Eleanor Calvert

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Miniature by Eleanor Calvert, around 1780, by an unknown artist; possibly by the Irish-American painter John Ramage (1748–1802)

Eleanor Calvert Custis Stuart (* 1758 in Mount Airy , Province of Maryland , † September 28, 1811 in Tudor Place , Washington, DC ) was a prominent member of the Calvert family from Maryland, the daughter-in-law of Martha Dandridge Washington and the step-daughter-in-law of George Washington . Her portrait hangs in Mount Airy in Rosaryville State Park , Maryland today .

Early years

Eleanor Calvert was born on the Calvert Mount Airy family plantation near Upper Marlboro in Prince George's County , Maryland. Eleanor was the second eldest daughter of Benedikt Swingate Calvert, son of Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore, and his wife Elizabeth Butler Calvert. Within the family she was called "Nelly". As a teenager, Eleanor was considered a well-mannered and extraordinarily pretty girl.

Marriage and children

Eleanor Calvert, painting by John Hesselius (1728–1778), 1761.

On February 3, 1774, Eleanor married in Mount Airy John Parke Custis , son of the late Daniel Parke Custis and Martha Dandridge Custis Washington (and stepson of George Washington). When "Jacky", as he was known in his family, announced his engagement to Eleanor to his parents, they were surprised because of the couple's youth. The couple moved to the White House plantation after the wedding . After living at White House for over two years, John Parke Custis bought Abingdon Plantation, where the couple moved in 1778.

Eleanor and John had four children who survived early childhood:

After the death of her husband in 1781 as a result of illness following the siege of Yorktown , Eleanor lived with her four children in Mount Vernon . Since John died without a will, his widow received a "third of the dowry" in the form of a third of Custis' real estate assets, including more than 300 slaves, for life. The children's share of the custodian property was held in trust. The daughters received their inheritance when they married, the son when he came of age. Eleanor's "third of the dowry" was distributed to her children after her death.

Eleanor remarried a doctor from Alexandria in the fall of 1783, Dr. David Stuart . David became the custodian trustee and legal guardian of the children. Her two older daughters, Elizabeth and Martha, lived with Eleanor and David in Abingdon, while their two younger children, Eleanor and Wash, stayed with their grandparents George and Martha Washington in Mount Vernon.

Eleanor and David together had five daughters and two sons:

  • Ann Calvert Stuart Robinson (* 1784) ∞ William Robinson
  • Sarah Stuart Waite (* 1786) ∞ Obed Waite
  • Ariana Calvert Stuart
  • William Sholto Stuart
  • Eleanor Custis Stuart (* 1792)
  • Charles Calvert Stuart (1794–1846) ∞ Cornelia Lee
  • Rosalie Eugenia Stuart Webster (1796–1886) ∞ William Greenleaf Webster

Next life

Eleanor and David lived in two locations in Fairfax County , Virginia: Hope Park and Ossian Hall. Eleanor died at the age of 53 in Tudor Place , the home of her daughter Martha Parke Custis Peter.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Arlis Herring: Eleanor Calvert . Arlis Herring . Feb 09, 2008. Retrieved March 1, 2008.
  2. ↑ Mt Airy Mansion at Wildnet.com Retrieved September 2010
  3. ^ A b c d Edmund Jennings Lee: Lee of Virginia, 1642-1892 . Heritage Books. Retrieved March 1, 2008.
  4. ↑ a b c Helen Bryan: Martha Washington: First Lady of Liberty . John Wiley & Sons, Inc .. 2002. Retrieved March 1, 2008.
  5. ^ A b James Edward Greenleaf: Genealogy of the Greenleaf Family . F. Wood. 1896. Retrieved March 1, 2008.
  6. ^ Slavery by the Numbers
  7. ^ A b The Papers of George Washington: Documents . The Papers of George Washington . 2009. Archived from the original on June 2, 2010. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved March 1, 2008. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / gwpapers.virginia.edu
  8. ^ National Genealogical Society: National Genealogical Society Quarterly . National Genealogical Society. 1917. Retrieved March 1, 2008.

source

  • Torbert, Alice. Eleanor Calvert and Her Circle . New York: William-Frederick Press, 1950.
personal data
SURNAME Calvert, Eleanor
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Stuart, Eleanor Calvert Custis; Custis, Eleanor Calvert Custis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Daughter-in-law of Martha Washington
DATE OF BIRTH 1758
PLACE OF BIRTH Maryland
DATE OF DEATH September 28, 1811
Place of death Washington DC