The Washingtons and Their Homes

Description

Anyone fascinated with the genealogy or history of the family of George Washington should own this elegant publication. For in this profusely illustrated work originally published in 1944 and reprinted by arrangement with the Virginia Book Company, John Wayland, one of the giants of Virginia genealogy, recounts the Washington family history by taking us on a tour of the legendary homesteads they inhabited. Thus, the opening chapter, “Wakefield,” is concerned with the birthplace of George Washington and the comings and goings of George’s father, Augustine Washington, his second wife, Mary Ball, and their children at Wakefield in Westmoreland County. The second chapter, “The Rose of Epping Forest,” furnishes background on the historic homestead of George’s mother, Mary Ball, in Lancaster County, Virginia. Still other chapters discuss the Washingtons at Ferry Farm, Mount Vernon, Beautiful Bushfield (which is associated with George’s brother, John Washington), Charles Washington and Charles Town, Fairfield and Warner Washington I, Beallair and Lewis William Washington, the Hampshire County Washingtons, and so on. In each of his twenty chapters Mr. Wayland embellishes the bare bones genealogy of George Washington, his family, and descendants with a social history that bestows upon them their proper place in Virginia history and throughout the Virginia countryside. Of great historical and genealogical value, the author has added a compendium of 400 biographical sketches of the Washingtons, a chronology of 244 incidents in Washington history, and a complete index.