{"id":56295,"date":"2020-02-17T11:26:55","date_gmt":"2020-02-17T16:26:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=56295"},"modified":"2023-09-27T11:38:30","modified_gmt":"2023-09-27T15:38:30","slug":"are-you-related-to-george-washington","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/are-you-related-to-george-washington.html","title":{"rendered":"Are You Related to George Washington?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/em><\/strong> In this article, to help celebrate the federal holiday Washington\u2019s Birthday, Gena Philibert-Ortega searches old newspapers to find claims of relation to George Washington. Gena is a genealogist and author of the book \u201cFrom the Family Kitchen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

One of the legends on my dad\u2019s side of the family is that we are related to President George Washington through his sister Betty Washington Lewis. Now to be honest, I have never seen any evidence that this is true \u2013 but we can go into that family legend in another blog article. Having had this claim in my own family, I started to wonder about other people\u2019s claims of Washington relationships.<\/p>\n

\"Illustration:<\/a>
Illustration: portrait of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart, 1796. Credit: Clark Art Institute; Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Historical newspapers contain numerous mentions of people claiming a familial relationship to George Washington. Whether these people\u2019s stories are fact or fiction requires further research, but just the newspaper articles themselves provide for some fascinating reading.<\/p>\n

Related to Washington<\/strong><\/p>\n

This 1898 newspaper article about Major Ebenezer Burgess Ball states that he had been declared by the lineage society \u201cSons of the American Revolution\u201d to be the nearest living relative of Washington, and that he had a \u201cremarkable personal resemblance.\u201d The newspaper reports:<\/p>\n

\u201cAt first sight his picture is nearly always taken for a likeness of General Washington. Mary Ball, the mother of Washington, was a cousin of Col. Burgess Ball, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In addition to his famous family, Major Ball also led an interesting life; he \u201cwent west and became famous as an Indian fighter and California pioneer\u201d as well as serving in the Confederate Army during the Civil War.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Butte Weekly Miner (Butte, Montana), 24 February 1898, page 8<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When Ball died two years later, his relationship to Washington was mentioned again in obituaries.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Dallas Morning News (Dallas, Texas), 13 April 1900, page 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Another lineage society, \u201cSociety of the Cincinnati,\u201d had their own claim to a Washington descendant in one William Lanier Washington. William Washington\u2019s descent was from Augustine Washington 2nd, the eldest half-brother of George Washington. This 1915 newspaper article reports that:<\/p>\n

\u2018The genealogical table of William Lanier Washington shows that he is the ninth in direct male descent from Colonel John Washington, the first American member of the family.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The article ends by stating that although William was married, he had no sons to \u201cinherit his status.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Evening News (San Jose, California), 19 February 1915, page 4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Obviously, depending on the lineage society, tracing one\u2019s self back to American colonial days is important. This Washington relative, Mrs. C. E. Buck of Texas, was a member of \u201cColonial Dames of the 17th Century\u201d and \u201cDaughters of the American Revolution.\u201d She claimed to be George Washington\u2019s third cousin, three times removed. Her 4X great aunt, Ann Pope, was married to Col. John Washington. Their son, Lawrence Washington, was grandfather to the president. Mrs. Buck was a genealogist, and this 1948 newspaper article ends with saying that: \u201cTracing her ancestry is Mrs. Buck\u2019s No. 1 hobby and consumes a great deal of her time.\u201d I think many of us can relate to that!<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Corpus Christi Caller-Times (Corpus Christi, Texas), 22 February 1948, page 20<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Even in Death<\/strong><\/p>\n

A relationship to Washington wasn\u2019t something that only the living bragged about. It was also mentioned in death notices of the recently deceased. Take for example this 1903 mention of Maryland resident Mrs. Louise Ancrum Cruger in a Nebraska newspaper:<\/p>\n

\u201cHer father was the late James Hassell Ancrum, and her mother was Miss Jane Washington, a great granddaughter of Colonel William Washington, a first cousin of George Washington.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"An<\/a>
Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, Nebraska), 4 February 1903, page 5<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

How Do You Know You\u2019re Related?<\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s no doubt that many Americans claim to be related to President George Washington, but even non-Americans can claim familial relationships. For example, Queen Elizabeth in this 1957 newspaper article is said to be Washington\u2019s \u201csecond cousin seven times removed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Knoxville News-Sentinel (Knoxville, Tennessee), 17 October 1957, page 13<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So, you\u2019ve heard the stories and you\u2019re wondering if you are related to George Washington, or for that matter any president of the United States. What do you do? You\u2019ll want to take some time to trace your family lineage and the family tree of the president. In the case of presidents, there are a lot of online family trees and resources to help you.* One book you may wish to consult is Gary Boyd Roberts\u2019 Ancestors of American Presidents<\/em>. Just remember that as you work on proving (or disproving) this connection, you will need to verify and evaluate all facts, especially those without a source citation.<\/p>\n

Note:<\/em><\/strong> An online collection of newspapers, such as GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a>, is a great way to research your own family history, and investigate some of those rumors of famous connections. Does your family lore include a possible link to George Washington?<\/p>\n

* \u201cPresidential Family Trees,\u201d ThoughtCo (https:\/\/www.thoughtco.com\/presidential-family-trees-1422297<\/a>: accessed 3 February 2020).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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