On February 22, 1732 - February 11 according to the Old Style calendar - a son, George, was born to Augustine Washington and his wife, Mary Ball Washington, on their plantation on Popes Creek in Westmoreland County, Virginia. He would grow up to become a soldier and statesman as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army in the American Revolution, a Founding Father of the United States, and the first President of the United States under the United States Constitution.
In 1747, when Washington was 15 years old, he accompanied his friend, George William Fairfax, on a surveying expedition to the Virginia - now West Virginia - frontier and the headwaters of Patterson Creek, a tributary of the South Branch of the Potomac River. I got to know over 1500 feet of Patterson Creek intimately over the span of a quarter century. It was a great source of recreation, leisure, study and contemplation and a powerful force in shaping my future. I learned of Washington's trip there long after my family sold its interest in the property but my topophilia for the place remained strong. I still think about my response to being on that creek bank and suddenly seeing a teenage boy and his cousin both in colonial dress and slogging midstream around the bend. The creek still speaks our imaginary conversation as its waters tumble through the shallows.
Learn more about the young adventurer who became the father of his country at the following sources:
Sources
Photos and Illustrations:
embossed postcard from the OTR family archives
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