Augustine Washington Jr. (1720 – May 1762) was an American planter, military officer and politician best known for being the half-brother of
George Washington
George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...
.
Early and family life
A member of the
Washington family. He was the third and youngest son of
Augustine Washington and
Jane Butler, and an elder half-brother of
George Washington
George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...
.
[Tyler, Lyon Gardiner, ed]
''Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography''
Volume 1. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1915. . Retrieved July 15, 2011. p. 352.
Augustine Washington Jr. married Anne Aylett at "
Nominy Plantation." She was the daughter and coheiress of
William Aylett of
Westmoreland County, Virginia
Westmoreland County is a County (United States), county located in the Northern Neck of the Virginia, Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, the population sits at 18,477. Its county seat is Montross, Virginia, Montross ...
.
The couple had four children, of whom
William Augustine Washington would follow in his father's footsteps as a planter and during 1788 represented Westmoreland County in the Virginia House of Delegates.
Career
According to the will of his father, Augustine Washington Sr., the land now known as
Mount Vernon first was willed to this man's elder brother
Lawrence Washington. However, the will instructed that in the case Lawrence should die without an heir the property would go to Augustine Jr., provided that he gave the
Popes Creek property, known as "Wakefield", to George Washington. Augustine decided instead to keep the Popes Creek property and so George got the property now known as Mount Vernon.
Westmoreland County voters elected Augustine Jr. as one of their representatives in the
Virginia House of Burgesses following the death of Robert Vaulx on August 24, 1754, and then elected him to the following term, so he served (part-time) from 1754 to 1758.
[Cynthia Miller Leonard, The Virginia General Assembly 1619-1978 (Richmond: Virginia State Library 1978) pp. 85, 87] He also was a member of the
Ohio Company.
In 1753, he inherited his brother Lawrence's share in
Accokeek Furnace near
Stafford, Virginia.
Notes
References
* Tyler, Lyon Gardiner, ed
''Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography'' Volume 1. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1915. . Retrieved July 15, 2011.
External links
Photo of Augustine Washington II's grave marker
{{DEFAULTSORT:Washington, Augustine Jr.
1720 births
1762 deaths
American people of English descent
American people of French descent
Slave owners from the Thirteen Colonies
People from colonial Virginia
Augustine Jr.
People educated at Appleby Grammar School
18th-century American planters