The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-04-14
: Gcorec WaslMngton's Anccst >m

we know Very ittlc-nct much
inors than we do OF those Of MIL
liam Shakespeare The hazincss winch
rbscurcs the Washington family record
is all The more remarkable because the
iIrSt President vas born III Il region
whers family tradition Is cherished Wit,
tho utmost pride and care. II Is no,
easy - account for the fact that ever
the early boyhood Of Washington is
vcilcd IN this iupcncirdblc mist. Pretty
much all We know is that the few an &c
doies which arc told OF him are OF
doubtful authcrticity.
1t is known however. that tho Prcsi-
dent WAS of the fourth generation OF
WashinEtous settled in america. j nm
Washington, his great srardiatl ~,
came over from England about 1864
with his brother. Lawrence, and In time
became a landed proprietor and planter
in tho part of Nirginia known us the
Northern Neck" district lying be-
tween tn. Potomac and Rappanannecls
Rivers. 1t is claimed by some of those
Who have made a study " tn. Wash
inston geroalogy that this first repre-
sentative OF the family III America was
man OF consequence in his native
England who had been drawn ly the
Iurr OF Tho wild into tho American Wild
crness ThUt may have been true, but
the cOniirmatory records are missing
linus lFaNSn!ANtcu. W bSnltIS ION 1911
TWO sons. Lawrence and John. o: whom
ana Of whose doing practically nothing
Is known. Lawrence was the father OF
Augustine, who for his second wife
married Mary Ball. a Nirginian ycunS
woman OF great beauty and intelligence,
although she brought him no fortune.
'fh, oldest OF the six children OF this
marriage became our first President
There are but scant records to shed
light on the chnractrr-of Augustine
Washington The clcarcsi picture that
can be formed OF him IS brough; TO
visw by a perusal OF the few existing
letters or his second wife. From them
II is evident that he was something
more than the prosperous Virginia
planter perhaps the most prosperous
Washington who had ever lived. Al
though but an unlsttered Virginia
squire himself he thought vol enough
OF education 10 send his oldest son,
Lawrence, 70 Oxford From ono of Mary
Washington's letters IL is apparent that
her husband had scruples as 10 the
moral side OF slavery, although thu
estate or the Rappahannock which he
bcqueathed 10 his son George was
worked by these human chattels, and
Mount Vernon, the splendid inheritance
OF his cultured frstborn, Lawrence,
also was titled By an army OF sable
bondsme?.
Game before the washinEtons.
The American ancestors of John
Adams reached this country seventeen
years earlier than the Washinst1ns.
They were friends and co-relsionists OF
more than one OF the little band of Fill
Sr!ms who had landed in Plymouth
Rock twenty years before their own
coming. Unlike the Washingtons, they
had wrung but scant substance from
the rocky soil of New England and the
father OF John Adams, whose namcsake
The second President was. could not
have sent his son TO Oxford, even had
he been so minded. Fortunately for him.
his religious preferences did not incline
him in that direction. What nc desired
most Of all was to make n ConSrega-
tional minister OF his son, tina perfectly
normal ambition OF one who was a ica-
con in the church of that denomina q on
IT Braintree, near Boston.
The expense CT an education a Har-
ward in those days amounted TO about
$40 per annum and 1t taxed the ingcn-
unity OF the deacon and his thrifcy wife
10 obtain the money, but by dint OF
abundant personal sacrifice they man
aged IL. That tells the tale of Adamss
ancestors nor does il detract from the
interest OF the story to give its sequel
-insaead OF village pastor, with no
hope Of preferment. the son became a
LAWYER and the second President of the
United States. Afterwards, in the case
OF his son, the accomplished John
Quincy, John Adams interposcd no par
entail restrictions. Strange as IL un-
doubtedly was, the son became the
stanch advocate of the Puritanism
which his father declined TO serve In
his early days and n.ver ceased 10
criticize "a
Peter Jefferson. father OF the author
Of the Declaration OF independence, was
OF Welsh lineage, the descendant of
pioneer colon!st who came to Virginia
at the time Of us first settlement. When
Peter reached manhood he found him
sslf the owner of an estate Of nearly
TWO thousand acres along the banks OF
the Rivanna, only partially cleared and
surrounded on all sides by a wilder
ness stiil the home OF more or less
predatory bands Of Indians and wild
animals AZ this time he was sutton
for the hand OF the beautiful and Gull
lvatAd Jane Randolph. whom he had