![]() Date of Birth: ~1640, Maryland Date of Death: 1668, Westmorland County, Virginia Place of Burial: Washington Family Cemetery at Bridges Creek Anne Pope Washington was the great-grandmother of George Washington. As the wife of John Washington, her connection to the Pope family played a crucial role in establishing the Washington family in Virginia during the 17th century. Anne Pope was born in the colony of Maryland. While her exact birthdate is unknown, clues can be found in the travel documentation of her parents, Nathaniel and Lucy Pope. Nathaniel was a 32-year-old merchant based in Bristol, England, when records indicate he moved to Maryland in 1636. He traveled with five servants and no children, while his wife, Lucy, joined him later in 1639. We can infer that Anne was born shortly after her mother arrived in Maryland. Lucy had at least three other children, giving Anne a younger sister and two younger brothers. During a period of political unrest in Maryland in the 1640s, the Pope family moved across the Potomac River and settled in Virginia. As the daughter of a wealthy landowner and merchant, Anne's marriage was expected to expand family connections in the region. However, her future husband made a rather dramatic entrance into Virginia society. John Washington, a 24-year-old apprentice to a London-based tobacco merchant, arrived in Virginia on a ship called the “Sea Horse” in late 1656. The ship possibly anchored at the mouth of Mattox Creek, not far from the Pope family land. By March of 1657, while loaded and ready to return to England, the Sea Horse ran aground in the brackish waters of the Potomac, soaking the casks of tobacco and ruining the cargo. Nathaniel Pope took notice of the new arrival, and the attention of the region’s most prominent landowner with an unmarried daughter presented John Washington with more opportunities than any amount of tobacco lost on the Sea Horse. The couple married by December of 1657. The nature of Anne and John’s romantic connection is open to speculation. Anne held a higher social and economic status, so she would have had her choice of bachelors seeking to establish themselves in Virginia society. Nevertheless, the marriage was beneficial to Nathaniel, who likely valued John’s education and connections to the London tobacco markets. A common misconception is that Nathaniel granted the young couple seven hundred acres of land along Mattox Neck as a wedding gift. Research into land records reveals that Nathaniel gifted the property to Anne and her heirs, with no mention of John. It was uncommon for women of this era to own property, and the land was probably given to the newly married Anne as a form of security. Nathaniel, in his late fifties, was likely considering how to divide his estate upon his eventual death. The gift of 700 acres from father to daughter was probably intended to provide Anne and her future children with security in the event that she became widowed. The young couple started their family along Mattox Creek. When Nathaniel died in 1660, John and Anne assumed care of Anne’s two younger brothers, who were not yet of age, as well as Anne’s widowed mother, Lucy, in addition to raising their own sons, Lawrence and John Jr. As Anne’s brothers came of age, John purchased property to establish his own homestead and plantation, eventually settling on a site along Bridges Creek, near what is now the reconstructed Washington Family Cemetery. In total, Anne and John had five children together, of whom Lawrence Washington, John Washington Jr., and Anne Washington Wright survived into adulthood. Anne passed away in 1668, outliving John, and was buried near her home along Bridges Creek, where she remains to this day. No records detail the circumstances of her death. Insight into Anne’s life through some of her possessions emerged when John died nine years (and two subsequent marriages) after Anne. One part of his will detailed Anne’s bequest to their daughter. A section in John’s will be stated, “I give unto my said Daughter, which was her mother’s desire and my promise, that cash in a new parlour and the diamond ring and her mother’s rings and the white quilt and the white curtains and vallains.” Wills from the same era are often filled with bequests of livestock, clothing, and land, but few mention ornamental jewelry. John safeguarded this precious gift through two subsequent marriages, a rebel occupation of their home in the 1670s, and remembered his promise to pass the ring on to their daughter, Anne Washington Wright. A diamond was a rare object on the Potomac, indicating how wealthy the Pope-Washington family network had become in Virginia. All the information provided in this article comes from our Historic Resources Study, Upon This Land by Philip Levy, where you can explore more stories connected to the Washington family and the residents of Popes Creek. |
Last updated: January 2, 2025