Lace Cap

The most common popular image of Martha Washington is of an elderly woman wearing a lace cap.  Martha did indeed wear such caps, as was common for women in the eighteenth century. Family tradition holds that Martha  gave this cap to her granddaughter Eliza Parke Custis sometime after the death of George Washington (image courtesy of Mount Vernon Ladies' Association).

Mount Vernon

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MV-2001.8

Martha Washington Stamp, 1902

"The first stamp to honor an American woman was the 8-cent Martha Washington (1732–1802). She was selected from a list of prominent females submitted to Third Assistant Postmaster General Edwin C. Madden. Martha Washington, wife of George Washington, was the only person depicted on a stamp of the series with a first and last name."

"The 8-cent violet black stamp was issued December 6, 1902, only in sheet format printed from plates of four hundred and sold in panes of one hundred stamps with gauge 12 perforations. R. Ostrander Smith designed the stamp from an unfinished portrait by Gilbert Stuart."

Source:  National Postal Museum

National Postal Museum

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The Homes of Martha Washington's Grandchildren

These were the homes of Martha Washington’s four grandchildren. Tudor Place in Georgetown, home to Martha Parke Custis Peter, was just across the Potomac from Arlington House, home of George Washington Parke Custis. Eleanor Parke Custis Lewis and her husband lived at Woodlawn, within sight of Mount Vernon. Hoxton House, a much smaller dwelling located near Alexandria, was owned by Elizabeth Parke Custis, who lived there for a number of years after divorcing her first husband, Thomas Law.

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Day Book of Thomas Peter

Although George Washington included a provision in his will to free his slaves upon the death of his wife, he was only able to free those who legally belonged to him. Many of the slaves at Mount Vernon were part of Martha Washington’s dower share of the Custis estate. These slaves were not freed when Martha Washington died in 1802, but were instead divided among the Custis heirs. This document is from Thomas Peter’s Day Book and lists the Custis dower slaves inherited by Martha’s granddaughter, Martha Parke Custis Peter of Tudor Place in Georgetown (image courtesy of Tudor Place Foundation).

Tudor Place

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Will of George Washington

In his will, George Washington left his entire estate to his “dearly beloved wife Martha Washington,” for as long as she lived, with a wide variety of specific bequests to be fulfilled immediately. In the first extensive section of the will, Washington manumitted the slaves that belonged to him, specifying that this not occur until after the death of his wife.

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Broadside, Lady Washington's Lamentation

This broadside ballad, the imagined lament of Martha Washington upon the death of her husband, was printed in Boston c. 1810. By this time, the first President was a widely revered figure, and the ballad projects a mood of near-adulation (image courtesy of American Antiquarian Society).

Evans series

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Bill, to the Washington Estate

This bill is dated June 24, 1802, a month after the death of Martha Washington. It is for a coffin, costing $50 (or fifteen British pounds). The coffin was presumably for the body of Martha Washington (image courtesy of Mount Vernon Ladies' Association).

Tudor Place

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Letter, from John Adams, December 27, 1799

A letter expressing condolences from President Adams, and requesting interment of George Washington's body under a monument in Washington, D.C. This was never carried out, and Washington was buried at Mount Vernon.

John Adams

Tudor Place

Greenwood Press

1799-12-27

published version of a manuscript document

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Miniature Portrait, Martha Washington, 1801

This miniature portrait of Martha Washington was painted by Joseph Field in 1801, after her husband’s death and not long before Martha’s own. One visitor to Mount Vernon in 1801 deemed it a “striking likeness.” Although the image of Martha Washington as a matronly figure in a lacy cap has become almost a cliché in popular imagination, Martha’s dress in her final years apparently was similar to that portrayed here, including the laced cap (image courtesy of Mount Vernon Ladies' Association).

Robert Field

Mount Vernon

1801

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Banyan Dressing Gown

Tudor Place

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