John Washington (1633 – 1677) was an English-born merchant, planter, politician and militia officer. Born inTring,Hertfordshire, he subsequently immigrated to the Englishcolony of Virginia and became a member of theplanter class. In addition to serving in theVirginia militia and owning severalslave plantations, Washington also served for many years in theHouse of Burgesses, representingWestmoreland County. He was the first member of theWashington family to live inNorth America and was a paternal great-grandfather ofGeorge Washington, the firstpresident of the United States.^[2][a]

John Washington was born torectorLawrence Washington and wife Amphillis Twigden, about 1633 (when his father resigned his fellowship at Oxford that required him to remain unmarried), likely at his maternal grandparents' home inTring,Hertfordshire.^[1][3][4] However, as an adult, John Washington gave his age in a Virginia deposition as 45, which would put his birth two years earlier.^[5][6] Before his marriage Lawrence had been adon at theUniversity of Oxford.^[7] He had been born at Sulgrave Manor near Banbury inOxfordshire.^[8]

When John was eight, his father enrolled him inCharterhouse School in London to begin preparing for an academic career, but the boy never attended the school. In 1633 the senior Washington had left Oxford to become therector ofAll Saints Parish in Purleigh, Essex. During theEnglish Civil War, in 1643 Parliamentary Puritans stripped theroyalist Rev. Washington of that clerical position, alleging misconduct that was disputed. Rev. Lawrence Washington then becamevicar of an impoverished parish inLittle Braxted, Essex, where he died in January 1652. His widow returned to her parents' family home in Tring, Hertfordshire, and in 1655 John became administrator of his widowed mother's estate.^[9]

John Washington gained a valuable education in colonial trade, as England had colonies in the Caribbean and North America. He served as Master's Mate on board a tobacco ship when he first came to Virginia.^[10]

In 1656 John Washington invested with Edward Prescott in a merchant ship which transported tobacco from North America to European markets. He secured tobacco contracts in Europe, joined Prescott's ship (theSea Horse of London) in Denmark, and sailed as second mate for theColony of Virginia.^[11][12][13] A storm on February 28, 1657, caused the ship (fully laden with tobacco for the return journey) to run aground in thePotomac River at a shoal near its confluence with Mattox Creek. Although the vessel was repaired, Washington elected to remain in the colony. However, when he asked for his wages, Prescott said he owed him money instead, so Colonel Nathaniel Pope (his future father-in-law discussed below) gave Prescott beaver skins to settle the alleged debt.^[14][15][16] However, his cousin, James Washington, the son of Robert Washington (1616 - 1674), who worked in the London-Rotterdam trade of theMerchant Adventurers, who had also sailed on that voyage, returned on Prescott's ship.^[17][18]

Complicating matters, this John Washington also had a younger brother, Lawrence Washington, who became a merchant, married Mary Jones of Luton in Bedfordshire in England, then also emigrated from England to the Virginia Colony, where he died.^[19] That Lawrence also had a son named John Washington (usually distinguished as "of Chotank", the name of his plantation inKing George County, Virginia). That John Washington raised the children of his cousinLawrence Washington (1659-1698) (this man's firstborn son): John Washington (1692-1746) andAugustine Washington (1693-1743) when they returned from England.^[20]

Washington initially lived at the home of Col. Nathaniel Pope, who had emigrated from England to Maryland about twenty years earlier, then moved across the Potomac River to Virginia where he became a planter on theNorthern Neck and a justice of the peace for what was thenNorthumberland County in 1651 and four years later Lt.Col. of the local militia.^[21] During his stay, Washington fell in love with his host's daughter Anne, whom he married late in 1658 or early in 1659. She gave birth to their first son, Laurence in October 1659. Around that time, Washington learned that his nemesis Capt. Prescott had hanged a woman as awitch, and brought murder charges against him in the Maryland General Court; however, the trial conflicted with Laurence's baptism, so Prescott went free for lack of evidence.^[22]

Col. Pope gave the couple a wedding gift of 700 acres (2.8 km²) on Mattox Creek, as well as a loan of 80 pounds for startup expenses, which he forgave in his will, which was filed in April 1660.^[23][16] In 1664, Washington bought 100 acres on Bridges Creek near the confluence with the Potomac River, and settled there, in what is now part ofGeorge Washington Birthplace National Monument.^[24][25] Washington became a successful planter, depending on the labour ofBlack slaves andwhite indentured servants to cultivate tobacco as a commodity crop as well as kitchen crops needed to support his household and workers. By 1668 he was growing tobacco, with holdings of 5,000 acres (20 km²).^[26] His will disposed of more than 8,500 acres (34 km²) of land.^[27]

