The evening times., 1901-06-29

PHILADELPHIA, June 2q-The Lon
don correspondent of the philadelphia
Record contributes the following con-
sCernfug the homes of the ancestors Of
washington and Franklin:
Englishmen half jesungly, half grudg-
ingIy admit that of those whose histori-
cal or literary sense leads them to under
take the pleasant pilgrimage OF visiting
the spots rendered sacred as the birth
place Of the great ones of the race the ma
.jCrity by far are visitors from America. /
say half gTudgfnsly. for they have an
uneasy feeling that after all Shakespeare
for instance, belongs more to England
than TO America. and that there Is 4
spice Of presumption in the greater inter
est betrayed in Stratford-on-Avon by
those who have to take a journey 1900
miles instead Of sixty in order to visit IL
Now, however. Americans have discov-
cred that they can make one pilgrimage
at least, the interest and Sanctlty OF
which are confined to themselves alone.
II is curious that the ancestors of two
such commanding figures in American
history as George Washington and Ben
jarnin Franklin should have for genera
tions lived almost within beSE-lrot OF es'cf
o1har but Sc II IS, and the place IS Dut
a pleasant days drive from the cld-fash-
ioned town of Northampton. itself be
tween sixty and seventy miles by train
from London I have just returned from
the place. and the memory OF the trip IS
yery pleasant
Thanks largely to Arthur BTanscombe,
who has lately published a brightly writ
ten and excellently illustrated mono
graph. THE Cradle OF the Washingtons
and the Home OF the Franklins." the
Anglo-American Exchange has arranged
a bi-weekIy coaching tour from North
ampton to the picturesque little villages
Reaching Northampton at II o clock IN
the morning we found fOur-in-hand
coach awaiting US. appropriately named
the Washington and in a very few
minutes were bowling along one OF the
old English coaching roads with a sur
face ike a billiard table on our way to
me Bringtons-Great and Little, the two
villages with which the more immediate
ancestors of the immortal George were
intimately associated
It was in the early half CT the fifteenth
century that Laurence Washington left
his home in Wharton, Lancashire, far
to the North. and came TO Northampton,
where in the profession Of the law he
soon became not only popular but rich,
and was twice elected mayor Of the
town In 1853 he obtained from the
Crown. in recognition OF his services to
the county and the State, the grant OF
the Maner of Sulgrave. where he died,
and where for a score or so of years
his son Robert reigned in mis- stead
Then came reverSes- Sulgrave Manor
had to be given up and the family would
probably have been homeless had not
Sir Robert Spencer. ancestor OF the
present. Earl. who was connected by mar
riage with the washingtons, placed
small house in Little Brighton at their
DISPOSAL Here came Robert, in 1896,
with his two sons. Laurence and Robert,
and here they lived until LauTence's
death. in 1916 The father then moved
to London, and his second son, who had
set I'D windmill in the neighborh0Od
and was following the calling OF q flour
miller. took UP his abode there until he
died IN 1922
To the vacant house came Laurence's
widow, and she was joined in 1913 by her
son. Rev Laurence Washington, when he
vacated his living Of ParIeigh, IN Essex.
Of which place he was made rector IN 1892
Mother and son both died in the same
yeaT 1850.
Seven years later Laurence's Two sons,
John and Laurence, emigrated to Vir-
sinia. the elder John TO become the great
grandfather Of George Washington
In the village of Great Brington We
alighted at the gate OF St Mary's Church.
The rector, Rev. W Martin, acts as an
obliging cicerone and poiEts out things
of interest about this, one Of the Oldest
churches of the county-the carved pew
ends dating back TO the fifteenth century,
the elaborate tOmbs Of the Spencer fam
ily. and Washington brasses and in
scriptions There is a Washington vault,
for even in their decline the family were
of consequence and were laid to rest II.
state. Cut deeply into tie stone Is chron-
icIed the entornbment Of Laurence. great
greats grandfather OF George Washington,
and Of Margaret, his wife, eldest daugh-
ter Of William Butler, OF Tees. in the
countie Of SusseXe, esquire At the
south entrance Is a brass" which notes
that Robert Washington, son Of Robert
Washington, Of SuIgrave," and his wife,
Elizabeth, are here inferred. They, Of
course. were the brother and sister-in-
law of the Laurence just referred to
About a foot below this brass is another
consisting Of the armoriaI shield OF the
Washington, with the three '-mulIets,'
or stars, and the two bars or stripes,
which are supposed TO be the originals Of
our own Stars and Stripes
One finds these bearings carved or in
cised on the tombstones of the dead OF
over the doorways Of the living wherever
one comes on a Washington family rec
: ord. At one Of the houses in Great Bring
OF an old sun-diaI from which the gno-
mon had long disappeared, which was
probably made for Robert Washington. II
was only discovered a few months ago.
having lain face downward where it was
unearthed for over forty years, to the
finders knowledge In one quarter of it
appear the familiar mullets and bars, with
the initials. R W, beneath, and the date,
I6l7. at either side.
IN Little Brington. on q quaint old vii
Iage street. is a long, low matched rooted
cottage. with stone muIlioned windows
and tiny doorway, built Of the pleasant
iy colOTed yellow stone hereabouts, uni
VersaI as a building material, with the
stone slab let in above the door, bearing
the pathetic inscription which Robert
Washington inscribed thereon when he re-
tired here after the family DOWNFALL:
TIE LORD GTFETH
THE LORD TAKETH
AWAY BLESSED BE THE
NAME OF TIE LORD,
CONSTRECTA
-1gE