Martha Washington ( nÃÆ' Â © e Dandridge ; June 13 [OS 2 June] 1731 - May 22, 1802) is the wife of George Washington, the first President United States of America. Although the title was not created until after his death, Martha Washington served as First Lady of the United States. During his life he is often referred to as "Lady Washington".
She first married Daniel Parke Custis, with whom she had four children, and a widow at the age of 25. Two of his children by Custis survived to young adulthood. He brought great fortune to his marriage to Washington, which allowed him to buy land to increase his personal wealth. He also brought nearly 100 dower slaves to use during his lifetime. They and their descendants return to their first husband's home at the time of his death and inherited by his heirs. He and Washington did not have children together but they raised their two children by Daniel Parke Custis, including the son of John "Jacky" Parke Custis. They also help their two big families.
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Martha Dandridge was born on June 13, 1731 (O.S. 2nd June) on her parents' estate, Chestnut Grove, in the British colonies of the Province of Virginia. He is the eldest daughter of John Dandridge (1700-1756), a Virginia planter and immigrant from England, by his wife Frances Jones (1710-1785), born in America and England, Welsh, and French descent. Martha has three brothers and four sisters: John (1733-1749), William (1734-1776), Bartholomew (1737-1785), Anna Maria "Fanny" Bassett (1739-1777), Frances Dandridge (1744- 1757), Elizabeth Aylett Henley (1749-1800) and Mary Dandridge (1756-1763).
Martha may have an illegitimate stepbrother, Ann Dandridge Costin (year of birth and unknown death), who was born a slave. His mother enslaved by Costin is of African descent and Cherokee, and his father is believed to be John Dandridge. Martha's father may also be the father of an unmarried half-brother in Martha named Ralph Dandridge (years of unknown birth and death), who may be white.
Maps Martha Washington
First marriage
On May 15, 1750, at the age of 18, Martha married Daniel Parke Custis, a rich planter two decades older than him, and moved to his residence, White House Plantation, located on the southern shore of the Pamunkey River, a few miles upstream from Chestnut Belukar. They have four children: Daniel, Frances, John, and Martha. Daniel (19 November 1751-Feb. 19, 1754) and Frances (April 12, 1753-Apr.1, 1757) died in childhood. Two other children, John (Jacky) Parke Custis (November 27, 1754-Nov. 5, 1781) and Martha ("Patsy") Parke Custis (1756-June 19, 1773), survived to young adulthood. Her husband's death in 1757 left Martha a rich young widow at the age of 25, with independent control over the dowel heritage during her lifetime, and the trustee controlled the legacy of her young children. Altogether, he was left in custody of some 17,500 acres of land and 300 slaves, separate from investment and other cash. According to his biographer, "he is competent to run five estates left to him when his first husband dies, bargains with a London merchant for the best tobacco prices."
Second marriage
Martha Custis, 27, and George Washington, aged nearly 27, married on January 6, 1759, at the White House plantation. As a person who lives and owns properties in the area, Washington probably knows Martha and Daniel Parke Custis well for some time before Daniel's death. During March 1758 he visited him twice at the White House; the second time he went with a wedding engagement or at least a promise to think of his proposal. At that time, he was also approached by the Charles Carter planter, who was even richer than Washington.
His marriage was magnificent. Jas Washington is a blue and silver cloth with red trimming and a gold knee buckle. The bride wore purple silk shoes with a striped buckle, which is sometimes displayed on Mount Vernon. The couple honeymooned at the White House for several weeks before setting up a home in Mount Vernon Washington. They seem to have had a solid marriage. Martha and George Washington do not have children together, but they raise two surviving Martha children. Her daughter, dubbed Patsy, died as an adolescent during epileptic seizures. John Parke "Jacky" Custis returns from college to comfort his mother.
Custis then married and had children; he served as a Washington auxiliary during the Yorktown siege in 1781 during the American Revolutionary War. He died of "camp fever" (probably an epidemic typhoid). After his death, the Washingtons appointed two youngest children of John's four children, Eleanor (Nelly) Parke Custis (31 March 1779 - July 15, 1852), and George Washington Parke (Washy) Custis (April 30, 1781 - October 10, 1857). Both older girls live with their mothers. The Washingtons also provided personal and financial support to nieces, nephews, and other family members in the Dandridge and Washington families.
