William Nash and George Washington

Tuesday, September 4 and Wednesday, September 5, 2012

One of the primary reasons we embarked on the trip to the East Coast was to do some genealogical research on a William Nash, one of Meriam’s ancestors (he is also one of Weldon Nash’s ancestors.) We knew William arrived in America in 1635 and married another immigrant (Anne Hopkins). However, by researching the archived in the Newumberland County Court (Virginia) and the Newumberland Historical Society, we were able to located original documents which not only confirmed the above information but also confirmed he owned a total of over 1300 acres on both sides of the Great Wicomico River, was appointed as a county official and farmed tobacco. The documents we discovered included his will, estate inventory and records of land sales/purchases.

While researching this material, we discovered George Washington was born within 20 miles of William’s property. This whole area of Virginia is known as the Northern Neck. It is interesting (at least to us) that William arrived in the New World 16 years earlier than George’s Great Grandfather (know as “the Washington Immigrant”)!

After completing the Nash research we visited the George Washington Birthplace Historical Monument. While none of the structures on the site are original,we were still able to get a feel of what it would be like to be a Gentlemen tobacco like William Nash, George Washinton, his father and grandfather.

All the postings so far has really given us a sense of what it was like for our earliest American ancestors.