Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1898-03-03
EARLY VIRGINIA HISTORY.

VOYAGE OF THE BROTHERS LAWRENCE
AND GEORGE WASHINGTON TO THE
ISLAND OF BARBADOS IN 175l.
No. y
The breezes came, the light winds blew
glad 10 bear their bark away
To tIopic lands beyond the sea"
The twenty eighth day Cf Septem
bel, l751, came bringing TO the newly
established home OF Mount Vernon d
dark shadow of grief aDd suspense. Ita
worthy and honored proprietor, Major
Lawrence Washington, never so rugged
! as his younger brother George, had con-
tr4cted pulmonary trouble in MS hard
! military experiences at the siege OF Car
tagena under the command of Ad-
| miral Vernon in l740 and 40, which had
steadily increased with the passing Of
+ the years, and had resisted all his ef-
forts for its cure. A voyage to England
| a we'll as years soicurn at Berk eley
Springs in Virginia had given him no
permanent relief, and now, as last re-
sort, he was going 10 try the milder airs
and other favorable conditions OF the
Island of Barbados, the most east
,ouging to Great Britain.
The schooner fredericksburg" !"
round for that place, had dropped down
from the town of Alexandria, ten miles
,0uve, and was lying at anchor in the
Potomac opposite to the mansion ready
| or his embarkaton. Lawrence on his
return from Cartageua had married,
Juy 1743, Annie, eldest daughter
Hon. William and Sarah Fairfax, and
four children had been born to them,
on'y one of which, Sarah, survived.
From this little household he was now
TO bid sorrowiDg adieu for al indeti-
nj interval OF time, ana we can readi y
Imsgne how affecting must have been
lt parting, considering the many un-
cectainties of the voyages 20 and fom
he island, and OF the duration of time
he might have to be absent from his
home.
The companion of his voyage was to
he that brother whom he had always
regarded with so much tenderness and
fi,ial afl ction. and who in return had
mcst CRATE full y reciproca'ed his solici-
,ude. The difference III the ages OF
the TWO was fourteen years. Lawrence
was thirty three and George nineteen.
The time was three years after the sur
vey,ng expedition Of the latter
.nd George William Fairfax over
'the mountains to the Shen-
andoah valley. Many neighbors and
friends came down that morning to he
little landing on the river TO see the
brothers embark. 1t was an event
which cast a gloom over maDv more
households than That of Mount Vernon;
for thew were both we'll known ana
esteemed afar and anear, for their
sterling traits of character and their
US -fuluess in The direction of public
fairs in the province. Lawrence
nad represented the county OF Fairfax
in the House of Burgesses, hal been
promoter of the manufacture of iron
and other useful industries and was
then an active and Influential member
of the Ohio Company which had been
organized for the purpose of exploring,
settling and developing the resources OF
the wilderness lands of the great Ohio
valley.
Little did the skipper of that West
Iudia trading bark which bore these
two yoyagers adown the wide waters Of
the Potomac on that autumn morning
imagine the value of the freight intrust-
ed to his skill and wstchful care amid
the storms and tempests and pillows OF
the great sea. Little did he dream OF
the great renown which was ere the
passiug of many years to come to one
of them as soldier, statesman, and grand
exemplar of his race.
AS was his habit George kept diary
not only of personal incidents and cir
cumstances attending the sail and their
soiourn on the island, but also leg
book of the vessels courses and dts
tances and the changes of weather ex-
perienced from land 10 land. Unfor-
tunately d number Of the pages OF
these records have been destroyed IN
the long interval of time and the chain
of the narrative is broken in many
places, but enough of it remains to
make story replete with curiosity and
interest for The present and all its sue
ceeding generations.
We are not told by the future com
mander-in-cbief and first president
that he took his turn as seaman IN tie
working OF the schooner, but it is net
improbable that he did so, considering
his practical turn of mind, and judging
that ne would naturally wish TO apply
what rudiments of navigation he had
previously learned. Doubtless he
found enough subjects for thought ana
irouirv every day in the chang
ing of the winds. the appear
snce of the skies aud the waters, in tn !,
flight of birds and the movements o
the new varieties of fishes, 10 the stories
of the sailors, and at night in the con
temptation cf the consultations OF the
heavens to sgreeably divert his mlnd
al relieve the voyage OF monotony.
Nearly FIVE weeks were required to
make the schooner's run OF two tnou-
sand miles from the Potomac to Bridge
town. the capital of the island wnere
they landed on the fourth OF Novem oer'
Tn the voyage was tempes' uous
aad p@riloi az" is show" hy tie i J.
800 :