated conclusively that it could not be-
correct but having overrhrown that
theory he offered no other in its place..
Henry F. Waters, a careful student
of genealogy, has of late been prosecu-
ting the search still further. It is in
deed we'll that he has done so, for,
after long study of wills and other
records, he has reached conclusions
which seem incontrovertible. His
work is of course of national interest,
but it has large local interest for us
hereabouts, both because, as the
printed volume explains gentleman
of this city has literally supported the
researches and also because the
Washington family is traced by him
into Hertfordshire, to Tring, which
is only twenty-eight miles from
Hertford-the place for which Hart
ford was named and from which came
Samuel Stone and other original SET
tiers OF Hartford.
The story of Mr.. Waters successive
steps in discovery is as interesting as
detective romance. One clue after
another is found and followed; one
paper studied and another; and finally
he presents what seems a very clear
case to show that the father of this
John and Lawrence Washington
was Lawrence Washington the
younger" son of Lawrence Washington
of Sulgrave. This Lawrence Washing
ton the younger was a young fellow
of Brasenose and afterward rector of
Purleigh. He was admitted to that
living in 1882 and elected from it I'M
1913 as ''malignant loyalist." accused
of encouraging others in that beastly
vice [of tippling]" and also that he
hath said ''that the parliament have
more papists belonging to them in their
armies than the king had about him or
in his army, and that the parliament
armie did more hurt than the cavaliers,
and that they did none at all" But i'm
Walkers account of the sufferings of
the clergy Qondon, 1919 it is said of
him, on the authority of justice of
the peace, that he was sober"
worthy" and 'pious," and it adds:
'the was loyal person, and had one 81
the best benefices in the parts, and
that was the only cause of his expul-
sion, as l verify believe"
He died before 1866. His wife was
buried Jan. 10, 1854, and the children
were left orphans. The sketch asks:
''What chance had they in England at
that time, known as belonging to a
royaist family, with all or most of
their friends to whom in happier con-
ditioas they might have applied for
influence. royalists like themselves, and
Cromwell then most firmly seated in
his protectorate?
And so they came here, and from
John Washington, whose father was
prosecuted for being royalist, came
in the third generation George Wash
ington, at whose hands royalty in
America met its end.