Introductory Note
Well, folks, it’s time to exhale. Been down the proverbial rabbit hole for the last six months or so, taking a look at the history of the Custis family. In some ways, the hardest part was trying to figure out how to distill it all down in a way that is pleasing to the reader. Decided on a People and Places approach, as well as creating a Select Genealogy Family Tree, a map of Custis Places and Sites in the area, and two word clouds.
Initially, my main objective with the map was to just document the places as a guide for the reader. Then I realized the map provides a succinct way of showing the impact the Custis family had in the area. Of these 18 places (plus ten sites), one is a memorial, five are a National Historic Landmark, and nine are on the NRHP. I could be wrong, but I’m not sure any other family made their mark on the DMV landscape this way.
I came to greatly admire the Custis family, especially the achievements of the generations after Martha’s four grandchildren. Nevertheless, along with that admiration comes the reminders of the whole story. We must remember that the wealth they gained, the period from 1650 to 1860, came greatly from their ownership of enslaved African Americans. Their dower slaves were passed along like so much property and some were sold off for large amounts of money. At the sale, the owner sometimes tried to keep families together, but not always.
The writer Philip Roth gave us a great observation to ponder, what he called “the ecstasy of sanctimony.” As we continue to criticize past generations, we must keep that sentiment in mind. Nevertheless, the landscape of the former Custis properties and sites does remind us of the sad, wrong and hurtful aspects of our past. Where the balance lies between the good, the bad, and the ugly is up to each of us to decide.
The final thing we did to tell some of this story was to create two word clouds. In the first, we used a black background to pay homage to the untold stories of the enslaved humans the Custis family owned. Realizing that was not enough, we used four names found on the Custis estate Inventory List (1759) and incorporated them into a second word cloud.
Introduction
In the seventeenth century, a good number of sons of English families took the long and sometimes perilous voyage to the colony of Virginia. Inked on the manifests were names such as Carter, Lee, Fitzhugh, Randolph and Washington. Coming from scattered counties and village across England, these immigrants became part of the planter hegemony that held great influence in the tidewater lands for many years.
In his book, "A Topping People, The Rise and Decline of Virginia's Old Political Elite," Emory G. Evans identified 21 "Elite Virginia families." While almost all of them and the early English immigrants stepped off the tall ships near what is now Williamsburg, John Custis II (1630-1696) broke the soil on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.
The year was 1651. The hard and fatal first decades of life in the colony had given way to a somewhat more stable way of life.
Although he was proceeded by a family member, John Custis I, John Custis II was the progenitor of the Custis family in the New World. John Custis II, his son John Custis III and his grandson John Custis IV laid the foundation for the family. The male line would die out with the sixth generation, but the descendants would make headlines with their own stories.
For the most part, there was one way to the top of the political ladder in the colony of Virginia, and John Custis II took it. He first established himself as a planter, then became a Burgess (Lower House), followed by a seat on the Governor's Council (Upper House), the highest position in the colony other than the Governor. Typically, there were only about a dozen Councillors each year who held a lifetime appointment and had the Governor's ear.
Following in the footsteps of John Custis II as a family scion were his son John Custis III, and his grandfather John Custis IV. With the marriage of John Custis IV to Frances Parke, the daughter of planter/burgess/councillor Daniel Parke II, their son Daniel Parke Custis began the Parke Custis part of the family story.
In 1749, the Custis story moved north of Williamsburg to New Kent County where Daniel Parke Custis married Martha Dandridge. Their only son to live past childhood was John "Jacky" Parke Custis. In 1759, the Custis saga took a turn when George Washington married the widowed Martha. There would be no children from this union, but Washington performed all the duties and gave the loving care of a father to Martha's two children and also helped raise two of her grandchildren.
With his wife Eleanor Calvert, a young aristocrat from Maryland whose forebears were the six Lords Baltimore, Jacky Parke Custis had four children. They kept the family story going in a number of marquee ways. Each one married and moved into a new mansion home near Alexandria and the new Federal city across the river. Three of them -- Woodlawn, Arlington House and Tudor Place -- are treasures we cherish today as must-see historic house museums.
As the new capital city of Washington began to slowly rise and the story of new Republic unfolded, the Custis family tree sprung the four branches. The four grandchildren of Martha Washington - Elizabeth, Martha, Eleanor and George Washington Parke Custis - each became parents and lived full lives. The George Washington connection always remained, but new names, such as Robert E. Lee, found a spot on the family tree. The aristocratic nature of the Custis family would end, but their stories kept going in a number of ways.
