Virginia Sanders  Mylius

<gmylius@charter.net>   ·
Birmingham, AL    



Complete notes and sources available upon request.

Washington Family


Our line from the Washington family is through Col. John Washington,
to his daughter Anne Washington who married Maj. Francis Wright.

(personal note:  my mother was Jeanne McClure, granddaughter of Mary Elizabeth “Lilie” Hampton
and Walter Flavius McClure; daughter of Robert McClure & Helen Jackson)

Given the thousands of books available about the Washington’s, I’m certainly not going to try to do more than give the basics ...  a feeble attempt to show our Washington ancestry.    It is thanks to Dr. Justin Glenn, historian for the National Society of the Washington Family Descendants,  that we know as much as we do!    I am now proud to be a member of that Society, along with my son and granddaughter.   If any of my family want to join, please contact me.   

It is easy to find elsewhere the progression and ancestry of the Washington’s of Sulgrave Manor, Northamptonshire, England.   You can even find our ancestry back to Charlemagne!  I will show only our line of descent from Col. John Washington and Anne Pope (great-grandparents of Pres. George Washington).

I make no pretence of having any sort of comprehensive information about John & Anne Pope Washington’s descendants!   I’ll leave that to the experts... especially Dr. Glenn!    But I include here my notes, such as they are, for anyone who is interested.    This document primarily details the information of our descent:..... Washington’s - Wright’s - McCrary’s - Battle’s -  Hampton’s - to the McClure’s.   

Notes about John Washington and Anne Pope’s Descendants, our line (pdf)

Col. John Washington was born Feb 1632 in Purleigh, Essex Co., England, son of Rev. Lawrence Washington and Amphyllis Twigden  of Sulgrave, England.   He died 1677 in Washington Parish, Westmoreland Co., VA.    John Washington arrived in Virginia in 1655.   He was a merchant, in partnership with Edward Prescott.    Washington ended the partnership, causing bitter legal disputes with Prescott.   But his fortunes “turned for the better when he is befriended by National Pope, a well seated land owner in Westmoreland County,” who helped young Washington with his debts.   Pope grew fond o f John, and on 1 Dec 1658 he married Anne Pope in Mattox, Westmoreland Co., VA.   In 1664 John purchased from David Anderson 150 acres on the east side of Bridges Creek, later settling on it.  His house was, and the old graveyard is, on this tract.  After him, his son John Washington lived here, while another son, Lawrence, George's grandfather, lived west of Bridges Creek."

The following account is from Dr. Glenn:    

       Nathaniel Pope died 26 Apr 1660, and though his will brought no new land to Anne, it did include a cancellation of John's debt. Bright and ambitious, John slowly began to win honors and carve out an ever larger estate in young Westmoreland County. He served as a trustee of estates, guardian of children, vestryman of Appomattox Parish, Justice of the County Court, lt. col. of the county militia, and member of the House of Burgesses [serving first in 1666, last in 1675-1676]. By 1668 he was busy growing tobacco on holdings that well exceeded 5,000 acres. By 1668 Anne had presented him with five children, of whom three would live to maturity. That year she died, however, and, with three young children John soon took a second wife. His new bride was Anne [maiden name unknown, though often given as Gerrard], the widow Walter Brodhurst and Henry Brett.
       His role as Lt. Col. of the Westmoreland Co. militia embroiled John Washington in a controversy which remains obscure to this day. In early Sept., 1675, Washington was ordered to lead a force of Virginia militia, in cooperation with Maryland forces, against a band of Indians accused of murdering three colonials. During the course of the expedition, five Indians who had surrendered but claimed to be innocent were apparently murdered. The Marylanders and Virginians blamed each other, and conflicting testimonies had left the incident under a dark, obscure cloud.
        It was apparently very soon afterward [in late 1675 or early 1676] Washington's second wife died; there were no children from this union. About the time of Anne [Brett] Washington's death, her sister Frances lost her husband also.  Not surprisingly, particularly in the light of local custom, John and Frances were apparently married soon after a pre-nuptial agreement dated 5/10/1676. That fall Bacon's rebellion struck Virginia like a whirlwind. While Washington's estate suffered some plundering and was temporarily seized by Bacon's supporters, the crisis soon passed and no permanent harm was done. Within a few months, however, John was dead. The approximate date is framed by two events: his attending a meeting about taxes and Bacon's rebellion on 8/14/1677, and his will being admitted to probate on 9/26/1677.

Anne Washington was born ca 1662 in Bridge’s Creek, Westmoreland County, VA, daughter of Col. John Washington and Anne Pope.    She died March 1697 at Great House Point, Westmoreland Co., VA.   In 1680/82 she married Maj. Francis Wright (1656/Aug 1660 Northumberland Co, VA; died 17/23 Jun 1713, Westmoreland County, VA.)    Charles Hoppins’ account of Maj. Wright starts:  "Mr. Francis Wright, gentleman, captain, major, surveyor, attorney, sheriff, and justice of Westmoreland County, is abundantly of record as having increased the excellence of the social position and material independence of his father, Captain Richard Wright...”