Content to live a private life at Mount Vernon and his home from the Custis area, Martha Washington followed Washington to his winter camps for eight years each. He helped keep the spirit among the officers.
At the camp 1777-1778 Forge Valley
According to tradition, Washington is depicted spending his days at the winter camps of the Revolutionary War that he visits with the common army in their huts. But Nancy Loane, author of Following Drum: Women in the Valley of Forge Encampment, says there is no evidence that Washington was visiting with the general army, noting that Martha Washington wore fashionable, firm, and female clothing. great wealth and independent means. Mrs. Washington joined her husband during the Revolution for all the Continental Army winter camps. Before the revolution began, he remained close to home; during that time, he traveled thousands of miles to be with her husband. General Lafayette observes that he loves his "crazy husband".
The Continental Army settled in the Forge Valley, the third of eight winter camps of the Revolution, on December 19, 1777. Martha Washington traveled ten days and hundreds of miles to join her husband in Pennsylvania. The major documents of the Revolutionary period refer to Lady Washington's activities on the site.
Martha Washington took her familiar role as her husband's hostess in the camp. On April 6, Elizabeth Drinker and three friends arrived at the Valley Forge to appeal to General Washington to free their husbands from prison; men, all Quakers, have refused to swear allegiance to the United States. Since the commander was not available initially, the women visited Ny. Washington. Martha Washington was considered a matriarch in the camps she visited. The drinker describes it in his diary as "a beautiful, friendly woman." Though unable to meet the demands of women, General Washington invited them to eat at headquarters that day. Drinkers say dinner with General and Ny. Washington and fifteen "elegant" but "soon over."
Martha Washington also socialized with the wives of senior officers at Valley Forge. Years later, Pierre DuPonceau, an assistant to Baron von Steuben, recalls that in the evenings women and officers at the camp would meet in their respective places to talk. During these social evenings, every woman and man present is "called for a song" when they sip tea or coffee. There was no card game during the Valley Forge social gatherings, games that might have been banned by General Washington.
Charles Willson Peale painted a miniature of Washington - for which he accused "56 Dollars" - and presented it to Martha, along with other miniature Washington paintings. He also painted 50 other officers and their wives that winter.
Lady Washington took part in the May 6 celebration of the formal announcement camp of the French-American alliance. Immediately after the feu de joie thunder, when thousands of soldiers fired their rifles, General Washington and his wife received another officer under a large tent made of dozens of officer tents. General Washington is said to have put on "an expression of immense pleasure and satisfaction."
Five days later, on May 11, 1778, Martha Washington and the commander attended the camp production of Joseph Addison Cato's favorite drama. The drama was performed by staff officers for "a very large and beautiful audience," including many officers and some of their wives. An officer writes that he found "awesome" performances and scenes "in Taste."
First First Lady 1789-1797
After the war, Martha opposed Washington's approval to become the newly formed President of the United States, and he did not attend his inauguration on April 30, 1789. As soon as he took office, as First Lady (the term was later used)) He hosted many state affairs in New York City and Philadelphia for many years as their temporary capital. Socialization is known as the "Republican Court".
In July 1790, artist John Trumbull gave a portrait full of General George Washington to him as a gift. It was shown in their home in Mount Vernon in the New Room.
Dower slave, real, death and interment
Although his father had fifteen to twenty slaves, his first husband, Daniel Parke Custis, had nearly three hundred, making him one of the greatest slave owners and the richest man in the Virginia colony. The Custis plantation is full of plantations and farms of about 27 square miles (70 km 2 ), and 285 male, female, and child slaves are attached to the ownership.
The death of Daniel Parke Custis in 1757 without a will means that, by law, Martha's eldest son and him, John (Jacky) Parke Custis, who at that time will be inherited when he becomes an adult two thirds of the estate Custis , his slave and the children of the slaves. Martha received a "dower share," a lifelong use (and income from) the remaining one-third of her inheritance and her slave. After his death, the dow slaves and their descendants were distributed among the surviving heirs of Custis.
After 1759 his marriage to Martha, George Washington became the manager of Custis real law, under the supervision of the court. At the time of her marriage, Martha's division of dowry included more than 80 slaves. He will also control the children they have, because they will be part of the dowry. Land records show that Martha Washington continues to buy supplies, manage paid staff, and make many other decisions. Although the Washingtons had managerial control over the entire estate, they received income only from Martha's third "dowry". The rest of the income goes to the confidence it has for Jacky Custis until he reaches maturity at the age of 21.
