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Jan 1, 2022 · By Custis, Martha bore four children – Daniel (born in 1751; died in 1753), Frances (born in 1753; died in 1757), John (born 1754), and Patsy (born in 1756). Two of her children died in infancy. She also lost her husband, brother Frances Dandridge and father all in the 1750s.
Moreover, each received a share of the so-called “dower slaves,” the descendants of the slaves once owned by Martha’s first husband, Daniel Parke Custis. Martha Parke Custis Peter, for example, received 61 slaves at the time of the division of the estate. Martha also singled out certain individuals in her will for special bequests.
When Daniel Parke Custis died of a heart attack on July 8, 1757, age 45 and nine months, he died intestate, which meant under Virginia law that Martha inherited outright one-third of the estate, and, as sole executrix, acted in trust for the administration of the rest of the estate until the two surviving children reached their majority. Martha ...
Jan 6, 2009 · Martha Dandridge Custis Washington / Rembrandt Peale, c. 1853/ Oil on canvas / National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of an anonymous donor This blogpost originally appeared January 6, 2009 Two hundred and fifty years ago today, George Washington, a land owner and an officer in the Virginia militia, and Martha Dandridge Custis (right), a widow with two
Feb 7, 2020 · When Jacky died in 1781, George and Martha took in his two youngest children, two-year-old Eleanor Parke Custis Lewis (known as Nelly) and infant George Washington Parke Custis (affectionately ...
As a young, attractive, wealthy widow, Martha Dandridge Custis probably enjoyed more freedom to choose her own destiny than at any other point in her life. She was only twenty-six years old, owned nearly 300 slaves and had more than 17,500 acres of land— worth more than £40,0000. Because her husband had died without a will, she was the ...
Much of Martha’s life revolved around her two young children from her first marriage, John Parke Custis (Jacky) and Martha Parke Custis (Patsy), both of whom were under five years old. Martha adored the children and tended to their every need. George was a doting stepfather. He took joy in Martha’s children and treated them as his own.
