

Augustine Washington (November 12, 1694 – April 12, 1743) is best known today as the father of George Washington, the first president of the United States.
“Father, I Can Not Tell a Lie: I Cut the Tree," Posthumous 1867 lithograph by John C. McRae after a painting by G. G. White. < link >
He was part-owner of two iron-furnaces at < Accokeek > in Virginia and < Principio > in Maryland and was financially able to visit England on two occasions to deal directly with his partners. He owned land and buildings in 3 Virginia counties and was master of at least 49 slaves. Though not as wealthy as certain other planters in the < Northern Neck > (the tidewater counties lying between the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers), he was a man of good social standing.
From < “George Washington’s father” >
George Washington with his father at his father’s iron furnace (one of the first in America) near Fredericksburg, Virginia. As such, George Washington’s father Augustine Washington was one of the first individuals to initiate industrialization in America.
George Washington's father, Augustine Washington (Lawrence, John, Lawrence), was born at Mattox Creek, Westmoreland County, Virginia on November 12, 1694. He remembered little of his father, as Lawrence Washington died when Augustine was only 4 years old. Two years later his mother, Mildred Warner, married Col. George Gale [or Gayle], and during the autumn of 1700, the family moved to England. Their family life abroad was short-lived, however, as Augustine's mother died a year later, when he was only seven. His stepfather, who seems to have been a kindly man, sent Augustine and his brother, John, to < Appelby School > [in lake district]. Their schooling, too, was cut short, for a year or two later the boys returned to Virginia to live with their elder cousin, John Washington of "Chotank," whose < plantation > was located on the Potomac, about 20 miles up the river from Bridges Creek in Stafford now King George Co. While little is known of Augustine's teen-age activities one can surmise that he enjoyed plantation life to the utmost while living with various relatives whose farms were located on the wooded south shore of the Potomac River.
On 20 Apr 1715 at Washington Parish, Westmoreland County, when he was 21, Augustine first married to Jane Butler. She was born 24 Oct 1699 at Popes Creek in Washington Parish, Westmoreland County, and died in Washington Parish on 24 Nov 1729. Jane was the daughter of Caleb Butler Esq. of Westmoreland County and his wife Mary Foxall. Also an orphan, she brought 1,300 acres of land to their marriage, which she had inherited from her father.
At this time in his life, Augustine was richer than his father had been. His home was called “Lisson Estate.”
Jane Butler and Augustine Washington had four children, but only Lawrence and Augustine survived into adulthood. The children were:
After Jane’s death in 1728, Augustine Washington married second to Mary Ball, at married at Sandy Point, Westmoreland County, on 17 March 1731 (N.S.), the Rev. Walter Jones of Cople Parish officiating. She was born in 1708 in Lancaster County and died on 25 Aug 1789 in Fredericksburg, Virgina. Mary was the daughter of Joseph Ball and Mary Bennett.
Mary Ball and Augustine Washington had six children. Their youngest, Mildred, died as an infant. The children were:
From “Augustine Washington” at < Wikipedia > retrieved 12 March 2023
Augustine Washington Sr. (November 12, 1694 – April 12, 1743) was the father of the first U.S. president, George Washington. He belonged to the Colony of Virginia's landed gentry. Like his father and sons, Washington owned plantations which he operated by the use of enslaved labor, as well as speculated in less developed land and even operated an iron mine. Although Washington did not serve as a legislator (unlike his father and son), he held various offices in the counties in which he held land.
Early and family life
Augustine Washington was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, on November 12, 1694, to Mildred Warner and her husband, Capt. Lawrence Washington, a militia captain and a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses. His paternal grandparents were Lt. Col. John Washington (c. 1631–1677) and his first wife, Anne Pope. His maternal grandparents owned Warner Hall and associated plantations in Gloucester County.
Augustine was four years old when his father died. His mother remarried and moved her family to England, where she died when all were still children; although their mother's will named their stepfather George Gale as their guardian, their cousin John Washington fought to have himself named the children's guardian and brought them back to Virginia.
