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George Washington,

THE founder of American Independence, and first President of the United States, was born in 1732, in the county of Fairfax, in Virginia. He was descended from an English family which emigrated from Cheshire, about 1630; and his father, in the place of his nativity, was possessed of great landed property. He received his education from a private tutor; and was particularly instructed in mathematics and engineering. His abilities were first employed by Dinwiddie, in 1753, in making remonstrances to the French commander on the Ohio, for the infraction of the treaty between the two nations; and he afterwards negotiated with the Indians on the back settlements, for which he received the thanks of the British government. In the expedition of Braddock he served as aid-de-camp; and, on the fall of that brave but rash commander, he displayed great talent in conducting the retreat, and saving the army from a dangerous position. He retired from the service with rank of colonel; but, while engaged in the peaceful employments of an agriculturist, at Mount Vernon, he was elected senator in the national council for Frederic county, and afterwards for Fairfax.