  Lawrence Washington was 5 years old when his parents moved from Mattox Creek to the Bridges Creek plantation. Except for a few months when he may have attended grammar school in England, he lived at Bridges Creek until early manhood. He was 18 when his father, John Washington, died; being the eldest son, he inherited the largest share of the land. As he grew and matured, he became a man of means, culture, and ability, and during his short life-span of 39 years he was honored with the highest political offices which the citizens of Westmoreland County could bestow. The memorial house built in 1931 by the Wakefield National Memorial Association to commemorate the birthplace of George Washington. Ax and hoe of the 17th century unearthed at Bridges Creek, near where John Washington lived, 1664-77. Following in his father’s footsteps, he served as justice of the Court of Westmoreland County, as an officer in the county militia, and a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses. He was first elected to the latter office when only 25, serving four terms as a burgess in the Colonial Assembly at Jamestown. Another position he held for several years was sheriff of Westmoreland County. In 1690 Lawrence married Mildred Warner of Gloucester County, Va., daughter of a prominent planter, Augustine Warner, who at one time had been speaker of the House of Burgesses and a member of the Governor’s council. Their second son, Augustine, born in 1694, was destined to become the father of George Washington. Lawrence Washington died in 1698, and was interred in the family cemetery at Bridges Creek. He left a sizeable estate to his wife and three children (his personal property alone consisted of £406 and 32,509 pounds of tobacco), and to each of the two Anglican churches in Washington Parish he provided for “a Pulpett Cloth & Cushion.” The Popes Creek-Bridges Creek Plantation (known as Wakefield about 1773) & adjacent lands where the early Washingtons lived & prospered. GEORGE WASHINGTON BIRTHPLACE NATIONAL MONUMENT Mattox Creek Farm John Washington, great-grandfather of George and founder of the Washington family in Virginia, landed near here in 1656-57. Here John and his wife, Anne Pope, were given land by John’s father-in-law, Col. Nathaniel Pope. Here their first son, Lawrence (George’s grandfather), was born in 1659. Lawrence inherited the Mattox Creek farm when his father died in 1677. The Bridges Creek Farm John Washington (George’s great-grandfather) purchased 100 acres of land here in 1664 and established his second home in Virginia, where he lived for 15 years—until his death in 1677. Here Lawrence Washington (George’s grandfather) lived as a boy. George’s father, Augustine Washington, acquired the land in 1742. Here John Washington, the emigrant, established the family burying ground; and in the cemetery are buried George’s father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. Here young George made one of his first surveys—in 1747, at the age of 15. Church Point Mattox Episcopal Church was located here about 2½ mi. from Popes Creek where Geo. Washington was born. George may have been Baptized here on April 5, 1752. SCHOOL HOUSE George Washington may have attended the school Henry Williams conducted here near Mattox Creek, but no direct evidence of this has been found. POTOMAC MILLS Mill owned by George’s father, Augustine Washington. Acquired by him in 1728. Popes Creek Farm Augustine Washington, George’s father, purchased 150 acres here in 1717-18 from Joseph Abbington. Here he built a brick home between 1723 and 1726. Here George Washington was born on February 22, 1732. The home burned to the ground in 1779. Part of the court record in a suit over the building of Washington’s birthplace. From Westmoreland Records and Inventories, 1723-46. |
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