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Show '' r - x NAT w N J Awl I ' a lu . 5 -k i cv . v ' ; & Washington Letter Shows His Interest in His Genealogy Writing to His Nephew, He Reveals Knowledge of Family's Founder in America. A letter bearing the signature of George Washington, addressed to his nephew, William Augustine Washington, Washing-ton, is in the possession of Burnet J. Beyer of New York. It is dated October Oc-tober 3, 1T9S, and is stlid to be the only letter extant in which George Washington makes any inquiries to his own ancestry, or gives his personal per-sonal views on the subject, and it is, therefore, considered to be a unique document. Written in his fine caligraphy on paper softly mellowed by age, it is a valuable historical document, showing show-ing Washington in yet another light. This letter is, apparently, not the first time Washington made such inquiries in-quiries into his family tree, as may be judged by the opening sentence in r7 -Sfs . v. " 4i . " - IT'S?- In the rose garden at Sulgrave msnor. The sundial dates back to 1539, the time of Lawrence Wash-l Wash-l ington. which he thanks his nephew fnr the old documents sent him regarding th subject, which it may be assumed he asked for. The letter is. however, so far as it is at present known, the only ; one dealing specifically with this mat ter. Reference to Ancestors. It opens with other topics such as suggested alterations in a contract for the purcl a of ftl) barrels of corn ; in which General Lee also is interest ed, and it is on the fourth page of the manuscript that he refers to hi.j ancestors. The following is a trail-scrips trail-scrips : 'I thank you for the old documents you sen; me, respecting the family of '' o.ir Ancestors, but I am possessed of l'aper? which prove beyond n doubt, thai of the two brothers who Kmi grnied to this country in the year HI." 7, during the troubles of that day that John Washington, from whom we are descended, was the eldest. The I'edigi-ce from kim, I have, and I believe be-lieve very correct, but the desceml-i:nts desceml-i:nts of Lawrence, in a regular course. ' I have not been able to trace. All those t? of our name, in and about Chotancl; ri" lire from the latter. John was the '-' Giaridfallier of my father anil Uncle. and Great Grandfather to Warner and ; me. He left two sons. Lawrence & V John; the former, who was the eld est, was I he father of my falher, uncle iVi aunt Willis. Mrs. llaywanl iiiup: have been a daughter of the First Lawrence. Jt thence became the cous-y cous-y In of the second Lawrence & John. "We all write in best wishes for your family, and I am your sincere friend and affectionate uncle "George Washington." Washington's Coat of Arms. There have been many endeavors made to trace Washington's English ancestry, and the name recurs in various va-rious parts of the country. A heraldic her-aldic visitation of the county of Northampton North-ampton was made in the latter part of the Sixteenth century, which gives the genealogical table of the Wasli-ingtons Wasli-ingtons of Sulgrave. It is Interesting to note that the coat of arms of the family, though differing in the different differ-ent branches of it, yet contains in most of them the heraldic emblems of stars and bars below them. It is universal uni-versal belief, of course, that the Washington Wash-ington coat of arms is the basis and inspiration of the national flag of the Stars and Stripes. No Record of Lawrence. The ancestor to which Washington refers is John Washington, who came to Virginia in 1057 and was the great grandfather of George, while he was himself the son of Uev. Lawrence Washington, the rector of Purleight. John was forced to leave home on account ac-count of poverty, and in his twenty-"ixth twenty-"ixth year appeared in Virginia. Of the Lawrence to whom Washington also refers there seems no record. This letter of Washington's seems to fill up a gap, though it does not throw any first light about his ancestry. ances-try. It is George Washington himself who stands out as an illustrious figure from a family of rather ordinary anl undistinguished people. It is rather a modern fashion to decry the heroes of another age, and a certain enjoyment is manifested in finding that any accepted idol lias feet of clay. Thus Washington also has his detractors like other great men. and it is said that t he eannot-tell-a-lie and other rather ridiculous fables have been traced to a "brazen piece of fiction" fic-tion" of a learned gentleman. Historic Document. From the same source ("George Washington." by W. E. Woodward) we learn the Washington letters were unfortunately collected by an enthusiast enthusi-ast who suppressed some and "edited" others, greatly detracting from l heir interest and value. An original letter let-ter of. this kind, therefore, giving special spe-cial details of interest in his own genealogy, becomes a historic and valuable val-uable document. These old, fragile "scraps of paper" are in some cases almost priceless, for in latter years collectors have been willing to pay almost any price for thorn. Of such delicacy are some that I hoy are kept behind glass or in leather leath-er folders, and are as heavily insured a the most rare of precious stones. How some of the most secret and private documents ever fall into strange bunds at all remains a mystery. mys-tery. Some ore, of course, stolen; others are appropriated by servants or secretaries and in time- fall into the collector's hands and under the hammer, ham-mer, where their precious secrets, no longer, perhaps, of vital importance to a world that has changed, become public and much discussed property HOUSE CF "WESSINGTON" DATES FROM YEAR 1183 Information leading to the belief that the early ancestors of George Washington w-jre named Wessington has b"en uncovered hy I'rof. Albert Hmhnell Hart, historian of the com mission charged with handling the bicentennial bi-centennial celebration in KV.'li in lion or of the first President's birth. This announcement was made by Senator Fess of Ohio, vice chairman of the commission, who said that plans for a nation-wide movement to awaken new interest in the life of Washington would be considered at i meeting of the commission's executive committee. Professor Hart made his discovery, Senator Fess said, while making researches re-searches In England into the genealogy gene-alogy of the Washington family. More than fifty places were visited, the professor pro-fessor tracing the lineage through sixteen six-teen generations. it was learned, the senator added that in US,'!, William de Hertburn bought land in Wessington and took that place for his name. Professor Hart is of the belief, the Ohioan declared, de-clared, that this was the source of the Washington family name. FEW TOURISTS FAIL TO VISIT SULGRAVE MANOR The small village of Sulgrave in the English midlands possesses no striking strik-ing features, yet in the last few years it has become the goal of many pilgrimages pil-grimages and the object of many excursions. ex-cursions. People now visit it by thousands, thou-sands, for here stands the ancestral .home of the Washington "family. J Lawrence Washington built the manor house toward the middle of the ' Sixteenth century. In the first half of jit-; : V- V - rv m Y i . A . 'r fm ' UifS I fsl I Vki ' I One Wing of Sulgrave Manor. the Nineteenth century an American writer visiting England made his way to the village. In one of his books he gave a brief description of the old house : "It was a quiet, rural neighborhood where the farmhouses were quaint and antiquated. A part only of the manor remained and was in colored glass. The Washington crest in colored col-ored glass was to be seen in a window win-dow of what was now the buttery. A window on which the whole family arms was emblazoned had been removed." re-moved." The house was purchased hy a British Brit-ish committee and a plan of restoration restora-tion was carried out. Decay bus been arrested, rude additions removed, old craftsmanship and old beauties revealed. re-vealed. The fragment of the ancient dwelling is Itself again. The house at Bridge Creek, near the Potomac river, where George Washington was horn, is gone.- Not a truce of it remains. But the house at Sulgrave- in Northamptonshire, where his English ancestors lived, stands and has become famous. The photographs accompanying this article were taken hy a party of vlsi-I vlsi-I tors to Sulgrave manor last summer. |