Account of Martha Washington's share of the Custis estate

Estate of Daniel Parke Custis

This inventory was compiled from appraisals made of the estate of Daniel Parke Custis in 1757 and 1758, after his death in 1757. The appraisals were apparently compiled by John Mercer, who was the attorney for the estate. George Washington transcribed the compilation into his account book soon after his marriage to Martha Dandridge Custis in 1759. This heavily water-damaged page is the beginning of a list of slaves owned by the Custis estate, with their estimated values. Besides its historical value, the image illustrates the important work performed by archivists and other scholars in preserving and reconstructing historical documents.

George Washington

Washington & Lee University

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John Wollaston, portrait of Martha Dandridge Custis, oil on canvas

Portraits

Englishman John Wollaston painted many of the leading figures of the American upper class in his time in America between 1749 and 1767, including Martha Dandridge Custis, her husband Daniel Parke Custis, and their children. Wollaston had a tendency to paint similar faces on all his subjects, but this portrait is still significant as the first known image of the future Martha Washington. It provides an important contrast with the typical image of Martha in the public mind as a plump, elderly matron (image courtesy of Lee Chapel and Museum, Washington & Lee University).

John Wollaston

1757

Lee Chapel and Museum, Washington & Lee University

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John Wollaston, Jacky and Patsy Custis, 1757

Portraits

Well known portraitist John Wollaston painted the entire Custis family in 1757. This dual portrait is of Daniel and Martha Custis's two chidlren, John Parke (Jacky) and Martha Parke (Patsy) Custis.

John Wollaston

1757

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John Wollaston, Daniel Parke Custis, oil on canvas, 1757

Portraits

In 1757, the Custis family commissioned the well-known portrait painter, John Wollaston, to execute portraits of the entire family: Martha Dandridge Custis, her husband Daniel Parke Custis, and their two children, Martha Parke Custis and Daniel Parke Custis, who were pictured together. Daniel Parke Custis died later in 1757 from what is believed to have been a throat infection (image courtesy of Lee Chapel & Museum, Washington & Lee University).

John Wollaston

1757

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Charles Willson Peale, George Washington in the Uniform of a British Colonial Colonel, 1772

This painting, the only authenticated pre-Revolution portrait of Washington, was executed by Charles Willson Peale at Mount Vernon in 1772. The first of several iconic images of Washington painted by Peale, it depicts Washington in his uniform as a Colonel of the Virginia Regiment, which he wore during the French and Indian War almost a decade earlier. It is a rare image of what George Washington might have looked like during the longest stretch of time he lived with Martha Washington at Mount Vernon (image courtesy of Lee Chapel and Museum, Washington & Lee University).

Charles Willson Peale

1772

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Letter, Martha Dandridge Custis to Robert Cary, January 1758

This letter is primarily an invoice detailing a long and varied list of consumer goods to be sent from England. The list includes clothing, foodstuffs, furniture, jewelry, and much more. Martha chides Cary for the poor quality of a dress sent the previous year and orders another, specifying that it is not to be a mourning dress (image courtesy of Virginia Historical Society).

Martha Dandridge Custis

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Letter, from Marth Dandridge Custis to Robert Cary & Company, August 20, 1757

Martha Washington as feme sole

In this letter, Martha Dandridge Custis informs Robert Cary & Company, a London agent for the sale of Custis tobacco and the purchase of English consumer goods, of the death of her husband Daniel Parke Custis. Taking on her new role as head of household, the young widow Custis gives detailed instructions to the agent for the handling and sale of various consignments of tobacco (image courtesy of Virginia Historical Society).

Martha Washington

1757-08-20

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Bill from George Heath for Mourning Clothes, December 1757

Death of Daniel Parke Custis

This bill is for a wide variety of clothing from 1756-57, from a tailor named George Heath. Several items throughout the bill are mourning clothes, and are presumably associated with one of the two deaths that struck the Custis family in 1757: Martha’s first daughter Frances Parke Custis in April, and her husband Daniel in July (image courtesy of Virginia Historical Society).

George Heath

1757-12

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Portrait of John Dandridge, c. 1715

Early Life of Martha Washington

John Dandridge, the father of Martha Dandridge Custis Washington, arrived in Virginia in 1715 after emigrating from England with his brother William. He married Fanny Jones in 1730, and settled at Chestnut Grove along the Pamunkey River. A modestly wealthy planter, he served in local government and as a vestryman for St. Peter’s Church (image courtesy of Virginia Historical Society).

1715

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Chestnut Grove

Birthplace of Martha Washington

The birthplace of Martha Dandridge Custis Washington, Chestnut Grove was a small plantation along the Pamunkey River in New Kent County, Virginia. The two-story frame house, of middling size for a Virginia planter, had three rooms on each floor. Martha married her first husband, Daniel Parke, Custis, there in 1750. The origin of this sketch is uncertain, but it is believed to date from the early twentieth century. The house has since been demolished (image courtesy of Virginia Historical Society).

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