THE GENEALOGICAL HISTORY
OF THE
WASHBURN FAMILY
OF NORTHWEST TENNESSEE
INTRODUCTION
This paper traces the genealogical history of the Washburn family descendants of northwest Tennessee over a period of approximately 800 years from the 13th Century in England to 21st Century America.
The early Washburn family in England appears to have descended from Norse Vikings, who in early history were fierce, heathen ravagers during the Ninth and early Tenth Centuries. By 912 A.D., these early Normans had decided to become settlers, instead of raiders, and were worshipers of Christ in place of the Greek gods, Thor and Woden. They settled in the area of what today is the nation of France known as Normandy. These early ancestors migrated to England after the Norman Conquest of England.
Washbourne’s Book of Family Crests states that the founder of the family was of Norman ancestry, was knighted on the field of battle at the time of William the Conqueror, 1066, being endowed by him with land and the manor of Little and Great Washbourne, counties of Gloucester and Worcester. While this statement cannot now be authenticated, practically all of the knights and nobles of the time in which the known pedigree of the family begins had a similar origin. The Washbourne family crests indicates a descent from the houses of Zouche and Corbett.
The Washburn (Washbourne) name means “water-brook,” perhaps taken from the Carrant Brook flowing between Overbury and Teddington in England. This was the early home country of our ancestors and is known as the fruitland of England. In early English history, family names were derived from the areas in which they lived. Another explanation of the origin or the Washbourne name was that the family derived its name from the two small villages of Little Washbourne in Overbury and Great Washbourne in the same area. Another definition of the family name is that “wash” means the swift moving current of a stream, and “bourne” meaning a brook or small stream.
This Washburn history is highlighted by an ascent to nobility in England onward to members of the Washburn family of England becoming among the first persons to immigrate to the new world in America in the early 17th Century. This immigration to the New World was just a few years after the time when a group of thirty-five Separatists from the Church of England, called Pilgrims, and seventy non-Pilgrims set out on the ship Mayflower for the mouth of the Hudson River to settle in America. The Washburn lineage has a number of ancestors with ties to Mayflower passengers.
Several ancestors of the Washburn lineage of northwest Tennessee fought during the American Revolutionary War for American independence. Others fought and some gave their lives during the American Civil War fighting on each of the two sides during the war.
This family history is far from being complete. Hopefully, with this beginning, more Washburn family history will emerge to supplement this work that will never be truly complete. As time marches forward, new generations of the family lineage will be born and with each, additional history will need to be added to this work.
In the text that follows, the reader will observe the use of titles, such as “Sir” and “Lady” with the names of ancestors and ancestresses. These titles have been used when the specific ancestors have been described as Knights, or as Armigers. The word Armiger means “Arms Bearer” and is used for an Esquire as well as Knight. It is probable that all of the Washburns in the English pedigree up to and including the eighth descendant, Sir John Washborn, were known with the title “Sir” prefixing their names and their wives were known as “Ladies.” These titles in some instances were possibly given in courtesy, rather than with an official basis.
The writer of this paper makes no claim to have conducted independent research into the genealogical history of the Washburn family beyond that beginning in the mid-nineteenth century to the current day. Credit is given to those before me who spent an exorbitant amount of time researching the origins and ancestry of the Washburn family. Credit is especially given to Mary Thatcher Rosemary Washburn, who wrote the book Washburn Family Foundations (William Mitchell Printing Company, Greenfield, IN, 1953); W. C. Sharpe, who wrote the book The Washburn Family (Record Print, Seymour, CT, 1892); and Ada C. Haight, who wrote The Richard Washburn Family Genealogy (Ossining, NY, 1937). Without their invaluable works, this paper would not have been even remotely possible due to the fact that this writer used these earlier family treatises extensively as resources for this work.
Special credit is also due to Warren C. Washburn of Haleyville, Alabama, Wanda Stewart Washburn of Jackson, Tennessee, and to John A. Maltby of Redwood City, California (www.maltbyfamily.net). Their individual efforts in uncovering and assembling genealogical information on the Washburn family peaked this writer’s interest in his family roots and inspired this work. Perhaps my own work will be an inspiration to some other Washburn family member to embark on a journey to discover their roots as well.
I would also be remorse if I did not give credit to any number of web sites on the World Wide Web (internet) that have Washburn family information posted, both as direct family genealogy and as the family is tied to related families. These web sites have made it feasible to accumulate a great variety of data to hopefully make this family history as comprehensive as possible.
The writer is certain that this paper is not without errors. Every effort has been made to make the information presented as correct as possible based upon the available variety of resources. During the research, the writer found any number of errors inclusive of incorrectly reported dates of birth or death, inaccuracies in the listing of children, incorrect dates or names on tombstones, and the reported locations of ancestors at any given time. When errors became known, an effort was made to correct the data and present it here in an accurate manner. Should any reader of this work discover errors or inaccuracies, the writer would appreciate receiving correspondence with the accurate information and supporting documentation in order that a correction can be made.
The writer additionally welcomes data to supplement the information contained herein. This paper is considered as a work in progress and will be supplemented periodically with new information as it is received.
Jeffery T. Washburn
1530 Evergreen Street
Dresden, TN 38225
Introduction Early Family History The Immigration to America The Migration to West Tennessee
Descendants of Robert Washburn Ties to the Savior of Europe Ties to the Ross Family