Betty Washington Lewis


Elizabeth "Betty" Washington Lewis was an American colonist. She is considered a "founding mother" of America. She was the younger sister of George Washington and the only sister to live to adulthood. She was born into the Washington family as the first daughter of Augustine Washington and Mary Ball Washington.
She was born in Westmoreland County, Colony of Virginia, and married Fielding Lewis in 1750. Their children included Lawrence Lewis, who married Eleanor Parke Custis, a granddaughter of Martha Washington, and Robert Lewis. They built a house in Fredericksburg, Kenmore House, in 1770, and owned The Lewis Store until 1776. In later life, she stayed close with her mother. She died in 1797 while visiting her daughter, Betty Lewis Carter, at the Western View Plantation in Culpeper, Virginia, and is buried there.
She and her husband are commemorated with street names in the nearby Ferry Farm subdivision.

Marriage and family

married Catharine Washington on October 18, 1746. She was his second cousin, the daughter of John Washington and Catharine Whiting. They had three children before Catharine died on February 19, 1750.
A few months later, on May 7, 1750, Lewis married Betty Washington, the sister of George Washington and another second cousin. She was 17 years old. They had 11 children together. Betty outlived Lewis by 16 years, dying in 1797.