Maria Carter Syphax

Other Events and Attributes:

• Residence: 1840, Alexandria, Independent Cities, Virginia, USA
• Residence: 1850, Alexandria, Independent Cities, Virginia, USA

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.

George married Mary Lee Fitzhugh on 7 Jul 1804 in Alexandria, Independent Cities, Virginia, USA. Mary (daughter of William Debnam Fitzhugh and Mary Anne Bolling Randolph) was born on 22 Apr 1788 in Arlington, Arlington, Virginia, USA; died on 23 Apr 1853 in Arlington, Arlington, Virginia, USA; was buried in Arlington, Arlington, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Eltham
Eltham was situated in New Kent County, Virginia. The property was owned by the Bassett family. Captain William Bassett was reportedly the first of the family to come to Virginia. He died in 1672 and was succeeded by his son, William Bassett, who died in 1673. This second William Bassett was a member of the Virginia Council. There was a third William Bassett, who inherited the place and was a member of the House of Burgesses. The son of the third Bassett, William Burwell, became owner of Eltham and also a Burgess.

The mansion was said to have been built as early at the 1660's. It was constructed of brick. The house was considered by many architects to have been one of the finest examples of Georgian architecture in the South.

The illustration of Eltham above was made from a drawing done by a member of the Bassett family. One description of the house reads, "There was a central portion of the house two-and-one-half stories high with dormer windows in the well-designed roof. Through passages on each side one reached the low wings to the house." Another description says, "The house presented an imposing front, one hundred and fifty feet from wing to wing; the entire building, with peaked roof and gable front, rising above them like the keep of a castle. Over the red English bricks of its walls, time and clinging tribes of lichens had thrown a soft tinting of purple and gray, while a stately avenue of Lombardy poplars led away from the mossy stone steps of the entrance, adding grandeur to the picturesqueness of the place. Many times during the siege of York were the leading spirits of the Revolution gathered at Eltham (which was not far from Yorktown) as guests of Colonel Burwell Bassett, who was a brother-in-law of General Washington and of Governor Harrison, having married the sister of Mrs. Washington [Anna Maria Dandridge; they married on May 2, 1757]."

One reason that there is interest in Eltham is that General and Mrs. Washington often visited the Bassets at Eltham, and Burwell Basset was one of the agents who had charge of Washington's business affairs while he was in command of the army during the American Revolution. In one of his letters to Bassett, written from Cambridge, Massachusetts, in February 1776, he says: "I thank you heartily for the attention you have kindly paid to my landed affairs on the Ohio; my interest in which I shall be more than ever careful of, as in the worst event they may serve for an asylum." This letter was owned by Herbert A. Claiborne of Richmond.

Another visitor of note was Andrew Burnaby, who wrote, "May 26, 1760. Having procured three horses, for myself, servant, and baggage, I departed from Williamsburg, and travelled that night to Eltham; twenty-five miles. . . . May 27. I ferried over Pamunky river . . . . " Burnaby wrote Travels Through North America, a popular book which went through three editions in the 1700's.

The Bassetts intermarried with many prominent Virginia families, including the Dandridges, the Lewises, the Claibornes, the Burwells and others. John Parke Custis, son of Martha Washington (and stepson of George Washington), died at Eltham, the home of his uncle. Martha and George adopted his two children. According to George Washington Parke Custis (John Parke Custis' biological son and George and Martha's adopted son), John Parke Custis "sickened while on duty as extra aide to the commander-in-chief in the trenches before Yorktown. Aware that his disease (the camp-fever), would be mortal, the sufferer had yet one last lingering wish to be gratified, and he would die content. It was to behold the surrender of the sword of Cornwallis. He was supported to the ground, and witnessed the admired spectacle, and was then removed to Eltham, a distance of thirty miles from camp."

The house burned in the 1870's, but the massive foundations could still be seen in the early 1900's.

The information in this article was compiled from information in Frances Archer Christian and Susanne Massie, editors, Homes and Gardens in Old Virginia, Garrett and Massie, Incorporated, Richmond, VA, 1931; Robert A. Lancaster, Jr., Historic Virginia Homes and Churches, J.B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1915; Ella B. Washington, "The Harrisons in History," The Magazine of American History, 1889; Recollections and Private Memoirs of Washington, By His Adopted Son, George Washingto Parke Custis, with A Memoir of the Author, by His Daughter; and Illustrative and Explanatory Notes, by Benson J. Lossing, Derby & Jackson, New York, 1860.

