Elizabeth Parke Custis Law
| Elizabeth Custis Law | |
|---|---|
Portrait of Elizabeth Parke Custis Law by Gilbert Stuart
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| Born |
Elizabeth Parke Custis August 21, 1776 British America |
| Died | December 31, 1831 (aged 55) Richmond, Virginia, U.S. |
| Burial place | Mount Vernon, Fairfax County, Virginia |
| Spouse(s) | Thomas Law |
| Children | Elizabeth Law Rogers |
| Parent(s) |
John Parke Custis Eleanor Calvert |
| Relatives |
Martha Washington (paternal grandmother) Daniel Parke Custis (paternal grandfather) George Washington (paternal step-grandfather) |
Elizabeth (Eliza) Parke Custis Law (August 21, 1776 – December 31, 1831) was the eldest granddaughter of Martha Dandridge Washington and step-grandchild of George Washington. She was a social leader of the District of Columbia and a preserver of the Washington family heritage.
Elizabeth Parke Custis was born on 21 August 1776. She was the eldest daughter of John Parke Custis, the son of Martha Washington and her first husband, Daniel Parke Custis, and his wife Eleanor Calvert, daughter of Benedict Swingate Calvert and his wife Elizabeth Calvert. She was also the eldest grandchild of Martha Washington and step-grandchild of George Washington.
Elizabeth's siblings included Martha Parke Custis Peter (1777–1854), Eleanor (Nelly) Parke Custis Lewis (1779–1852), and George Washington Parke Custis (1781–1857). She was known to her family as "Betsey." During their early childhood, the four children were raised at the Abingdon plantation, which their father had purchased.
After the 1781 death of her father, John Parke Custis, the eldest two daughters (Elizabeth and Martha) continued to live with their mother at Abingdon, while the two youngest children (Nelly and George) moved to Mount Vernon to live with George and Martha Washington. In 1783, their mother (Eleanor Calvert Custis), married Dr. David Stuart (1753–1814), an Alexandria, physician and business associate of George Washington. Dr. Stuart and his wife remained at Abingdon for the first years of their marriage.
The growing Stuart family and the Washingtons remained very close. In 1785, Dr. Stuart purchased an estate, Hope Park, in Fairfax County, Virginia and moved his growing family there. The girls continued to visit back and forth with their grandparents, and Martha Washington’s letters mark these occasions. Elizabeth and Martha were brought often to Mount Vernon in George Washington’s coach. When Eleanor Calvert Custis Stuart went to stay with her mother on her father’s death in 1788, the two sisters remained with Martha Washington.
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