George Steptoe Washington

George Steptoe Washington (August 17, 1771 - January 10, 1809) was a planter, militia officer and nephew of the first President of the United States George Washington.

George Steptoe Washington was born August 17, 1771 at Harewood, his father's plantation in Berkeley County, Virginia (now Jefferson County in West Virginia) the fourth of seven children (but the eldest surviving son) born to Samuel Washington and his fourth wife, Anne Steptoe.

George Steptoe Washington was named for his uncle, President George Washington, while his middle name came from that of his mother's family. George had four brothers and two sisters (as well as several half-brothers and sisters):

• 1. Ferdinand Washington (July 15, 1767-February 1788)
  2. Frederick Augustus Washington (June 4, 1768 – April 23, 1769)
  3. Lucinda Washington (November 29, 1769 – November 3, 1770)
  4. George Steptoe Washington
  5. Lawrence Augustine Washington (April 11, 1774 – February 15, 1824)
  6. Harriet Washington (August 2, 1776 – January 3, 1822)
  7. Thomas Washington (1778–1838)

After his father's death, he, along with brother Lawrence Augustine and sister Harriot, went to live with their uncle George Washington for a time. The future president paid for him and his brother to be educated at Georgetown academy, where according to historian Ron Chernow, "they were wild and uncontrollable and a constant trial to Washington".

George would, after his father's death in 1781, eventually inherit the plantation of Harewood, as well as other properties in what is now West Virginia. While, for a time, he would study law in Philadelphia with Edmund Randolph, the young George Steptoe Washington would serve as his uncle's secretary. The younger Washington was a source of some worry and much expense to his uncle (who supported him and his younger brother Lawrence, and paid for their education), who sent letters of encouragement and, occasionally of reproof.

While in Philadelphia in 1793, George, who was twenty-two years of age, eloped with Lucy Payne, a sister of future First Lady Dolley Madison. Lucy was only fifteen, and a member of the Society of Friends, who disowned her because of her marriage. The families reconciled, and later Lucy's mother Mary Coles Payne, would bring the younger Payne children to Harewood to live with the Washingtons. The parlor of Harewood was the site of the marriage of James Madison and Dolley Payne Todd in 1794.

George and Lucy had four children:

• George Washington (b. & d. 1796).
• Samuel Walter Washington, M.D. (March 20, 1797 – October 12, 1831), married Louisa Clemson (September 4, 1805-After 1860) and had three children:
  • Lucy Elizabeth Washington (July 24, 1823), married John Bainbridge Packett (February 18, 1817 – November 18, 1872); had issue.
  • Christian Maria Washington (December 16, 1826 – June 10, 1895), married Richard Blackburn Washington (December 11, 1822 – October 15, 1910), a relative of hers; had issue.
  • Annie S.C. Washington (September 8, 1831 – July 19, 1911), married Thomas Augustus Brown; had issue:
    • Forrest Washington Brown (1855–1934), married Emma Beverly Tucker; no issue.
• William Temple Washington (July 16, 1800 – April 20, 1877), married Margaret Calhoun Fletcher (1805-January 9, 1865); had issue:
  • Jane Washington (June 29, 1834-?), married Thomas Gascoigne Moncure (February 24, 1837 – July 5, 1906); no issue.
  • Lucy Washington (October 8, 1822 – October 17, 1825)
  • Millissent Fowler Washington (August 4, 1824 – November 17, 1893), married Robert Grier McPherson( March 26, 1819 – November 13, 1899); had issue.
  • William Temple Washington, Jr. (January 7, 1827-?)
  • Thomas West Washington (March 17, 1829 – April 12, 1868)
  • Eugenia Scholay Washington (June 24, 1838 – November 30, 1900)
  • Ferdinand Steptoe Washington (January 22, 1843 – August 22, 1912)
• George Steptoe Washington, Jr. (1806-October 13, 1831), married Gabriella Augusta Hawkins, no children.

Richard Blackburn Washington was the great-grandson of John Augustine Washington who was a younger brother of George and Samuel Washington and the uncle of George Steptoe Washington. Richard B. Washington was therefore Christian's third cousin. After his father (John Augustine Washington II)'s death in 1832, Richard inherited the plantation of Blakeley in Jefferson County, West Virginia, but, in 1875, would sell Blakeley and move to Harewood.

George Steptoe Washington was actively involved in the operation of his Harewood plantation, and bought and sold a number of parcels of land in Virginia and elsewhere. He also served in the militia, rising to the rank of Major.

On January 10, 1809, George Steptoe Washington died of consumption at the age of thirty-seven in Augusta, Georgia, where he had gone to establish another plantation. His widow subsequently married Judge Thomas Todd, who was an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Their wedding was the first ever to be held in the White House. Todd died in 1826, and Lucy died at the age of 74 in 1846.