John married Eleanor Calvert on 3 Feb 1774 in Mount Airy Plantation, Prince Georges, Maryland, USA. Eleanor (daughter of Benedict Swinegate Calvert and Elizabeth Butler Calvert) was born on 3 Feb 1754 in Mount Airy Plantation, Prince Georges, Maryland, USA; died on 28 Sep 1811 in Croom, Prince Georges, Maryland, USA; was buried in Croom, Prince Georges, Maryland, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Residence: 1782, , Fairfax, Virginia, USA

William married Mary Anne Bolling Randolph on 2 Apr 1763 in , , Virginia, USA. Mary (daughter of Peter Randolph and Lucy Bolling) was born on 13 May 1747 in Chatsworth, Henrico, Virginia, USA; died on 10 Aug 1805 in Ravensworth, Fairfax, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Daniel married Martha Dandridge in 1749. Martha (daughter of John Dandridge and Frances Orlando Jones) was born on 21 Jun 1731 in Chestnut Grove, New Kent, Virginia, USA; died on 22 May 1802 in Mount Vernon, Fairfax, Virginia, USA; was buried in Mount Vernon, Fairfax, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

02 Jun 1731 - May 22 1802

First Lady, 30 Apr 1789 - 04 Mar 1797

On 31 Dec 1799, shortly after her husband's death, Martha Washing responded to the congressional request that he be buried in "Washington City," the new American capital. "I must consent to the request made by congress," she wrote, "...and in doing this I need not---I cannot say what a sacrifice of individual feeling I make to a sense of public duty." That principle governed her conduct throughout her 40-year marriage to George Washington. She was raised to be a southern belle and a plantation mistress. She delighted in domesticity, describing herself at Mt. Vernon as "fairly settled downn to the pleasant duties of an old fashioned Virginia house-keeper, steady as a clock, busy as a bee, and as cheerful as a cricket." Yet in the public interest she repeatedly left the home she loved to share with her husband the hardships, discomforts, and dangers of his winter headquarters during the seven years that the American Revolution dragged on. After that war both the Washingtons hoped to spend the rest of their lives in the tranquility of Mt. Vernon. But George Washington bowed to the public will that he serve as the nation's first president and Martha Washington moved with him to New York and then to Philadelphia. Willinly and almost without complaint, she endured her separation from the relative and friends she loved best to undertake the repososibilities of a "very dull life" in which she felt "more like a state prisoner than anything else."

Martha Dandridge was born at Chestnut Grove, a modest 500-acre plantation on the pamunkey River in New Kent County, VA, on 02 Jun 1731. Her father, John Dandridge, came to North America from England when he was at years old with his older brother William. Starting out as merchants, they both rapidly acquired land and status. Her mother, Frances Jones, was the granddaughter of an Oxford-educated Anglican rector. Like most well-off girls of her time, Martha was probably tuaght domestic arts and household management by her mother and the three Rs by her parents and grandparents, an itinerant tutor, or an indentured servant. She learned to dance, perhaps to play an instrument a little, and to ride horseback expertly. She attended church regularly. Her social life and her affections centered in her relations with her seven siblings and the gentry of the countryside. She was slim and petite, just under five feet tall, with brown hair and hazel eyes.

When Martha was 17, she attracted the attention of Daniel Parke Custis, like her father a vestryman in her church. The 39-year-old Custis was a man eager to marry but still under the thumb of his wealthy, eccentric, and irascible father. The elder Custis did not allow Daniel to manage and eventually own one of his estates, White House, until he was far into his maturity. No young woman, the father seemed to think, was worthy of his oly son---or, perhaps more important, of iheriting the considerable Custis fortune. Martha's marriage to Daniel was delayed until she was 19, when in a sudden about-face Custis snior declared he was "as much enamored with her character as you (Daniel) are with her person, and this is owing chiefly to a prudent speech of her own."

They were married at her home and settled down at White House to raise a family. Custis indulged his young bride with fine clothes ordered from London. In the next seven years she bore four babies, two boys and two girls. But the infant deaths so commonplace in the 18th century soon claimed the first two. In 1757 her husband died suddenly, leaving her with her two small children: Martha Parke "Patsy" Custis, born 1754; and John Parke "Jacky" custis, born in 1755. He also left her perhaps the wealthiest widow in Virginia.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Illegitimate son of Charles Calvert, 5th Lord Baltimore and Melusina von der Schulenberg.

Benedict married Elizabeth Butler Calvert on 21 Apr 1748 in St. Anne's Episcopal Church, Church Circle, Annapolis, Maryland, USA. Elizabeth was born on 24 Feb 1730 in St Annes Parish, Prince Georges, Maryland, USA; died on 7 Jul 1798 in Mount Airy Plantation, Prince Georges, Maryland, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Residence: 2 Aug 1790, , Prince Georges, Maryland, USA

Notes:

Married:
Anne Arundel Circuit of The Methodist Episcopal Church, Anne Arundel, Maryland.

