"Ensign" is a military grade or rank, not the colonist's first name, and there is some suggestion that he was a lower ranking military officer before he arrived in Virginia. He also would have been a member of the local militia after his arrival in Virginia. Sources seem to be uniform in their identification of Washer as "Ensign" and only one source has been found which states that his name was "Thos" (Thomas).[1] Even if this is true and can be verified, the colonist is shown as Ensign Washer here because that is how he is shown in sources which identify him as a member of the first session of the House of Burgesses.
Before 1619, Ensign Washer, CaptainNathaniel Basse, and Giles Jones received patents for land along thePagan River.[2] Captain Christopher Lawne then settled near the mouth of Lawne's Creek in the same vicinity. Although the area was known as Captain Lawne's Plantation and its representatives were listed as representatives from the plantation, the colonists also had named the area "Warresqueak County"[3] after theNative American tribe who lived there. Washer andChristopher Lawne represented Lawne's Plantation in the first assembly of the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1619.[4][5] In 1620, a movement began to change the name of "Warresqueak County" to "Isle of Wight County" but this was not done until 1637.[6]
The Daughters of the American Revolution state that Ensign Washer had a daughter named Margaret (Polly).[7] Little if anything more is known about Ensign Washer or what may have become of him.[8] Records do not show him as among the dead of theIndian massacre of 1622 nor do they list him in the muster of 1624. Yet his name survives as a member of the first representative assembly in the areas that would become both theState of Virginia and theUnited States of America.
^One source lists "Wisher" in parentheses after his name, signifying that Washer is a possible erroneous rendering of Wisher, although every source consulted actually lists the colonist's name as Washer.
^Daughters of the American Revolution.National historical magazine, Volume 71. Published by National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, 1937. p. 360.
Daughters of the American Revolution.National historical magazine, Volume 71. Published by National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, 1937. Retrieved July 21, 2011.
