Martha Dandridge Custis Washington (June 2, 1731 O.S. – May 22, 1802) was the wife of George Washington, who was a Founding Father and the first president of the United States. Although the title was not coined until after her death, she served as the inaugural first lady of the United States, defining the role of the president's wife and setting many precedents that future first ladies observed. During her tenure, she was referred to as "Lady Washington". Washington is consistently ranked in the upper half of first ladies by historians.
Martha Dandridge married Daniel Parke Custis on May 15, 1750. They had four children, only one of whom survived to adulthood. She was widowed in July 1757 at the age of 26, inheriting a large estate, and remarried to George Washington in January 1759 at the age of 27, moving to his plantation, Mount Vernon. Her youngest daughter died of epilepsy in 1773, and the Washingtons were unable to conceive any children of their own. Washington became a symbol of the American Revolution after her husband was appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. During the war, she played a maternal role, visiting encampments when fighting stalled each winter. Her only surviving child, John Parke Custis, died from a camp illness during the war. After the war ended in 1783, she sought retirement at Mount Vernon, but returned to public life when her husband became president of the United States in 1789.
Lady Washington took on the social role of the president's wife reluctantly, becoming a national celebrity in the process. She found this life unpleasant, feeling that she was restricted and wishing for retirement. In addition to hosting weekly social events, Washington understood that how she composed herself would reflect on the nation, both domestically and abroad. As such, she struck a careful balance between the dignity associated with a head of state's wife and the humility associated with republican government. The Washingtons returned to Mount Vernon in 1797, and Washington spent her retirement years greeting admirers and advising her successors. She was widowed for a second time in 1799, and she died a few years later in 1802.
Early life (1731–1748)
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thumb|Coat of Arms of William Dandridge II
Martha Dandridge was born on June 2, 1731, on her parents' tobacco plantation, Chestnut Grove Plantation in New Kent County the Colony of Virginia. She was the oldest daughter of Frances Jones, herself the daughter of the politician Orlando Jones and granddaughter of an Anglican rector, John Dandridge| and John Dandridge, a Virginia planter and an illegitimate white half-brother, Ralph Dandridge.
Dandridge's father was well connected with the Virginia aristocracy despite his relative lack of wealth, and she was taught to behave as a woman of the upper class. Dandridge received a relatively high-quality education for the daughter of a planter, though it was still inferior to that of her brothers. She took to equestrianism, at one point riding her horse up and down the stairs of her uncle's home and escaping chastisement because her father was so impressed by her skill.
Frances Jones Dandridge
thumb|[[Chestnut Grove (plantation)|Chestnut Grove plantation]]
Frances Jones Dandridge (August 6, 1710 – April 9, 1785), nicknamed Fanny, Martha's mother. Fanny was born in 1710 on a plantation near Williamsburg near the capital on Queen's Creek. Fanny had an older brother, Lane Jones, born in 1707. Fanny's father, Orlando Jones, was a Burgess for New Kent County in 1718 in the House of Burgesses, the leading legislative body in Colonial Virginia. Her mother (m. January 31, 1702), Martha Macon Jones (Saint Peter, New Kent County, 1687-Macon's Island, Williamsburg, May 4, 1716), was daughter of Colonel Gideon Macon,