Experience History with Martha Washington

Experience History with Martha Washington – Less than a year after the death of her first husband, several men, including a militia officer less than a year younger than herself, began courting Martha Custis. Since George Washington and Martha Custis shared friends and acquaintances it is probable they met before Martha was widowed, however, there is no record of their first meeting. George and Martha Washington were married on January 6, 1759. They, her two children, and several enslaved people moved to Washington’s home, Mount Vernon, in early April 1759.

The next sixteen years of Martha Washington’s life have often been called “the golden years” at Mount Vernon. While they had no children of their own, the Washingtons were busy raising her two surviving children, John “Jack” Parke Custis (1754-1781) and Martha “Patsy” Parke Custis (1756-1773) and living the lives of rather typical Virginia planters of the period.

George Washington was busy overseeing his lands and business ventures and was taking an active role in Virginia politics and society. Martha Washington was supervising the education of her children and making sure that the domestic operations on the plantation ran smoothly. Her sphere included everything from the physical care and housing of guests, to the enslaved individual who did most of the cleaning, food production and service. She also oversaw the making of textiles on the estate and the production of clothing for much of the enslaved community at Mount Vernon.

Some of the happiness of these years, however, was tempered by the chronic illness of her daughter, Patsy, who suffered from epilepsy. Despite seeking the best treatments available, Patsy died in the summer of 1773, after a seizure. She was only 17.

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