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| Augustine Washington |
Americans
often refer to President George Washington as the Father of Our Country. But, who was his father?
President
Washington’s father, Augustine Washington, the son of a militia captain and a
member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, was a member of the landed gentry
and a tobacco planter in the Colony of
Virginia.
He
was born in 1694, and his own father died when he was only four years old. He
inherited a thousand acres on Bridges Creek in Westmoreland County.
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| Mary Ball Washington |
Over the years, through his marriages and through purchases, he
acquired even more land. He had four children by his first wife, Jane Butler, but
only two of the children survived to adulthood, Lawrence and Augustine, Jr.
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| President George Washington |
When he was 37, the widower Augustine
married Mary Ball, and they had six children: George was their first child, then Betty, Samuel, John Augustine, Charles, and Mildred.
Augustine
was active in politics, and at one time was a justice of the peace and a county
sheriff and was active in his Anglican Church.
Augustine
died in 1743 when George was 11 years old. Mary managed the property George
inherited until he came of age.
I hope everyone had a Happy Father's Day last week. And I hope my Christian friends remembered to give thanks to our Heavenly Father.
