July 11, 2023
Introduction: In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry continues her series on descendants of the Jamestown settlers, writing more about the family line of George Washington, Melissa is a genealogist who has a blog, AnceStory Archives, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History.
Today I continue with my “Jamestown Descendants: Who’s Who” series, focusing on the Washington and allied family lines who took part in the 200th anniversary celebration of George Washington’s birthday in 1932. The calendar of events was quite impressive: banquets, balls, exhibits, lectures, plays, monuments, and much more.
Although George Washington left no issue, there was still plenty of kinfolk around to honor him. The George Washington Bicentennial Commission coordinating the celebration told the press they collected data on the number of descendants.
My newspaper searches in GenealogyBank’s Historical Newspaper Archives found reports that for the birthday celebration, scores of offshoots besieged the Capitol claiming their blood links to Washington.
The Milwaukee Journal did a full spread on Washington’s kin, which totaled 422 living in 1932.
This article reported:
Who are the descendants of George Washington today? There are none, for when America’s first president died, his passing marked the end of a noble line. He died without issue. But he left plenty of kin to carry on the name of Washington. His living relatives, those actually descended from his own branch of the Washington family tree – from his brothers and sister – number into the thousands, it is estimated by the George Washington Bicentennial Commission, which already has collected data on more than 422 living Washington kin.
And this does not take into account Washington’s maternal relatives, descendants of the famous Ball-Montague line, who are quite an army in themselves. Nor does it consider the many collateral branches of the Washington family, descended from the immigrant John, from whom the Revolutionary hero was sprung, or from his brother, Lawrence, who established another long and numerous line.
The official genealogist for the bicentennial was Rose De Chine Gouverneur Hoes (daughter of Samuel L. Gouverneur and Marian Campbell), the wife of Roswell Randall Hoes Sr. (son of Rev. Dr. John Cantine Farrell Hoes and Lucy Maria Randall). Rose was a writer, lecturer, and a member of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution.
For a full list of the Washington descendants published by the George Washington Bicentennial Commission, see: Americana-Archives.
The Milwaukee Journal article mentioned several of these descendants, including Lt. John Augustine Washington III, Miss Elizabeth Washington, and the family lines of Bushrod Corbin Washington.
Here is another one of the descendants mentioned in the article:
Walter was a descendant of Jamestown’s Ball, Lee, Bayley, Meade, Curle, Page, Hart, Wallace, Shephard, Randolph, Bland, Corbin, Bennett, Royal, Warner, and Calvert lines.
Yet another one of the descendants mentioned in the article:
Anne Washington was the daughter of Lawrence Washington and Frances “Fannie” Willis Lackland. She was a descendant of Jamestown’s Martiau, Ball, Reade, Corbin, Bennett, Lee, Armistead, Fowke, Warner, Offley, Thoroughgood, Graves, Bayley, Cotton, and Page lines. She was one of 12 siblings and there are many descendants.
The next day, the Milwaukee Journal published another article about descendants of the Washington family.
This article reported:
Ten descendants of the Washington family were honored guests at the ceremonies in the House chamber Monday. They were:
Mr. and Mrs. Decourcey W. Thom, Baltimore, Md.; Mr. and Mrs. William [Albert] Smoot, Alexandria, Va.; Mrs. Eleanor Washington Howard and [Miss] Anne Madison Washington, Washington, D.C.; Mr. and Mrs. Frank Tilford, Berryville, Va.; Miss Christine Washington, Charlestown, W. Va.; Dr. John A. Washington, Baltimore, Md.
Scores of others claiming to be descendants of the Washington family besieged Capitol offices futilely seeking preferred places at the bicentennial celebration.
Mrs. Smoot (born Harriet Fuller Ansley) married William Albert Smoot Jr. (born to William Albert Smoot Sr. and Elizabeth Carter McGuire, a direct descendant of Fielding Lewis and Betty Washington, daughter of Augustine Washington and Mary Ball).
Mrs. Howard (born Eleanor Love Seldon Washington to John Augustine Washington and Eleanor Love Seldon) married Julia Smith Howard. The Howards had one daughter, Sarah Smith Howard, who married Hugh Milton Caldwell, leaving descendants. Mrs. Howard was the last Washington daughter to be born at Mount Vernon. She served as regent for the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution’s Mount Vernon Chapter. She was a descendant of John Augustine Washington, Dr. Wilson Cary Selden, Col. Thomas Blackburn, Richard Henry Lee, and William Ball.
The Richmond-Times featured a bicentennial event with Miss Helen Ames Washington, daughter of George Lafayette Washington and Katherine Ames, a descendant of John Augustine Washington and Hannah Bushrod, Samuel Washington and Anne Steptoe.
The photo caption explained that Miss Washington, “Queen Shenandoah,” was holding court with her maids among the blossoms of an orchard, escorted by Ambassador Paul Claudel of France, the guest of honor for the ceremony, “and from whom the fair queen received her crown and scepter.”
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Note on the header image: portrait of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart, 1796. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.
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