Posts Tagged ‘George Augustine Washington’

Washington Hall Mansion Before its Fiery End

Monday, May 23rd, 2011
Washington Hall

Washington Hall

On May 3rd, I had the honor of giving a presentation on The Washingtons of Wessyngton Plantation to the Austin Peay Women’s Book Club in Clarksville, Tennessee.  To my surprise, one of the book club members presented me with a photo of Washington Hall taken in 1965 a few months before it burned.

George Augustine Washington Jr. and his wife Marina “Queenie” Woods, began construction on the magnificent home in 1896.  Washington Hall was a three-story white brick mansion with forty-four rooms.  In its heyday Washington Hall was one of the showplaces in the South, where some of the crowned heads of Europe had been entertained.

In 1965 the Washington Hall mansion burned to the ground.  The grand entrance gate is the only remnant of its former glory.

How Did Your Story Begin?

Tuesday, April 28th, 2009
Your Tennessee Social Studies Textbook

Your Tennessee Social Studies Textbook

My story began when I was in the seventh grade. While flipping through my social studies textbook I spotted a photograph of four former slaves, entitled “Black Tennesseans.” For some reason I kept being drawn to the photo and would look at it each time I went to class. Soon afterwards my grandmother told me that the two people seated in the photograph were her paternal grandparents, Emanuel and Henny Washington, who were enslaved on Wessyngton Plantation. That discovery led me on a thirty year journey of researching my family and all the others connected to the plantation.

Would you share a story of how your research began with others?  Please send a short e-mail telling me about it.  Also please let me know if I could post the story on my blog.  I would not post your name or e-mail address. Thank you. john@johnbakerbooks.com