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"Many a Mickle Makes a Muckle": George Washington's Scottish Connections

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" "Many a Mickle Makes a Muckle": George Washington's Scottish Connections A Talk by Mary V. Thompson Research Specialist Mount Vernon Ladies' Association To the Clan McAllister of America At the Double-Tree Hotel Falls Church, Virginia Friday, July 2, 2004 Revised slightly, 7/6/2004 As we begin today, I'd like you to picture in your mind some still photographs of scenes from George Washington's life (Iknow the camera hadn't been invented yet, but please just humor me for a minute). There is George Washington, the quintessential American-strong, rugged, exhibiting both physical and moral bravery, as he crossed an ice-choked river to surprise the Hessians at Trenton during the Revolution. Or there is George Washington, the Southern gentleman, entertaining guests in his beautiful mansion or recklessly following his hounds as they chased a wily fox across the fields. Yet again, there is also Washington the elder statesman on the dollar bill, a firm leader, filled with wisdom gained through a long life in public service. In a way, all these snapshots of Washington are true, but when you animate these scenes by adding sound and action to the pictures, you might well hear Scottish voices as you listen to the dialogue. While Washington's own Scottish ancestry is a bit questionable, many of his friends, employees, and admirers were I undoubtedly from that country and I thought it might be fun to look at Washington's life, with a focus on those individuals. When he was contacted by an Englishman about his genealogy, George Washington wrote that this was a subject "to which I confess I have paid very little attention. My time has been so much occupied in the busy and active scenes oflife from an early period of it that but a small portion of it could have been devoted to researches of this nature, even if my inclination or particular circumstances should have prompted the enquiry."? While genealogy may not have been a subject of great interest to him, there have been a number of attempts by others to trace Washington's ancestry back as far as it is possible to go. In 1879, a man named Albert Welles, who was the President of the American College for Genealogical Registry and Heraldry, published his version, under the title The Pedigree and History of the Washington Family: Derivedfrom Odin, the Founder of Scandinavia, B. C. 70, Involving a Period of Eighteen Centuries, and Including Fifty-five Generations, Down to General George Washington, First President of the United States. Among those legendary ancestors from the mists of time was Torfidur, who became Earl of the Orkneys in the year 942 and married Grelota, the daughter of Dungad, the Earl of Caithness. Their third son, Lodver, succeeded his father as Earl of I George Washington to Sir Isaac Heard, 5/2/1792, The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources, 1745-1799, 39 volumes, edited by John C. Fitzpatrick (Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1931-1944),32:32. 2 ,. the Orkneys. Lodver's son, Sigurd, was also Earl ofthe Orkney Isles and manied a woman named Thora, who was the daughter of Malcolm, the King of Scotland.' So, depending on how reliable you take those very early records to be, Washington may well have descended from the Scottish king depicted in William Shakespeare's memorable tragedy, MacBeth. 3 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), anived in Virginia. 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, as long as Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) and Parliament were in control ofthe government, so they had set out to make their fortunes in the colonies. Both quickly established themselves, volunteering for public service and marrying well, as stepping-stones to advancement. Following the restoration of Charles II (1630-1685) to the English throne, John Washington and a friend named Nicholas Spencer (died 1689) were honored in 1674 with a grant from the king of a 5,000-acre property along the Potomac River, which would be known for the next few decades as Little Hunting Creek Plantation. 