The Washington and Dandridge Families
George Washington was the oldest of five children born to Augustine Washington and his second wife, Mary Ball. From his first marriage, there were two sons, several years senior to George, but who remained close throughout their lifetime. George’s half-brother Augustine (sometimes called Austin) married and had surviving children. Lawrence married, but died young. Neither his wife nor children survived him by more than a few years. It was because of their early death that Mount Vernon came into George Washington’s possession.
George’s full siblings were Samuel, John, Charles and Elizabeth (Betty), his only sister. All of them married and had children who reached maturity. George, however, survived all his siblings.
Martha Dandridge (Custis was the name of her first husband), was also the eldest of five: two sisters, Anne (Nancy) and Elizabeth (Betsy), and two brothers, William and Bartholomew. They likewise were fruitful and multiplied. And, as might be expected, one of Martha’s nieces married one of George’s nephews.
George Washington’s Home at Mount Vernon
When George Washington married Martha Custis, he immediately became step-father to her children: John Parke Custis (Jacky), age four, and Martha Parke Custis (Patsy), age two. There had been two others for Martha, but they died in infancy. George Washington would be the only father her children would remember.
From the beginning of the Washington marriage, they lived at George Washington’s estate at Mount Vernon. At the time, it was a relatively small plantation, beautifully situated on the banks of the Potomac River, not far from Alexandria. Over the next forty years, Washington would add to his acreage and improve the house and dependencies to become the magnificent estate we know today.
Nieces and nephews, and later great-nieces and nephews would visit Mount Vernon – sometimes for extended periods of time. This became even more frequent after Patsy Custis died at age seventeen. The motherly Martha found great comfort in a house filled with young people.
With the War for Independence taking Washington away from his beloved Mount Vernon for the better part of eight years, he would rely heavily on some of his relatives to manage the plantation in his absence.
The Nephews of George Washington
George Augustine Washington (Brother Charles’ son), had served capably during the Revolutionary War, but his health was poor. Washington hoped his nephew would consider assuming the management of Mount Vernon. Lund Washington, George’s cousin, had served ably in that post for nine years, but now wished to retire. General Washington was all the more hopeful for his nephew’s acceptance of the responsibilities, since he had married Martha’s niece, Fanny Bassett.
The position came with perks: Washington told them they could make Mount Vernon their home for as long as they wished. A year later, he told his nephew that he planned to leave them two to three thousand acres of property, “not a hint for you to prepare another home,” he wrote, but because of the double family bonds, and the good opinion he had of them both. The legacy would not happen. George Augustine Washington, tubercular in health, would die shortly thereafter.
Bushrod Washington (Brother John’s son) was another nephew that the General could count on to assist with plantation affairs, but more in a public venue. Bushrod became a member of the Virginia Assembly after the Revolutionary War, and made his home in Richmond, the new state capital. “Uncle” George asked him for several small favors: a copy of recent ordinances, checking on Washington’s taxes, placing an ad in the newspapers. “Uncle” George was also generous with good advice for the young legislator – advice learned from his own experience: “speak seldom, but…make yourself perfect master of the Subject.”
Samuel Washington’s sons, George Steptoe and Lawrence, caused serious concern and responsibility for their uncle. Samuel had died, and his sons were young and needed care and guardianship. Washington’s brother Charles was a part-time alcoholic and could not be depended upon. It would be General Washington, now retired and returned to his Mount Vernon plantation, who would assume responsibility for their education.
Education (particularly for the boys) was something vitally important to Washington, who had very little formal education himself, and always was sensitive on that subject. He arranged for the boys to be placed in school, and kept close check on their progress. He would write to one of their schoolmasters that “tho I do not desire they should be deprived of necessary and proper amusements, yet it is my earnest request that they may be kept close to studies.”
George Steptoe and Lawrence Washington would be enrolled and withdrawn from several schools. It was an age of “spare the rod, spoil the child,” and it appears that some of the punishments meted out by various pedants was excessive, and the young boys were behaving like normal young boys. In today’s society, corporal punishment would be illegal, but back then, whippings were standard. Nevertheless, it does not seem that Samuel’s sons were particularly attentive to their education. And, to his sincere dismay, none of Washington’s kin were scholars.
Sister Betty’s children were also looked after by “Uncle” George, especially once Betty was widowed. Her son Robert Lewis would become one of President Washington’s secretaries. His first duty was to escort his Aunt Martha to New York, shortly after Washington’s inauguration. Betty’s grandson Lawrence Lewis pleased him the most – he would marry Eleanor (Nelly) Custis – Martha’s granddaughter, to everyone’s delight!
George Washington may have been a formal and remote person, but he was a fair and devoted uncle to his many relatives.
Sources:
- http://www.infoplease.com/t/history/true-washington
- http://www.mountvernon.org/
- Bourne, Miriam Anne, First Family: George Washington and his Intimate Relations, W.W. Norton & Co., 1982
Feather Schwartz Foster - Feather Schwartz Foster, author-historian. Making the First Ladies come to life.
