Martha Parke Custis Peter (December 31, 1777 – July 13, 1854) was a granddaughter of Martha Dandridge Washington and a step-granddaughter of

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

Early life

Martha Parke Custis was born on December 31, 1777 in the Blue Room at

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is an American landmark and former plantation of Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States George Washington and his wife, Martha. The estate is on ...

. She was the second-eldest surviving daughter of

John Parke Custis John Parke Custis (November 27, 1754 – November 5, 1781) was an American planter. He was a son of Martha Washington and stepson of George Washington. Childhood A son of Daniel Parke Custis, a wealthy planter with nearly three hundred enslave ...

, son of Martha Washington and her first husband

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 ...

, and his wife

Eleanor Calvert Eleanor Calvert Custis Stuart (1757/1758 – September 28, 1811), born Eleanor Calvert, was a prominent member of the wealthy Calvert family of Maryland. Upon her marriage to John Parke Custis, she became the daughter-in-law of Martha Dandridg ...

, daughter of Benedict Swingate Calvert and his wife Elizabeth Calvert. Martha was named for her father's late sister,

Martha "Patsy" Parke Custis Martha "Patsy" Parke Custis (1756 – June 19, 1773) was the stepdaughter of George Washington who died from an epileptic seizure at the age of 17, fifteen years before he was elected as the first president of the United States in 1788. She was ...

(1756–1773). Her siblings included

Elizabeth Parke Custis Law Elizabeth (Eliza) Parke Custis Law (August 21, 1776 – December 31, 1831)"Obituary: Elizabeth Parke Custis Law", ''Richmond Enquirer'', 3 January 1832 was the eldest granddaughter of Martha Dandridge Washington and a step-grandchild of George Was ...

(1776–1831),

Eleanor Parke Custis Lewis Eleanor Parke Custis Lewis (March 31, 1779 – July 15, 1852), known as Nelly, was a granddaughter of Martha Washington and a step-granddaughter and adopted daughter of George Washington. Childhood Nelly was a daughter of John Parke Custis and E ...

(1779–1854), and

George Washington Parke Custis George Washington Parke Custis (April 30, 1781 – October 10, 1857) was an American plantation owner, antiquarian, author, and playwright. His father John Parke Custis was the stepson of George Washington. He and his sister Eleanor grew u ...

(1781–1857). She was known to her family as "Patsy," like her aunt and namesake. At first the family alternated between living at the Washingtons' plantation,

in Virginia, and the Calverts' plantation, Mount Airy in Maryland. In 1778, John Parke Custis purchased Abingdon, a plantation on the west bank of the

Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augu ...

(now the site of

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport , sometimes referred to colloquially as National Airport, Washington National, Reagan National Airport, DCA, Reagan, or simply National, is an international airport in Arlington County, Virginia, across ...

). Abingdon was conveniently located equidistant between Mount Vernon and Mount Airy.

Marriage and children

Martha married Thomas Peter in 1795 at Hope Park in

Fairfax County Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. It is part of Northern Virginia and borders both the city of Alexandria, Virginia, Alexandria and ...

, Virginia. The young bride requested from her step-grandfather George Washington a miniature of himself as a wedding gift. Painted in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

between 1794 and 1795 by Walter Robertson, the miniature was a

watercolor Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to ...

ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals i ...

and is set in gold, and depicted Washington in his Continental Army uniform. Martha and Thomas had eight children, but only five of them lived to adulthood. *Martha Eliza Eleanor Peter (January 20, 1796 – August 31, 1800), died in childhood *Columbia Washington Peter (December 2, 1797 – December 3, 1821) *John Parke Custis Peter (November 14, 1799 – January 19, 1848), married Elizabeth Jane Henderson *George Washington Parke Custis Peter (November 18, 1801 – December 10, 1877), married Jane Boyce *America Pinckney Peter Williams (October 12, 1803 – April 25, 1842), married William George Williams *Robert Thomas Peter (November 7, 1806 – October 5, 1807), died in infancy *Martha Custis Castania Peter (October 5, 1808 – April 5, 1809), died in infancy *Britannia Wellington Peter Kennon (January 28, 1815 – January 27, 1911), married

Beverley Kennon Beverley Kennon (April 7, 1793 – February 28, 1844) was a career officer in the United States Navy who attained the rank of captain as head of the Bureau of Construction and Repair. He died as a result of the explosion aboard USS ''Princeton''. ...

(1793–1844)

Slaves and inheritances

Upon her marriage, Martha inherited 61 slaves from her late father's estate. Thomas almost immediately auctioned them off to raise cash, an action that may have inspired the stern rebuke against the breaking up of slave families that George Washington delivered in his will. Her step-grandfather bequeathed her $8,000, 1/32 of his estate. Martha Washington died in 1802, and Thomas Peter served as executor of her estate. The Peters purchased at a private sale many objects from Mount Vernon to preserve her grandparents' legacy. Martha Peter inherited approximately 35 dower slaves from Mount Vernon following her grandmother's death (from grandfather

's estate). She later inherited about 40 additional slaves following the 1811 death of her mother (from father

's estate).As widow of an intestate husband, Eleanor Calvert Custis (later Stuart) was granted the lifetime use of 1/3 of the assets of John Parke Custis's estate, including its slaves. Upon her death, her third of the Custis estate, including its slaves, was inherited by the couple's 4 children.

Tudor Place

Her $8,000 inheritance from George Washington was used to purchase property in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

in 1805. The property, comprising one city block on the crest of Georgetown Heights, had an excellent view of the

. The couple commissioned Dr. William Thornton, architect of the

United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...

, to design their mansion which they named

Tudor Place Tudor Place is a Federal-style mansion in Washington, D.C. that was originally the home of Thomas Peter and his wife, Martha Parke Custis Peter, a granddaughter of Martha Washington. The property, comprising one city block on the crest of Geo ...

Later life

Martha Parke Custis Peter died in July 1854.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peter, Martha Parke Custis 1777 births 1854 deaths 18th-century American Episcopalians 19th-century American Episcopalians 18th-century American women 19th-century American women American socialites American women slave owners American slave owners Burials at Mount Vernon Custis family of Virginia People from Mount Vernon, Virginia People from Washington, D.C. Washington family