Washington's first public office was vestryman of the local Appomattox Parish church in 1661 (although the parish would cease to exist four years later after a reorganization).^[28] Washington also served as trustee of Westmoreland County estates and guardian of children.^[29] In 1661, Washington also became the county coroner and in 1662 became one of the judges of the county court (with administrative as well as judicial responsibilities) and Major of themilitia -- both signifying his acceptance into the gentry.^[30][31]

Westmoreland County voters first elected Washington as one of their representatives in theHouse of Burgesses in 1665, and he continually won re-election until his death more than a decade later. He served alongside plantersIsaac Allerton, Gerrard Fowke and his cousinNicholas Spencer.^[32]

In 1672, Washington received promotion to lieutenant colonel in the local militia, as relations with Native Americans again became troubled.^[33] (Settlers in the Northern Neck area had been massacred in 1622 and 1644)^[34] In 1675 (by which time Washington's rank had increased to colonel), he and fellow Virginia planter and militia officerIsaac Allerton and Maryland Major Trueman led retaliation against Maryland natives who had killed three Virginia colonists after a trade dispute. During a planned parley with the disgruntled opposition and their alliedAmerican Indian leaders, Maryland militia killed at least five surrendered or parleying Doeg andSusquehannock warriors.^[35][36][37] For his efforts suppressing Native Americans, the Susquehannock gave John the nickname of "Town Destroyer".^[38] Some eight decades later, during theFrench-Indian War, theSeneca would bestow the same title upon Washington's great-grandson,George, for both his own prowess in warfare against the tribes, and in remembrance of the destruction incurred by his ancestor.^[39]

The incident and resultant raids later contributed toBacon's Rebellion in 1676, during which Col. Washington supported GovernorWilliam Berkeley.^[40] During the rebellion, Bacon's forces plundered Washington's estate, among others.^[41] Following Bacon's death and the suppression of Bacon's Rebellion, an investigating commission criticized Governor William Berkeley, who returned to England, so John's cousinNicholas Spencer who had traveled with Berkeley to Virginia, became Virginia's acting governor. However, Washington died within months, as discussed below.

John Washington married three times. He married in late 1658 Anne Pope (St. Mary,Province of Maryland, 1635-1667), daughter of Nathaniel Pope (England, 1603-Cliffs,Westmoreland County, Virginia) and wife Lucy (?-aft. 1660).^[7] They had the following children^[42] together:

• Lawrence Washington (1659–1698),^[43] who would also serve as a Burgess
• John Washington Jr.^[44] (1661–23 Feb 1698)
• Anne Washington^[45] (b.c. 1662–1697), who married Francis Wright, who was the county sheriff, vestryman and justice of the county Court^[46][7]
• 2 additional children, names unknown, mentioned as deceased in Washington's will dated 21 September 1675^[47]

After Anne Pope's death, Washington married a widow named Anne, who had survived husbands Walter Brodhurst and Henry Brett, but did not have children with Washington. Her maiden name is unknown.^[48][6]

After his second wife's death, John Washington married Frances Gerard (a daughter ofThomas Gerard, and widow of Thomas Speke, Valentine Peyton, and John Appleton). This third marriage occurred about 10 May 1676 when a "joynture" was recorded between Mrs. Frances Appleton and John Washington in Westmoreland County, Virginia.^[49]

Although the exact date of Washington's death has not been recorded, it occurred after he attended a meeting concerning taxes and the suppressed rebellion on August 14, 1677. Washington's will was admitted to probate on September 26, 1677.^[50][51] His estate consisted of more than 8,500 acres.^{[52][dead link]} John and his first wife Anne Pope are buried near present-dayColonial Beach, Virginia, at what is now called theGeorge Washington Birthplace National Monument. His vault is the largest in the small family burial plot.

During John’s lifetime, the name of the local parish of theAnglican Church (the established church in colonial Virginia, and thereby also a tax district of the county) was changed to Washington in his honor.^[16]

• Washington family

• Randall, Willard Sterne (1997).George Washington: A Life. New York: Holt & Co.

• Washington of Adwick; Origin of the Washington family, Rotherhamweb.co.uk
• George Washington artifacts

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