Washington was not, like Franklin, of humble origin; neither can he strictly be classed with those aristocrats who inherited vast landed estates in Virginia during the eighteenth century, and who were ambitious of keeping up the style of living common to wealthy country gentlemen in England at that time.  And yet the biographers of Washington trace his family to the knights and squires who held manors by grant of kings and nobles of England, centuries ago.  About the middle of the seventeenth century John and Lawrence Washington, two brothers, of a younger branch of the family, both Cavaliers who had adhered to the fortunes of Charles I., emigrated to Virginia, and purchased extensive estates in Westmoreland County, between the Potomac and the Rappahannock rivers.  The grandson of one of these brothers was the father of our hero, and was the owner of a moderate plantation on Bridges Creek, from which he removed, shortly after the birth of his son, George, in 1732, to an estate in Stafford County, opposite Fredericksburg.

It was here that the early years of Washington were passed, in sports and pleasures peculiar to the sons of planters.  His education was not entirely neglected, but beyond reading, writing, and arithmetic, his youthful attainments were small.  In general knowledge he was far behind the sons of wealthy farmers in New England at that time,—­certainly far behind Franklin when a mere apprentice to a printer.  But he wrote a fair, neat, legible hand, and kept accounts with accuracy.  His half-brother Lawrence had married a relative of Lord Fairfax, who had settled in Virginia on the restoration of Charles II.  Lawrence was also the owner of the estate of Mount Vernon, on the Potomac,—­the wealthiest member of his family, and a prominent member of the Virginia House of Burgesses.  Through this fortunate brother, George became intimate with the best families in Virginia.  His associates were gentlemen of position, with whom he hunted and feasted, and with whose sisters he danced, it is said, with uncommon grace.

In person, young Washington was tall,—­over six feet and two inches,—­his manners easy and dignified, his countenance urbane and intelligent, his health perfect, his habits temperate, his morals irreproachable, and his sentiments lofty.  He was a model in all athletic exercises and all manly sports,—­strong, muscular, and inured to exposure and fatigue.  He was quick and impetuous in temper, a tendency which he early learned to control.  He was sullied with none of the vices then so common with the sons of planters, and his character extorted admiration and esteem.