A bill from a local apothecary to the Custis estate, which presumably is for medical services for Martha Dandridge Custis and the Custis…

This letter details the disposition of twenty hogsheads of tobacco. The London agent hopes that a successful sale will induce continued and more frequent business from Martha Dandridge Custis, executrix of the Custis…

This anonymous painting depicts two children of the Payne family, of New Market plantation in Goochland County, Virginia, and their black nursemaid. This kind of arrangement was common among Virginia gentry families who could afford multiple house…

Daniel Parke Custis, Martha Washington’s first husband, died on July 8, 1757 of what seems to have been a severe throat infection. Martha ordered this expensive and elaborate tombstone from England. Custis is buried in the graveyard of Bruton…

Drinking tea was an important domestic ritual in early America. Wealthy women displayed their social status by using expensive porcelain plates and cups and a sterling silver tea service. Made around 1755, these tongs are engraved with the family…

Letter to Martha Custis detailing various mercantile transactions.…

Receipt for various items, including a record signed by New Kent County Justice documenting that the debt was overdue.…

Receipt from painter John Wollaston, presumably for the well-known portraits of Martha Dandridge Custis, Daniel Parke Custis, and their…