Are you interested in confirming your relation to the Washington Family?
Are you interested in learning more about your ancestors who are related to George Washington?
Are you interested in making sure that future generations will have reliable information about your family and ancestors related to the Washington Family after you are gone?
Are you interested in learning about the lives of your Washington Family ancestors, and how their lives impacted history?
Are you interested in validating family stories and legends about your Washington ancestors?
If your answers are “yes”, you should consider contacting us to begin the process of discovery that could lead to membership in The National Society of the Washington Family Descendants.
As a member, you have opportunities to honor George Washington and your ancestors in the Washington Family, you have opportunities to spend time and connect to many cousins from all over the United States, you have opportunities to go to interesting & historical places and see interesting and historical things.
You will not be disappointed!
Your genealogical journey begins below
Membership Qualifications
The first step is to select a Qualifying Ancestor and submit a Preliminary Pedigree naming both spouses in the lawful lineal line of descent from yourself to that Qualifying Ancestor by clicking the link “Submit Preliminary Pedigree.” No proofs are required at this time. If your preliminary pedigree is satisfactory, we will move forward with the application process. If there are issues, the Registrar will inform you of them. If the Preliminary Pedigree is satisfactory, the Registrar will forward by email an application and application instructions.
If the applicant descends from the Col. John Washington line, it is presumed that the line will be verified (in at least the early generations) by Justin Glenn’s book The Washingtons: A Family History.
If the applicant descends from the Lt. Col. Nathaniel Pope line, it is presumed that the line will be verified (in at least the early generations) by James H. Barr III’s book Nathaniel Pope of Virginia.
If the applicant descends from the Martiau-Reade-Warner line, it is presumed that the line will be verified (in at least the early generations) by John F. Dorman’s book Adventurers of Purse and Person (4th ed., vol. 2).
If the applicant descends from the Col. William Ball line, it is presumed that the line will be verified (in at least the early generations) by Horace Hayden’s book Virginia Genealogies.
The current Registrar Walter John Blair III. You may email him
HERE.
Application Process
Application papers accompanied by a one-time registration fee and current annual dues must be sent to the National Registrar for verification. If the papers are approved and applicant is accepted, the National Registrar shall notify the National Executive Board and send the applicant’s check to the National Treasurer. The Registrar General will notify the applicant of his decision within a reasonable time, usually within two weeks of the receipt of the application.
Two sets of notarized application papers accompanied by one set of authenticated proof of each generation must be presented. If the papers cannot be verified and the applicant is rejected, one copy of the application and the check for registration and dues will be returned to the applicant. To minimize this possibility, applicants are strongly urged to email their application to the Registrar General for him to preview.
An applicant must provide proof of descent satisfactory to the Society and proofs presented with the application for membership must be from approved genealogical data sources. Publications which are not normally recognized by other heritage/patriotic societies as proof are not acceptable.
To prove lawful lineal descent from one of the above, you will need to provide proof for each generation, starting with yourself and going back lineally to your colonial ancestor. In the first three generations (beginning with yourself), these proofs would consist of photocopies of birth, marriage, and (where appropriate) death documents. For other generations back to your ancestor, one or more of the following items would usually be considered acceptable proof:
- Cemetery records
- Tombstone inscriptions
- Obituaries, probate records
- Wills
- Census records
- Bible records
- Local histories
- Well-documented genealogies
Note: The Society does not undertake genealogical research for applicants. Neither DNA evidence nor applications from other lineage societies are accepted by The National Society of the Washington Family Descendants as proof of ancestry.