Colonel married Lucy Carter on 28 Jul 1730 in Corotoman Plantation, Lancaster, Virginia, USA. Lucy (daughter of Robert "King" Carter and Elizabeth Landon) was born on 24 Aug 1715 in Corotoman Plantation, Lancaster, Virginia, USA; died on 10 Feb 1763 in Eagles Nest, Stafford, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Peter married Lucy Bolling in 1733. Lucy (daughter of Robert Bolling, Jr and Anne Cocke) was born on 3 May 1719 in Petersburg, Independent Cities, Virginia, USA; died on 8 Jul 1767 in Chatsworth, Henrico, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

John Custis (August 1678–after 14 November 1749) was a member of the Governor's Council in the British colony of Virginia. Often he is designated as John Custis IV or John Custis, of Williamsburg, to distinguish him from his grandfather, father, and other relatives of the same name. The son of John Custis (ca. 1654–1714) (usually designated John Custis III or John Custis, of Wilsonia), who was also a Council member, and Margaret Michael Custis, Custis was born in Northampton County, Virginia. On 4 May 1706 he married Frances Parke, the elder daughter and heiress of Daniel Parke, governor of the Leeward Islands.

Custis had moved to Williamsburg, Virginia by 1717. There he created a magnificent 4-acre (16,000 m2) garden and corresponded with many celebrated horticulturists and naturalists, including John Bartram, Mark Catesby, and Peter Collinson. Custis served on the governor's Council from 1727 until increasingly ill health forced him to request to be suspended in August 1749. In 1744, John Custis took the extraordinary step of petitioning the Governor and Council to set a slave child free. The petition stated the boy was "Christened John but commonly called Jack, born of the body of his Negro wench, Alice."[1]

He died soon after completing his will on 14 November 1749. At his request, he was buried on the Eastern Shore of Virginia at the Arlington plantation. In his will Custis instructed his son, on pain of being cut off with only one shilling, to place on his marble tomb the wording that Custis had "Yet lived but Seven years which was the Space of time he kept a Batchelors [sic] House at Arlington on the Eastern Shoar [sic] of Virginia. This Inscription put on this Stone by his own positive Orders."

His only surviving son, Daniel Parke Custis, was the first husband of Martha Washington.

References

Will in Prerogative Court of Canterbury Registered Wills, Searle 287, Principal Probate Registry, London, England.
Kneebone, John T., et al., eds. Dictionary of Virginia Biography (Richmond: Library of Virginia, 1998- ), 3:636-639. ISBN 0-88490-206-4.
Zuppan, Jo. "John Custis of Williamsburg, 1678-1749," Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 90 (1982): 177-197.
Custis, John (2005) Zuppan, Josephine Little ed. The letterbook of John Custis IV of Williamsburg, 1717-1742 Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. ISBN 094561280X, 9780945612803 http://books.google.com/books?id=EkKUjMmxVS0C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb#v=onepage&q&f=false
^ Wiencek, Henry (2004). 'An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America', p. 73. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 0374529515

"John Custis’s marriage was famously miserable."
In an apocryphal story, he once drove a carriage bearing him and his wife Frances Parke right into the Chesapeake Bay. The following exchange is said to have taken place:

“Where are you going, Mr. Custis?” Frances asked, with the water swirling around them.

“To hell, madam.” Came the reply.

“Drive on,” said Frances, “any place is better than Arlington.”

Source: Wiencek, Henry. An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America. Farrar, New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003, pg. 72.

John married Frances Custis. Frances was born in 1687 in Williamsburg, Independent Cities, Virginia, USA; died on 14 Mar 1714 in Williamsburg, Independent Cities, Virginia, USA; was buried in Williamsburg, Independent Cities, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

John married Frances Orlando Jones. Frances was born on 6 Aug 1710 in St Peters Parish, New Kent, Virginia, USA; died on 9 Apr 1785 in New Kent, New Kent, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Lord married Petronilla Melusina Von Der Schulenberg, Countess of Walsingham. Petronilla was born on 13 Apr 1693 in Ramstedt, Schleswig Holstein, Germany; died on 16 Sep 1778 in Isleworth, London Borough of Hounslow, Greater London, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Petronilla Melusine von der Schulenburg, Countess of Walsingham (1 April 1693 – 16 September 1778) was the natural daughter of King George I of Great Britain and his longtime mistress, Melusine von der Schulenburg, Duchess of Kendal.

In 1722, Melusina was created Baroness Aldborough and Countess of Walsingham as a life peer.

In Isleworth, Middlesex, on 5 September 1733 she married Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield, a leading Whig politician.

The couple had no children, but it is possible that she may have been the mother, through an intimacy with Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore, of Benedict Swingate Calvert. Calvert was born in England in around 1730-32, the illegitimate son of Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore. His mother's identity is not completely clear but some sources suggest that she was Melusina von der Schulenburg.

