Martha Dandridge Custis Washington; 1789-1797

Born: 1731
Died: 1802

Martha Dandridge was the oldest of seven children of a prominent Virginia planter. Like other young women of her background, she had limited formal education, but she was able and pleasant and took a positive view of life. At 18, she married 38-year-old tobacco heir Daniel Parke Custis, inheriting his fortune when he died eight years later. She and Custis had four children; two died in childhood, a daughter died at 17, and a son died at 26. Two years after Custis's death. Martha married 26-year-old Colonel George Washington, bringing her wealth and two young children to his Mount Vernon plantation. Though Martha had no children with George, they raised her son and daughter and later two of her grandchildren.

For 43 years, Mount Vernon was Martha's home. She ran the plantation while George was away, but traveled to his northern encampments every winter of the Revolutionary War. Welcomed by the soldiers as "Lady Washington," Martha never forgot the nation's veterans, giving many financial aid later on. When her husband became President, Martha joined him at the nation's first capital, New York, and then Philadelphia, where she acted as dignified hostess to the numerous visitors and official guests who came to call. When George retired, the couple returned to private life at Mount Vernon, where they enjoyed their final days.

First President
George Washington