Born in Pittsylvania County, Va., in 1822, George Hairston (1822-1866), a white tobacco farmer, was the second child of seven born to Agnes John Peter Wilson Hairston (1801-1880) and Samuel Hairston (1788-1875). In 1823, Samuel Hairston, who in the 1850s was reputed to be one of the wealthiest men in Virginia, built Oak Hill plantation in Pittsylvania County. George spent his early years at Oak Hill and attended the plantation school along with Columbia Stuart, the future wife of his brother Peter Wilson Hairston (1819-1886), and her brother, the future Confederate general, James Ewell Brown (Jeb) Stuart. Both Peter Wilson Hairston and George Hairston attended the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill; George performed poorly and left the University after several incidents.
In 1855, George Hairston married Anne Elizabeth Lash (1834-1925), the daughter of William Lash and Anne Powell Hughes Lash of Bethany, N.C. Between 1855 and George's death in 1866, the couple and their two children, William Hairston (1863-1927) and Samuel Hairston (1865-1933), lived at Berry Hill, the Pittsylvania County plantation of George's grandmother, Ruth Stovall Hairston (1783-1869). In 1875, Anne Elizabeth Lash Hairston (often called Lizzie) married Colonel Forney George, with whom she had one child, Elizabeth Lash George. Widowed again in 1877, Anne Elizabeth Lash Hairston George returned to Oak Hill to live with her son Samuel. She died in Danville, Va., in 1925.
Louisa Hardyman Hairston (1821-1873) was George Hairston's first cousin and the daughter of George Hairston (1784-1863) and Louisa Hardyman Hairston (1787-1847). Louisa married Peter Wilson Watkins (1816-1890) and with him had at least three children: Hairston Watkins (1845-1910), Nannie Watkins (1848-1909), and Loulie Watkins (1852-1940). Hairston Watkins served in the Civil War in the 24th Virginia Cavalry Regiment, and, in 1864, was held prisoner for a time at Point Lookout, Md. His first cousin, Orren W. Barrow, served as a company commander in the 24th Virginia Infantry Regiment.
