| Show r r 1 h AJI1LNGINUt t lftJNCIDENT N Y ° TTRk3LPT 1JACxtSON san r n i > e q 1 r aj n + t rtvif i 1 x h ti t i t w4 H fm t i 1 f f 1f fj j i t ky oc dcpr J l j W1SHINGWN fri CJ30J < SAG THe JlelAWAQ y L UTz cn I10UGII i0 pages Of Araerl can history are adorned with the names of many l i y great men nono are brighter m a bright-er and more benutlfullv G t described In letters of chased gold than those of Washington and Lincoln Students of history arc divided In their judgment which oft of-t the two men is the greater But It Is not really Impoitant that this question r j be decided Destiny planned a certain Ii line of work for both men and they did I that work well Their Innate ability Is only partly icspoiislblo for their success suc-cess It was their unselfishness and do sire to do well whatever they undertook under-took which helped them to succeed where others might have failed If Lin r poln deserves pralso because necessity spurred him on to greatness Washington Washing-ton deserve as much credit because he became great without being driven on by necessity Destiny demanded a double role of Washingtonshe made t him a soldier and a statesman and he performed both well His trials as i president were almost as great as those j he encountered as commander chief m of tho army He vas placed at the head I bf a new form of government and did not have precedents to guide him in undertakIng It was his early trainIng train-Ing which taught him to think calmly and with judgment His mind once ii made up to act without fear t Ho was born on the banks of the Potomac Po-tomac river in a farmhouse though the house was fill better than a log cabin It was not the mansion It la supposed t to have been It was a large room j roomy pp i place with a deep sloping roof and a big outside chimney at either end He i was one of many children His father i I J was rich in crops and land though hot ho-t had little real money Most Virginia 7 farmers planted tobacco and when money mon-ey was scarce they traded this product J1 for food and clothing His early years m were silent on the farm with nlentv of i exercise and little schooling George loved to i tramp across the fields forests and to swim < In the streams His education was gained at i n country school where he was taught for three hours a day Limited as hip education was > he was fond of reading and he had a book Into which he copied everything he wished to < I I ks 1 remember In this book he put many rules a which he himself had formulated These are only a few of the many Labor to keep alive in your breast that little lit-tle spark ol celestial fire called conscience Think before you speak c rH Whisper not In the company of others = 1 Lawrence ono of the halfbrothers had been c f sent to England to school and the parents t had planned the same for George but the father died suddenly and Mrs Washington realized she could not afford to send him across the ocean The boy had spent considerable time on the wharf and talking to seamen had awakened a desire for adventure These stories sto-ries created a desire to earn a living as a sailor sail-or and he suggested It to his mother Mrs Washington did not like tho Idea of having George leave homo nor did sho approve of his JV career Ho was sent back to school to study I V surveying When not studying hewas training his company of boys to become soldiers and ho y otten got very Impatient when they made mistakes I mis-takes f T Shortly after his brother Lawrence had mar 4 > rimed the daughter of Lord Fairfax a member of 1 this family took a great Interest In tho boy t 4 He had such a fancy for tho lad ho put him toT s to-T surveying a large tract of land In the Shenandoah I Shenan-doah valley Though the work was no easy task he was so strong and enthusiastic ho acquitted himself exceedingly well He did not so alonea boy George Fairfax went as his aid They rather enjoyed the now expo 31 rlenco of hunger cold and facing Indian strategy strat-egy In later years George recalled his experience expe-rience of roughing It In the Shenandoah valley val-ley with great pleasure This work was suddenly sud-denly Interrupted by alcknesjs In the family I Lawrence his halfbiother l was 111 and the physicians phy-sicians sent him to the West Indies Georgo went along to keep him company only to bo 1 I taken with smallpox Although Lawrence Mr started for home ho died after his return f to j This was a great shock to George for tho brothers were exceedingly devoted but the sting of this loss was a rtly forgotten by a commission to go to the French who were building forts on Kncllsh territory Ho vis t r mndo major at bongo of 22 II m and sent on a perilous journey jour-ney of over a thousand miles i lIe had many narrow escapes es-capes In his Journey over mountains fording streams f and through forests where Indians lay In hiding After f atra kHr li rJl l f r 7 L1 1 A r kr r ty Y s air 1JIING7ON 17 7 ZNTOA eY P1W < a his Interview with the French commander he started for home The journey back was worse than going for the rivers were exceedingly exceed-ingly treacherous The French governor refused re-fused to heed English commands and continued to build forts so George Washington was appointed ap-pointed to command soldiers to march against the Fiench In the spring This was the beginning begin-ning of a war between the French and English which lasted seven years Gen Braddock was sent over from England and George was made a colonel and commanded the Virginia troops Though Braddock was a capable general he did not understand the art of fighting the Indians In-dians and refused to heed young Washingtons advice The general was shot In one of these engagements With this the Redcoats began to run but Washington tried to call them back All day he was In the midst of the fight Four bullets went through his coat and two horses were shot under him The war at an end Washington returned home He was anxious to see his mother whom he had not seen In some time Though Mrs Washington was not a brilliant woman sho had plenty of good judgment and commonsense common-sense and was always ready to glvo her son wise counsel Proud though she was of her boys energy and desire to servo his country she was careful not to spoil him by excessive praise She loved to hear of the hazards of war but she emphasized the dangers more than her boys success Hardships and longfought campaigns had dono much to Impair his health and he went to Wllllamsburg to consult a physician On this trip ho met Mrs