When Washington came of age (and into his inheritance) in 1715, he married Jane Butler, another orphan, who had inherited about 640 acres (2.6 km2) from her father, Caleb Butler. The young couple settled on the Bridges Creek property and had four children, only two of whom (Lawrence and Augustine Jr.) lived to adulthood. After Jane's death in November 1728[1] or 1729,[2] Washington married Mary Ball in 1731, and the couple had five children who survived to adulthood — George, Betty, Samuel, Charles, and John Augustine — and a daughter, Mildred.[3]
Career
When he reached legal age in 1715, Augustine Washington inherited about 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) on Bridges Creek in Westmoreland County; his sister Mildred inherited what was called the < Little Hunting Creek > property;[4] they both inherited slaves. In 1718, Washington purchased land on Pope's Creek, adjoining his property on Bridges Creek, and set about establishing himself. Between 1723 and 1735 he hired a local contractor to build a house, which was probably completed about 1726 despite the contractors death (later called Wakefield).[5] In the same year, Washington purchased the Little Hunting Creek property from his sister Mildred.[6]
In 1725, Augustine Washington entered into an agreement with the Principio Company of England to start an iron works on Accokeek Creek in Stafford County, and he also owned a stake in their Maryland ironworks.[7] In 1735, the family moved to the Little Hunting Creek property, which was closer to the Accokeek Furnace.[4]
In 1738, Augustine Washington purchased the 150-acre Strother property across the Rappahannock River (now known as Ferry Farm) and moved the family there at the end of that same year.[4][8]
Augustine Washington was active in the Anglican Church, the local militia and politics.[9] He took the oath as justice of the peace for the Westmoreland county court in July 1716,[10] and served as county sheriff.
Death and legacy
After Augustine Washington died in 1743 at the age of 48, his 11-year old son George inherited the former Strother property and its slaves.[11] Because he had not reached legal age, his mother Mary managed this property for him until he came of age. She lived on the property until 1772 when she was 64, when George moved her to a house in Fredericksburg.
Lawrence Washington inherited the Little Hunting Creek property and renamed it "Mount Vernon," to honor Admiral Edward Vernon, with whom he had served in the Royal Navy in 1741 during the Battle of Cartagena de Indias during the War of Jenkins' Ear.
According to Augustine Sr's will, if his son Lawrence died without children, the Little Hunting Creek property would go to Augustine Jr. and Augustine Jr, in turn, would have to give up the Popes Creek property to his brother George. If Augustine Jr. did not want the Little Hunting Creek property, it would then be inherited by George. Upon Lawrence's death Augustine Jr. chose Popes Creek and its slaves rather than the former Little Hunting Creek property. Lawrence's only surviving child Sarah only lived until 1754; therefore, George Washington ultimately inherited the Little Hunting Creek property which by that time was known as Mount Vernon. At his death, Augustine Washington Sr. held a total of 64 slaves who were assigned among the various plantations.[12]
Lawrence Washington's widow Ann had a life interest in the Little Hunting Creek plantation. Because she remarried and was not living at Mount Vernon, she leased the property to George beginning in 1754. Upon her death in 1761, George Washington inherited the plantation outright.
George Washington admits to his father, Augustine, that he chopped his cherry tree.
From “George Washington and the Cherry Tree.” National Mall and Memorial Parks. < nps.gov >
The story goes that when Washington was six years old, he received a hatchet as a gift, after which he promptly went and cut down his father’s favorite cherry tree. When his father found out about it, he was understandably angry and confronted his son, asking if he had done it, to which little George replied that yes, indeed, he had done it. And with those brave words, father’s anger melted away and he embraced his son, exclaiming that his honesty was worth more than a thousand trees.
That sounds like a nice, uplifting story, but did it happen? Nobody knows for sure.
When Washington died in 1799, there was a great demand around the country to learn more about our first national hero. Minister and itinerant bookseller Mason Locke Weems, more popularly known as Parson Weems, was more than willing to fulfill that need and in 1800 quickly wrote and published The Life of Washington, an immediate bestseller that cemented Washington’s legendary status. It wasn’t until the book’s fifth edition in 1806 that the cherry tree story first made an appearance.
Though profit may have been high on Weems’ priority list in writing this biography, as a minister he wanted to teach morality, and the best way to do that was to show by example using the one individual everyone looked up to. Washington’s admission of guilt was proof that his public greatness was due to his private virtues, to which anyone could aspire. Bringing in the father also served to add more depth to who George Washington was as a person. Though much was known and written about Washington’s military feats, very little was known about his relationship with his father, who had died when George was 11. The cherry tree example of a warm and generous relationship between father and son added strong emphasis to the character of the quickly-being-mythologized George Washington.