Washington used his wife's great fortune to buy land and slaves; he was more than triple the size of Mount Vernon (2,650 hectares (10.7 km 2 ) at 1757,8251 acre (33.39 km 2 ) in 1787). For over 40 years, his "dowanya" slave has planted the estate with her husband. By law, none of the Washingtons could sell Custis land or slaves, won by Martha and the trust they had. After Jacky died during the Revolutionary War, his slave moved to his son, George Washington Parke Custis, who was then under age. If the beliefs of Jacky or dairy Martha have a slave mother, her children are included in the holding. Some of the slaves possessed by the Washingtons and trust marry each other, forming related families. This creates complex inheritance problems.
Seven of the nine slaves that President Washington brought to Philadelphia (the national capital, 1790-1800) to work at the President's House were "dowers". Pennsylvania passed a gradual abolition law in 1780, in which non-residents were allowed to hold slaves in the state for up to six months; after that date, they can claim freedom. The Washingtons rotate the slaves of their Presidential Home in and out of the state before the six-month deadline to prevent them from establishing a residence (and legally eligible for exemption). Washington reasoned that should "dowers" achieve their freedom due to his negligence, he might be responsible for the Custis property for their value.
Martha Washington promised her maid Oney Judge, a "dow" slave, to her granddaughter Elizabeth Parke Custis as a wedding present. To prevent being sent back to Virginia, the Judge fled in 1796 from the Philadelphia family during Washington's second term. According to an interview with the Judge in the 1840s, the young lady enjoyed being in Philadelphia and was afraid she would never gain freedom if taken to Virginia. He was hiding with free black friends in town, who helped organize his boat trip to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. There he married and had three children.
Patricia Brady, in the biography of Martha Washington in 2005, writes:
Martha feels responsible for the simple girl under her care, especially since her mother and sister expect to see him back in Mount Vernon. What he can never understand is that [Oney has...] a simple desire to be free. Ona, as she prefers to call herself, wants to stay where she is happy, do what she enjoys, and learn to read and write [...] Ona Hakim expressed great respect for Martha and the way she was treated, but she could not face the period ahead as a slave to himself and his children.
After escaping Oney, Martha gives younger sister who enslaved Delphy (also known as Philadelphia) to Elizabeth and her husband as a wedding gift.
Hercules, a slave from Washington, who had worked as a cook chief at the Presidential House (Philadelphia) before being returned to Mount Vernon in 1796, fled from there on February 22, 1797. He was known to travel to Philadelphia, and in December 1801 was living in New York City. Her six-year-old daughter, still enslaved in Mount Vernon, told a visitor that she liked her father freely.
In July 1790 will, written a year after he became President of the United States in April 1789 and nine years before his death in December 1799, George Washington left the direction for emancipation, after the death of Martha Washington, of all his slaves. Of the 318 slaves at Mount Vernon in 1799, slightly less than half, 123, belonged to George Washington. His will determined that his slaves would not be released until Martha's death because of his desire to preserve the family of those who had been married to the slaves of Martha's branch.
In accordance with state law, Washington stipulated in its will that the old slaves or those who were too sick to work should be supported throughout their lives by their inheritance. Children without parents, or those whose family is too poor or indifferent to see their education, must be tied to employers and women who will teach them useful reading, writing, and trade until they are finally released at the age of twenty five.
In December 1800, Martha Washington signed a deed of release for her deceased husband's slave, a transaction entered into the Fairfax County, Virginia record. The document was lost during the American Civil War. The slaves accepted their freedom on January 1, 1801, a little over a year after George's death.
Just a few weeks earlier in December, Abigail Adams, wife of the second President, had visited Mount Vernon and wrote: "Many of those freed have married the so-called dark negro, so they all stop [family] connections, but what can she do? "Ny. Adams suggests motive for Martha to release early Washington slaves:
In a country where they are abandoned by the General, to be free on his death, he does not feel that his life is safe in their Hands, many of them will be told that it is in their interest to get rid of him-He is therefore advised to arrange them all for free at the close of the year this.
Martha's health, always somewhat precarious, declined after her husband's death. Two and a half years after the death of her husband, Martha died on May 22, 1802 at the age of 70.
After his death, Martha was buried in George Washington's tomb in Mount Vernon. In 1831, the surviving executives in the Washington area removed the bodies of George and Martha Washington and other family members from old vaults to similar structures in the current cage in Mount Vernon.
