* The Rappahannock is one of the largest streams in Virginia. It rises in the Blue Ridge, 130 miles northwest of its entrance into the Chesapeake Bay, 25 miles south of the Potomac. It is navigable for vessels requiring ten feet of water, to the Falls of the Rappahannock, a little above Fredericksburg.
** This name has been given to Westmoreland on account of the great number of men, distinguished in our annals, who were born there. Washington; the two Lees, who signed the Declaration of Independence; the brothers of Richard Henry Lee (Thomas, Francis, and Arthur); General Henry Lee; Judge Bushrod Washington, and President Monroe, were all born in that county. Richard Henry Lee's residence was Chantilly, on the Potomac. Monroe was born at the head of Monroe's Creek. In Stratford, upon the Potomac, a few miles above the residence of Richard Henry Lee, is still standing one of the most remarkable buildings in this country. I greatly desired to visit it, and portray it for this work, but circumstances prevented. It was built by Mr. Thomas Lee, father of Richard Henry Lee, who was president of the King's Council, and acting governor of Virginia. While governor, his dwelling was burned, and this edifice was erected for him, either by the government or by the voluntary contributions of London merchants, by whom he was greatly esteemed. There is no structure in our country to compare with it. The walls of the first story are two and a half feet thick, and of the second story, two feet, composed of brick imported from England. It originally contained about one hundred rooms. Besides the main building, there are four offices, one at each corner, containing fifteen rooms. The stables are capable of accommodating one hundred horses. Its cost was about $80,000.
*** The public career of Washington is illustrated in every part of these volumes, for he was identified with all the important events of the Revolution. His life is too well known to need an extended memoir. I will here briefly chronicle a notice of his family, and the events of his early life. He was descended from an old family of the English aristocracy. The name of Washington, as a family, was first known about the middle of the thirteenth century. Previously there was a manor of that name, in the county of Durham, owned by William de Hertburne, who, as was the custom in those days, took the name of his estate
Washington's Birth-place.—His Ancestors.—Arms and Monuments.—First Monumental Stone to the Memory of Washington.
The house in which his nativity took place was precisely the same in appearanee as the family residence on the Rappahannock, delineated opposite, being of the better class of plain gentleman have descended the branches of the Washington family in England and America. The name is frequently mentioned in the local histories of England as belonging to persons of wealth and distinction. Sir Henry Washington was renowned for his bravely at the siege of Worcester against the parliamentary troops, and at the taking of Bristol. Monuments erected in churches with the name of Washington upon them, are proofs of their opulence. The ancient seat of the Washington family is said to be yet well preserved. It is built of stone of great solidity. The timber is chiefly of oak; and in several of the rooms, particularly in the large hall or banqueting-room, are remains of rich carving and gilding in the cornices and wainscoting. Over the mantel-pieces, elaborately carved, are the family arms, richly emblazoned upon escutcheons.
* The walls of the house are five feet thick. The entire residence is surrounded by a beautiful garden and orchards. The old family monument, erected to the memory of "Sir Laurence Washington, Nite," grandson of the first proprietor of the name, of Sulgrave, and the ancestor of General Washington, is in the cemetery of Gardson Church, two miles from Malmsbury. It is of the mural style, and bears the family arms. Sir Laurence Washington died in May, 1643. Two of his sons, John and Laurence Washington, emigrated to Virginia about the year 1657, and settled at Bridge's Creek, on the Potomac, in Westmoreland county. The eldest brother of the emigrants, Sir William Washington, married a half sister of George Villiers, duke of Buckingham. John Washington, soon after settling in Virginia, engaged in military expeditions against the Indians, and rose to the rank of colonel. He married Ann Pope, by whom he had two sons, Laurence and John, and a daughter. Laurence married Mildred Warner, of Gloucester county, and had three children, John, Augustine, and Mildred. Augustine first married Jane Butler, by whom he had three sons and a daughter. His second wife was Mary Bail, to whom he was married on the 6th of March, 1730. By her he had six children; the first-born was George, the subject of our memoir. He was the great-grandson of the first emigrant to America, and sixth in descent from the first Laurence of Sulgrave. He was born on the 22d (11th O. S.) of February, 1732. His parents soon afterward removed to an estate in Stafford county, near Fredericksburg, where his father died on the 12th of April, 1743, and was buried at Bridge's Creek. To each of his sons he left a plantation. To his oldest survivor he bequeathed an estate on Hunting Creek (afterward Mount Vernon), and to George he left the lands and mansion (pictured above) where his father lived. His mother had five young children to nurture and prepare for active life. It was a great responsibility, yet she performed her duty with entire success. To her guidance the world probably owes much of the good which has emanated from the career of her illustrious son. Washington received few advantages from early school education. There were then few good schools in the colonies. The wealthy planters sent their children to England to be educated. The mother of George did not feel able to incur the expense, and he was obliged to rely upon her, a neighboring school, and occasionally a private tutor in mathematics, for his elementary knowledge. His practical mind developed nobly under even this deficient culture. He left school when almost sixteen years of age, pretty thoroughly versed in mathematics, and fully competent for the profession of a practical surveyor. When he was fourteen years old, his half-brother, Laurence Washington, having observed in him a fondness for military matters, obtained for him a midshipman's warrant, in 1746. That gentleman had served under Admiral Vernon at the siege of Carthagena, and in the West Indies, and kept up a friendly correspondence with his commander. He regarded the British navy as an attractive field, where his young brother might become distinguished. The mother of young Washington partly consented; but when the time approached, and the boy with buoyant spirits prepared for departure, her maternal feelings were too strong to allow a separation, and the project was abandoned. Laurence