George Washington was born on February 22, 1732 on Popes Creek Farm in Westmoreland County, Virginia. The family George was born into consisted of his father, Augustine Washington, his mother, Mary Washington, and five brothers and sisters: Betty, Samuel, John Augustine, Charles and Mildred. There were also three other older children from his father’s first marriage to Jane Butler, who died in 1729: thirteen year-old Lawrence,twelve year-old Augustine and nine year-old Jane.When George was almost three, his family moved to the large, undeveloped plantation that was later called Mount Vernon. George’s only playmates were his younger sister and brothers. They had no neighbors that lived close by, but George was kept busy by exploring the nearby woods and helping out with the farm work as best as he could. He saw little of his father, who made many trips to his ironworks about thirty miles away. When George was nearly seven years old, his father decided to move to the 260- acre Ferry Farm, on some of Augustine Washington’s land on the Rappahannock River across from the town of Fredericksburg, Virginia. Most of the work done around the eight room house and in the fields was done by slaves. Augustine provided food, clothing, and homes for these people, but he did not have to pay them anything. Soon after George and his family moved to Ferry Farm, George began his schooling, which consisted of learning to read and write and do arithmetic. Arithmetic was George’s favorite subject. He wrote his lessons in ink on heavy paper. His mother then sewed the paper into notebooks. George studied enough history and geography to know many things about the outside world. Altogether George had no more than seven or eight years of schooling. By the time he ended his schoolwork at the age of fourteen or fifteen, George could keep business accounts, write clear letters and do simple figuring. George’s father had pr...