Even though the story of the Custis family stretches across many generations, it is without a doubt inextricably and vividly tied to George Washington. The ties can be seen in seemingly every newspaper report on a family member. Their "step" relationship to Washington is almost always reported. On the other hand, Martha was sometimes left out. Some readers may have even gotten the impression George Washington was blood kin.
Despite not being a father, Washington certainly was a caring and dutiful guardian/step father/step grandfather/father figure to the Parke Custis children. His guiding hand and watchful eye was fatherly in every way. Custis fathers were not always on their best behavior. George Washington was.
In colonial days and beyond, families had to deal with the early death of an infant or child in numbers that could crush the spirit. Martha Washington felt this pain seemingly more times than others. The 1750s alone tested her very soul. She and Daniel Parke Custis had four children. Sadly, only two, John ("Jacky") Parke Custis (1754-1781) and Martha ("Patsy) Parke Custis (1756-1773), survived to childhood. Then Daniel, seemingly healthy, passed away suddenly in 1757.
The pain returned to Martha in 1773. Sadness gripped Mount Vernon when Patsy could not overcome a persistent case of epilepsy. She took her final breath there at the tender age of 17.
A year later joy washed away some of the sorrow when Jacky married Eleanor Calvert at Mount Airy in Prince George's County, Maryland.
Martha's reprieve from sadness lasted just seven years. The dark veil of death covered her once again in 1781 when Jackie died of "camp fever" at age 27.
Jacky and Eleanor had four children -- Elizabeth Parke Custis, Martha Parke Custis, Eleanor Parke Custis and George Washington Parke Custis. All four led full lives that can tell us something significant about life in and around northern Virginia and Washington, and the early years of the republic.
Of course, any good feelings that surround their stories and those of their forebears comes with the ever so sad reminder that they all profited from owning significant numbers of enslaved humans. This went on for two hundred years.
(Source for list: Founders On Line).
In the first few years of the colony, some of the back-breaking and intensive labor required to grow and harvest tobacco was done in part by white indentured Englishmen. But by the 1620s, more and more African Americans were enslaved to the planters. The heart of darkness in this story is their enslavement and the value of the accumulated Custis estate. It was a staggering sum whose tallies were listed on inventory sheets as "Negroes." The planter/legislators such as John Custis IV voted to enact law after law to keep the institution of slavery going and to maximize their profits.
In the case of dower slaves, the owner by law, could not free the slave. Therefore, it is entirely possible that descendants of one or more enslaved humans of John Custis II became the property of Martha's grandchildren, and onward to their children.
There's no substitute for the written word and images. There's also no substitute for walking where history was made. For those wanting a touchable look at the four Parke Custis kids, the DMV is your oyster. To honor his step grandfather who cared for him deeply and when he could, took great care of him at Mount Vernon along with Martha, George Washington Parke ("Wash") Custis (1781-1857) built and lived in his Greek Revival home he named Arlington. The only child of Custis and his wife Mary married Robert E. Lee. The Lee family grew to seven at Arlington, and Mrs. Robert E. Lee inherited her father's property. Arlington House today invites us to try and understand our complicated past.
As a wedding gift from Washington, Eleanor “Nelly” Parke Custis Lawrence (1779-1852) and her husband Lawrence Washington built and lived in Woodlawn. A National Historic Landmark, it was the first acquisition of the National Trust. Quakers, who opposed slavery, lived there for a period of time.
Also financed in part by Washington, Martha “Patty” Parke Custis Peter (1777-1854) and her aristocratic husband Thomas Peter built and lived in Tudor Place in Georgetown. It is through this National Historic Landmark that we learn how some of the seventh, eight, ninth and tenth generations of this line of the Custis family made their marks.
And although it is smaller than the other three and is obscured by additions and changes, “Mount Washington,” was for a short time the home of Elizabeth “Eliza or Betsy” Parke Custis (1776-1831). The structure is now part of the Alexandria Episcopal School.
In southwest DC stands the Thomas Law House, aka, the "Honeymoon House" where Elizabeth Parke Custis Law and her husband Thomas Law spent their first few months together. Like her three siblings, Elizabeth was part of the Cave Dweller set, wealthy aristocrats who turned heads in the early days of Washington.
