John Washington

Early life and family John Washington was born to rector Lawrence 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 in Tring, Hertfordshire. However, as an adult, John Washington gave his age in a Virginia deposition as 45, which would put his birth two years earlier. Before his marriage Lawrence had been a don at the University of Oxford. He had been born at Sulgrave Manor near Banbury in Oxfordshire.

Other Washington Emigrants to North America In 1656 John Washington invested with Edward Prescott in a merchant ship to transport tobacco from North America to Europe. He secured tobacco contracts in Europe, and joined the ship Sea Horse of London in Denmark, to sail as a second mate for the Colony of Virginia. A storm on 28 February 1657 caused the ship (which was fully laden with tobacco for the return journey) to run aground in the Potomac River at a shoal near the 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 that Washington owed him money instead, so Colonel Nathaniel Pope (who was his future father-in-law) gave Prescott beaver-skins to settle that alleged debt. John's cousin, James Washington, who was the brother-in-law of Henry Moody (fl. 1673), and who had accompanied him on that voyage, did return to Europe on Prescott's ship.

The subject of this article 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. That Lawrence also had a son named John Washington (usually distinguished as "of Chotank", the name of his plantation in King George County, Virginia). That John Washington raised the children of his cousin Lawrence Washington (1659-1698) (first son of the subject of this article): John Washington (1692–1746) and Augustine Washington (1693–1743) when they returned from England.

Colony of Virginia 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 the Northern Neck and a justice of the peace for what was then Northumberland County in 1651 and four years later Lt.Col. of the local militia.

Col. Pope gave the couple a wedding gift of 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. Washington became a successful planter, depending on the labour of Black slaves and white 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 .

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). Washington also served as trustee of Westmoreland County estates and guardian of children.

In 1672, Washington received promotion to lieutenant colonel in the local militia, as relations with Native Americans again became troubled. (Settlers in the Northern Neck area had been massacred in 1622 and 1644.) For his efforts suppressing Native Americans, the Susquehannock gave John the nickname of "Town Destroyer". Some eight decades later, during the French-Indian War, the Seneca 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 inflicted by his ancestor.

The incident and resultant raids later contributed to Bacon's Rebellion in 1676, during which Col. Washington supported Governor William Berkeley. During the rebellion, Bacon's forces plundered Washington's estate, among others. together: Lawrence Washington (1659–1698), who would also serve as a Burgess John Washington Jr. (1661–23 Feb 1698) Anne Washington ( 1662–1697), who married Francis Wright, who was the county sheriff, vestryman and justice of the county Court

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.

Death and legacy 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. His estate consisted of more than 8,500 acres. John and his first wife Anne Pope are buried near present-day Colonial Beach, Virginia, at what is now called the George 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 the Anglican Church (the established church in colonial Virginia, and thereby also a tax district of the county) was changed to Washington in his honor.