The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1932-02-19


pie negro folk and
ghosts of the past, to tell its sig
nif1cance. In the past the site has not
been easy to find. Lying some 100
miles south Of the National Capital.
Wakefield was not shown on the maps.
There was little or no information
available about this historic spot
where Washington was born and
where he spent the greater part of
his boyhood. Known by few. it was
difficult to get to except by water. In
the colonial era, civilization followed
the waterways, and the homes Of the
plantation owners along the Potomac
were built upon some inviting spot
close to its shores. The broad river
was their artery of commerce. Wake
field burned before railroads and high
ways supplanted the river. It was
never rebuilt, so when highways came
they passed Wakefield by.
So the birthplace remained, neg
lected and forlorn, until only few
years ago when the Wakefield Ma
tional Memorial association was formed
with the purpose Of building on the
original site as exact a replica of the
house in which Washington was born
as painstaking research and tedious
study would enable 1t, and to restore
the vast acres Of the plantation to
something more of its size of Wash
ington's boyhood.
House Mansion.
To reconstruct the home was task
of no easy proportion. For many
years very little reliable information
was obtainable as to the size and
character of the old structure. There
were a variety Of opinions extant.
Some contended 1t had been cabin;
others, a mansion. Some thought it
was made of wood; others that it was
of brick, and still others that 1t was
a structure Of combined wood and
brick construction. After considerable
study, however, experts Of the asso-
citation arrived at what they believe to
be the truth-that the structure was
built of Colonial brick Of home man.
ufacture. Excavations on the site es-
tablished the nature Of the construc-
ton and the type of brick used. The
bricks for the new Wakefield are being
produced from the original clay pit on
the Wakefield estate. Research also
established that the house was man.
sion of considerable proportions, after
the style Of the big Virginia plantation
homes of that period.
Old Colonial Family.
Many OF the original furnishings,
saved from the fire, are still in the
hands Of descendants Of the family
remaining in the neighborhood of the
old mansion. These have been turned
over to the association. The state of
Virginia has constructed a road to
the site and the federal government
has been asked to dredge and improve
the harbor and to reconstruct the
wharf in order to accommodate WIS.,
itors by boat from the Potomac.
The Washington family first settled
at Wakefield in 1865, aNfull century
before the Revolution. Col. John
Washington, great-grandfather of the
President. had come to Westmoreland,
Va, in 1856. He died and was buried
there in 1876. Maj. Lawrence Wash
lngton and Maj. John Washington, his
sons, succeeded him.
After their marriages the family
lived on separate parts of the Wake
field estate until the house in which
George Washington was born burned.
After that the Washingtons continued
In other houses on the same land, and
descendants still live on part Of the
same Wakefield estate-a continuous
possession, in whole or in part, for
264 years-eight generations.
Mount Vernon Estate.
1t was at Wakefield. then. that
George Washington was born, Feb
ruary %. 1892. Between three and
four years later the family moved to
their estate of $500 acres which en-
braced the present Mount Vernon.
There Washington passed about four
years of his boyhood. Then his par
ents-Augustine Washington and his
second wife, ffary Ball, a member Of
another early Virginia family-mOved
to an estate In King George county,
about two miles east Of Fredericks-