THE genealogy of Washington may be traced to the century following the Norman Conquest. The forefathers of George Washington were lords of the manor of the Village of Wassengtone in the County of Durham : hence the name.

John and Andrew Washington, two brothers, were the first of the family to emigrate, They settled in Virginia, in 1657, between the Potomac and the Rappahannock Rivers, and on Bridges Creek, John's, grandson, Augustine, George Washington's father, was born in 1694.

He married twice. Lawrence and Augustine were sons of his first wife. The family by his second marriage were four sons, George, Samuel, John Augustine and Charles; and two daughters, Elizabeth and Mildred.

On the sixth of March, 1730, Augustine Washington married a young and beautiful girl, Mary Ball. George, their eldest child, was born February 22, 1732, in the homestead on Bridges Creek, Westmoreland County, Virginia.

The death of his father in 1743 prevented George Washington from being sent to England as his step

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brothers had been, and he was left to the care of an anxious mother endowed with a strong will, capable of developing in her son those qualities which were of the utmost importance to him to form a great republic.

The moral foundation of Washington's character was doubtless laid by the daily reading of Sir Matthew Hale's "Contemplations," his mother's favorite volume; it may be seen at Mt. Vernon, Va., where one may also see Washington's "Ciphering Book."

Mrs. Washington, according to some authorities, gave her son a private education. His studies included a “critical knowledge of grammar, mathematics, particularly surveying, geography, history, and natural and moral philosophy." *

When Washington was about.fourteen years of age, he evinced a great desire to enter the navy; this was encouraged by his brother Lawrence. The great difficulty, however, was to procure his mother's consent; finally this was obtained, but upon receipt of a letter from her brother, Joseph Ball, an English lawyer, who wrote, "Do.not let him go to sea; make a tinker or a tailor of him, or anything that will keep him on shore, rather than see him sail away from you as a sailor before the mast," Mrs. Washington's courage failed her and the scheme was abandoned.

* As a lad Washington read the Spectator, a History of England and books on agriculture.

For nearly two years longer Washington continued. his studies, especially in mathematics and surveying. When sixteen he lived with his brother Lawrence, who had built a house on the Potomac on the estate inherited from his father; this he called Mt. Vernon.*

At Mt. Vernon, Washington's character was greatly influenced by Lord Fairfax, whose daughter Lawrence Washington married. Lord Fairfax and Washington became good friends; they hunted together and engaged in all sorts of rough and perilous sports. Lord Fairfax, who was many years older than Washington, saw in him such qualities as purity of character, principles of justice, unselfishness, self-control, courage and strong sense, and disinterestedness. Such qualities as invite confidence and command respect, and when united form a character of such perfect proportions as that of Washington.

Lord Fairfax firmly trusted Washington, and proposed to him to survey the Fairfax possessions in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley. Through the influence of Lord Fairfax Washington became public surveyor, continuing this occupation three years, living a rough but manly and robust life.

*The original house was built in 1740, enlarged in 1760, again in 1785. Mt. Vernon was named in honor of Admiral Vernon, Commander-in-Chief in the West Indies. Lawrence Washington obtained a captain's commission for the West Indies, and served in Admiral Vernon's expedition.

"He wrote to a friend at this time: 'Since you received my letter of October last, I have not slept above three or four nights in a bed, but after walking a good deal all day, I have lain down before the fire upon a little hay, straw, fodder, or a bearskin, whichever was to be had, with man, wife and children, like dogs and cats, and happy is he who gets the berth nearest the fire. Nothing would make it pass off tolerably but a good reward. A doubloon is my constant gain every day that the weather will permit of my going out, and sometimes six pistoles.'"*

Washington was justly pleased with honest earnings. His surveys have always been an authority. In his intercourse with his brother Lawrence and the Fairfax family, Washington had access to a library. He never was a student, having few opportunities, but he read and read well whenever he had a chance, and there is no record of any time when he proved himself ignorant in history or literature. †

* Irving says, a pistole is $3.60; a doubloon is double that sum. Webster quotes a pistole as a quarter of a doubloon. A doublon $15.60.

† It is interesting to note the following books which Washington ordered after the Revolution: The Life of Charles XII, The Life of Louis XV, The Life and Reign of Peter the Great, Robertson's History of America, Voltaire's Letters, Verlot's Revolution of Rome and Revolution of Portugal, The Life of Gustavus Adolphus, Sully's Memoirs, Goldsmith's Natural History, Campaigns of Marshal Turenne, Chambaud's French and English Dictionary, Locke on the Human Understanding and Robertson's Charles V.

In 1751, George accompanied his brother Lawrence, who was in ill health, to the West Indies. This was the only time Washington was outside of his native country. In July, 1752, Lawrence Washington died at Mt. Vernon, leaving George guardian of his daughter, and at her death heir to his estates.

Washington Irving says: "The paternal care ever manifested by Lawrence Washington for his youthful brother and the influence his own character and conduct must have had upon him, should link their memories together in history, and endear the name of Lawrence Washington to every American."

The first event in the public career of Washington began with the struggle of the French and English in America for control of the vast wilderness beyond the Alleghany Mountains. Almost all the important points beyond the mountains were in possession of the French. The English had been busy with colonization east of the mountains, and in order not to lose control of the land west of the mountains, organized the Ohio Company to plant a colony in that region. The French determined to prevent the English from moving across the mountains, and built a new line of forts from Erie on Lake Erie to what is now Pittsburg, then Fort Duquesne. Both the French and the English knew how important was this "Gateway of the West," and both resolved to fortify it. Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia selected Washington, not yet twenty-two