William married Ann Mary Lee in 1705 in Machodoc, Westmoreland, Virginia, USA. Ann (daughter of Colonel Richard Henry Lee, II and Laetitia Corbin) was born on 5 Jan 1683 in Mt Pleasant, Westmoreland, Virginia, USA; died on 12 Jan 1732 in Eagles Nest, King George, Virginia, USA; was buried in , King George, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: Anne McCarty

Notes:

Robert King Carter son of John Carter and Sarah Ludlow

Robert King Carter married 1680 Virginia, to Judith Armistead.
From the "ENCYCLOPEDIA of VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY" Under the Editorial Supervision of Lyon Gardiner Tyler, LL. D., VOLUME V, 1915, pages 848-849

The epitaph on his tomb in Christ Church, records his virtues and achievements. Translated from the Latin, it says:
Here lies Robert Carter an honorable man who by noble endowments and pure morals gave luster to his gentle birth. Rector of William and Mary College, he sustained that institution and its most trying times. And he was Speaker of the House of Burgesses and Treasurer under the most serene princes, William, Ann, George I. and George II. Elected by
the House of Burgesses its Speaker six years and Governor of the Colony for more than a year he upheld equally the regal dignity and the public freedom. Possessed of ample wealth, blameless acquired, he built and endowed this sacred edifice, a signal monument of his piety towards God. He furnished it richly. Entertaining his friends kindly, he was neither a prodigal nor a parsimonious host.

His first wife was Judith, daughter of John Armistead, Esq. His second, Betty, a descendant of the noble house of Landon. By these wives he had many children and whose education he expended large sums of money. At length, full of honors and of years, when he had well performed all the duties of an exemplary life he departed from this world on the 4th of August, 1732, in the 69th year of his age.

This man's grandson had Washington himself as neighbor, and Robert E. Lee's mother was the great granddaughter of his grandfather, Robert "King" Carter. "It was 230 years ago that Robert Carter III, the patriarch of one of the wealthiest families in Virginia, quietly walked into a Northumberland County courthouse and delivered an airtight legal document announcing his intention to free, or manumit, more than 500 slaves.

He titled it the "deed of gift." It was, by far, experts say, the largest liberation of Black people before President Abraham Lincoln signed the District of Columbia Emancipation Act and Emancipation Proclamation more than seven decades later.

Ancestor of William Henry Harrison - 9th US President.

Robert Carter was born 4 August 1663 at Corotoman plantation, Lancaster County, Virginia, a son of John Carter and Sarah Ludlow.[3] His father died when Robert was a young boy, in 1669. So his half-brother, Lt. Col. John Carter (15 years older than Robert), took on the parental role.[3] Per their father's specific instructions, Robert was educated well in England. He had a tutor for English and Latin, and lived with Arthur Bailey who was a family friend and merchant.[3]

He married 1) in 1688 at Heese, Lancaster, Virginia to Judith Armistead (died 1699).[4] She died in 1699.
He married 2) in 1701 to Elizabeth (Landon) Willis (marriage contract written April 9, 1701), widow of Richard Willis, and daughter of Thomas Landon.[3]
Robert "King" married in 1688 to Judith Armistead, daughter of John Armistead of "Hesse," Gloucester County. Their children were:[4]

John, born ca 1689, died 1742; mar Elizabeth Hill of Shirley
Elizabeth born 1692; mar Nathaniel Burwell
Judith died in infancy,
Sarah died at age 15
Judith born 1695 (the second named Judith); mar Mann Page[3]
Note: Some sources, including the Foundation for Historic Christ Church, place the birth date of John Carter III at 1696,[4]while others place it at 1689/90.[5][3]

Little is known about the intimate family life of Robert and Judith during these years.[3] Judith died February 23, 1699, and only three of her children survived to adulthood.[5]

Robert's second wife was Elizabeth Landon Willis, (mother of ten of Robert Carter's children) married in 1701:[4]

Anne Carter (1702–1743) married Benjamin Harrison IV; (parents of Benjamin Harrison V and grandparents of President William Henry Harrison).
Robert Carter II (1704–1734) married Priscilla Churchill.
Sarah Carter (~1705–1705)
Betty Carter (~1705–1706)
Charles Carter (1707–1764) married Anne Byrd, daughter of Col. William Byrd II.
Ludlow Carter (born ~1709)
Landon Carter (1710–1778) married Maria Byrd, daughter of Col. William Byrd II.
Mary Carter (1712–1736) married George Braxton; (parents of Carter Braxton).
Lucy Carter (1715–1763) married Henry Fitzhugh
George Carter (1718–1742)[3]

The first actual land grant found on record in the Northern Neck section of Virginia is to Col. Robert "King" Carter, as the agent of Lord Fairfax and to his sons and grandsons. As the agent of Lord Fairfax, the Proprietor of the Northern Neck of VA, Col. Carter handled vast bodies of land and by his will left over 300,000 acres of land to his children.[6]
Robert was known as "King" Carter due to his immense wealth. He had a remarkable reputation as a Colonial Official and an agent for Lord Fairfax, V. At the age of 28, Robert entered the Assembly as a Burgess from Lancaster County, serving five consecutive years. In 1726 he served as acting governor of Virginia after the death of Governor Drysdale. He served two terms as agent for the Fairfax proprietary of the Northern Neck of Virginia, the first being, 1702-1711, and the second term, 1722-32. During his first term, he began to acquire large tracts of land for himself in the Rappahannock region of Virginia. After acquiring some 20,000 acres for himself, he was succeeded by Edmund Jennings. When he became representative of Fairfax's interests again in 1722, he succeeded in securing for his children and grandchildren some 110,000 acres in the Northern Neck. He also had additional acquisitions beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia. Robert's gifted and productive life centered around the original Christ Church, a smaller wooden structure. His parents were buried within the chancel of the church. A historic marker outside of the Church reads: "Christ Church was built in 1732, on the site of an older Church by Robert ("King") Carter, who reserved one quarter of it for seating his tenants and servants. It is one of the very few colonial churches in America that have never been altered, a typical early eighteenth-century structure.[7]

