Cause of death Heart attack Occupation Planter Parents John Custis | Nationality American Name Daniel Custis | |
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Full Name Daniel Lewis Parke Custis Role Martha Washington's husband Spouse Martha Washington (m. 1750–1757) Children John Parke Custis, Frances Custis, Daniel Parke Custis, Jr., Martha Parke Custis Similar People Martha Washington, John Parke Custis, George Washington Parke Cu, John Dandridge, Eleanor Parke Custis Le | ||
Daniel Parke Custis
Daniel Lewis Parke Custis (October 15, 1711 – July 8, 1757) was an American planter who was the first husband of Martha Dandridge. After his death, Dandridge married George Washington, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and the nation's first president.
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Early life and career
Custis was born in York County, Virginia, one of two children of John Custis (1678–1749), a powerful member of Virginia's Governor's Council, and Frances Parke Custis. The Custis family were one of the wealthiest and socially prominent of Virginia. Custis' mother Frances was the daughter of Daniel Parke, a political enemy of the Custises.
As Daniel Custis was the sole male heir in the Custis family, he inherited the Southern plantations owned by his father. However, he did not choose to take a leading role in colonial Virginia politics.
Marriage and children
At the age of 37, Custis met 16-year-old Martha Dandridge at the St. Peter's Church where Martha attended and Custis was a vestryman. Custis' father John disapproved of the relationship but eventually relented. After a two-year courtship, Custis and Dandridge were married on May 15, 1750. The couple lived at Custis' plantation called the White House in New Kent County, Virginia.
They had four children:
Death and estate
Custis died on July 8, 1757 in New Kent County, Virginia, most likely of a heart attack. He is buried in the graveyard of the Bruton Parish Church in Williamsburg, Virginia next to the two children he had with his wife, Daniel, Jr. and Frances Parke Custis.
Two years after his death, on January 6, 1759, his widow Martha married George Washington.
Estate
As Custis died intestate, his widow Martha received the lifetime use of one-third of his property (known as a "dower share"), while the other two-thirds was held in trust for their children. The January 1759 Custis estate also included at least 85 slaves. According to the Mount Vernon slave census, by 1799 the dower share included 153 slaves. The October 1759 Custis estate inventory listed 17,779 acres (71.95 km2), or 27.78 square miles of land, spread over five counties.
Upon Martha Custis's marriage to George Washington in 1759, her dower share came under his control, pursuant to the common law doctrine of seisin jure uxoris. He also became guardian of her two minor children, and administrator of the Custis estate. John Parke Custis was the only child to reach his majority, upon which he inherited the non-dower two-thirds of his father's estate.
Upon George Washington's death on December 14, 1799, the dower share and slaves reverted to Martha. Through a provision in his will, Washington directed that his 124 slaves be freed following his wife's death. But, at her request, they were freed on January 1, 1801. However, because the dower slaves were part of the Custis estate, Martha Washington never had the legal power to free them.
When Martha died on May 22, 1802, her dower share reverted to the Custis estate. Because of Martha Washington's dower share, the estate could not be liquidated for more than 45 years. Martha's dower share was eventually divided between John Parke Custis's widow, Eleanor Calvert Custis Stuart, and their four children. Martha also bequeathed Elisha, the one slave that she owned herself, to her grandson George Washington Parke Custis.