The Custis story in the Washington area also includes a number of other places and sites. The most unique is the site of Abingdon at National Airport. In 1778, Jacky Parke Custis acquired the plantation home that was built in the 1740s, even before the founding of Alexandria. Members of the Alexander family, long time owners of the property, probably built the home and lived there before Custis acquired it from them. A state highway marker in Old Town tells us the seaport was named after the Alexander family. Through the years, a number of families lived at Abingdon, but none were as famous as Jackie, Eleanor and the four Parke Custis kids.
The intrepid Custis family history buff will also want to visit Oak Hill Cemetery, Hope Park, Montevideo, Audley, and a few others as seen on the map provided.
All searchers of information on the Custis family owe a great debt to the late James B. Lynch. In a pair of volumes exhaustively researched, Lynch wrote what still stands as the definitive and only account of the first six generations ("The Custis Chronicles"). Lynch spent part of his life in the Washington region and signed the Introductions for his two books with a dateline of Alexandria.
Also a true gift for the ages, Lynch donated his collection of Custis family papers to the Alexandria Library. His late wife Anna was a treasured friend to those who knew her, and was a fixture as a volunteer at the Alexandria Archaeology Museum. Her research on enslaved humans adds significantly to our understanding on the topic. Although oblivious to knowing her husband was James Lynch, I have fond memories of sitting down with Anna at the Museum and sharing our thoughts on Alexandria happenings and history.
Filling a critical need in the telling of some of the Parke family story is Helen Hill Miller. Her book, "Colonel Parke of Virginia, fills a void on that aspect of the Parke family. Daniel Parke II, (1664-1711) was the grandfather of Daniel Parke Custis. Parke II bequeathed a large number of enslaved humans to his daughter Frances, the mother of Daniel Parke Custis. Like Lynch, Miller called the Washington area home for a while. As far as I can tell, hers is the only book on the Parke family.
Before it landed in the Washington region, the Parke Custis story unfolded from the Eastern Shore of Virginia and went up the Virginia Peninsula to where the Pamunkey River winds like a snake. Sadly, all their homes at Arlington, Queen's Creek, Williamsburg and in Kent County, are gone.
Fortunately, trowels have been turning the soil at Colonial Williamsburg. Led by Dr. Mark Kostro, a team of archaeologists there are investigating “Custis Square,” the site of the home of John Custis IV (Martha's father-in-law). The green plot lies within footsteps of where tourists amble along the main spine of the once capital city. The Williamsburg website tells us:
Among sites still to be explored in Colonial Williamsburg, Custis Square ranks near the top, with potential to add significantly to our understanding of early American gardening, enslavement, colonial consumerism, and 18th century scientific thought.
With all these sources as well as many others, let’s take a brief look at the story of this line of the Custis family. In some ways, the hardest part was trying to figure out how to distill it all down in a way that is pleasing to the reader. We decided on a People and Places approach, as well as creating a Select Genealogy Family Tree and a Map of Custis Places and Sites in the area.
Regarding the map, my main objective with it initially was to just document the places as a guide for the reader. Then I realized the map provides a way to see the full impact of the Custis family in the DMV. Of these 18 places (plus ten sites), one is a memorial, five are a National Historic Landmark, and nine are on the NRHP. I could be wrong, but I’m not sure any other family made their mark on the DMV landscape this way.
Either way, the Custis family story is compelling and insightful. Our great regret is not being able to go the extra mile and tell some of the stories of their enslaved humans. Our sincere hope is that someone will. Without them, the story of the Custis family is quite diminished.
Family Tree
The searcher of a family tree for the Custis family will find small ones, but not a comprehensive one. The creator of a Select Genealogy for the family will find the challenge of who to put in and who to leave out.
With the knowledge ours is not a complete one, we came up with these two. The second is very important. Without a doubt, the most forgotten part of their story is the seven sons and daughters of Dr. David Stuart and Eleanor Calvert Custis Stuart, the half-siblings of Martha's four famous grandchildren.
The People
The Custis family made their mark from the time they landed in the colony of Virginia in the middle of the seventeenth century to the tenth generation at the end of the twentieth. They were planters, politicians, leaders, officers and soldiers, farmers, land owners, mansion builders and mistresses, caretakers and preservationists, men of the cloth and businessmen, diarists, historians, talented in music and more. They married into the Washington, Calvert, Lee, Fitzhugh, and Peter families and raised scores of children.
We offer these bios:
The Places
The seeker of Custis places and sites can pick and choose from a bounty, which stretch from the Eastern Shore to the Washington region and beyond. Here are a score and some we selected.
