Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1905-01-10

whose name he has thus immortalized.
Mr.. Evans also ascertained, Incl
dentally, that the Lee family, from
which Gen. Lee sprang, settled In
Westmoreland county, Va, about ten
years before the original Washing
tons immigrated there.
Here are the conclusions come to
by Mr.. Evans as the result Of his re-
searches in England:
There are three Washington church
es in England.
First, Sulgrave church, Northamp-
tonshire. Lawrence Washington re-
ceived a grant from Henry VIII and
built the manor house in Sulgrave,
which still stands with the Washing
ton arms over the porch. Both he and
his sons are buried In Sulgrave
church, in the Washington vault.
Second, Great Brington church,
Northamptonshire, not far from Sui
grave. When the Washingtons lost
their property a refuge was offered
to them in Little Brington by one of
Lord Spencers ancestors. They lived
In a small cottage now owned by Lord
Spencer, and occupied by laborers. 1t
Is known as the Washington house.
Two or three generations of them
were buried In Great Brington church,
which is also the burial place Of the
Spencers.
Third, Purleigh church, Maiden, Es-
sex, about forty miles northeast OF
London. The Rev. Lawrence wash
ington, great-grandson Of the first
owner Of Sulgrave manor house, went
to Oxford for his education, and was
rector Of Purleigh church from 1882
to 1643, when he lost his benefice
through his loyalty to the monarchy
In the civil war.
He went back to the cottage In
Brington, where his mother was liv-
ing, and he died in 1850, being buried
in Great Brington church. The famf-
ly was very poor, and his two sons,
John and Lawrence, emigrated to
Virginia in 1857, seven years after
the death of their father. to rebuild
the fortunes of the family, locating
in the district between the Potomac
and Rappahannock rivers.
The rectors son John, thus emil
grating, was the great-grandfather OF
George Washington. Johns grandson,
Augustine, had two sons. Lawrence
and George.
Lawrence was an officer In the ma
Wv and died about 1851. George was
born Feb. %, 1892. His mother was
a Miss Mary Ball, second wife of
Augustine Washington. George mar
,ried Mrs. Martha Custis, and died,
without Issue, at Mount Vernon on
Dec. IA, 1899.
The early biographers Of Washing
ton-Sparks and others-made good
many blunders in the genealogies, and
It was denied for a long time in Eng
land that the connection was made
out between the Virginia family and
the Northampton family. By the dis
covery of manuscripts In the state de-
partment Washington, some twelve
years ago the paternity Of the two
emigrants to Virginia was established.
Their father, Lawrence Washington,
was the rector of Purleigh, without
doubt. The record of the English
Washingtons was finished when the
rector lost his benefice and took his
FIVE children back to the cottage on
the Spencer estate.
The record of the Washingtons In
America began with John, who sailed
for Virginia when he was % years
Of age-in 1857.
Purleigh church in this way Is the
landmark Of the close Of the Wash
ington fame and fortunes In England.
It Is properly a Washington church,
even II no Washingtons are buried
there.
It is noteworthy, think, that
while American tourists go to Sui
grave and Great Brington In large
numbers. they have not done any
thing to show their appreciation Of
the Washington memories in that Sec
ton.
Sulgrave church was restored about
seventeen years ago without the help
of Americans. This involved the
opening of the Washington vault, and
while the work Of repairs was going
on, six Of the nine brasses were
stolen.
The only American gift to be seen
in the church is large replica Of the
Inscription on the brass tablet i'm
bedded in the stone covering the
Washington vault.
Great Brington church Is kept in
order by the Spencers, and Americans
have never done anything for 1t. Yet
the Washington arms seen in both
churches contain In the stars and
stripes the primal tints Of the Ameri-
can flag, as Ambassador Bayard once
said.
Americans having neglected to do
ANYTHING for the two Washington
churches in Northamptonshire, 1t
does seem quite reasonable, right and
proper that they be asked to rebuild
the Purleigh church tower, as stated,
the church that stands this day as a
silent monument, marking the close
of the fame and fortunes Of the Wash
instons in England-of the name that
was transplanted in Virginia, then a
colony of England's-the name that
Ia so dear to all Americans.
The only American memorials In
England which I recall are the Raj
eigh window in st. Margarets, west,
minister and the John Cotton chapel
in Boston church, Lincolnshire, which
was restored at the expense Of the
descendants of the Puritans.
The homes of Brewster and Brad
ford. on the edge of Nottingham, where
the pilgrim exodus began, are not
marked by American remembrance. the
church in Northamptonshire, where
BENJAMIN Franklin's ancestors wor-
shipped, has no memorial, and so far
the washington churches have nothing