Daniel Parke Custis: Difference between revisions

Daniel Parke Custis died [[intestate]], so his widow received the lifetime use of one-third of his property ("dower share"), with the other two-thirds held in trust for their children. The January 1759 Custis Estate inventory lists 285 enslaved Africans.<ref>"Complete Inventory, by Counties, of the Estate", in Joseph E. Fields, ''Worthy Partner: The Papers of Martha Washington'' (Greenwood Press, 1994), pp. 61-75.</ref> The October 1759 Custis Estate inventory lists {{convert|17779|acre|km2}} of land, spread over 5 counties.<ref>"Account of Land and Acreage, Estate of Daniel Parke Custis", in ''Worthy Partner'', pp. 103-04. This land inventory was incomplete, not listing Custis lots in Jamestown and Williamsburg.</ref> [[John Parke Custis]] was the only one of their children to reach his majority, and became the sole heir. Upon her marriage to [[George Washington]], the dower share, including the "dower negroes," came under Washington's control, pursuant to the common law doctrine of [[seisin]] [[jure uxoris]], but upon his death, reverted to her, and then, upon her death, to her former husband's children. Because of Martha Washington's "dower share" (which included 153 enslaved Africans in 1799), the Custis Estate was not liquidated until after her 1802 death.