Custis Places and Sites in the DMV
If visiting mansion home museums is your favorite hobby, the Washington region is the place to be. The Custis family certainly made their mark this way. As noted earlier, George and Martha built and lived their lives at Mount Vernon. Eleanor Parke Custis and Lawrence Lewis built and lived their middle years at Woodlawn. In their adult and final years, George Washington Parke Custis and Mary built and lived in Arlington, and Martha Parke Custis and Thomas Peter built and lived in Tudor Place. However briefly, Elizabeth Parke Custis and Thomas Law made the Honeymoon House in Washington famous. The tour does not end there. Below are more than two dozen places and sites associated with the Custis family.
Word Cloud
Using "Word It Out," we created two word clouds. We used a black background to pay homage to the untold stories of the enslaved humans the Custis family owned. We also used four names found on the Custis estate Inventory List (1759) and incorporated them into a second word cloud.
Parting Thoughts
As we step away from the Custis family, we're left with a couple of thoughts. We're reminded of something Mary Thompson said in her recent book, “The Only Avoidable Subject of Regret.”
While I can understand the disgust many people in our society feel about slavery and their inability to fathom how anyone could own another person, judging a person from another time and culture by the standards of one’s own time is quite naive. Not only does it take a person, in this case Washington, out of the context of the time in which he lived, but on the question of slavery, takes him out of human history as a whole.
Echoing these sentiments is Peter R. Henriques in his new book, "First and Always, A New Portrait of George Washington."
In the present day, people seem particularly prone to the joys of what Philip Roth called the "ecstasy of sanctimony." How, we are asked, can one admire any man willing to claim ownership of other persons?
While we nod our head in agreement, at the same time, we must also remember that the Custis family, from John Custis II to Martha's grandchildren, a span of time of more than two hundred years, owned a staggering number of enslaved humans. In the case of dower slaves, they could not be freed upon the owner's death.
Our second thought is to share the great news that a long gap is going to be filled. Other than biographies of George and Martha, and a few others, no one has published a book on the Custis family since Lynch. We now know Dr. Cassandra Good is currently working on one, titled, "First Family: George Washington’s Heirs and the Making of America." Her previous work tells us this will be a terrific book.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the following people for their help not only with this research, but as on going sources for insight into area history. Don Dahmann, Dave Cavanaugh, Ted Pulliam, Amy Bertsch, Char Bah, Jim Bish, Patsy Rogers, Garrett Peck, Tammy Mannarino, Hal Hardaway, Dick Hamly, and Mary Thompson. At age 63, my synapses aren't as strong as they once were, so apologies if I forgot anyone.
Others who turned lights on or opened doors on the Custis family stories include Steve Livengood, Kurt Moser, Grant Quertermous, Susan Langley, Judith Grove, Shane MacDonald, Jennifer Stabler, and Beth DeFrancis Sun.
Sources
While there is a dearth of Custis titles, there is a bounty of books where they are part of the story. I benefitted greatly from a good number of them. Below is a select list. In particular, we heap praise on "Tudor Place, America's Story Lives Here" and Lynch's two volumes on the family. Founders Online is equally indispensable.
Armstrong, Erica Dunbar. Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge
Brady, Patricia. George Washington's Beautiful Nelly: The Letters of Eleanor Parke Custis Lewis to Elizabeth Bordley Gibson, 1794-1851.
Callcott, Margaret Law. Mistress of Riversdale.
Clark, Ellen McCallister. Worthy Partner: The Papers of Martha Washington.
Evans, Emory G. A Topping People, The Rise and Fall of Virginia's Old Political Elite.
Fraser, Flora. The Washingtons: George and Martha.
Lynch, James. The Custis Chronicles, The Virginia Generations. The Custis Chronicles. Years of Migration.
Miller, Helen Hill. Colonel Parke of Virginia.
Peck, Garrett. The Smithsonian Castle and the Seneca Quarry.
Plater, David. D. Plater. The Butlers of Iberville Parish, Louisiana: Dunboyne Plantation in the 1800s.
Pryor, Elizabeth Brown. Reading the Man: A Portrait of Robert E. Lee Through His Private Letters.
Thompson, Mary. The Only Unavoidable Subject of Regret: George Washington, Slavery, and the Enslaved Community at Mount Vernon.
Tudor Place, America's Story Lives Here. White House Historical Association.
Wiencek, Henry. "An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America.”
Comments