Martha Custis widow of Daniel Parke Custis one of tho wealthiest planters In the colony They were married some five months later Very little is known of her except that she was petite pretty and exceedingly devoted to her husband She was very proud of his successes and used all her energy to make his trials as easy as she could There are those who attribute Washingtons first step upward to his marriage This Is certainly cer-tainly untrue for bo was on the road to succeSs suc-cess when he married her Whenever Washington Wash-ington went an a long campaign his wife took up headquarters where she might be near him These winterings gradually became a regular custom Sho seldom complained although she frequently had to put up with Inconvenient headquarters When Washington was chosen commanderInchlcf of the army he did not accept ac-cept tho place with great eagerness for ho hfr Iti w yn w n j f t c f ti C f r r r + vtr Q J h RshINGTON4NDL4T4YZTTATJ wajI 27TZ q knew It was to be a long andS and-S hard fought war and a position posi-tion latent with responsibility responsibili-ty The struggle was as difficult dif-ficult as ho Imagined for many times during tho war the soldiers were ready to lay down their arms and go home but his couragQ never failed him and ho pushed on When the sky looker blackest he would plan some campaign to make of defeat a victory A happy Illustration of this was when one Christmas night the soldiers were quite really to give up and go home They were campIng on the banks of the Delaware Pointing to the other side he said Our enemy Is camp ing there They were Hessian soldiers and since It was Christmas night they were celebrating cele-brating It was with difficulty the army crossed for the night was wild dark and cold But In spite of the great blocks of Ice on the river Washington managed to get his army across and a victory was the result A more difficult year was spent In Valley Forge It was a long cold winter the soldiers hungry for food and they did not have enough clothing and blankets to keep themselves warm Many times they were on the verge of mtitlnccrlng It was only by means of his tact and good judgment that ho brought harmony Into camp and gave the war a successful ending After leaving the army he went back home and spent much time Improving the farm The Mount Vernon estate gradually became an expensive ex-pensive affair Here he kept open house and never a day went by without his receiving callers call-ers and friends Some of the dinners and levees were often elaborate and he struggled hard not to appear bored He had hoped to spend the rest of his life among these pleasant surroundings He often told his friends Let those who wish such things as office bo at the head of things I Co not wish them All I desire de-sire now Is to settle down at Mount Vernon and to enjoy my farm But after the constitution constitu-tion was ratified and the votes of the electors were opened and counted It was found that everyone had voted for Washington During hlsprcsldency he had many knotty problems but ho met them all with good souse and judgment judg-ment Because ho played the double role of commander of the army and the first president of this nation equally well ho is entitled to tho name tho Father of Ills Country END JUSTIFIES THE MEANS The end Justifies the means This motto from tho coatofarms Washington will no doubt Hash Into the minds of certain admirers i of the father of his country who glance at tho genealogical tree which Is Englands latest L contribution to the oftdebated question of t Washingtons ancestry Let no roan fancy ho knows sport said tho late Moncure D Conway unless he has family treed an ancestor of George Washington Yet despite the many clever scholars and antlquar inns of America who have tried their hands at this spoil It has remained for a fellow of the Royal Historical society of England Hev Frederick W Ragg to convey to us the latest Interesting revelation regarding the ancestry of our first president Barring those that champion tho truly democratic demo-cratic standpoint less prevalent today than It was In 1G20 which scorns to connect Itself with old world titles and abhors royalty there remain many liberal souls among us who do not grudge to one who was acknowledged first In war and first In peace a share In the homage accorded the first family of England Edward I was himself a mighty warrior and first In many wars his prowess was early exercised exer-cised on the Turks during the last crusade ever embarked on by Englands kings and when tho throne became his own ho successfully success-fully carried out his project of uniting England Scotland and Wales He brought the famous stone of Scone to Westminster abbey and under him England became a mighty nation He was a monarch wise and great even though ho had little leaning toward democratic government govern-ment and did not display special fondness for Magna Charter Edward Longshanks was not an ancestor to be despised by his descendant George of kingly bearing and equally long legs That this direct line of descent has not until now been established may seem a bit surpris ing Invlew of the exhaustive research that has been devoted to the Washington ancestry The reason Is however not difficult to understand when one reflects that such research has been < concerned exclusively with the male line whllo this royal blood Is introduced Into the family by Margaret Butler who married Laurence Washington In 1GS8 Mr Worthington Chauncey Ford and others who have made a special study of the Washing ton pedigree trace tho line back to John Wash ington of Whltfield five generations back of the aforesaid Laurence and his wife Margaret These students state that this Margaret Butler was the daughter of William Butler of Tlghes Sussex but do not follow the Butler pedigree back of this point Here Mr Hogg has taken up the quest and after careful study of old I records tombstones and entries In church reg isters has proved that William Butler father of Mrs Laurence Washington stands tenth Inc in-c descent from Edward I Reference to the above genealogical tree just completed by Mr Ragg and verified since Its arrival In America by various genealogical experts ex-perts who have pronounced It satisfactory will show conclusively that George Washington Is In tho sixteenth generation In direct descent from tho monarch In question and Is there fore tho great great great greul groat great greatgreatgreat great greal great groal grand son of Edward I Plantagenot |