Robert owned many slaves. An inventory of his slaves, apparently made as part of the inventory of his estate, was taken in 1733.[8] There are 345 slaves listed with names like: Old Crabb, Old Gumby, and Old Fortune a Woman past Labour.[8]

Robert left quite a list of property, including the slaves above-mentioned. He held numerous plantations in eight different counties of Virginia:

INVENTORY, [1733] November ?, of the estate of Robert Carter comprising a detailed list of agricultural equipment, blacksmith tools, books, coaches, furniture, glassware, horses and other livestock, milling tools, silverware and utensils, and slaves at Carter's estates in
Caroline (Pewmond's End),
King George (Falls and Richland quarters),
Lancaster (Brick House Quarter, Changilins Quarter, Corotoman, Corotoman Quarter, Gibson's Plantation, Great Mill, Hills Quarter, Indian Town Quarter, Little Mill, Morattico Quarter, Office Quarter, Old House Quarter, Poplar Neck Quarter, and Wolf House Quarter),
Northumberland County (Blough Point Quarter, Feilding's Plantation, Jones's Plantation, and Old Plantation),
Prince William (Bull Run, Frying Pan Quarter, Lodge Quarter, Range Quarter, and Red Oak Quarter,),
Richmond (Brick House Quarter, Bridge Quarter, Dickinson's Mill, Fork Quarter, Thomas Glascock's, Gumfield's Quarter, Hickory Thickett, Hinson's Quarter, Old Quarter, and Totuskey Quarter),
Spotsylvania (Mount Quarter and Norman's Ford), Stafford (Hamstead Quarter, Hinson's Quarter, Park Quarter, and Poplar Quarter), and
Westmoreland (Brent's Quarter, Coles Point, Dick's Quarter, Forrest Quarter, Head of the River, Medcalf's Plantation, Moon's Plantation, The Narrows, Old Ordinary, and Pantico Quarter), counties, Virginia[9]

Robert Carter died 4 Aug 1732 at Corotoman, Lancaster, Virginia and was buried at Christ Church.[4] "(see tombstone inscription and pictures). At his death in 1732, his obituary in Gentleman's Magazine described his estate to be "about 300,000 acres of land, about 1000 Negroes, 10,000 pounds in money." The tombstones of Robert and his two wives were placed at the east end of the old Christ Church.
The tombstones have been replaced by the church, and the inscription on his tombstone (taken from the original):

"Here lies buried Robert Carter, Esq., an honourable man, who by noble endowments and pure morals gave lustre to his gentle birth. Rector of William and Mary, he sustained that institution in its most trying times. He was Speaker of the House of Burgesses, and Treasurer under the most serene Princes William, Anne George I and II. Elected by the House its Speaker six years, and Governor of the Colony for more than a year, he upheld equally the regal dignity and the public freedom. Possessed of ample wealth, blamelessly acquired, he built and endowed, at his own expense, this sacred edifice - a signal monument of his piety toward God. He furnished it richly. Entertaining his friends kindly, he was neither a prodigal nor a parsimonious host. His first wife was Judith, daughter of John Armistead, Esq.; his second Betty, a descendant of the noble family of Landons. By these wives he had many children, on whose education he expended large sums of money. At length, full of honours and of years, when he had performed all the duties of an exemplary life, he departed from this world on the 4th day of August, in the 69th year of his age. The unhappy lament their lost comforter, the widows their lost protector, and the orphans their lost father."

Robert married Elizabeth Landon on 9 Apr 1701 in , , Virginia, USA. Elizabeth was born in 1683 in Credenhill, Hereford, England; died on 3 Jul 1719 in Williamsburg, Independent Cities, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

William married Elizabeth Peyton Beverley Randolph on 22 Jun 1705 in , Henrico, Virginia, USA. Elizabeth was born on 1 Jan 1691 in Gloucester, Gloucester, Virginia, USA; died on 26 Dec 1723 in , Henrico, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Col married Margaret Michael. Margaret was born in 1658 in , Accomack, Virginia, USA; died on 29 March 1697 in , Northampton, Virginia, USA; was buried in Cashville, Accomack, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

He was the second sone of Charle Calvert, and became his father's heir upon the death of his elder borther, Cecil in 1681.

