Augustine Washington Jr. (1720 – 1762) was an American planter, military officer and politician best known for being the half-brother of

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

Early and family life

A member of the

Washington family The Washington family is an American family of English origins that was part of both the British landed gentry and the American gentry. It was prominent in colonial America and rose to great economic and political eminence especially in the Col ...

. He was the third and youngest son of

Augustine Washington Augustine Washington Sr. (November 12, 1694 – April 12, 1743) was the father of the first U.S. president, George Washington. He served as an officer in the British Navy during the War of Jenkin's Ear although he belonged to the Colony of Virg ...

and Jane Butler, and an elder half-brother of

.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 located in the Northern Neck of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population sits at 18,477. Its county seat is Montross. History As originally established by the Virginia colony's ...

. The couple had four children, of whom

William Augustine Washington William Augustine Washington (November 25, 1757 – October 2, 1810) was a Virginia planter and officer who served one term in the Virginia House of Delegates representing Westmoreland County, as well as terms as colonel of the county militia ...

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 Mount Vernon is an American landmark and former plantation of Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States George Washington and his wife, Martha. The estate is on ...

first was willed to this man's elder brother

Lawrence Washington Laurence or Lawrence Washington may refer to: *Laurence Washington (MP for Maidstone) (1546–1619), Member of Parliament (MP) for Maidstone *Lawrence Washington (1622–1662), MP for Malmesbury *Lawrence Washington (1565–1616), Mayor of Northam ...

. 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 The House of Burgesses was the elected representative element of the Virginia General Assembly, the legislative body of the Colony of Virginia. With the creation of the House of Burgesses in 1642, the General Assembly, which had been established ...

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 The Ohio Company, formally known as the Ohio Company of Virginia, was a land speculation company organized for the settlement by Virginians of the Ohio Country (approximately the present U.S. state of Ohio) and to trade with the Native Americ ...

. In 1753, he inherited his brother Lawrence's share in

Accokeek Furnace Accokeek Furnace Archeological Site is a historic archaeological site located near Stafford, Stafford County, Virginia. The Principio Company of Cecil County, Maryland, constructed the Accokeek Iron Furnace about 1726 on land leased from Augu ...

near

Stafford, Virginia Stafford is a census-designated place (listed as Stafford Courthouse) in and the county seat of Stafford County in the northern part of the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. The population of Stafford County as of the 2010 United States Census w ...

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 1764 deaths American people of English descent American people of French descent American planters American slave owners British North American Anglicans Virginia colonial people Augustine Jr. People educated at Appleby Grammar School