Martha Parke Custis Peter

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Martha Parke Custis Peter (born December 31, 1777 in Mount Vernon , † July 13, 1854 ) was the granddaughter of Martha Washington and the step- granddaughter of George Washington .

Early years

Martha Parke Custis was born in the Blue Room at Mount Vernon, the Washington family estate. She was the second eldest daughter of John Parke Custis , the son of Martha Washington by her first marriage and the stepson of George Washington, and his wife Eleanor Calvert , the daughter of Benedict Swingate Calvert and Elizabeth Calvert. Martha got her name in honor of her father's sister Martha "Patsy" Parke Custis (1756–1773). Her siblings were Elizabeth Parke Custis Law (1776-1831), Eleanor Parke Custis Lewis (1777-1854) and George Washington Parke Custis (1781-1857). She was called “Patsy” within the family.

Martha's family lived alternately in Mount Vernon and Mount Airy, Maryland . In 1778 John Parke Custis bought the Abingdon Plantation from Robert Alexander, which owned 900 acres of land on the west bank of the Potomac River . Abingdon was conveniently equidistant from Mount Vernon and Mount Airy.

Marriage and children

Martha married Thomas Peter in Hope Park , Fairfax County in 1795 . As a wedding present, the bride received from her grandfather George Washington a miniature showing himself. The watercolor was painted on ivory by Walter Robertson in Philadelphia between 1794 and 1795 and is decorated with gold, it shows Washington in the uniform of the Continental Army .

With her marriage, Martha Peter inherited 61 custodian slaves from her father's property. Thomas Peter sold them almost immediately to get some cash. An event that aroused Washington's disapproval was also evident in his last will, in which he released all of his slaves to prevent the breakup of slave families. After the death of her grandmother Martha Washington in 1802, Martha received an estimated 35 dowry slaves from Mount Vernon and additional slaves after her mother's death in 1811.

Martha and Thomas had eight children:

  • Martha Eliza Angela Peter (January 20, 1796 - September 20, 1800)
  • Columbia Lafayette Peter (December 2, 1797 - December 3, 1820)
  • John Parke Custis Peter (November 14, 1799 - January 19, 1848) ∞ Elizabeth Jane Henderson
  • George Washington Parke Custis Peter (born November 18, 1801 - † December 10, 1877) ce Jane Boyce
  • America Pinckney Peter Williams (October 12, 1803 - April 25, 1842) ∞ William George Williams
  • Robert Thomas Peter (7 November 1806 - 5 October 1807)
  • Martha Custis Castania Peter (October 5, 1808 - April 5, 1809)
  • Brittania Wellington Peter Kennon (born January 28, 1815 - † January 27, 1911) ∞ Beverley Kennon
Tudor Place today

Martha inherited $ 8,000 from her step-grandfather, George Washington, 1/32 of his estate. In 1805, she acquired real estate in Washington, DC. The property encompassed an entire block in Georgetown Heights and had a direct view of the Potomac. The Peters commissioned the architect Dr. William Thornton to design a house for them, which was to be named Tudor Place . In 1802, after Martha Washington's death, Thomas Peter was appointed executor of her will. He and Martha bought many items from Mount Vernon for their private collection to preserve their grandparents' memory.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Arlis Herring: Martha Parke Custis . Arlis Herring . February 9, 2008 2:39:18 pm. Retrieved February 22, 2008.
  2. ^ 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 February 28, 2008. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / gwpapers.virginia.edu
  3. ↑ Wendy Kail: The Papers of George Washington: Articles . The Papers of George Washington . 2009. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved February 22, 2008. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / gwpapers.virginia.edu
  4. ↑ Henry Weincek: An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America . Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York 2003, pp. 336-343.
personal data
SURNAME Peter, Martha Parke Custis
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Patsy
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Granddaughter of Martha and George Washington
DATE OF BIRTH December 31, 1777
PLACE OF BIRTH Mount Vernon, Virginia
DATE OF DEATH July 13, 1854