“The long intimate friendship between the Wrights and Washington’s suffered a mutual loss in the death of Capt. Lawrence Washington in March, 1698, whose will, naming his deceased sister Anne and her husband Francis Wright, conveys an esteemed impression of the social and intellectual position and material independence of these allied families. The Washington’s at this time resided along Pope's and Mattox (Appomattox) creeks in the northern part of Westmoreland near where the national memorial to the family:

Montross, Westmoreland County, Virginia Deeds & Wills No. 2 pg. 133, etc: "Item I give and bequeath to my sister Anne Wright's children, one man Servant a piece of four or five years to serve or Three Thousand pounds of Tobacco to purchase the same, to be delivered or paid to them when they arrive to the age of twenty years old Item I give that land which I bought of my Brother Francis Wright, being 200 acres lying near Storke's Quarter, to my son John Washington (etc) 11th day of March, 1697-8."

"The Pulpett cloth of velvet bequeathed to Appomattox church by Lawrence Washington was stolen in 1715 and made into breeches, as was related in full by the present author in the William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, Vol. XXVII, No. 1.

Anne (Washington) Wright had died before the date of his will, March 11, 1697-8, hence no bequest to her, and hence the reference of the testator to being buried by the side of my Father and Mother & neare my Brother and Sisters, in the family burying ground on the original Washington estate near Pope's Creek in Washington parish, Westmoreland, where now stands the tall granite shaft erected by an act of Congress.

The death of Anne (Washington)Wright, when aged under thirty-eight, is also established the deed of sale, executed by her only son John Wright and his father, of land she had inherited from her father Col. John Washington, viz: (Montross, Westmoreland county, Virginia. Book entitled Deeds & Wills No. 4 Page. 175).   

Daughter, Anne, supposed to be Francis Wright’s daughter by his second wife, Martha Cox, whom he married about 1709.   I have also seen another son, Richard, but haven’t studied this carefully.     

Ancestry Fan for Francis Wright (pdf)

Maj. John Wright, born 25 Feb 1685/1687 in Westmoreland County, VA; died 1730 in Prince William County, VA, only child of Ann Washington and Maj. Francis Wright..    Charles Hoppin proved beyond question that Anne Washington had a son John Wright (ca 1682-ca 1730) of Prince William County, whose wife was named Dorothy.  John and Dorothy married about 1705.   Although Hoppin hypothesized a surname Awbrey for her, this has since been disproved.  (Parenthetically,  Hoppin  also attributed to Anne Washington a daughter Anne Wright, wife of Gerrard Davis, although this lady actually was the daughter of Francis Wright’s second wife; the husband, Gerrard Davis, can be proved to have been born after 1706.)

Hoppin wrote:   "JOHN WRIGHT, though gentle born and gently reared.... seems from the records like a man who to himself said, "Le me be no assistant for a state, but keep a farm."    "John Wright was a better sportsman than farmer or merchant and more pleased with entertaining than in advancing his political or private fortunes.  That his inheritance was sufficient unto his needs scarcely can be gainsaid.  he bought but little land, and sold a large amount.  Eventually he sold out entirely and removed to another part of Virginia; not to his own personal enhancement but, most fortunately, to the ultimate advantage of his children, especially to his long-lived second son, John.   John Wright, however, neglected no public duty and, as was to be expected, succeeded his father as attorney, sheriff's deputy, surveyor, vestryman and judge; and he is always of record as a "gentleman", maintaining his excellent social position."

John moved (1723) to the newer settlement in the present Price William county, as a pioneer, where one can scarcely doubt he was a first justice and sat at the first court held therefor.  He passed the short remainder of his life in the quiet comfort and enjoyment of his own estate, possessed of fund ample to the indulging of his own social pleasure and for the education and preferment of his two known sons, Francis (who died young)and John, whose long and honorable career confirmed the wisdom and garnered the resulting opportunities of his father's removal from Westmoreland.”  

John and Dorothy Wright had the following children:   

Capt John Wright (1705/07 - 27 Feb 1792)
Francis Wright (Mar 1709 - Abt 1741/1742)

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Capt. John Wright (II), between 1705/1707 Copel Parrish, Lower Machodoc, Westmoreland Co., VA; died 27 Feb 1792 in Fauquier County, VA, was the eldest son of John Wright & Dorothy.    Charles Hoppkin wrote:    "JOHN WRIGHT, gentleman, vestryman, captain, justice and sheriff, was born in the "great house" on the Wright "manour plantation" on the Lower Machodoc peninsula in Westmoreland county, circa 1710, his parents John and Dorothy Wright, having married between 1705 and 1708, and his brother Francis having been born as the eldest son, there being no evidence as to the existence of any daughters of this marriage.   Before exhibiting some of the numerous official records establishing the long life and honorable career of this younger son, who, alone of his father's children, survived to perpetuate the fame and name of this family in Prince William and Fauquier counties, Virginia." (portions not quoted)  

