Читать книгу First Ladies For Dummies - Marcus A. Stadelmann, Marcus A. Stadelmann PhD - Страница 44

Martha Dandridge (see Figure 3-1) was born on June 2, 1731, on a plantation near Williamsburg, Virginia. She was the oldest of eight children and didn’t receive any formal schooling, as was common back then for young females. She enjoyed horseback riding and was taught how to manage a household to be able to become a proper wife.

Source: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Reproduction number LC-DIG-pga-04936 (digital file from original item)LC-USZC2-3273 (color film copy slide)

FIGURE 3-1: Martha Dandridge as a young woman.

Martha married Daniel Park Custis, a wealthy plantation owner who was 20 years older, when she was 17. At this point, she moved into his mansion, which ironically he called the white house. During the next seven years, she was happily married and had four children. Only two of her children survived, the other two died before the age of six. Then Daniel died in 1757, and Martha was suddenly a widow.

Martha inherited a 17,500-acre plantation and nearly 300 enslaved people from her husband, making her, at the age of 26, one of the richest people in the American colonies.