George Washington George Washington was born on his father’s estate in Westmoreland County, Virginia, on February 22, 1732. He was the oldest son of a hardworking Virginia farmer, Augustine Washington, by his second wife, Mary Ball. The Washington family got their name from two brothers, John and Lawrence Washington, who emigrated from England to Virginia in 1657. The families became rich in three generations and it was the result of steady commitment to farming, land buying, and development of local industries. Young George got his most education of farming from his father and, after the father’s death in 1743, fr