While working my way through early Virginia Records, I’ve stumbled upon a coincidence that is just too much fun to ignore. I’ve gotten as far as 1760 as I pull down all the Early Virginia Babb Records I can find and while looking at a purchase of 117 acres of land Philip purchased on the side of Babb Mountain in Frederick County, VA.

I wasn’t sure exactly where the record started, so I started looking for a name on the left side of the 2-page image. It was there that I found a purchase by none other than George Washington himself (or at least as far as I can determine). In 1760 he was already a Colonel of The Virginia Regiment. He was currently leasing Mount Vernon from a family member and owned it outright the following year in 1761.

George was listed as residing in Fairfax County, which at that moment included the home known as Mount Vernon. The abbreviation for Esquire followed his name. However, this often referred to a person of stature and at times also meant that they were an attorney. The only law at this moment was the King’s Law.

George closed his transaction on one day and Philip on the following day. So, there is not chance they actually met in passing. But it’s really fun to be Washington adjacent.

We can’t know if he would have noticed George’s signature on the opposite page, or if he would even have known who he was. Philip never got to see the man George became as Philip died within 2-years of this land purchase.

Philip (1-2-3) is the son of Thomas (1-2) & Bathsheba Hussey and Grandson of Phillip (1) of the Isles of Shoals.