Ten Facts About Martha Washington

1. Martha was born on June 2, 1731, making her 8 months older than George Washington

Martha Dandridge was born on June 2, 1731, at Chestnut Grove plantation in New Kent County, Virginia, which is roughly 35 miles from the colonial capital of Williamsburg. Martha was the first of eight children born to John Dandridge and Frances Jones.

Learn More: Early Life

2. Unlike most women in Virginia in the early 1700s, Martha learned to read and write

Unlike the majority of women in Virginia at this time who were not literate, Martha learned both to read and write at an early age. Throughout her entire life, Martha found pleasure and solace in reading. She read the Bible and other devotional literature for religious edification and novels and magazines for entertainment and instruction. Martha was also known as a regular and active letter writer, and a collection of her surviving letters are housed in the collections of the Mount Vernon library.

Learn More: The Papers of Martha Washington

3. Martha grew to be about 5 feet tall

The average height for European women in early Colonial America was around 5’2”. Martha was described as a lovely and attractive woman with a lively personality. She was generally strong-willed, though also charming, sincere, warm, and socially adept. These characteristics allowed her to overcome obstacles and forge her own path in the world.

4. Martha married Daniel Parke Custis on May 15, 1750

In colonial Virginia, most women of Martha’s social class met their potential mates through friends and family, or at church, court day, or a ball held at a neighbor’s house. Tradition holds that Martha met her first husband, Daniel Parke Custis, at their local Anglican church.

Daniel Parke Custis began courting Martha Dandridge when he was in his late thirties. He lived on his own plantation, White House, situated four miles downstream from the Dandridge home on the Pamunkey River. Custis’s imperious father had quashed a number of Daniel’s previous efforts to wed. When word of his son’s interest in Martha surfaced, John Custis IV initially opposed the match. He insisted that the Dandridges lacked sufficient wealth and status to marry into his family and threatened to disinherit his son.

At 38, Daniel Parke Custis was nearly twenty years older than his new wife, who was 18. He was also significantly older than the average Virginia man who married for the first time at age 27. Yet by waiting until he found a woman of whom his father approved, Custis guaranteed his own financial future as well as that of his future heirs--and of Martha herself.

Martha’s marriage to Daniel Parke Custis, who died on July 8, 1757, lasted just over seven years.

Learn More: First Marriage

5. Martha gave birth to four children, all of whom she outlived

Martha’s first child was a son, named Daniel Parke Custis, born on November 19, 1751, followed in April 1753 by a daughter, Frances Parke Custis. Although the first names were traditional family names, the children’s great-grandfather had imposed a strict condition on inheritance: only children bearing the name “Parke” as part of their given name would receive a portion of the family estate.

Despite their socially and economically privileged lives, neither Daniel nor Frances would reach the age of five. In the colonial era, childhood was the period of greatest vulnerability to death and disease. Only about 60% of children born at this time lived to the age of 20. In 1754 Daniel died, probably of malaria; Frances died in 1757.

Martha had two other children with Daniel Parke Custis, who would become the center of her own life: John Parke Custis (“Jacky”), who was born in 1754, and Martha Parke Custis (“Patsy”), born in 1756. Patsy suffered from repeated seizures, which grew worse over time. After a particularly violent episode on June 19, 1773, Patsy died at age seventeen.

On November 5, 1781, just weeks before he turned twenty-seven, John Parke Custis, Martha’s sole remaining child, contracted a virulent illness and died.

Learn More: Family

6. Martha and George Washington Were Married on January 6, 1759

As a young, attractive, wealthy widow, Martha Dandridge Custis probably enjoyed more freedom to choose her own destiny than at any other point in her life. At the time they were married, she was only twenty-seven years old, owned nearly 300 enslaved people and had more than 17,500 acres of land— worth more than £40,000.

The attraction between George and Martha was mutual, powerful, and immediate. Martha was charming, attractive, and wealthy. George had his own appeal, standing over six feet two inches tall, he was an imposing figure with a formidable reputation as a military leader. 

At the end of 1758, Washington resigned his military commission. On January 6, 1759, Martha Dandridge Custis married George Washington at her home, White House, in New Kent County.

7. Martha stayed at George Washington’s winter encampments throughout much of the Revolutionary War

After Washington left Mount Vernon in 1775, he would not return again for over six years. Every year, during the long winter months when the fighting was at a standstill, the General asked Martha to join him at his winter encampment.

Every year she made the arduous journey to his camp, whether it was at Cambridge, Valley Forge, Philadelphia, Morristown, Newburgh, or elsewhere. She stayed with him for months at a time. In fact, during the period from April 1775 until December 1783 Martha was able to be with her husband for almost half the time he was away. The General regarded his wife’s presence as so essential to the cause that he sought reimbursement from Congress for her traveling expenses.

Before she could make the first trip, however, Martha had to undergo her own ordeal. She had to be inoculated for smallpox, one of the most deadly enemies soldiers faced during wartime. After successfully weathering the inoculation, Martha could then travel to the soldiers’ camp without fear of contracting the disease or transmitting it to others.

Learn More: Revolutionary War

8. Martha was the Nation’s first First Lady

Just as her husband realized that his actions would set a precedent for future presidents, so Martha, too, was aware that her behavior as first lady would become the template for the wives of future chief executives. One of her most important steps was to initiate a weekly reception, held on Friday evenings, for anyone who would like to attend.

At these gatherings, members of Congress, visiting dignitaries, and men and women from the local community were received at the presidential mansion. After being presented to Mrs. Washington, they enjoyed refreshments, talked with each other, and mingled. Although most guests addressed Martha as “Lady Washington,” some referred to her as “our Lady Presidentess.”

Learn More: Martha Washington During the Presidency

9. Martha freed George Washington’s enslaved people 

Under the provisions of his will, George Washington declared that the 123 slaves that he owned outright (separate from the dower slaves that would be distributed among the Custis heirs) were to gain their freedom after his wife’s death. There was a fear that these slaves could revolt and kill Martha in order to gain their freedom. Rumors circulated about a suspicious fire at Mount Vernon that may have been set by slaves.

Fearing for her life, Martha, at the urging of relatives, decided to free her deceased husband’s slaves early. On January 1, 1801, a bit more than a year after George’s death, Washington’s slaves gained their liberty.

Learn More: Slavery at Mount Vernon

10. Martha died on May 22, 1802 and lies in rest next to her husband

Martha’s health, always somewhat precarious, declined precipitously after the passing of George Washington. Just two and a half years after her husband and to the dismay of her extended family, Martha Washington died on May 22, 1802.

Martha’s death brought the Custis heirs even greater riches. Each of Martha’s four grandchildren received substantial amounts of land and money that been held in trust for them for years. Moreover, each received a share of the so-called “dower slaves,” the descendants of the enslaved people once owned by Martha’s first husband, Daniel Parke Custis.

In 1831, after being moved from Mount Vernon’s Old Tomb to the New Tomb, Martha’s remains were placed into a marble sarcophagus that stands near her husband’s at Mount Vernon to this day.

Learn More:  A Community Divided