Eugenia Washington

Eugenia Scholay Washington was born on June 27, 1838, at "Megwillie" plantation near Charles Town in Jefferson County, Virginia (now West Virginia), to William Temple Washington (1800–1877) and his wife, Margaret Calhoun Fletcher (1805–1865). The name of the plantation on which she was born, "Megwillie", was a portmanteau of both her mother and father's nicknames. Through her father, Washington was the granddaughter of George Steptoe Washington (1771–1809) and Lucy Payne Washington Todd (1772?–1846). She was also the great-granddaughter of Samuel Washington (1734–1781, younger brother of George Washington) and his wife Annie Steptoe, and the great-grandniece of George Washington (1732–1799). Her grandfather, George Steptoe Washington, was a "favorite nephew" of George Washington and was left an inheritance following Washington's death. Flechir's grandson and Washington's grandfather, Thomas Fletcher, served on the staff of General William Henry Harrison in the War of 1812. Thomas Fletcher married Nancy McIlhenney and was the son of Samuel Fletcher and Abigail West. Washington's father suffered from paralysis, and she cared for him from a young age. ==American Civil War==

Following her family's relocation to Falmouth, Washington continued to live a "tranquil life" caring for her father until the American Civil War. Union and Confederate forces fought near the family plantation, so Washington and her family "suffered all the horrors and the hardships" of the war. The family witnessed the Battle of Fredericksburg, December 11–15, 1862, first hand. A wounded Union Army officer was brought to their home early in the battle and placed in Washington's care while waiting a surgeon, thus delaying the evacuation of Washington and her disabled father. As the battle drew even nearer, Washington "sheltered her father's body with her own" in a trench created by a cannon, and they remained in that position for an entire day. By the end of the American Civil War, Washington and her family were "deprived of all worldly goods". Washington's mother, Margaret, died shortly after the war's conclusion in 1865, and her father, William Temple, died twelve years later in 1877. == United States Post Office Department ==

After her mother's death, Washington accepted a position as a clerk within the United States Post Office Department in Washington, DC, to support herself and her ailing father. During her last decade, Washington served as a clerk in the Dead letter office. == Daughters of the American Revolution ==

Washington was one of the four co-founders of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (with Mary Desha, Mary Smith Lockwood, and Ellen Hardin Walworth). The organization's founders emulated the Sons of the American Revolution, founded in New York City on April 30, 1889, which excluded women. On October 11, 1890, at 2 pm, the 18 founding members and these four men met at the Stratford Arms in Washington, DC, thus forming the Daughters of the American Revolution. Washington was the DAR's first Registrar General, and her name appears as member "number one" on the "grand roll" of membership. Washington also served as secretary general, vice president general, and in 1895 she became honorary vice president general, an office which she held until her death. Washington ardently carried out the duties of her offices at DAR, despite suffering with a serious eye condition that made it difficult for her to write. Washington stated, "We want a patriotic society founded on service and I will not become a member of an organization which is founded on rank and not on the service of the ancestors." ==Daughters of Founders and Patriots of America==

Washington founded another lineage society, the National Society of Daughters of the Founders and Patriots of America, in June 1898. Washington established this organization with the broader goals of preserving the history of the American colonial era (like The Colonial Dames of America and the National Society of Colonial Dames of America), as well as encouraging appreciation of American history and fostering patriotism. Washington disliked the "bickering" within the DAR, and to ensure a more "congenial" society that "remained small and cordial", she required that the new organization members also be direct descendants of "a colonist who arrived in America between May 13, 1607 and May 13, 1687" as well as qualify for the DAR. Washington chose the deadline date of May 13, 1687 (broader than the Mayflower Society), so that she would be eligible for membership in the society. While Washington intended for the organization not to grow beyond 300 members, membership in the Daughters of Founders and Patriots of America grew to 2,800 by the mid-1980s. == Catholic faith ==

While visiting a family member in Louisiana around 1870, Washington attended a Catholic mission organized by the Paulists at a neighboring parish. After "careful study", Washington was received into the Roman Catholic Church. Prior to her conversion, Washington consulted with a clergyman at her Episcopal church, and in response to his concern, she replied: "Oh no, I must act up to my convictions and I shall pray hard that you may be given the same grace." Washington became a prominent lecturer of the Catholic faith and attended the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, DC. == Later life and death ==

Washington never married. Washington died at the age of 62 on Friday, November 30, 1900, at her home on 13th Street. On December 1, 1900, the funeral train left the Pennsylvania Railroad station in Washington, DC, for Fredericksburg, Virginia. The Fredericksburg Betty Lewis Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution "escorted" Washington's remains. A simple graveside service was performed by Reverend Dr. Smith, pastor of St. George's Episcopal Church in Fredericksburg. Following Washington's death, her sister Jean was the last surviving patrilineal descendant of William Temple Washington. == Legacy ==

'', a 1929 marble sculpture by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney honoring the society's four co-founders, including Washington. It is located alongside DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, DC. By Washington's death in 1900, membership in the National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution numbered around 35,000. In 1908, a "mourning pin" crafted on the occasion of the death of George Washington that had been given to Washington by her grandmother, Lucy Payne Washington Todd, was donated to the Memorial Continental Hall by Jennie White Hopkins. The Daughters of the American Revolution also maintained Washington's gravesite at "Glencairne", and in 1979 they installed a plaque honoring her. On October 13, 1999, a year after their own centennial, 21 members of the Daughters of Founders and Patriots of America met at the gravesite to unveil a larger memorial plaque honoring her. == References ==