George Washington Parke Custis^{[1, 2]}

1781 - 1857  (76 years)

• Name	George Washington Parke Custis  [3]
  Birth	30 Apr 1781	Mount Airy Plantation, Prince Georges, Maryland, USA   [3, 4]
  Gender	Male
  Residence	1840	Alexandria, Independent Cities, Virginia, USA   [5]
  Residence	1850	Alexandria, Independent Cities, Virginia, USA   [6]
  Death	10 Oct 1857	Arlington, Fairfax, Virginia, USA   [3, 4]
  Burial	Arlington, Arlington, Virginia, USA
  Person ID	I47635	Master
  Last Modified	9 Feb 2023

  
  

  Father	John Parke Custis,   b. 27 Nov 1754, New Kent, New Kent, Virginia, USA d. 5 Nov 1781, Eltham, New Kent, Virginia, USA (Age 26 years)
  Mother	Eleanor Calvert,   b. 3 Feb 1754, Mount Airy Plantation, Prince Georges, Maryland, USA d. 28 Sep 1811, Croom, Prince Georges, Maryland, USA (Age 57 years)
  Marriage	3 Feb 1774	Mount Airy Plantation, Prince Georges, Maryland, USA   [7, 8]
  Family ID	F10816	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Mary Lee Fitzhugh,   b. 22 Apr 1788, Arlington, Arlington, Virginia, USA d. 23 Apr 1853, Arlington, Arlington, Virginia, USA (Age 65 years)
  Marriage	7 Jul 1804	Alexandria, Independent Cities, Virginia, USA   [2, 3]
  Children	1. Maria Carter Syphax,   b. 1804, , Arlington, Virginia, USA d. 1886, Arlington, Arlington, Virginia, USA (Age 82 years) + 2. Mary Ann Randolph Custis,   b. 1 Oct 1808, Arlington, Arlington, Virginia, USA d. 5 Nov 1873, Alexandria, Independent Cities, Virginia, USA (Age 65 years)
  Family ID	F10818	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	5 Feb 2023

  
  

• Event Map		Birth - 30 Apr 1781 - Mount Airy Plantation, Prince Georges, Maryland, USA Marriage - 7 Jul 1804 - Alexandria, Independent Cities, Virginia, USA Residence - 1840 - Alexandria, Independent Cities, Virginia, USA Residence - 1850 - Alexandria, Independent Cities, Virginia, USA Death - 10 Oct 1857 - Arlington, Fairfax, Virginia, USA Burial - - Arlington, Arlington, Virginia, USA  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Notes

  Born at Mount Airy, Maryland, to John Parke Custis and Eleanor Calvert Custis. He was the grandson of Martha Washington by her first marriage to Daniel Parke Custis. After his natural father John Parke Custis died in 1781, he and his sister Eleanor were unofficially adopted by General and Mrs. Washington and raised at Mt. Vernon. Known by the childhood nickname Tub, Custis became very attached to his step-grandfather, George Washington. Under Washington’s counsel he pursued studies at St. John's College and Princeton. Upon Washington’s death he devoted himself to literary and agricultural pursuits. In 1799 Custis was commissioned as a colonel in the Army and aide-de-camp to General Charles Pickney. Custis also volunteered in the defense of Washington, D.C. during the the War of 1812. In 1802, he began the construction of Arlington House on land he had inherited from his natural father. He married Mary Lee Fitzhugh in 1804, and they had four children, but only one, Mary Anna Randolph Custis, survived. His income derived from his inherited estates though he was a generally a poor manager and his properties were not very profitable. He devoted most of his time to painting, playwriting, music, oratory, and promoting the improvement of American agriculture. None of his endeavors were marked by great or lasting success. Regarding himself as the heir to the Washington tradition, Custis collected and displayed a large number of Mt. Vernon relics at Arlington House. He began writing a series of 'Recollections of Washington' in the ‘U.S. Gazette’ in 1826, and they were published in book form in 1860. His first play, ‘The Indian Prophecy’, was performed in the Chestnut Street Theater, Philadelphia, in 1830. He also wrote: ‘The Railroad’ and ‘Pocahontas’ in 1830; ‘North Point of Baltimore Defended’ in 1833; and ‘Eighth of January’ in 1834. Custis gave his daughter away at her wedding to Lt. Robert E. Lee, Sr. at Arlington House in 1831. Custis increasingly relied on his son-in-law, to handle his tangled business affairs. Until his death, Custis retained his rooms in the north wing of Arlington House which had also become home to his daughter’s family. He died there after a short illness in October 1857.

  
  

• Sources

  [S151] Ancestry.com, 1850 U.S. Federal Census - Slave Schedules, (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2004), The National Archive in Washington Dc; Washington, DC; NARA Microform Publication: M432; Title: Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29. [S1469] Ancestry.com, Washington, D.C., U.S., Compiled Marriages, 1801-1825, (Ancestry.com Operations Inc). [S1162] Ancestry.com, Geneanet Community Trees Index, (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.). [S751] Ancestry.com, U.S., Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current, (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.). [S245] Ancestry.com, 1840 United States Federal Census, (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.), Year: 1840; Census Place: Alexandria, Alexandria, District of Columbia; Roll: 35; Page: 261; Family History Library Film: 0006700. [S227] Ancestry.com, 1850 United States Federal Census, (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009.), The National Archives in Washington D.C.; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29; Series Number: M432; Residence Date: 1850; Home in 1850: Alexandria, Virginia; Roll: 932; Page: 410a. [S1133] Ancestry.com, North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000, (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), Book Title: Lineage Book : NSDAR : Volume 160 : 1920. [S32] Yates Publishing, U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900, (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.), Source number: 764.000; Source type: Electronic Database; Number of Pages: 1; Submitter Code: DHL.