"That John Wright, Gent., though powerless in the face of the law of primogeniture to prevent the sale of that fine estate near the western bank of the Potomac and on the norther side of Powell's run, did not approve the proceeding by his elder brother is fairly evident from subsequent records."
      "[The] track of land to which Capt. John Wright removed in 1741, from the estate of his deceased father three miles north of Dumfries, is situated about twenty miles west of Dumfries.  The fact that Capt. Wright was a lawyer, vestryman and county officer at this time and a judge then or very soon afterward and so continued for thirty years, in addition to being a gentleman-farmer suggests that in removing further away from the county courthouse he must have had a supreme reason.   This reason undoubtedly was that he had married Elizabeth Darnall.  This is no record proof of this marriage; as none is likely to be discovered, the author does no go beyond the expression of his beliefe, hereby set down, that the Elizabeth, named in the will of Capt. John Wright, as his wife, as the daughter of WAUGH DARNALL, Gentl., and sister of the Jeremiah Darnall, Gentl., who accommodated Capt. Wright with a share of the estate of the deceased Waugh Darnall, thus still closer drawing these families together."
      "The records describing him as "Captain" indicate that as a young men he received training in the colonial militia of Virginia, and upon his appointment as a judge in the county court he automatically became a caption in the militia."  "That Captain Wright was not a Tory is certain for his sons William and James were American soldiers in that war, his son John having left Virginia for North Carolina in the year before the war."

John Wright married Elizabeth Bronaugh in 1728, Fauquier County, VA.   Elizabeth was born 1710/1713, died about Abt 1789, Prince William Co., VA.    She was the daughter of Jeremiah Bronaugh.  That he married Elizabeth by 1733 is for certain for one of his sons was old enough to marry in 1753. In  1787 “he, his wife, unmarried daughters Rosamond and Mary, and son James Wright were living together on that remaining portion of the estate that the judge had purchased forty-six years earlier.  Their son William had a separate estate."  
       "Though the longest-lived of any of the Wrights, he maintained, during the reigns of three kings, one queen, a Council of State, and one president the prestige and English characteristics of his ancestors..  "He lived to see his second cousin, George Washington, twenty-two years younger, become the first president of the first genuine republic of the world."  " [he had quite a few children] as he had thirty-three known grandchildren, not counting children by his daughter, Elizabeth, albeit his two other daughters died unmarried."  His will names three sons and three daughters.   
       "By 1741 Capt John Wright embraces the estate of the late Samuel Robinson..." "This tract is described in modern deeds as "the old Major Wright Tract"; ;the major having been James Wright, to whom his father, Capt. John Wright (the first Wright owner of the land) bequeathed this land by his will dated 1 June, 1785."  "This estate remained to the Wright descendants until sold to the said Samuel Robinson on 8 Nov 1847, by the great-great grandchildren of the said Capt. John Wright, namely Granville J. Kellyl and his wife Harriett E.; Elizabeth Taliaferro, John P. Kelly (in the right of Margaret J. Blackwell and Jane P. Kelly."   "ON THIS ESTATE, John Wright and his wife Elizabeth lived for fifty years; in that private burial ground they were interred, as also two of their three daughters and one if not two of their three sons."      He was over 80 years old when he died.   He is buried on his 1000 acre estate, called "Pine View" near Liberty, Virginia.
      "John Wright was the first male member of the Wright family in America to live beyond middle age.  he died shortly before 27 February, 1792, aged over eighty years, leaving a will dated 1 une, 1785.  He repeated in a more extended way the professional careers of his father and grandfather."  "His education adn political preferment were the gift and inheritance from his father, but he soon made his individuality apparent."   "He early entered into public affairs, and as he was a judge of the county court before 1743, he must have served in minor offices before that date."  
    He was the seventh judge, the sixth military officer, the second sheriff, and the seventh "gentleman", successively, in the American history of his ancestry."   Elizabeth was the widow of Waugh Darnall, when she married John.  
      "Well may we recount... that his great-great grandfathers were Lt. Col. Nathaniel Pope, gentleman and justice, and Col. John Mottrom, gentleman, justice, and burgess of the colony of Virginia;  his great-grandfathers were Col. John Washington, gentleman, justice and burgess, and Capt Richard Wright, gentleman and justice; he was second cousin of General George Washington, First President; his grandfather Major Francis Wright was a justice and sheriff, while his father, John, was the sixth successive justice of Westmoreland and a founder of the county of Prince Wililam.   ...."he was a man of dignity and reserve, who held the respect and confidence of men."  

John Wright and Elizabeth Bronaugh had several children, but I have not researched any of those children except for John Wright, III.   Quote:   “John Wright (ca 1705-1792) and Elizabeth had six children, including a son John Wright (ca 1731:32-1789) who moved to Surry County, North Carolina, and had eighteen children.  From him descend most of the Washington Family Descendants’ Wright members.”

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