MARTHA, THE WIFE OF WASHINGTON. CHAPTER I. Her form was all humanity, Her soul all God's; in spirit and in form EARLY in the last century the colonial court of Virginia, seated at Williamsburg, midway between the York and James rivers, was the gayest on the continent. There was much of the old cavalier element left in Virginia society at that period, and much of the stately etiquette, and conventional formality of the better class in England prevailed at the Virginia capital. Among the prominent persons of the social circle that surrounded the court at Williamsburg during the seasons of amusement at about the middle of the last century, were Col. John Dandridge and his accomplished wife, a daughter of a descendant of one of the oldest settlers in Gloucester County. Colonel Dandridge. was a cultivated gentleman and an extensive planter in New Kent County. He owned a fine residence on the Pamunkey River, was a local magistrate, colonel of his military district, and a vestryman of St. Peter's parish. The Dandridge family were descended from the Rev. Orlando Jones, a clergyman from Wales, who was among the earlier colonists of Virginia. Two of Colonel Dandridge's sons were in the British navy at this period. Martha, the eldest daughter of Colonel Dandridge, was then just blooming into womanhood. She was a charming girl, a little below the medium stature, and possessed of an elegant figure. Her eyes were dark, and expressive of the most kindly good-nature, her complexion was fair, her hair a rich brown in color, her features were regular and beautiful, her whole face beamed with intelligence; she was sprightly and witty, and her manners were modest and extremely winning. Martha had been fairly educated by private tutors, and she was an expert performer on the spinet. Martha Dandridge was first introduced at the vice-regal court, during the later period of the long administration of Lieut.-Gov. William Gooch, when she was fifteen years of age. She attracted universal admiration, for she was womanly beyond her years. At seventeen she was the reigning belle at that court, and numerous suitors sought to win her heart and hand. At the city of Williamsburg lived Col. John Custis, a man possessed of large wealth, and who held, at one time, the high office of King's Councillor in the government of Virginia. He had married in early life Frances Parke, the eldest daughter of Col. Daniel Parke, who was engaged in seeking his fortune abroad in the military service of Queen Anne. She and her sister Lucy, who married Col. William Byrd, of Westover, had lived in quiet seclusion with their mother. Frances is represented as a wayward, ill-tempered, and self-willed girl; beautiful in form and feature, and one of two heirs to a great fortune in prospect. Young Custis sought her hand with the ardor and eagerness of youth,* and married her in spite of warnings that he could never live happily with her. Their nuptials were celebrated at her home at Queen's Creek, on York River. Their honeymoon had scarcely ended when a war of words between The following letter of young Custis to his intended bride a few months before their marriage, in which, according to the custom of the time, he calls her his Fidelia," is a fair specimen of passionate loveletters in the colonial days: 64 "WILLIAMSBURG, Feb. 4, 1705. "May angels guard my dearest Fidelia and deliver her safe to my arms at our next meeting; and sure they won't refuse their protection to a creature so pure and charming, that it would be easy for them to mistake her for one of themselves. If you could but believe how entirely you possess the empire of my heart, you would easily credit me when I tell you, that I can neither think nor so much as dream of any other subject than the enchanting Fidelia. You will do me wrong if you suspect there ever was a man created that loved with more tenderness and sincerity than I do, and I should do you wrong if I could imagine there ever was a nymph that deserved it better than you. Take this for granted, and then fancy how uneasy I am like to be under the unhappiness of your absence. Figure to yourself what tumults there will arise in my blood, what a fluttering of the spirits, what a disorder of the pulse, what passionate wishes, what absence of thought, and what crowding of sighs, and then imagine how unfit I shall be for business. But returning to the dear cause of my uneasiness: O the torture of six months' expectation! If it must be so long, and necessity will, till then, interpose betwixt you and my inclinations, I must submit, though it be as unwillingly as pride submits to superior virtue, or envy to superior success. Pray think of me, and believe that Veramour is entirely and eternally yours. "ADIEU. "I pray you write as soon as you receive this, and commit your letter to the same trusty hand that brings you this." The inscription on Custis's tombstone, given in the next page, is a significant commentary on this letter. them began, and only ended with her life, which was terminated by small-pox when she had given birth to a son and a daughter. Tradition says her husband was no more a saint than she; but her tongue was more expert than his, and she managed to have the last word in these oral contests. The husband provided in his will for having the very last word, for he ordered his heir, on pain of disinheritance, to have inscribed on his tombstone, at the place of his burial, the following words : "UNDER THIS MARBLE TOMB LIES THE BODY OF THE CITY OF WILLIAMSBURG, AND PARISH OF BRUTON, FORMERLY OF HUNGAR PARISH, ON THE OF VIRGINIA, AND COUNTY OF NORTHAMPTON, A BACHELOR'S HOME AT ARLINGTON, The only son and heir of Colonel Custis was Daniel Parke Custis, who was born at Arlington. He was tardy in choosing a wife. His father earnestly desired him to marry his pretty cousin, Evelyn Byrd, of Westover, on her return from England. She was a charming maiden, four years the senior of Daniel. Her father, Col. William Byrd, was possessed of a princely estate, and exercised a very wide social influence. The wedding of this couple would. have been pleasant to the parents of both, but Daniel Parke Custis did not acquiesce in his father's wishes. The colonel was disappointed, chagrined, and irritated. His am MARTHA DANDRIDGE AND HER LOVER. 87 bitious desires to unite the two families by still stronger ties were paramount to the happiness of his son, and he not only positively refused to give his consent to Daniel's marriage to any one else, but he threatened to disinherit him in case he should refuse to marry Evelyn Byrd.* But the son was firm, and the conduct of his father strengthened the young man's determination not to marry his cousin. Years passed on, Daniel Parke Custis had journeyed beyond the thirtieth year of his life, when he became smitten by the charms of Martha Dandridge. He wooed and won her heart, and desired to marry her. His father refused his consent. Colonel Dandridge's sweet daughter was loved and admired by everybody. From every lip fell eulogies of her personal beauty, her good sense, her amiability of character, and her goodness of heart. These eulogies continually reached the ears of Colonel Custis. They assailed him at all points. He listened to the persuasions of a friend of both father and son, and finally yielded. At an interview at Williamsburg with this friend, the colonel handed him the following memorandum: "I give my free consent to the Union of my son, Daniel, with Martha Dandridge." The happy negotiator of the treaty wrote at once to Daniel, who was on his estate in New Kent, saying, * Evelyn Byrd joined her father in England when she was about twelve years of age. She remained there until she was grown to young womanhood, and was a most attractive member of a brilliant social circle. She became engaged to marry the young nobleman who afterwards became the famous Lord Peterborough, but their nuptials were inadmissible, for he was a Roman Catholic and she was a Protestant. She returned to Virginia with her father, was never married, and died at Wes tover. |