Evening Star Newspaper, March 22, 1931, Page 83

THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, MARCH 22, 1931. : 11 et e e WASHINGTON’S MOTHER BECAME A BRIDE: ' ARCH 17, 1931, was the bicenten- nia] wedding day of Mary Bal / and Augustine Washington. The only known record of -the .fact is an entry in Mary Ball Wash- ington’s Bible, which some historians say may have been writt™n by her illustrious son George. The date as originally stated is March 6, but that is without the addition of the same 11 ters, other documents, nothing to add to this simple statement, and if Mary Washingion gave to her descendants any detafls of the affair or any scraps of her wed- ding gown, thcy have yet to be discovered by the historian. Unfortunately, in 1731 the so- ciety column of the daily newspapers had not been invented—in fact, there was no news- paper in all Virginia at that early date. Yet the event must have been of some importance even 200 yea's £go, and from the few facts at our disposal we can imagine a soclety reporter of 1931 experiznce composing a wedding potice along such lines as thite: “On March 17, 1731, occurred a marriage of special interest throughout the Northern Neck of Virginia, uniting, as it did, one of the most attractive young ladies of the colony and the son of one of its most distinguished families— Miss Mary Ball and Augustine Washington, gentleman. The beautiful ring ceremony was_ used. . “The bride is the daughter of the late Joseph Ball of Epping Forest and graddaughter of Col. William Ball, who settled in Lancaster County about the middle of the ‘seventeenth century and did much to help develop the After th2 death of her mother in 1721 tutelage of Maj. George Eskridge of Sandy Point. She has been aptly called the ‘Rose of Lancaster’ and is an accomplished horsewoman. ““The groom is the son of the late Maj. Law- rence Washington, who was for many years member from Westmoreland of the Virgidia House of Burgesses. In the early days his grandfather, Joh.. Washington, was associated with Col. William Ball in protecting the colony from Indian depredations. Through his mother Mr, Washington is d2s>2nded from the Warners, another pipneer Virginia family, and was named for his maternal grandfather, Augustine War- ner, member of the King's Council. Like his father, Mr. Washington received his education at Appleby, England, spending & number of years at school in the mother country. His first wife, who died in 1729, was Jane Butler, daughter of the Honorable Caleb Butler. The rl'h-lebnyuntnommldmht that reference to the “Rose of Lancaster,” although there seems to be no tangible infor- for the biographer of Mary, the mother of Washington. Whether or not this Mary was ever known during her lifetime as the “Rose of Lancaster” or the “Bel'e of the Northern Neck,” there are documents to prove that much of her girlhood was identified with the five counties between the Potomac and the Rappahannock rivers, known as the Northern Neck of Virginia. The Col. William Ball mentioned by our reporter settled in the southern part of Lancaster County in 1657. His place was called Millen- beck, and there is today a small town of that on the banks of the Corotoman River. L 200 Years Ago 1his Month No Authentic Record of Where the Cere- mony Took Place—Many Romantic Fictions About Mary Ball Washing- ton’s Early Life. basis of some of the most romantic stories con< cerning Mary’s courtship and marriage. Ace trip at the time Mary Ball is a visitor in her brother’s English home. Fate, masquerading perhaps as a runaway horse, introduces the two young people, a marriage is soon arranged, and the bride and bridegroom are given a cot- tage in Cookham, England, for their honeymoon. made some business trips to England during his life, and Joseph did have a home in that country, but no other evidence has been found to support this pretty story. f? we must”“discount the story of the May- blossom cheeks and the flaxen hair, do we know anything more about the bride’s appear- ance than we do about the scene of the wed- ding? Several portraits have been presented to help us out in this direction, and one of them has to dv with the supposed honeymoon cottage at Cookham. It was there that a paint- ing was discovered nearly 150 years ago which its owner claimed was a portrait of Mrs, Wash- ington, the mother of Gen. Washington. The lady portrayed was lovely and youthful, with & “shadow of gold” dress, delicate complexion, blue eyes and abundant tresses, and the work was ascribed to Thomas Hudson, an English painter of some note who had a Summer home near Cookham. When first seen in America the picture was not unreservedly accepted as authentic, but ‘about 1871 it was purchased by Prof. Samuel F. B. Morse, who with the historian Benson with the growth of the colony. in many business ventures, ] i are many tombstones in the church- ; 5 . the Ball name, Joseph, one of " i ¢ William’s sons, established a Virginis home S — - el the e county, although he had been in England and some of his children 23k g g : Mary Ball Washington. Drawing made from the so-called Middleton portrait. BY JENNY GIRTON WALKER. : find records of Mary's mother as the wife and bullt in 1706 and one of the oldest churches e 4] and the date of Mary’s birth is placed by Mr. Hoppin in November, 1708. PAINBTAKING researches in many county records have brought together a few definite facts about her early life. In Lancaster Court - House, for instance, may be seen her father's will, dated just befocre his death, in 1711. It names his wife’s daughter, Eliza Johnson, by which we learn that Mary's mother had been - a widow, and gives to his daughter Mary several of land on “ye freshes of ye Rappahan- ‘few years later and a little farther north, Richmond and Westmoreland Counties, we until her wedding day, as they include land, riding horses, jewelry, clothing, a personal servant, table linen “marked M. B. in inck,” and other house furnishings. ‘We know that she is placed by her mother’s will under the care of George Eskridge, a prom- inent and much loved man of the neighborhood, that the chief witness to the will 1726 nothing more do we until the marriage date y. If it was & church wed- . Mary’s White Chapel, in , already mentioned as the church of Ball family, and there is old Yeocomico, still preserved in Virginia. It is located near in 1732 or 1733. ‘The fact that this brother had another home near London, England, has been made tihwe