Martha Dandridge was born into a wealthy family in Virginia in 1731. She received little formal education, as was customary for women at the time. In 1749 Martha married Daniel Parke Custis. She bore four children, two of whom died in infancy. In 1757 Custis died, leaving his wife a large inheritance. In 1759 Martha married George Washington. They moved to Mount Vernon with her two children, both of whom died before George became president. During the harsh winter campaigns of the Revolutionary War, Martha stayed with her husband at Valley Forge and at Morristown. In 1789, after George Washington’s inauguration as president of the United States, Martha joined him in New York, the nation’s first capital. The following year, the Washingtons moved to Philadelphia when the seat of government was moved there. With the conclusion of a second presidential term in 1797, the Washingtons retired to Mount Vernon, where Martha Washington died in 1802.
