_George Washington_ On February 11 (Old Style), 1732—when jasmine and jonquils were beginning to bloom and dark purple berries were forming on the native “cedar” trees—Mary Ball Washington gave birth to her first child, a boy she named George. The time was about 10 o’clock in the morning. At a later date the event was recorded with brevity in the family Bible: George Washington son to Augustine & Mary his Wife was Born ye 11th Day of February 1731/2 about 10 in the Morning & was Baptis’d the 5th of April following Mr. Beverley Whiting & Capt Christopher Brookes godfathers and Mrs. Mildred Gregory godmother. The date, “11th Day of February,” was “Old Style.” By the Gregorian calendar, adopted by Great Britain in 1752 and now in use in the United States, the date was February 22, 1732, “New Style.” The place where George was baptized on the 5th of April is unknown, although the christening probably took place in the Popes Creek home. If not there, it may have occurred at Mattox Church (located at Church Point about 2½ miles away) or at Round Hill Church about 16 miles from the Popes Creek home by road. The Reverend Roderick McCullough was the minister in charge of the Episcopal churches in Washington Parish in 1732, but of his actual administering of the rite there is no record. Very little is known about the godparents. A Beverley Whiting served as a burgess from Gloucester County, and a Christopher Brooke was captain of a Virginia ship, the _Cambridge_, but there is no evidence that these men were the ones, with similar names, recorded in the family Bible. The godmother, Mildred Washington Gregory, was George’s aunt. The first 3½ years of George’s life were spent at the Popes Creek plantation. At some unknown date between March 25 and November 18, 1735, Augustine Washington moved his family up the Potomac River about 50 miles to his farm on Hunting Creek (known today as Mount Vernon). Three years later Augustine purchased a 288-acre farm near Fredericksburg, and about December 1, 1738 (when George was almost 7 years old) moved there with his family. In 1742 Augustine acquired another tract of land between Popes Creek and Bridges Creek—within sight of the home where George was born. With the exception of one piece of property on the river all of the Popes Creek—Bridges Creek peninsula was now owned by George’s father. In 1743, a few weeks after George’s 11th birthday, Augustine Washington was stricken with a stomach disorder, and died on the 12th of April. He was interred in the family burying ground at Bridges Creek, where his father, Lawrence, and grandfather, John, were buried. Augustine left the Popes Creek—Bridges Creek plantation to his second son and namesake, Augustine, Jr. (one of George’s elder half brothers).