Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-12-27
DISPUTE SULGRAvE'S HONOR.
Whitehaven' Claim as Washing
toms Ancestral Home.
From the Boston Transcript.

From the Boston Transcript.
1t will be recalled that a feature of the
proposals for celebrating the one hundred
years of peace between English-speaking
peoples is the purchase of Sulgrave Ma
nor the ancestral home Of the Wash
inytons Considerable progress. We learn
from English papers. has been made to-
ward raising the requisite funds and in
cidentaI to the movement there has been
a marked revival OF interest in the Eng
Iish ancestors OF the father Of his coin-
try With no desire to dispute the
claim of Sulgrave to be the home Of the
generation OF Washingtons which imme-
diateiy preceded those emiSratng 10
America, other localities have put for
ward claims TO association with the great
name. of our first President. Among these
is Whitehaven, in Cumberland. when as
scrts that some of the Washingtons. pre-
sunablv near kin to the future President.
ong lived there. Whitehaven also en-
deavors TO make Il case for itself IS tiis
point of departure fer America Of tne
Nashingtons from whom descended iRs
great George.
Whitehayen's assertion which it pat
forth in the Sos withou. attracting more
than provincial attention. has recently
been strengthened b. an odd chain OF re-
search which illustrates the value &c
oIocv MAY occasionally have TOR tue
genealogist. Some Two or three years
ago an English visitor to Mount Vernon
earned that the stone Tagging OF the moor
of the portico had been imported from
Great Britain Washington correspond
ence established that fact but did not
indicate from what quarry the Tagging or
pavins, had been obtained. The English
.isitor. having in due time obtained sam
pies Of the tagging, BEGAN q quest afnols
Rritisf qua rr. men which eventually leo
him To Whitelayen There il WAS shown
beyond all peradyenture that the stone
came from the Sandwich quarry d ~
Bees. The identification was made com
piete by the pccu iar circumstance tha1
in the quarry there are q few beds of
white stone intervening between LAYERS
D. red sandstone. Some - the Tagging
II Mount Vernon IS family colored red
on it's lower side. and examination IL the
Sandwich uIarries shows that this red
tinge runs through ON the lines OF De
yelopment found iii the Virginia poTtico.
With this geological fact for 4 basis.
the Whitehaven antiauarians have once
more determined 10 show that SulSraNe
is not the only place TO be honoTea cy
associations with the Washington name
These same antiuuar;ans have found that
there were Washingtons in Whitehaven
for almost three-quarterS OF century:
that the name was not uncommon. ana
that many of the bearers of it We're
Johns. LaWrences and Mildreds These
be it remembered. We're favorite given
names with the Virginia Washingtons
What is regarded fact that cilnches
the connection of the Virginia NaSninS-
tons with Whitehayen is the prcbatins
!, OF the will of Mildred Gale whose first
| husband. a Lawrence Washington, died
! in Virginia in 1867. lie had property i'll
! England and his widow. who was the
mother of George Washngton's father,
went to London to prosecute certain legal
business in connection with the settle
ment of the estate. The papers. which
4 are still on file show that she had mean
| time become the wife of George Gale, !
prominent citizen of Whitehayen. Her
second marriage was of brief duration.
| because the record of her burial. found
| in the register of st. Nicholas Church,
Whitehaven. is of the date of January 30.
100 Her will makes reference to three
children by her first husband. her second
son being the father of George Washing
| ton. The Nhitehayen antiquarianS con-
tend very plausibly that inasmuch as
! there were other Washingtons in White
/ haven toward the close of the seven
teenth century, the widow of the Virginia
Washington in going to Whitehaven was
visiting among her husbands kin, and
that her grandson in ordering the Mount
! Vernon tagging was throwing some bust
ness to 1.-The old town..