Hancock Custis was a member of the

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

House of Burgesses The House of Burgesses was the elected representative element of the Virginia General Assembly, the legislative body of the Colony of Virginia. With the creation of the House of Burgesses in 1642, the General Assembly, which had been established ...

, the elected lower house of the colonial

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 161 ...

from

Accomack County, Virginia Accomack County is a United States county located in the eastern edge of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Together, Accomack and Northampton counties make up the Eastern Shore of Virginia, which in turn is part of the Delmarva Peninsula, bordered ...

in 1710–1712.

Family

Hancock Custis was one of the younger sons of Colonel John Custis III and Margaret (Michael) Custis.Harrison, William Welsh
'Harrison, Waples and allied families: being the Ancestry of George Leib Harrison of Philadelphia and of his wife Sarah Ann Waples'
Philadelphia: Private printing by Edward Steen & Co., Inc., 1910. . Retrieved March 1, 2013. pp. 97–98. His elder brother John Custis IV also served in the House of Burgesses and the

Virginia Governor's Council The Governor's Council (also known as the "Council of State" or simply "the Council") was the upper house of the colonial legislature (the House of Burgesses was the other house) in the Colony of Virginia from 1607 until the American Revolution i ...

. Hancock Custis's brother, Major

John Custis Colonel John Custis IV (August 1678 – November 22, 1749) was an American planter, politician, government official and military officer who sat in the House of Burgesses from 1705 to 1706 and 1718 to 1719, representing the electoral constitue ...

, was the father of

Daniel Parke Custis Daniel Parke Custis (October 15, 1711 – July 8, 1757) was an American planter and politician who was the first husband of Martha Dandridge. After his death, Dandridge married George Washington, who later became the first president of the Unite ...

, first husband of

Martha Washington Martha Dandridge Custis Washington (June 21, 1731 — May 22, 1802) was the wife of George Washington, the first president of the United States. Although the title was not coined until after her death, Martha Washington served as the inaugural ...

. Major John Custis named one of his sons "Hancock." Hancock Custis's will, which was proved May 7, 1728, mentions his wife Mary.Nottingham, Stratton
'Wills and Administrations: Accomack County, Virginia, 1663-1800'
Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1999. Originally published 1931. . Retrieved March 1, 2013. p. 93. Hancock and Mary Custis's children were sons John, Southey, Levin and Theophilus and daughter Leah, who married Levin Gale.

Farm

Hancock Custis inherited a farm at King's Creek from his uncle, Adam Michael.

House of Burgesses

Accomac County voters elected Hancock Custis as one of their representatives in the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1710, but he did not win another term.

Death

Hancock Custis died between the date of his signing the last codicil to his will, August 17, 1727, and a date before his will was proved on May 7, 1728.Harrison, 1910, p. 98.

Notes

References

* Harrison, William Welsh
'Harrison, Waples and allied families: being the Ancestry of George Leib Harrison of Philadelphia and of his wife Sarah Ann Waples'
Philadelphia: Private printing by Edward Steen & Co., Inc., 1910. . Retrieved March 1, 2013. * Nottingham, Stratton
'Wills and Administrations: Accomack County, Virginia, 1663-1800'
Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1999. Originally published 1931. . Retrieved March 1, 2013. * Tyler, Lyon Gardiner, ed
'Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography'
Volume 1. New York, Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1915. . Retrieved February 16, 2013. * Wise, Jennings Cropper
'Col. John Wise of England and Virginia (1617-1695); his ancestors and descendants'
Richmond, VA: Bell Books and Stationery Co., 1918. . Retrieved March 2, 2013. {{DEFAULTSORT:Custis, Hancock People from Accomack County, Virginia House of Burgesses members Custis family of Virginia 1720s deaths Year of birth missing Year of death uncertain