ANCESTRY.

ENEALOGISTS have found no difficulty in tracing the line of the Washington ancestry back through six centuries of English history. It was a vigorous stock, and held its distinct place and power in the world by marked qualities of mind and body, which persisted in living and having and being known. Marrying into different families, serving different kings and governments, changing localities and countries, did not weaken the family qualities nor abate its force of character. It rather gained strength and improved in quality till it flowered in the transcendent opulence and excellence of our Washington, who made his name and time and country immortal.

The family was doubtless of Norman origin and served under William the Conquerer. Among the knights of the county of Durham, England, who held great landed estates and manorial privileges, in the twelfth century, was WILLIAM DE HERTBURN. It was the custom at that time for the owners of large estates, with castles and villages on them, to take the name of the estate. The records of the time show that William De Hertburn exchanged his village of Hertburn for the manor and village of Wessyngton, receiving the diocese with it. After that the De Hertburn family took the name of its new estates, and appears