Martha did not release her own slave during her lifetime. He will bequeath Elisha, a slave whom he possessed fully at the time of his death, to his grandson, George Washington Parke Custis. After his death, his dowdy slave returned to real Custis and shared among his four grandchildren. The division separates families, divides husbands from wives and sends children from their parents.
Awards
USS Lady Washington
Mother Washington has a row of rows named in her honor, USS Lady Washington . It holds the distinction of being the first US military ship to be named in honor of a woman and a first name for someone when the person is alive (see also List of US military ships named after living Americans). It has a number of other differences as well, like the first ship named after the (First) First Lady and one of the few active vessels in the US Navy named after in honor of a woman (see also USS Hopper ).
USS Martha Washington
The USS Martha Washington (ID-3019) was a transport for the United States Navy during World War I. He was originally the naval ship of SS Martha Washington for the Austro-American Line before the war. Before and after his navy service he was USAT Army transport USAT Martha Washington . The ship was sold to Italy's Cosulich Line in 1922. In 1932, when Cosulich was absorbed into Italy Flotte Riunite (English: United Fleets Italy ), the ship was renamed SS < i> Tel Aviv . The ship was canceled in 1934.
Martha Washington's
The first US stamp to honor an American woman honors Martha Washington, and was issued in 1902. This 8c edition was printed in black with Martha's portrait surrounded by an elaborate salam compilation. In 1923, the second stamp was issued in his honor, a definitive stamp of 4 cents. The third issue to honor Martha Washington was issued in 1938, a 1 ½ stamp denomination.
AS. paper currency
Martha Washington is the only woman (other than the allegory of Justice, Liberty, etc.) described in front of the US Banknotes. The carved portrait statue was used on the face of the $ 1 Silver Certificate in 1886 and 1891. Both Martha and George Washington were portrayed together with the opposite of a $ 1 silver certificate in 1896.
- Martha Washington with US paper currency
AS. coins
The First Spouse program under the $ 1 Coin Act authorizes the United States Mint to issue 1/2 ounce of $ 10 gold coins and a duplicate bronze medal in honor of the first couple from the United States. Martha Washington coins were released on June 19, 2007, and sold out within hours.
- Martha Washington on US coins
Educational institutions
The Martha Washington College for Women was founded in Abingdon, Virginia in 1860. In 1918, his reign joined the Emory & amp; Henry College and in 1931, Martha Washington ceased to function as a separate entity, joining fully with Emory & amp; Henry. The main original building of Martha Washington College is now known and operated as the Martha Washington Inn. There is also Martha Washington Seminary, the final school for young women in Washington, DC, founded in 1905 and ceased operations in 1949.
In popular culture
- In 1955, actress Karen Sharpe played Custis on NBC television, The Courtship of George Washington and Martha Custis, the production of my Hallmark Hall Hall of Fame. Marshall Thompson, nine years older than Sharpe, described Washington, who is a year younger than Custis.
- Annette Haven plays Martha Washington in the 1976 pornographic Spirit of Seventy Sex .
- Emmy-winning actress Patty Duke describes Martha Washington in the TV miniseries of George Washington (1984) and its sequel George Washington II: The Forging of a Nation (1986).
- Martha Washington is the fox name on The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams, episode 2 ("Blood Brothers").
- A member of the geranium (flower) family, the scientific name Pelargonium x domesticum , is named Martha Washington as the Martha Washington geranium.
- Martha Washington is described by Lilli Birdsell in the third and fourth season Turn: Washington Spy from 2016-2017.
- Martha Washington is satirically portrayed as a ghost of the past by Aidy Bryant in the October 4, 2010 episode of Saturday Night Live on NBC television.
See also
References
Further reading
- Fraser, Flora (2015). The Washingtons: George and Martha. "Join Friendship, Crown'd by Love" . New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 978-0-307-27278-2.
External links
- Letter Martha Washington (primary source)
- Martha Washington in the White House (biography)
- Martha Washington at the First National Women's Library (biography)
- Martha Washington (Mount Vernon in George Washington)
- Donald Greyfield (January 1, 2001). "Martha Dandridge Washington". First First Lady in America . Find Grave . Retrieved August 18 2011 . (memorial photo)
- Martha Washington in C-SPAN First Ladies: Influence & amp; Images
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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