ldren, John, Augustine and Mildred. The second son,
Augustine, became the father of George Washington. He married Jane
Butler, by whom he had four children--Butler, Lawrence, Augustine and
Jane. His wife died; and two years thereafter, Mary Ball, a young lady
of great beauty, became his second wife. They were married March 6,
1730. Their first child was George, who was born February 22, 1732. Five
other children--Betty, Samuel, John Augustine, Charles and
Mildred--were added to the family.

John Washington, grandfather of Augustine, distinguished himself in
military affairs, and became lieutenant-colonel in the wars against the
Indians. He was one of the largest planters in the colony, and became
one of the most influential men. In time he became a magistrate and a
member of the House of Burgesses. The name of the parish in which he
lived--Washington--was derived from him.

Augustine Washington, father of George, lived on Pope's Creek when the
latter was born, about one-half mile from the Potomac. The house in
which George was born was pulled down or burned before the Revolution.

The site is now designated by a slab, bearing the inscription:

HERE,
ON THE 11TH OF FEBRUARY (OLD STYLE), 1732,
GEORGE WASHINGTON
WAS BORN.

The slab was placed there by George Washington Parke Custis--his
grandson--sixty-seven years ago. Thirty-six years after he performed
the grateful act, he published the following account of it in the
_Alexandria Gazette_:

"In June, 1815, I sailed on my own vessel, the 'Lady of the Lake,' a
fine top-sail schooner of ninety tons, accompanied by two gentlemen,
Messrs. Lewis and Grimes, bound to Pope's Creek, in the county of
Westmoreland, carrying with us a slab of freestone, having the following
inscription:

HERE,
ON THE 11TH OF FEBRUARY, 1732, (OLD STYLE),
GEORGE WASHINGTON
WAS BORN.

"Our pilot approached the Westmoreland shore cautiously (as our vessel
drew nearly eight feet of water), and he was but indifferently
acquainted with so unfrequented a navigation.

"Desirous of making the ceremonial of depositing the stone as imposing
as circumstances would permit, we enveloped it in the 'star-spangled
banner' of our country, and it was borne to its resting place in the
arms of the descendants of four revolutionary patriots and
soldiers--SAMUEL LEWIS, son of George