Martha Washington

Martha Washington, born Martha Dandridge (1732-1802), wife of George Washington, born in New Kent County, Virginia. The daughter of a prosperous planter, she was married at the age of 17 to one of the wealthiest planters in Virginia, Daniel Parke Custis, by whom she had four children; two of these, however, died in infancy. After Custis's death, she met George Washington whom she married on January 6, 1759. They had no children, but raised the younger two of four children left by her son, who had died. During the American Revolution, she often shared the rigors of camp life with her husband and stayed with him during the long, hard winter at Valley Forge. Later, when she was First Lady, she entertained lavishly, first in New York City, then in Philadelphia, and became known as a gracious hostess.