He married Lady Charlotte Lee, daughter of the 1st Earl of Lichfield by his wife the former Lady Charlotte FitzRoy, the illegitimate daughter of King Charles II. They had seven children.

His great-granddaughter Eleanor Calvert Custis was the grandmother of Mary Anna custis Lee the wife of Gen. Robert E. Lee.

Benedict married Charlotte Lee on 2 Jun 1698. Charlotte (daughter of Edward Henry Lee and Charlotte Fitzroy) was born on 13 Mar 1678 in St James Palace, London, England; died on 22 Jan 1721 in St James Palace, London, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Charlotte Lee, Lady Baltimore
Born 13 March 1678 (Old Style); 23 March 1678 (New Style)
St. James's Park, St. James, London, England
Died 22 January 1721 (Old Style); 1 February 1721 (New Style)
Woodford Hall, Woodford, Essex, England
Spouse(s)Benedict Leonard Calvert, 4th Baron Baltimore, Christopher Crowe
Issue
Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore
Hon. Benedict Leonard Calvert, Governor of Maryland
Hon. Edward Henry Calvert
Hon. Charlotte Calvert
Hon. Jane Calvert
Hon. Cecil Calvert
Christopher Crowe
Catherine Crowe
Charlotte Crowe
George Crowe
Father
Edward Henry Lee, 1st Earl of Lichfield
Mother
Lady Charlotte Fitzroy
ReligionAnglican
Charlotte Lee, Lady Baltimore (13 March 1678 Old Style – 22 January 1721 Old Style), was an English noblewoman, and granddaughter of King Charles II of England and his mistress Barbara Villiers. She married in 1699, Benedict Leonard Calvert, 4th Baron Baltimore, from whom she separated in 1705; she later married Christopher Crowe. She was the mother of Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore, and of Benedict Leonard Calvert, who was Governor of Maryland from 1727–1731.

Early life
Lady Charlotte Lee was born on 13 March 1678 at St. James's Park, St. James, London.[2] She was the eldest of at least fourteen children of Edward Henry Lee, 1st Earl of Lichfield (4 February 1663 – 14 July 1716) and Lady Charlotte Fitzroy (5 September 1664 – 17 February 1718), illegitimate daughter of King Charles II by his mistress Barbara Villiers, Countess of Castlemaine, Duchess of Cleveland. Lady Charlotte's mother was fourteen years old at the time of her birth, having married the Earl of Lichfield at the age of thirteen. Her father was also only fifteen at the time of her birth. Her paternal grandparents were Sir Francis Henry Lee of Ditchley, 4th Baronet of Quarendon and Elizabeth Pope, daughter of Thomas Pope, 2nd Earl of Downe.

Marriage to Lord Baltimore
Charlotte Lee's first husband, Benedict Calvert, 4th Baron Baltimore
On 2 January 1699, at the age of twenty, she married her first husband Benedict Leonard Calvert, 4th Baron Baltimore (21 March 1679 – 16 April 1715), son of Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore and Jane Lowe. Charlotte assumed the title of Lady Baltimore in February 1715, when her husband succeeded to the title of 4th Baron Baltimore upon the death of his father, the third Baron. The title of Proprietary Governor of the Province of Maryland had been lost to the third Baron during the Glorious Revolution and would be restored to Charles Calvert, the son of Charlotte and Benedict, upon the latter's death on 16 April 1715.

Charlotte and Lord Baltimore had six children:

Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore, 18th Proprietor Governor of Maryland, FRS (29 September 1699 – 24 April 1751), married Mary Janssen, daughter of Sir Theodore Janssen, 1st Baronet Janssen and Williamsa Henley,[4] by whom he had three children, including Frederick Calvert, 6th Baron Baltimore, Louisa Calvert, and Caroline Calvert. He also had an illegitimate son, by the name of Benedict Swingate Calvert, who settled in Maryland, and married Elizabeth Calvert, by whom he had issue.

Hon. Benedict Leonard Calvert, Governor of Maryland, (1727–1731). He died 1 June 1732 on his passage home to England.

Hon. Edward Henry Calvert (born ca. 1700), held office of Commissary General and President of the council of Maryland, was married without issue.

Hon. Charlotte Calvert (died December 1744), married Thomas Breerwood, by whom she had a son, Francis Breerwood.

Hon. Jane Calvert (died July 1778), married John Hyde, by whom she had issue John Hyde, Henry Hyde and Mary Calvert Hyde, wife of George Mitchell and mother of George Calvert Mitchell, 1st Earl of Royalton.

Hon. Cecil Calvert (born 1702)
Charlotte and Lord Baltimore were divorced in 1705. Charlotte had an affair in 1706 with Colonel Robert Fielding, then the (bigamous) husband of her grandmother the Duchess of Cleveland, and was rumoured to have borne a child by him, born 23 April 1707.

