Editing Mount Vernon (section)

=== Washington family ===
In 1674, [[John Washington]], the great-grandfather of [[George Washington]], and [[Nicholas Spencer]] came into possession of the land from which Mount Vernon [[plantations in the American South|plantation]] would be carved, originally known by its [[Piscataway language|Piscataway]] name of ''Epsewasson''.{{sfnp|Dalzell|Dalzell|1998|pp=19–20|ps=}}{{efn|The deed conveying the grant of Mount Vernon, then in [[Stafford County, Virginia|Stafford County]], to Washington and Spencer was dated 1 March 1677, and was signed by "Tho. Culpepper", the original proprietor of the Northern Neck, from whom the proprietorship devolved to his eventual heir [[Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron]].}} The successful patent on the acreage was largely executed by Spencer, who acted as agent for his cousin [[Thomas Colepeper, 2nd Baron Colepeper]],{{sfnp|Dalzell|Dalzell|1998|pp=19–20|ps=}} the English landowner who controlled the [[Northern Neck]] of Virginia, in which the tract lay.<ref name="Tyler1915">{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UCgSAAAAYAAJ&q=%22nicholas+spencer%22+encyclopedia+of+virginia+biography&pg=PA53|title=Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography, Under the Editorial Supervision of Lyon … - Google Books|work=google.com|access-date=15 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160517000945/https://books.google.com/books?id=UCgSAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA53&lpg=PA53&dq=%22nicholas+spencer%22+encyclopedia+of+virginia+biography&source=web&ots=NL200asR8G&sig=_MGzrsea6I7XnuqDvgKGlZaHVkQ&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result|archive-date=17 May 2016|url-status=live|last1=Tyler|first1=Lyon Gardiner|year=1915}}</ref>

When John Washington died in 1677, his son [[Lawrence Washington (1659–1698)|Lawrence]], George Washington's grandfather, inherited his father's stake in the property. In 1690, he agreed to formally divide the estimated 5,000 acre (20&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>) estate with the heirs of Nicholas Spencer, who had died the previous year. The Spencers took the larger southern half bordering [[Dogue Creek]] in the September 1674 land grant from Lord Culpeper, leaving the Washingtons the portion along Little Hunting Creek. The Spencer heirs paid Lawrence Washington {{convert|2500|lb|kg|abbr=on}} of [[tobacco]] as compensation for their choice.{{sfnp|Dalzell|Dalzell|1998|pp=19–20|ps=}}

Lawrence Washington died in 1698, bequeathing the property to his daughter Mildred. On 16 April 1726, she agreed to a one-year lease on the estate to her brother [[Augustine Washington]], George Washington's father, for a [[peppercorn (legal)|peppercorn]] rent; a month later the lease was superseded by Augustine's purchase of the property for £180.{{r|Wall}} He built the original house on the site around 1734, when he and his family moved from Pope's Creek to Eppsewasson,{{sfnp|Dalzell|Dalzell|1998|pp=25–26|ps=}} which he renamed Little Hunting Creek.{{sfnp|Rasmussen|Tilton|1999|p=7|ps=}} The original stone foundations of what appears to have been a two-roomed house with a further two rooms in a half-story above are still partially visible in the present house's cellar.{{sfnp|Dalzell|Dalzell|1998|pp=25–26|ps=}}

Augustine Washington recalled his eldest son, [[Lawrence Washington (1718–1752)|Lawrence]], George's half-brother, home from school in England in 1738, and set him up on the family's Little Hunting Creek tobacco plantation, thereby allowing Augustine to move his family back to [[Fredericksburg, Virginia|Fredericksburg]] at the end of 1739.{{sfnp|Grizzard|2005|p=332|ps=}} In 1739, Lawrence, having reached 21 years of age, began buying up parcels of land from the adjoining Spencer tract, starting with a plot around the grist mill on Dogue Creek. In mid-1740, Lawrence received a coveted [[Officer (armed forces)|officer's commission]] in the [[British Army]] and made preparations to go off to war in the Caribbean with the newly formed American Regiment to fight in the War of Jenkins' Ear.{{sfnp|Rasmussen|Tilton|1999|p=38|ps=}} He served under Admiral [[Edward Vernon]]; returning home, he named his estate after his commander.