Suggested Readings. La Salle: Wright, Children's Stories in American History, 316-330; Pratt, Later Colonial Period, 1-28.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, THE FIRST GENERAL AND FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
THE "FATHER OF HIS COUNTRY"
Washington's birthday and birthplace
63. George Washington as a Boy. When Washington was born, February 22, 1732, in the old colony of Virginia, the early settlements had grown into towns, and planters had prospered. His father's house stood upon a gentle hill slope which ran down to the lazily flowing Potomac. Across the river one could see the wooded Maryland shore, broken with a few great farms and plantations.
The mother of Washington
Washington's father owned more than one plantation, and had many negro slaves. He was also a partner in some iron mines, and once had been captain of a ship carrying iron ore to London. It was in London that he had fallen in love with Mary Ball, called, on account of her beauty, the "Rose of Epping Forest." She, too, was a Virginian, and she married Augustine Washington, and became the greatly revered mother of George.
School in Fredericksburg