John Washington

Illustration of 17th century ship

Library of Congress

Quick Facts

Significance:

Great Grandfather of George Washington, first president of the United States

Place of Birth:

England

Place of Death:

Westmoreland County, Virginia

Date of Death:

1677

Place of Burial:

Westmoreland County, Virginia

Cemetery Name:

Washington Family Burial Ground

The story of this area of Virginia starts in 17^th century Maryland.

In the 1640s, Maryland was a rougher place than Virginia. Maryland was small-only a few hundred Englishmen and women lived there, making good money by growing tobacco and trading beaver furs with Native American allies as far away as the Great Lakes. During these years, England suffered a civil war which pitted the King against the Puritan-allied Parliament, and affected colonies on this side of the Atlantic. Virginia remained mostly loyal to King Charles, as did Maryland’s ruling Catholic Calvert family. But the war created a chance for Protestants and other rebels, to attack wealthy Calvert-allied Marylanders. Colonists called this The Plundering Time.

With the internal troubles that Maryland was facing, it was difficult to maintain commercial or farming ventures. Thus, many Marylanders saw in Virginia lots of open land and the peace and quiet Maryland lacked. By the end of the 1650s, a new English community had begun in Virginia. Some of its members were freed Virginia servants looking for land to farm for themselves. Others were former Marylanders seeking some relief from war and Calvert control. One of those men was English-born Nathaniel Pope.

Pope was already an influential man in Maryland where his great ambition and drive had made him wealthy. He built a home and set up his business on a bluff in what is now Westmoreland State Park and carried on with his tobacco growing, fur trading, and buying and selling land. Pope quickly became one of the community’s most influential residents.

It makes sense then, that John Washington, George’s great-grandfather, would find his way to Pope’s doorstep when he arrived in Westmoreland County, Virginia in the winter of 1657. By that time, Washington was already an international trader. His business dealings in beaver furs had taken him to Poland and Denmark before he sailed up the Potomac River. Pope and Washington saw the world in similar ways. Both saw advantages to building a relationship and although Pope had his own sons, he quickly brought Washington into the family fold and fortune.

Pope also had an unmarried daughter named Anne. Within a year, she and Washington married, linking the debt-laden and landless Washington to the Pope’s family name, holdings, and enterprises. With a 700-acre Mattox Creek plantation as a wedding present, John and Anne settled there and began a family.In 1664, John and Anne bought land overlooking nearby Bridges Creek. Here, they built a typical home where they lived with their two children, English servants, and a small number of enslaved Africans Washington had imported from Caribbean traders.

Washington quickly became a leader in the community, serving in every office in the county from coroner to military commander. Anne brought land to the marriage, as well as social, political, and economic connections through her locally prestigious family name. John Washington, as husband, had the legal standing and skill to manage the family holdings. Together, this colonial power couple established a dynasty that would ultimately change the course of world history.