Martha Washington Essays - George Washington, Daniel Parke Custis

Martha Washington Martha Washington lived a life full of love and sacrifice. She was born as a simple little girl Martha Dandridge to her plantation home in New Kent; she was married at 18 to become Martha Dandridge Custis. Still yet she was widowed at the age of twenty-six with two children and a land of over 17,000 acres to run on her own. Then she met a gentleman by the name of George Washington and Martha became the figure we know today as Martha Dandridge Custis Washington or Martha Washington. Martha was born on June 2, 1731 on the plantation near Williamsburg in New Kent, Chestnut Grove, to her father0, John Dandridge, and mother, Frances Jones Dandridge. She was the eldest daughter of the family and the spirited one. She enjoyed horseback riding, working in her gardens, sewing, dancing, she came to enjoy cooking, and it was said she had a great love for playing the spinet. Her father insisted that his children be educated, so he called for a tutor. The Dandridge children had lessons in the mornings before breakfast, Martha always dreaded them, especially spelling. She would much rather be out playing than sitting inside learning how some words were not spelled the same was as they sounded. Although these studies seemed like a waste of time then, later she would find that they would become quite useful. At the age of fifteen her mother was quite sure that she should learn to act like a lady and practice the etiquette of the day, she had began to help her mother with some of the chores around the house. It was also that same year that she was able to attend her first ball at Williamsburg. Young Martha Dandridge was extremely excited until she arrived at Williamsburg to find things quite different than what she expected and entered the ball to be terribly disappointed. She didnt know any of the other young ladies, who seemed to all know each other well, and she hadnt been prepared by the fashion of the day. She had made her dress herself and though it was of fine material it wasnt like that gowns imported from England that the other girls were wearing. She had not had her hair powdered like the rest of the girls, and she was completely miserable until she met Daniel Parke Custis. He seemed like an honest simple man in his thirties. He probably had an attraction to Marthas simple nature and beauty, Martha was about five feet tall with dark eyes and dark hair, so he asked her to dance. Suddenly simple Martha Dandridge had become the belle of the ball; she was dancing with one of the richest bachelors in Virginia. After a few years Martha and Daniel began to see more of each other and there was talk of an engagement, but first Daniel had to send off for his fathers permission to do so. Although Daniel was a man twenty years older than Martha was he was still under the rule of his father who had become bitter by his marriage and was angry with Daniel for refusing to marry the girl that his father had wished him to. Daniel came back to Martha with a grim look and had decided to give up; he thought it no use to argue with his father. His father was determined that he would not marry anyone that he didnt approve of, especially Martha for she wasnt even known; it was just impossible for his son to marry a nobody. Hurt, Martha went home to her mother in tears. She felt as if she wasnt good enough for the old man. She loved Daniel and wanted more than anything to be with him and the only thing that was stopping them was his father. The man who was miserable in his marriage and apparently wanted Daniel to be just as miserable as he was. Martha was scheduled to return back to New Kent that evening, but not if her mother and her cousin had anything to do with it. They had decided that Martha should stay two more weeks with her cousin Nat and his wife Dorthea, a very popular