Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-02-19

nestle life all the customs Of his native
land. Even the English language. which
ually set aside. and among the loyal
French knights who assisted the Con-
queror in enforcing his reforms was
the distant kin of George Washington.
This early ancestor of our first Presi-
dent was numbered among the intimates
of the king, and was one of the leaders
of the French conquest. In the past,
American historians. possibly because OF
the strong influence upon literature ex-
ercised by England, placed the Wash
1ngton ancestry as beginning in that
country, but careful investigation bears
out the statement that the Washingtons
were of definite and direct French origin.
They were French both in sentimnt and
was de Hertburn.
Naturally the question arises, why was
the name changed. and what induced
these faithful French subjects Of William
OF Normandy to assume an English cog
nomen? The explanation is simple enough.
William the Conqueror was a careful and
far-seeing man. He realized that his
usurpation OF the English throne was
very radical departure in a governmental
experiment. to say the least; and he was
anxious to mold the people, whom he had
made his vaSsals by dint of the strong
hand, into close duplicates of the
French as possible. In other words, he
strove to lrpplant the French ideals into
the English character as deeply as cir
cumstances permitted. The complicated
heraldic records found in the pages of the
famous "Doomsday Book is undoubtedly
the best evidence that the king wished to
make his radical campaign of permanent
record. and hence great number of
men OF education and ability were occu-
pied In diligently surveying and noting
all the land and water conditions of Eng
land.
Luey also in these visitations made
lengthy entries as to the original English
estate owners as well as an accurate rec
ord of the biographical and heraldic char
acter OF the new or French proprietors
And In this last seemingly unnecessary
entry appears the statement that the
brave. ever reliable knight, Sir William
d Hertburn for military service to Will
ham l. be granted. with feudAl rights
ana power, the extensive estate known as
Wessyngton. and henceforth said sir
knight shall be known as Sir William de
WeSSyngton, but he shall still be yassal
or the bishop, and his heraldic denomina-
tioh shaii continue to be: Arms, argent
two bars gules Ced): in chief three muI-
lets or the second. Crest: A raven with
wings Endorsed proper, issuing out of a
ducal coronet or (gold)."
As further demonstration of tho i'm
portance of the De Hertburns. or Yves
syngtons," history furnishes the informa-
tion that the estate In question was un
der the command Of the Bishop of Dur
ham, and situated in a locality exposed
to the attack of the Scots Of northern
England. On this border there was CON
slant warfare. and the king naturally
selected the bravest and most warlike OF
his adherents to hold lands IN the dis
puted district. For nine years this coun-
try between Durham and York was laid
waste. and for ten years 1t was prac-
tically desert, no man having the cour-
age to attempt cultivation of the blasted
fields or inhabit the ruined towns. One
hundred thousand people died in this de-
batable strip of land. and there, where
active hostilities ever reigned. the De
Hertburns, Wessyngtons, were sta
toned. This record of the great family
is absolutely authentic in every detail.
having been proved by minute research
and personal visits to the locality where
it's members were lords of the sofia task
which embraced fifteen years of heraldic
investigation.
Later the estate known as washington
was spelled and entered officially as
washington, the proprietors assuming the
same name. Then 1t was recorded az
Washington. and a natural change OF the
owners name In accordance with that Of