Colonel Augustine I Washington

  General Notes:

Augustine Washington was born in Westmoreland, Virginia, in the year 1694. He was a son of Lawrence Washington, a militia captain and a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, and Mildred Warner Washington Gale.

His paternal grandparents were John Washington and Anne Pope.
[edit] Life

Born in 1694, Augustine was only four years old when his father died. He inherited about 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) on Bridges Creek in Westmoreland County; his sister Mildred inherited what was called the Little Hunting Creek property.

When Washington came of age (and into his inheritance) in 1715, he married Jane Butler, an orphan, who had inherited about 640 acres (2.6 km2) from her father. The young couple settled on the Bridges Creek property. In 1718, Washington purchased land on Popes Creek, abridging his property on Bridges Creek. About 1726, he built a new house there (later called Wakefield). In the same year, he purchased the Little Hunting Creek property from his sister Mildred.

In addition to his work supervising overseers and slave labor as a tobacco planter, Washington was active in the Anglican Church and in local politics. He served at various times as justice of the peace and as county sheriff.

Washington and his first wife Jane Butler had four children, only two of whom (Lawrence and Augustine, Jr.) lived to adulthood.
[edit] Second marriage

After Jane's early death in 1729, Washington married 23-year-old Mary Ball of Lancaster County in 1731. Their first three children were: George (1732), Betty (1733), Samuel (1734).

In 1735, the family moved to the Little Hunting Creek property. The exact reason for the move is unclear, but it may have had to do with Washington's other occupation of iron mining. In 1725, Augustine entered into an agreement with the Principio Company of England to start an iron works on Accokeek Creek in Stafford County. In 1728, Washington agreed with the company to bear one sixth of the cost of running Accokeek Furnace. Little Hunting Creek was closer to the iron mine than Pope's Creek. Washington cultivated tobacco on his plantations, which was labor intensive and required the work of many enslaved Africans and African Americans. By the time George Washington was born, the population of the Virginia colony was 50 percent black, most of whom were enslaved.[1]

In 1738, a 150-acre (0.6 km2) property formerly owned by William Strother, became available for purchase. It was just across the Rappahannock River from the fledgling town of Fredricksburg, Virginia. Washington purchased it from the Strother executors. He moved his family to the plantation at the end of 1738. The new property offered easier access to Accokeek Furnace and was within a day's ride of both Little Hunting Creek and Popes Creek properties. Washington also leased a 450-acre (1.8 km2) parcel adjacent to the Strother property which he later purchased outright. Although the property included a ferry road and landing, it was not called Ferry Farm during the time of the Augustine Washington's residency.

By 1738, two more Washington children were born: John Augustine, 1736, and Charles, 1738. A sixth child, Mildred, was born on the new farm in 1739, but she died in infancy in 1740.

Augustine Washington died at about age 49 on April 12, 1743, in King George County, Virginia.
[edit] Legacy

After Washington's death in 1743 at the age of 49, his son George inherited the former Strother property and its slaves. As he was only 11 years old, his mother Mary managed the property for him until he came of age. She lived on the property until 1772, when she was 64 and George moved her to a house in Fredericksburg across the river.

Lawrence inherited the Little Hunting Creek property and its slaves. He renamed his property Mount Vernon, in honor of Admiral Edward Vernon, with whom he had served in the British Navy during the Battle of Cartagena de Indias.

Lastly, Augustine, Jr. inherited the Popes Creek property and slaves. At his death, Augustine Washington, Sr. held a total of 64 slaves, who were assigned to the various plantations.[1]

According to Augustine's will, if Lawrence died without children, the Little Hunting Creek property would be given to Augustine, Jr. He would then have to give Popes Creek to George. If Augustine, Jr. did not want the Little Hunting Creek property, it would be inherited by George. Lawrence had no living children when he died, and Augustine, Jr. did not want to give up Popes Creek; therefore, George Washington ultimately inherited the Little Hunting Creek property.

Lawrence Washington's widow Ann had a life interest in the Little Hunting Creek plantation. As she remarried and was not living at Mount Vernon, she leased the property to George beginning in 1754. Upon her death in 1761, George Washington inherited the plantation outright.

Augustine married Mary Ball. (Mary Ball was born in 1708 in Lancaster, Virginia and died on 26 Aug 1789.)

Augustine next married Jane Butler.