Marriage to Christopher Crowe
She married her second husband Christopher Crowe (c.1681 – 9 November 1749), Consul at Leghorn, sometime before 10 December 1719. Charlotte was three years older than her husband. This marriage produced four more children.

Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore, was the eldest son of Charlotte Lee and her first husband, Benedict Leonard Calvert, 4th Baron Baltimore.

Charlotte's four children from her second marriage:
Christopher Crowe (1716–1776), married Barbara Duncombe
Catherine Crowe (1717 – ?), married Roger Henry Gale
Charlotte Crowe (1718–1742)
George Crowe (25 November 1719 – 10 October 1782), married Anne Swift, by whom he had a son Robert.

Death and legacy
Charlotte Lee died of rheumatism on 22 January 1721 at Woodford Hall, Woodford, Essex. She was buried at Woodford on 29 January 1721. She died intestate and her estate was administered on 4 March 1721 at Woodford Hall.

Ancestors of Charlotte Lee, Lady Baltimore:
Sir Henry Lee, 1st Baronet
Francis Henry Lee, 2nd Baronet
Eleanor Wortley
Sir Francis Henry Lee, 4th Baronet of Quarendon
Sir John St. John, 1st Baronet
Anne St. John
Anne Leighton
Edward Henry Lee, 1st Earl of Lichfield
Sir William Pope
Thomas Pope, 2nd Earl of Downe
Elizabeth Watson
Elizabeth Pope
John Dutton
Lucy Dutton
Elizabeth Baynton
Charlotte Lee
James I of England
Charles I of England
Anne of Denmark
Charles II of England
Henri IV of France
Henrietta Maria of France
Marie de Medici
Lady Charlotte Fitzroy
Sir Edward Villiers
William Villiers, 2nd Viscount Grandison
Barbara St. John
Barbara Villiers
Paul Bayning, 1st Viscount Bayning
Mary Bayning
Anne Glemham

Notes:

William Fitzhugh (1651 - 1701) - Describes his home
"...As first the Plantation where I now live contains a thousand Acres, at least 700 Acres of it being rich thicket, the remainder good hearty plantable land, without any waste either by Marshes or great Swamps the Commodiousness, conveniency, & pleasantness your self well knows, upon it there is three Quarters well furnished, with all necessary houses, ground & fencing, together with a choice crew of Negros at each planation, most of them this Country born, the remainder as likely as most in Virginia, there being twenty nine in all, (later he had close to 70 slaves) with Stocks of cattle & hogs at each Quarter, upon the same land is my own Dwelling house, furnished with all accomodations for a comfortable & gentile living, as a very good dwelling house, with 13 Rooms in it, four of the best of them hung, (with tapestries) nine of them plentifully furnished with all things necessary & convenient, & all houses for use well furnished with brick Chimneys, four good Cellars, a Dairy, Dovecoat, Stable, Barn, Hen house, Kitchen & all other conveniencys, & all in a manner new, a large Orchard of about 2500 Apple trees most grafted, well fenced with a Locust fence, which is as durable as most brick walls, a Garden a hundred foot square, well pailed in, a Yeard (sic) wherein is most of the foresaid necessary houses, pallizado'd (a variant spelling of palisaded) in with locust Punchens, which is as good as if it were walled in, & more lasting than any of our bricks, together with a good Stock of Cattle hogs horses, Mares, sheep &c, & necesary servants belonging to it, for the supply and support thereof. About a mile & half distance a good water Grist miln, (sic) whose tole I find sufficient to find my own family with wheat & Indian corn for our necessitys & occasions. Up the river in this Country three tracts of land more, one of them contains 21996 acres another 500 acres, & one other 1000 acres all good convenient & commodious Seats, & wch. in a few years will yield a considerable annual Income. ..." Taken from "William Fitzhugh and his Chesapeake World" pages 175-176.