So is it true? Weems said he got the story from an elderly woman who had been friends with the family. Since she chose to remain anonymous it is an unreliable source. The official answer from both Ferry Farm, Washington’s childhood home where it would have occurred, and Mount Vernon, is no, it’s only a story. But, really, does it matter?
In 1861, on his way to his inauguration in Washington, D.C., newly-elected president Abraham Lincoln stopped to speak at the New Jersey Senate. He told them he had read a number of books growing up that taught him basic life lessons, Pilgrim’s Progress, Aesop’s Fables, and Lessons in Elocution, to name just a few. But it was The Life of George Washington, he continued, that really sparked his imagination and showed “there must have been something more than common” in Washington and what he had stood for.
For Weems’ book and story to have a good message (i.e. don’t lie) and for it to have made such an impression on someone as equally influential as Lincoln, who are we to protest?
Chop away, Mr. Washington!
SOME WILLS FROM THE BURNED COUNTIES OF VIRGINIA AND NOTHER WILLS NOT LISTED IN VIRGINIA WILLS AND ADMINISTRATIONS 1632-1800 by William Lindsay Hopkins, p. 71
From “Augustine Washington” at < “Early Colonial Settlers of Southern Maryland and Virginia’s Northern Neck Counties >
Augustine Washington's Will: "I Augustine Washington of the County of King George--Gentleman, being sick and weak but of perfect disposing sence (sic) andmemory. Do make my last will and testament in manner herebyrevoking all former will or wills whatsoever by me heretoforemade.
Imprimis: I give unto my Son Lawrence Washington and his heirs forever all that plantation and tract of Land at Hunting Creek in the County of Prince William containing by estimate, two hundred and five hundred acres with the Water Mill adjoining thereto or lying near the same and all the Slaves, Cattle and Stocks of all Kinds whatsoever and all the Household Furnature(sic) whatsoever now in and upon or which have been commonly possessed by my said son, together with said plantation track of Land and Mill.
Item: I give unto my son Augustine Washington and his heirs forever all my lands in the County of Westmoreland except suchonly as are hereinafter otherwise disposed of together with twenty five head of neat Cattle forty hogs and twenty sheep and a negro man named Frank besides those negros formerly given him by his mother.
Item: I give to my son George Washington and his heirs the land I now live on which I purchased of the Executors of Mr. Wm Strther deceased. And one, one moiety of my land lying on Deeps Run and ten negro Slaves.
Item: I give unto my son Samuel Washington and his heirs my land at Chotank in the County of Stafford containing about six hundred acres and also the other moity (sic) of my land lying on Deeps Run.
Item: I give unto my son John Washington and his heirs my land at the head of Mattox in the County of Westmoreland containing about seven hundred acres.
Item: I give unto my son Charles Washington and his heirs the land I purchased of my son Lawrence Washington whereon Thomas Lewis now lives, adjoining to my said son Lawrence's land above devised. I also give unto my said son Charles and his heirs the land I purchased of Gabriel Adams in the County of Prince William containg about seven hundred acres.
Item: It is my will and desire that all the rest of my negroes not herein particularly devised may be equally divided between my wife and my three sons Samuel, John and Charles, and that Ned, Jack, Bob, Sue, and Lucy may be included in my wife's part, which part of my said wife's, after her decease I desire may be equally divided between my sons George, Samuel, John and Charles, and part of my said negroes so devised to my wife I mean and intend to be in full satisfaction and in lieu of her dower in my negroes. But if she should insist notwithstanding on her right of Dower in my negroes I will and desire that so many as may be wanting to make up her share may be taken out of the negroes given hereby to my sons George, Samuel, John and Charles.
Item: I give and bequeath unto my said wife and four sons George, Samuel, John and Charles, all the rest of my Personal Estate to be equally divided between them which is not particularly bequeathed by this will to my wife and it is my will and desire that my said four sons Estates may be kept in my wife's hands until they respectively attain the age of twenty one years, in case my said wife continues so long unmarried but in case she Should happen to marry before that time I desire it may be in the power of my Executors to oblige her husband from time to time as they shall think proper to give security for the performance of this last will in paying and delivering my said four sons their Estates respectively as they come of age, or on failure to give such security to take my said sons and their estates out of the custody an tuition of my said wife and her husband.
