The Custis family in America can trace its roots to the late seventeenth century, when the family split into three distinct branches. Some members remained in Ireland, while others immigrated to Belgium, and others to the Virginia colony. The Custis family has become somewhat less well-known over time, but it include one very famous member: Martha Dandridge Custis Washington (1731-1802). Two years prior to her marriage to George Washington in 1759, Martha Washington was married to a wealthy Virginian named Daniel Parke Custis (1711-1757), whose death left her a young widow. The Custis family became intertwined with the Washington family, as George Washington adopted and raised two generations of Custis children. Martha Washington's ties to the Custis estate brought George Washington wealth, property, and influence upon the couples' marriage.
Origins of the Custis Family in Virginia
In the mid-seventeenth century, four members of the Custis family immigrated to the colony of Virginia: Anne, John II, William II, and their uncle John I. John II was the most successful at establishing the family name into prominent society, advancing into the Virginia ruling class by serving as a sheriff, justice of the peace, surveyor, coroner, militia officer, member of the House of Burgess, and Councillor. John II also built a large mansion that he called Arlington. His descendants included his son John III and grandson John IV, who was born in August 1678. John IV was the father of Daniel Parke Custis, Martha Washington's first husband.
Daniel Parke Custis was thirty-eight years old when he married Martha Dandridge on May 15, 1750. During their seven years of marriage, Martha and Daniel Custis had four children. Daniel Parke Custis II and Frances Parke Custis II both died very young, while John “Jacky” Parke Custis (1754-1781) and Martha “Patsy” Parke Custis (1756-1773) both survived their father. Daniel Parke Custis fell gravely ill and passed away in July of 1757. Shortly thereafter, Martha Dandridge Custis met George Washington.
The Custis Children
George and Martha had no children of their own, but their family life was dominated by the Custis children. Washington served as a father figure for his two step-children, John "Jacky" Parke Custis and Martha "Patsy" Parke Custis. Patsy was an epileptic and passed away following a seizure when she was only seventeen years old in 1773. Washington noted her death in his diary in a simple statement, "About five oclock poor Patcy Custis Died Suddenly."1 Washington described the last day of the "Sweet, Innocent Girl" in a letter to a friend the day after her death.2
When “Jacky” Custis reached maturity, he married Eleanor Calvert, with whom he had four children. He died on the Yorktown Campaign in 1781 and his wife remarried the Alexandria physician David Stuart in 1783. The Washingtons adopted Jacky's two youngest children, Eleanor "Nelly" Parke Custis Lewis (1779-1852) and George Washington Parke Custis (1781-1857). George and Martha also maintained a close relationship with their oldest grandchildren from Jacky’s marriage to Eleanor, Elizabeth "Betsey" Parke Custis Law (1776-1831) and Martha "Patty" Parke Custis Peter (1777-1854), who was born in one of the bedrooms at Mount Vernon.
The Custis Grandchildren
Surviving letters from George Washington to his step-grandchildren indicate close relationships. He was invested in their lives, education, and marriages. He also assisted in managing their inherited finances until they were of age.
Washington also wrote grandfatherly letters of advice and often admonishment to George Washington Parke Custis. In a letter from 1798, Washington scolded his step-grandson for rumors alleging he was engaged when he should be focusing on his education.3 Custis was eventually married in 1804 to Mary Lee Fitzhugh (1788-1853). He established a home in Arlington, inherited through his father.
He wrote “Betsey” letters of advice about love and marriage. Washington wrote to Betsey describing the qualities she should look for in her husband and the essential components of a successful marriage.4 In a follow up letter written after she announced her surprise engagement to Thomas Law (1756-1834), Washington wrote, "You know how much I love you—how much I have been gratified by your attentions to those things which you had reason to believe were grateful to my feelings."5 The following year, “Patty” married Thomas Peter (1776-1834), and the couple established a home referred to as Tudor Place in Georgetown using their inheritance from Washington. “Nelly” married Washington’s nephew, Lawrence Lewis (1767-1839) in February of 1799, and after Washington’s death inherited Dogue Run Farm.
After Martha’s death in 1802, the four Custis grandchildren inherited some lands and possessions belonging to their famous step-grandfather. More consequently, they inherited land and people enslaved by the Custis estate since the death of their grandfather and father. The four grandchildren divided about 150 people enslaved at Mount Vernon considered Custis property from her first marriage, many of whom would be separated from their families and communities at Mount Vernon. Them and their descendants lived in the respective households of the Custis grandchildren.
George Washington Parke Custis eventually enslaved almost 200 people at Arlington. Mary Anna Randolph Custis (1808-1873) was his only daughter with Mary Lee Fitzhugh to survive to adulthood. She married Robert E. Lee in 1831, tying the two prominent Virginian families together. Research indicates that Custis fathered numerous children in sexually exploitative relationships with enslaved women, and was the father of Maria Cater Syphax. Elizabeth Parke Custis Law or “Betsy” and her husband Thomas Law shared a difficult marriage. After Law took a business trip to England, the couple separated in the summer of 1804, and she began using her matron name. Law was granted custody of their one surviving daughter, Elizabeth Parke Law Rogers who died in 1821. Martha "Patty" Parke Custis Peter and Thomas Peter shared eight children, five of which lived to adulthood. They became a prominent Georgetown family politically aligned with Federalists. Eleanor “Nelly” Parke Custis Lewis and Lawrence Lewis established a home near Mount Vernon named Woodlawn. The couple shared at times an unhappy marriage. Three of their eight children survived adulthood.
Custis family members are buried at Mount Vernon, including Martha’s daughter Martha Parke Custis, several of her grandchildren, and several of her great-grandchildren.
Amanda Walli George Washington University
Notes:
1. “[Diary entry: 19 June 1773],” Founders Online, National Archives.
2. "George Washington to Burwell Bassett, 20 June 1773," The Papers of George Washington Digital Edition, ed. Theodore J. Crackel (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, Rotunda, 2008).
3. “From George Washington to Burwell Bassett, 20 June 1773,” Founders Online, National Archives.
4. “From George Washington to Elizabeth Parke Custis, 14 September 1794,” Founders Online, National Archives.
5. "George Washington to Elizabeth Parke Custis and her fiancé Thomas Law, 10 February, 1796," The Papers of George Washington Digital Edition, ed. Theodore J. Crackel (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, Rotunda, 2008).
Bibliography:
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Good, Cassandra. First Family: George Washington's Heirs and the Politics of Family. New York: Hanover Square, an imprint of Harper Collins, 2023.
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