Washington married a daughter of the wealthy William Fairfax, who was for some time president of his majesty's council in the colony. When young Washington left school, he went to live with his brother Laurence at Mount Vernon, and his intimacy with the Fairfax family led to those initial steps in his public life which resulted so gloriously. He was employed to survey the immense tracts of land in the rich valleys of the Alleghany Mountains, belonging to Lord Fairfax, a relative of William. When onlv sixteen years and one month old, he set out with George W. Fairfax (whose signature, with that of George Mason, is on page 421) to survey these immense tracts. They suffered great privations, and encountered many dangers; but this expedition proved a sehool of immense advantage to the future hero. He executed his task very satisfactorily, and soon afterward received an appointment as public surveyor. He devoted three years to this lucrative pursuit. His talents, probity, and general intelligence attracted the attention of the authorities of Virginia. The encroachments of the French on the western frontiers of the state, caused the governor to divide the province into militia districts, over which was placed an officer with the rank of major, whose duty it was to drill the people in military tactics. Over one of these districts young Washington was plaeed at the age of nineteen, with the pay of $750 a year. He had just entered upon this duty, when his brother Laurence, on account of failing health, was advised by his physicians to make a voyage to the West Indies. He desired the company of George, and they sailed for Barbadoes in September, 1751. They remained there a few weeks; but hope for the invalid faded away, and he resolved to go to Bermuda, and send George home for his wife. While in Barbadoes, young Washington was sick three weeks with the small-pox. As soon as he recovered, he sailed for home. At first, an encouraging letter came from Laurence; the seeond was desponding, and, giving up all hope of life, he returned home. He lingered a short time, and died at the age of thirty-four years. His estate of Mount Vernon, as I have elsewhere noticed, he bequeathed to George, in the event of his surviving daughter dying without issue, George was one of his brother's executors, and the duties incumbent thereon occupied the principal part of his time. When Governor Dinwiddie came to Virginia, he apportioned the colony into four grand military divisions, over one of which he placed Major Washington. He exercised the functions of his offiee with great skill and fidelity, and when the continued encroachments of the Freneh and Indians called for a military expedition, Major Washington was sent to reconnoiter, and collect all possible information. In this perilous business he was successful, and so pleased was the governor and council, that they appointed him a commissioner to visit the French posts on the Ohio, and, in the name of the King of England, to demand an explicit answer to the inquiry, "By what right do you invade British territory?" The particulars of this expedition will be noticed hereafter. Washington was then only twenty-one years old. He not only faithfully executed the instructions of the governor, expressed on the face of his commission, but obtained a great amount of information respecting the numbers and resources of the enemy. For eleven weeks he suffered great hardships with his few companions, when he appeared at Williamsburg, and laid his report before the governor and his couneil. War was deemed necessary, and arrangements were made accordingly. The other colonies were called upon for aid. Washington was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the Virginia forces destined for Ohio, and in April he marched toward the Alleghanies. Some severe conflicts ensued, and finally, the expedition was defeated. The conduct of Washington was highly approved. When Braddock undertook an expedition against the enemy in the spring of 1755, Washington, at his request, accompanied him as one of his military family. In the battle at the Great Meadows which ensued. Braddock was killed. Colonel Washington behaved with the greatest bravery, and by his skill the army was saved from entire destruction. He returned to Mount Vernon, and continued in the military service until 1759, when he was elected a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses for Frederick county. He was married the same year to Mrs. Martha Custis, widow of John Parke Custis. This event is noticed elsewhere. The estate of Mount Vernon having come into his possession, he established himself there three months after his marriage. From that period until his election as a delegate to the first Congress in 1774, his time was devoted to agriculture, and to the duties of a state legislator. He early espoused the cause of the colonists in their disputes with Great Britain, and when the crisis arrived, he was appointed, as we have noticed on page 563, volume i., commander-in-chief of the Continental army. From that time his life forms an important portion of the history of our Republic. His final retirement to Mount Vernon after the war, and his death, will be noticed hereafter.
* This, and the picture of the residence of the Washington family on the Rappahannock, are from drawings by John G. Chapman, Esq. Under date of August 21, 1851, Mr. Custis kindly furnished me with an interesting account of the dedication of this first monumental stone to the memory of Washington. In June, 1815 (a few days before the cornerstone of the Washington monument at Baltimore was laid), accompanied by two gentlemen (Messrs. Lewis and Grymes), he sailed from Alexandria in his own vessel, the Lady of the Lake, for Pope's Creek. Arrived at the hallowed spot with the inscribed tablet, they proceeded to deposit it in a proper place. "Desirous of making the ceremonial of depositing the stone as imposing as circumstances would permit," says Mr. Custis, "we enveloped it in the 1 Star-spangled Banner' of our eountry, and it was borne to its resting-place in the arms of the descendants of four Revolutionary patriots and soldiers—Samuel Lewis, son of George Lewis, a captain in Baylor's regiment of horse, and nephew of Washington; William Grymes, the son of Benjamin Grymes, a gallant and distinguished officer of the Life Guards; the Captain of the vessel, the son of a brave soldier wounded in the battle of Guilford; and George W. P. Custis, the son of John Parke Custis, aid-de-eamp to the commander-in-chief before Cambridge and Yorktown. We gathered together the bricks of the ancient chimney that once formed the hearth around which Washington in his infancy had played, and constructed a rude kind of pedestal, on which we reverently placed the first stone, commending it to the respect and protection of the American people in general, and the citizens of Westmoreland in particular." *