Item: I give and bequeath to my said wife the crops made at Bridge Creek, Chotank, and Rappahanock (sic) quarters at the time of my decase (sic) for the support of herself and her children and I desire my wife may have the liberty of working my land at Bridge Creek Quarters for the time of Five years after my decease, during which time she may fix a quarters on Deep Run.
Item: I give my son Lawrence Washington and the heirs of his body lawfully begotten forever that tract of Land I purchased of Mr. James Hooe adjoining to the Said Lawrence Washinton's land on Maddox in the County of Westmoreland which I gave him in lieu of the land my said son bought for me in Prince William County of Spencer and Harrison and for want of such heirs then I give and devise the same to my son Augustine and his heirs forever.
Item: I give to my son Lawrence all the right title and interest I have to in or out of the Iron Works in which I am concerned in Virginia and Maryland provided that he do and shall, out of the profits raised thereby purchaes for my son Augustine three young working slaves as I have herein before directed and also pay my daughter Betty when she arrives at the age Eighteen years the sum of four hundred pounds which right title and interest on the condition aforesaid I give to my said son Lawrence and his heirsforever.
Item: I give to my said daughter Betty a negro child named Mary daughter of Sue and an other named Betty daughter of Judy.
Item: It is my will and desire that my sons Lawrence and Augustine do pay out of their respective Estates devised to themo ne half or moity (sic) of the debts I justly owe and for that purpose I give and bequeath unto my said two sons one half of the debts owing to me.
Item: For as much as my several children in this will metioned being of several venters cannot inherit from one another in order to make a proper provision against their dying without issue. It is my will and desire that in case my son Lawrence should die without heirs of his body lawfully begotten that then the land and Mill given him by this my will lying in the county of Prince William shall go and remain to my son George and his heirs but in case my son Augustine should choose to have the said lands rather than the lands he holds in Maddox either by this will or any Settlement. Then I give and devise said lands in Prince William to my said son Augustine and his heirs on conveying the said lands in maddox to my son George and his heirs. And in case my said son Augustine shall happen to die without issue of his body lawfully begotten, then I give and bequeath all the lands by him held in Maddox to my son George and his heirs and if both sons Lawrence and Augustine should happen to die without issue of their several bodies begotten then my will and desire is that my son George and his heirs may have his and their choice either to have the lands of my son Lawrence or the lands of my son Augustine to hold to him and his heirs and the land of such of my said sons Lawrence and Augustine as shall not be so chosen by my son George or his heirs shall go to and be equally divided by my sons Samuel, John and Charles and their heirs share and share alike and in case my son George by the death of both or either of my sons Lawrence and Augustine should according to this my intention come to be possessed of either their lands then my will and desire is that said lands hereby devised to my said son George and his heirs should go over and be equally divided between my sons Samuel, John and Charles and their heirs share and share alike and in case all my children by my present wife should happen to die without issue of their bodies. Then my will and desire is that all the lands by this my will devised to any of my said children should go to my sons Augustine and Lawrence if living and to their heirs or if one of them should be dead without issue then to the survivor and his heirs. But my true Intent and meaning is that each of my children by my present wife may have their lands in fee simple upon the contingency of their arriving at full age or leaving heirs of their bodies lawfully begotten or on their dying under age and without lawful issue their several parts to descend from one to another according to their course of descent and the remainder of their or any of their land in this clause mentioned to my sons Lawrence and Augustine or the survivors of them in only upon the contingency of all my said children by my present wife dying under age and without issue living, my sons Lawrence and Augustine or either of them. Lastly; I constitute and appoint my son Lawrence Washington and my good friends Daniel McLarity and Nathaniel Chapman --Gentlemen Executors of this my last will and Testament. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and Seal theEleventh day of April 1743.
AUGUSTINE WASHINGTON (L.S.)
Signed sealed and published in the presence of us.