2 Albert Welles, The Pedigree and History of the Washington Family: Derived from Odin, the Founder of Scandinavia, B. C. 70, Involving a Period of Eighteen Centuries, and Including Fifty-five Generations, Down to General George Washington, First President of the United States (New York: Society Library, 1879), xx. 3 John Washington's great-grandson, George Washington (1731- 1799), was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, in February of 1732, as the eldest child of the second marriage of a man named Augustine Washington (1694-1743). As a small boy, George Washington would move several times, between farms owned by his father in different parts of the colony, including the Little Hunting Creek property. His father's death, when the little boy was only eleven, meant that he would never have the English education enjoyed by his older half-brothers, a lack he would feel keenly in later years. Schooled in Virginia, he seems to have spent much of his teenage years bouncing between the homes of his mother, his two older half-brothers, and his cousins. One of those half- brothers, Lawrence Washington (1718-1752), had had an early military career and made his home at Little Hunting Creek, the property he inherited from their father, and soon renamed "Mount Vernon," in honor of his former commander in the British Navy. Lawrence married into the very prominent Fairfax family of Belvoir Plantation, and it was through those connections that George Washington began to make his way in the world. One very useful connection acquired through Lawrence's in-laws was a Scottish merchant named John Carlyle (1720-1780), who lived in the nearby town of Alexandria and, as a member ofthe Ohio Company, shared the Washingtons' strong interest in western exploration. Carlyle 4 was married to Sarah Fairfax (1730-1761), who was Lawrence's sister-in- law, and would become a friend to his younger brother, George, as well.4 At the age of sixteen, George Washington served as a member of a party surveying the western lands belonging to Thomas, Lord Fairfax (1693-1781), a trip, which introduced him to frontiersmen, Native Americans, and life in the wilderness. Over the next few years, he continued working as a surveyor, but also accompanied Lawrence, who was dying of tuberculosis, to the island of Barbados, in the hopes of curing, or at least improving, his condition. This would be Washington's only trip outside of what is now the continental United States and was memorable, as well, because he caught smallpox on the island, rendering him immune from this disease, which would later threaten his army during the American Revolution. It was during this period in George Washington's life that the town of Alexandria, Virginia, which still considers itself his hometown, was founded. About the time of his birth, a warehouse had been constructed at the spot where Great Hunting Creek flowed into the Potomac River; here tobacco and other agricultural products could be brought from neighboring plantations, before shipping those commodities to Britain for sale. Over the intervening years, a little village, known as Belle Haven, had grown up , W.W, Abbot and Dorothy Twohig, editors, The Papers of George Washington, Colonial Series, 10 volumes (Charlottesville, Virginia, and London: University Press of Virginia, 1983-1995), 1:66n, 5 ---- --------- around the warehouse and, in 1748, the residents petitioned the Virginia House of Burgesses for permission to officially establish a town. The Burgesses agreed to the petition, declaring that the proposed town, "would be commodious for trade and navigation, and tend greatly to the best advantage of frontier inhabitants." Many of the early proprietors of the community were Scottish merchants, with business connections to firms in Glasgow, and it was decided that the town would be called Alexandria, after one of them-the Alexander family, who provided much ofthe land on which it was built. The Fairfax County surveyor, John West, Jr. (died 1777), laid out the town's streets in the summer of 1749 and there is a long-standing tradition that he was assisted in this task by seventeen year old George Washington, who proudly drew a street plan for his older half- brother, Lawrence.5 Alexandria still cherishes its Scottish roots and each December celebrates that heritage with a several-day long festival known as the Scottish Walk. Shortly after Lawrence's death in 1752, George Washington became involved in the conflict between Britain and France, which was playing out in the forests of what is now Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. After taking part in an important diplomatic mission for the governor of Virginia, Washington's journal about the 'Gay Montague Moore, Seaport in Virginia: George Washington's Alexandria (Richmond, Virginia: Garrell and Massie, Incorporated, 1949),3-13; Mary G. Powell, The History of Old Alexandria, Virginia From July 13, 1749 to May 24, 1861 (Richmond, Virginia: The William Byrd Press, Inc., Printers, 1928), 27. 6 mission was published on both sides of the Atlantic, bringing this young man in his early twenties international acclaim. British General Edward Braddock (1695-1755) came to Alexandria in 1755 to plan the first major campaign of what we now call the French and Indian War. On April 14, 1755, the General met at John Carlyle's home with the royal governors of Virginia, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Massachusetts to discuss their mutual defense against the French and their Native American allies.
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