2001 Meeting in Jamestown, Virginia
The 47th annual meeting of the Washington Family Descendants was a meeting to remember! We all gathered in historic Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia to share this experience which started on May 4th and ended with the main banquet on the evening of May 6, 2001.
Williamsburg was such an important place during the early colonial times that the presence of our founding fathers could be sensed everywhere. The many events where George Washington was present and was a part of, made Williamsburg a most appropriate place for our annual meeting.
Our headquarters was the Williamsburg Hospitality House, a fine hotel just a few blocks from the Historic District with excellent guest and meeting facilities.
At the Friday evening dinner we had a briefing on The Jamestown Rediscovery Project presented by the project's curator and we then visited the Jamestown Settlement and Jamestown Island the next day for a first-hand look.
Lunch at James Town Settlement
We spent time visiting the various houses and events in Colonial Williamsburg village. Some took other side trips to Yorktown and to Jamestown Island. Several drove to the location of 'Highgate' where John Washington and his wife Catharine lived. Catharine and her daughter's graves were still there.
The Saturday dinner meeting program was a noted archeologist's findings on the discovery of Nicholas Martiau's fort at Yorktown.
Sunday morning we attended church at the historic Bruton Parish Church and were able to sit in the Washington Family pew and the pews of other prominent families.
Bruton Parish Church
The church bulletin for that morning carried the following announcement: "The Altar Flowers are given to the Glory of God and in honor of George Washington by The National Society of The Washington Family Descendants."
For many the highlight of the meeting was the visit to Warner Hall for lunch. This house has been beautifully restored to its elegant beauty and is being operated as a bed and breakfast inn by the new owners. (See www.warnerhall.com ) This was the home of Augustine Warner, Jr. and Mildred Reade, George's great grandparents and also their daughter Mildred Warner who married Lawrence Washington and were George's grandparents.
Warner Hall Entrance
Some were served in the dining room
Other were served overlooking the Severn River
After a delicious lunch we walked to the Warner Hall Cemetery where ancestors of many of our members are buried. Here we conducted our Memorial Service for our family members deceased in the past year.
Warner Hall Cemetery
Our main banquet Sunday night featured one of our very own. A past President General and long time member Dr. Charles B. Witt Jr. who presented the medical evidence to judge a perplexing question, "George Washington's Final Illness -- Did Malpractice Occur ?" A very interesting discussion followed this presentation ! Did it occur ????
A short business meeting was conducted that evening to consider where our 2002 meeting should be held. Several locations were discussed and the final selection will be announced as soon as the location and schedule can be finalized.
As we all say at the conclusion of every meeting, "We do not believe we can have a better meeting than the one we just had". We seem to be wrong every time.
Inside Warner Hall