Robert Jackson
Anthony Strother
Jas Thompson
Provided further that if my lands at Chotank devised to my son Samuel should by course of law be taken away then I give to the said Samuel in lieu thereof a tract of Land in Westmoreland County where Benjamin Wicks and Thomas Finch now live by estimation seven hundred acres.
Item: I bequeath to my son George one lot of land in the town of Fredericksburg which I purchased of Col. John Walton also two other lots in the said town which I purchased of the Executors of Colo. Henry Willis with all the houses and appurtenances thereunto belonging. And whereas some proposals have been made by Mr. Anthony Strother for purchasing a piece of land where Matthew Tiffy lately lived now if my Executors shall think it for the benefit of my said son George then I hereby empower them to make conveyance of the said land and premices (sic) to the said Strother. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and Seal theEleventh day of April 1743.
AUGUSTINE WASHINGTON (L.S.)
Signed sealed and published in the presence of us.
Robert Jackson
Anthony Strother
Jas Thompson
At a court held for King George County the 6th day of May 1743 The last will and testament of Augustine Washington Gent'n deceased was presented into Court by Lawrence Washington Gent'n one of the Executors who made oath thereunto and the same was provided by the oath of Anthony Strother and James Thompson admitted to Record.
From “Augustine Washington” at < “Early Colonial Settlers of Southern Maryland and Virginia’s Northern Neck Counties >
Harry Turner Cl: Cur:
[Captain Augustine Washington (1694-1743) died at "Ferry Farm," his plantation on Rappahannock River opposite the lower part of Fredericksburg. This property was in King George County until 1777 when it became a part of Stafford County. The will of Captain Augustine Washington was published in Tyler's Quarterly Historical and Genealogical Magazine, Volume IX, pages 34-38. The de-tailed inventory of the personal estate of Captain Augustine Washington in the counties of King George, Prince William and Stafford is of record in King George County Inventory Book #1, pages 285-291. The inventory of his estate at his manor plantation in King George County was published in an article "Washington's Boyhood Home" in William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, Second Series, Volume XVII, pages 265-281. Subsequently the inventory of the estate of Captain Augustine Washing-ton in Prince William and Stafford counties was published in Tyler's Quarterly Historical and Genealogical Magazine, Volume XIX, pages 216-218. Orphan's Account Book No "A" (1740-1761), pages 60-61, contains an interesting account filed by Lawrence Washington, Gent., as executor of Capt. Augustine Washington shortly before his death. These accounts cover the period 1743-1751. On October 31, 1750 John Champe, Hancock Lee and Enoch Innis met at the plantation of the widow of Captain Augustine Washington and divided the Negroes, agreeable to his will, among his widow and his sons George, Samuel, John and Charles Washington. This division is of record in Deed Book #3, page 373.]
Coat of arms of the Washington family < Wikipedia >
"Genealogy of the Washington Family in Virginia" by George Washington. Image: Courtesy Karin Wulf. Document at the Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 4, General Correspondence: George Washington, Genealogy Chart, 1753. < link >
Arms of Washington and pedigree of Washington. < link >
Washington family tree (2017) < link >
“In memory of Captain Augustine Washington, son of Lawrence and Mildred (Warner) Washington, born near this spot in the year 1694. a Justice of Westmoreland County and a Burgess of the Colony of Virginia. Died April 12, 1743 and his first wife Jane Butler, born at Popes Creek, Virginia December 21, 1699. Died there November 24, 1729. And of his second wife Mary Ball, the mother of George Washington. She was born in Lancaster County, Virginia in 1708. Died, August 25, 1789. Buried in Fredicksburg, Virginia.”
1694 |
November 12, 1694
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Mattox Creek, Washington Parish, Westmoreland County, Virginia, British Colonial America
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1716 |
1716
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Bridge's Creek, Westmoreland Co., Virginia
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1718 |
1718
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Wakefield Plantation, , Virginia, USA
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1720 |
1720
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Bridge's Creek, Westmoreland County, Virginia, Colonial America
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1722 |
1722
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Popes Creek, Westmoreland County, Virginia, British Colonial America
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1723 |
1723
Age 28
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Stafford County, VA
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1732 |
February 22, 1732
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Popes Creek, Westmoreland County, Virginia Colony, British America
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1733 |
June 20, 1733
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Pope's Creek, Wakefield, Westmoreland County, Virginia, British Colonial America
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