Fox and Anderson and Taylor families in USA » Martha Dandridge (1731-1802)

Sources

1. WikiTree, via http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Dandridge-1...

   
   Biography
   
   Martha Dandridge[1] was born 23 Jun 1731 on the Chestnut Grove Plantation in New Kent County, Virginia.
   
   Martha Washington died 22 May 1802 at Mt Vernon, Fairfax, Virginia [2] and is buried at Mt Vernon.
   
   Martha had three brothers and five sisters. She was the eldest daughter of John Dandridge and Frances Jones.
   
   She is named for her cousin Martha Dandridge (born 1721).
   
   ---
   
   
   Early Years
   
   Education
   Martha had no formal education to speak of, but she was trained in the home in sewing, music and how to run a household. It is believed that an indentured servant to the Dandridge family, Thomas Leonard, taught her other things such as plantation management, crop sales, animal husbandry, and homeopathic medicine.
   
   
   First Marriage and Issue
   In 1750, She married first to Daniel Parke Custis, with whom she had four children. Two (Daniel and Frances) children died when they were three and four years old respectfully. Her husband died in 1757. When Martha became a widower of Daniel Parke Custis, she became one of the wealthiest women in her part of Virginia.
   
   At White House and in Williamsburg, Custis and his wife enjoyed the life of a wealthy and elite Virginia planter family. They had four children, all given the middle name Parke in order to preserve their eligibility to inherit as descendants of his great-grandfather, Daniel Parke, a member of the Council who had died in 1679. Custis's first son and first daughter died early in childhood. His younger son, John Parke Custis, lived to adulthood and became heir to the Custis wealth and its entangled lawsuits; his second daughter, Martha Parke Custis, died at age seventeen after an epileptic seizure.[3]
   
   
   Second Marriage
   When she was 27 years old, Martha Dandridge Custis married Colonel George Washington(1732�1799) on January 6, 1759 at the "White House in New Kent, Virginia,"[4]. Colonel George Washington was the commander of the First Virginia Regiment in the French and Indian War, former member, House of Burgess, Frederick County (1758). He would become the first President of the United States of America.
   
   Although there is no known �pre-nuptial� as modern times would equate it, the great inheritance which would come to Washington as a result of his successful courtship of Martha Custis is widely believed to have been a factor in his interest in marrying her.
   
   They lived at estate "Mt Vernon," initially leased from his half-brother Lawrence's widow, and inherited upon her 1761 death.
   
   
   Children
   By first marriage:
   
   Daniel Parke Custis (1751�1754),
   Frances Parke Custis (1753�1757),
   John Parke "Jacky" Custis (1754�1781),
   Martha Parke "Patsy" Custis (1756�1773)
   By second marriage:None
   
   Raised Grandchildren:
   
   George Washington "Wash" or "Tub" Parke Custis (1781-1857),
   Eleanor "Nelly" Parke Custis (1779-1852)
   
   First Lady:
   April 30, 1789 - March 4, 179757 years old
   
   
   Washington's Presidency
   Martha did not attend George's first inauguration held in New York; however, she was present at his second held in Philadelphia. She did not particularly care for her role as First Lady, but she was known for holding official receptions every Thursday afternoon at the Executive Mansion.
   
   She was known to financially support and intercede when necessary on the behalf of Revolutionary War veterans who were in need.
   
   
   Widowed
   Upon Washington's death on December 14, 1799, the slaves owned by the Washingtons were promised their freedom upon Martha Washington's death. Making clear the tremendous personal sacrifice that the federal government asked of her in requesting that she permit the remains of the first president to be eventually interned at the U.S. Capitol Building, she wrote to President John Adams that she would acquiesce with her sense of public duty.
   
   Martha Washington was the first presidential widow to receive the free postage "franking" privilege from Congress when she was overwhelmed with the cost of responding to the large number of condolence letters she received upon the death of her husband. [|Martha Dandridge Washington First Ladies Biographies online, p.2 ]
   
   Death:
   Her home, Mt Vernon, Virginia
   1802, May 22
   70 years old
   
   Excerpt from an obituary published in the Virginia Gazette on 29 May, 1802:
   
   "On Saturday the 22nd of May at 12 o'clock P. M., Mrs. Washington terminated her well spent life."[5]
   
   Burial:
   Burial vault, Mt. Vernon, Virginia
   
   
   Legacy
   As the first First Lady, Martha Washington was forever iconized in all forms of commemoration alongside the image of her husband. For many generations, framed pictures of both George and Martha Washington were hung in American classrooms, Martha Washington�s patience, steadiness, optimism and loyalty held up as ideal virtues. Among the numerous engravings and illustrations made to commemorate the life of George Washington, his wife was also almost always depicted alongside him. She was also the first historical woman figure to be depicted by the federal government on postage stamps and currency.
   
   
   Timeline
   1731 Birth 1750 Marriage to Custis 1759 Marriage to Washington 1789 1st Lady 1797 End of Presidency 1799 Widowed 1802 Death
   
   
   Sources
   Roberts, Gary Boyd, Ancestors of American Presidents, Published in Cooperation with the New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts. Preliminary Edition by Carl Boyer, 3rd, Santa Clarita, California 1989. Also the 2009 edition. Footnote abbreviation: Roberts
   [Daniel Parke Custis] Contributed by Patricia Brady and the Dictionary of Virginia Biography
   McGhan, Judith, indexer. Virginia Vital Records: From the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, the William and Mary College Quarterly, and Tyler's Quarterly. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. 1984
   
   Footnotes
   ? Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography, Volumes 1-5, Tyler, Lyon Gardiner, ed. published online by Google Books, 2006; original publisher: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1915. Vol. 1, page 220
   ? Roberts, p449
   ? Parke Custis Encylopedia Virginia online
   ? Roberts, p449
   ? McGhan, Judith, indexer. Virginia Vital Records: From the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, the William and Mary College Quarterly, and Tyler's Quarterly. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. 1984
   
   

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Historical events

• Birthday June 13, 1731
• Day of marriage May 15, 1750
• Day of death May 22, 1802

Same birth/death day

• Also born on June 13
• Also died on May 22

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