On January 6, 1759, one of the most important marriages in colonial Virginia took place at a lovely plantation home situated on the Pamunkey River. A young, beautiful widow named Martha Custis was married to a distinguished officer who had seen service in the western frontiers, Colonel George Washington. At the time of their marriage, Martha was perhaps the more prominent of the two. 

Martha Custis was the widow of Daniel Parke Custis. She had been born Martha Dandridge, and by the time of her marriage to Colonel Washington, she was one of the wealthiest ladies in America, owning 17,000 acres and hundreds of slaves. She had two young children, a son named John and a daughter named Martha, but who was called “Patsy.”

Little did Colonel Washington and his bride realize at the time of their marriage that the groom would one day become the “Father of His Country” and that he would be proclaimed by “Light Horse” Harry Lee, “first in War, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.” For the couple, still in their twenties, their goal was to form a Godly marriage and establish a family together.

The Washingtons shared their blessings

When a husband and a wife come together in marriage, there is no longer any individual ownership but rather a sharing of resources. Martha Washington brought a dower interest of the Custis estate with its large land holdings. The Colonel was already the master of Mount Vernon, and he also had landholdings in the Shenandoah Valley. Their marriage would remain happy over the course of four decades as George and Martha Washington shared together all the blessings of life. 

The Washingtons shared their hardships

Life was not all easy, even for the privileged few who owned land and slaves in colonial Virginia. The Washingtons hoped to have children together, but they were unable to conceive children. Patsy, Martha’s daughter from her previous marriage, died of epilepsy when she was a teenager. When Colonel Washington was called away from Mount Vernon to assume the mantle of leadership in the struggle against the British invasion, his wife Martha was left to manage the large estate on her own. She personally organized a sewing club among other ladies to prepare desperately needed clothing for the officers and men of the Continental Army. Mrs. Washington generally stayed with her husband each winter, and she was with him during the dreadful, bitterly cold days at Valley Forge. 

During the siege of Yorktown, Mrs. Washington’s last surviving child, her son John Custis, died of camp fever, a form of typhus. This tragedy robbed Colonel Washington’s great victory at Yorktown of some of its joy.

The Washingtons shared their hopes for the future

The Washingtons returned to Mount Vernon after the war, looking forward to a time of ease and retirement from public duties as they sought to raise two of Martha’s grandchildren, Nelly Custis and George Washington Parke Custis. Alas, there was to be no retirement. By unanimous consent, George Washington was elected to become the first President of the United States of America. 

They lived in the newly established capital in New York City. George Washington was generally referred to as ”His Excellency,” and his wife Martha was known as “Lady Washington” because the title “First Lady” was not then in use.

Without any children of their own, George and Martha Washington truly became the “father” and “mother” of their country. Their loving marriage and faithful devotion to God, to each other, and to generations of Americans yet unborn set a pattern that we would all do well to follow. When they died, they were buried together at Mt. Vernon on the shores of the Potomac River, there to await the resurrection of the just to eternal life with our Lord.