We have little note of the Sulgrave branch of the family after the death of
Charles I. and the exile of his successor. England, during the
protectorate, became an uncomfortable residence to such as had signalized
themselves as adherents to the house of Stuart. In 1655, an attempt at a
general insurrection drew on them the vengeance of Cromwell. Many of their
party who had no share in the conspiracy, yet sought refuge in other lands,
where they might live free from molestation. This may have been the case
with two brothers, John and Andrew Washington, great-grandsons of the
grantee of Sulgrave, and uncles of Sir Henry, the gallant defender of
Worcester. John had for some time resided at South Cave, in the East Riding
of Yorkshire; [Footnote: South Cave is near the Humber. "In the vicinity is
Cave Castle, an embattled edifice. It has a noble collection of paintings,
including a portrait of General Washington, whose ancestors possessed a
portion of the estate."--_Lewes, Topog. Dict._ vol. i., p. 530.] but
now emigrated with his brother to Virginia; which colony, from its
allegiance to the exiled monarch and the Anglican Church had become a
favorite resort of the Cavaliers. The brothers arrived in Virginia in 1657,
and purchased lands in Westmoreland County, on the northern neck, between
the Potomac and Rappahannock rivers. John married a Miss Anne Pope, of the
same county, and took up his residence on Bridges Creek, near where it
falls into the Potomac. He became an extensive planter, and, in process of
time, a magistrate and member of the House of Burgesses. Having a spark of
the old military fire of the family, we find him, as Colonel Washington,
leading the Virginia forces, in co-operation with those of Maryland,
against a band of Seneca Indians, who were ravaging the settlements along
the Potomac. In honor of his public services and private virtues the parish
in which he resided was called after him, and still bears the name of
Washington. He lies buried in a vault on Bridges Creek, which, for
generations, was the family place of sepulture.