The story of the Washington family in America began in the mid-1650s when two young men, John Washington (1632-1677) and his younger brother Lawrence (1635-1677) arrived in Virginia in the late 1650s. Their family had been loyal to the deposed king Charles I (1600-1648) during the English Civil War, and the brothers saw little future for themselves in England with Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) and Parliament in control of the government. In a couple of generations, the Washington family in America were a part of the landed gentry of colonial Virginia, and well connected socially and economically through marriage. Similarly, George Washington’s maternal line, the Ball Family, settled in Virginia in the 1750s and became enmeshed in similar social and economic circles.
The Washington Family Becomes Established in Colonial Virginia
Both Washingtons quickly established themselves in Virginia society, volunteering for public service and gaining status through marriage as stepping-stones to advancement. Shortly after arriving to North John Washington married Anne Pope (d. 1669). The daughter of a prominent Virginia family, they gifted the married couple land. Following the restoration of Charles II (1630-1685) to the English throne, John Washington and a friend named Nicholas Spencer were honored in 1674 with a grant from the king of a 5,000-acre property along the Potomac River that would be known for the next few decades as Little Hunting Creek Plantation, which would later become Mount Vernon. Washington served on the House of Burgesses, further ingraining the Washington family in Virginia politics.
Their son Lawrence Washington (1659-1698) trained as a lawyer in England and eventually inherited his father's estates on Mattox Creek and Little Hunting Creek. He married Mildred Warner Washington (d. 1701), the daughter of a prominent local politician and land owner. Their son Augustine (1694-1743) was the father of George Washington. As his father died when he was young, Augustine inherited a large share of his father's estates. Augustine’s sister, Mildred (1696-c.1745) inherited the land on Little Hunting Creek. However, she and her husband Roger Gregory sold it to Augustine in 1726.1
Augustine was a successful tobacco planter, and served as both a county sheriff and justice of the peace. He had four children with his first wife Jane Butler (1699-1743), including Lawrence Washington (1718-1752). After Jane’s death, he married Mary Ball Washington (1708-1789). Although an orphan, she came from a landed family much like her husband. Their eldest child was George Washington (1732-1799), and he was followed by five more siblings: Samuel Washington (1734-1781), John Augustine Washington (1736-1787), Charles Washington (1738-1799), Betty Washington Lewis (1733-1797), and Mildred Washington (1737-1740).2 After the death of Lawrence Washington, his half-brother, in 1752, Washington lease Mount Vernon from his widow Anne Fairfax Washington (1728-1761). Lawrence marriage into the very prominent Fairfax family of Belvoir Plantation granted important social and economic connections for George Washington. After her death, and the death of her and Lawrence’s only surviving child, George Washington inherited Mount Vernon.3
The Ball Family Becomes Established in Colonial Virginia
William Ball (1615-c.1680) emigrated to Virginia in the 1650s, and later brought over his wife Hannah Atherold (d.1694), two of their four children, and several servants. In England, Ball was an attorney in the Office of Pleas and Exchequer. In Virginia, he acquired land and made headway in colonial politics. He was a major in the militia of Lancaster County, Virginia and served for numerous years on the House of Burgesses in the late 1660s into the late 1670s. In this capacity, he interacted with John Washington.
William and Hannah’s son Joseph Ball (1649-1711) was born in England and joined his family in Virginia, establishing a plantation named Epping Forest. Like his father, he was active in politics serving on the count court, in the Virginia militia, and in the House of Burgesses. He had five children with his first wife Elizabeth Rogers. After her death, he married Mary Johnson (d. 1721), who had four children from a previous marriage. They shared one child together, Mary Ball (1708-1789), the mother of George Washington. Joseph passed away when Mary Ball was a young child, and her mother remarried Richard Hewes who died shortly after. When Mary Ball’s mother died in 1721, she was completely orphaned. She was raised by a guardian named George Eskridge, a local lawyer and politician, at his plantation Sandy Point.
In 1731, at the age of 23, she married Augustine Washington (1694-1743) and despite differences in age they shared similar backgrounds. Washington was a middle-aged widower with three surviving children, who ranged in age from 13 to 9. Their first child, George Washington (1732-1799), was born early the following year at their estate on Pope’s Creek in Westmoreland County. George Washington remained connected to his Ball family socially and economically.
Revised by Zoie Horecny, Ph.D., 11 August 2025
Notes:
1. Washington Family Bible Page,” The George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon; “To George Washington from Hannah Fairfax Washington, 9 April 1792,” Founders Online, National Archives.
2. Will of Lawrence Washington, 1752 June 20. Mount Vernon Ladies Association, 1752.
3. “To George Washington from Hannah Fairfax Washington, 9 April 1792,” Founders Online, National Archives.
Bibliography:
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