WILLIAM FITZHUGH Compiled by Janice L. Johns
The British-born William Fitzhugh (1651–1701) was among the first Virginia colonists to establish a dynasty on the land. In this his portrait he looks more like a prominent Londoner than a resident of what was still a colonial backwater. Fitzhugh chose a rural life because it seemed the quickest way to make money; he used slaves to cultivate his 54,000 acres, which were largely in tobacco. He was a self-made man, a successful planter and lawyer, who had accomplished much with the opportunities afforded him in Virginia. “However, Fitzhugh was never entirely comfortable with his achievements, because his newly won wealth was tenuous, given the fluctuation of tobacco prices, and his social position was gained in a largely undeveloped setting where he felt isolated. Virginia was "a strange land" to Fitzhugh, where his peers expected him to project a "creditable" appearance. Once he did so, he could live "comfortably & handsomely." He "never courted unlawful pleasures with women, avoided hard drinking as much as lay in my power, & always avoided feasting." On occasion he entertained visitors with "good wine, . . . three fiddlers, a jester, a tight-rope dancer, [and] an acrobat who tumbled around." He furnished his large, thirteen-room house handsomely, with tapestries and an extraordinary collection of 122 pieces of English silver, much of it engraved with the family crest. The silver answered well Fitzhugh's conflicting urges for moderation and luxury. He termed his collecting both "politic" and "reputable," meaning that silver was a sound financial investment (it could be melted) that at the same time made a social statement about dynasty.” [1]In William’s own words, while addressing his suffering brother barrister Hartwell he wrote as to why he had never had the gout: “I’ll tell you, Sir, I never much frequented Bacchus’ orgies and always avoided Ceres’ shrine, and never was one of Venus’ votaries. To speak (plainly) to you, I never courted unlawful pleasures with women, avoided hard drinking as much as lay within my power, and always avoided feasting and consequently the surfeits occasioned thereby.” From William Fitzhugh and his Chesapeake World, page 46. I find this quote interesting, as we will learn 400 years later from DNA, that he was the father of at least two illegitimate sons. One with Mrs. George Phillips and one probably with Frances (Townsend) Dade Withers Hooe. “It was probably due to William's father Henry's misfortunes that William became successful and wealthy. Henry had made several financial decisions in Bedford England. He made two loans in which he pledged that if he did not pay them off within the year they would double. Whatever he was going to use the money for failed or never took place, resulting in the loss of his possessions to pay off the loan. In addition, as an Alderman, he was fined for not attending meetings. The law stated that if an Alderman did not attend a meeting of the Council, he would be fined. He missed over 60 meetings and as a result of the fines and the debt, he left England for Ireland dying at the age of 51.Probably due to the financial disasters’ of their father, William and Henry and his brother came to the Virginia Colony. William was about 16. It was here that Fitzhugh established what has been called a Virginia Dynasty.” [2] On May 1, 1674 William was married to Sarah Tucker. Sarah was the daughter of Rose Tucker Gerard, a wealthy woman with good family connections in both Virginia and Maryland. In the marriage settlement William received a Negro man and woman, three cows, six ewes and a ram, a number of hogs, a bay gelding, a necklace of pearls, and enough dishes, household furniture and kitchen equipment to set up housekeeping at once. Also, Sarah had been left by her father’s estate, 5,000 pounds of tobacco and an equal share with his other children in the rest of his estate—which she would inherit when she turned 17 years old. When William married his wife she was 11 years old. He sent her to England to be educated for 2 years before she came back to America. The marriage was not consummated until she returned. [3] Captain George Phillips was in command of the “John and Margaret”, a ship that carried tobacco to London. He brought back items from England that were not available in America, like lace, velvet, china, silver, etc. One of the planters who shipped his tobacco with George was William Fitzhugh. The biography of William Fitzhugh (William Fitzhugh and his Chesapeake World) includes several letters in which he mentioned. The book also mentions that William Fitzhugh liked to socialize with his sea captains and their families. According to a DNA sample done on one of Mr. Phillips's descendents in 2010, it seems Mr. Fitzhugh socialized a little too closely with the wife of Captain George Phillips. The timing must have worked out well for Mr. Fitzhugh and Mrs. Phillips, because George named his PRESUMED son George Phillips (Jr.) who was probably born about 1691 or 1692. A ccording to vestry registers of Saint Peter's and Saint Paul's parishes, George Phillips Jr. had at least four sons, John, Richard, George, and James. The two counties where this family lived in the early years were New Kent and Hanover. Both of these are burned counties; all the early records are gone.“Fitzhugh is famous for his many letters on various subjects. He wrote several on slavery and said that the only thing he regretted about America was the lack of good schools. He wrote "Good education of children is almost impossible and better to be never born than ill bred." [4] According to the codicils to his will, William must have made a trip back to England in July 1701. He died October 21, 1701 supposedly from “a bloody flux” contracted from French refugees he had befriended. There is much more to be learned from “William Fitzhugh and his Cheasapeake World.” It is not a family history, but a compilation of the letters he wrote during his lifetime. The letters are mostly business related, but good family information can be gleaned. The book is available through interlibrary loan.

[1] From: http://www.vahistorical.org/dynasties/williamfitzhugh.htm & mler13 originally submitted to Ancestry.com Richardson Benham Family on 28 Mar 2008.
[2] garystauffer6 originally submitted to Ancestry.com for the HARRISON Family Tree on 30 Dec 2007.
[3] "William Fitzhugh and his Chesapeake world."
[4] garystauffer6 who originally submitted it to Ancestry.com for the HARRISON Family Tree

William married Sarah Tucker on 1 May 1674 in , , Virginia, USA. Sarah (daughter of John Thomas Tucker and Rosanna Sturman) was born on 2 Aug 1663 in , Westmoreland, Virginia, USA; died in 1703 in Eagles Nest, King George, Virginia, USA; was buried in King George, King George, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Birth: 2 Aug 1663, , Westmoreland, Virginia, USA
• Probate: 31 May 1671, , Westmoreland, Virginia, USA