Martha Parke Custis

Martha "Patsy" Parke Custis was born on April 12, 1756 at the White House Plantation. She was the youngest child of Martha Dandridge Custis and Daniel Parke Custis.[2] On April 1, 1757, a year after Martha Parke Custis was born, her sister Frances died suddenly. Three months later, her father died on July 8, 1757. Her mother went into a year-long mourning period for her husband and daughter. Two years after Daniels' death, Martha Dandridge Custis married George Washington in 1759. This marriage made "Patsy" the step-daughter of George Washington.

After her mother's wedding, the family moved from the White House Plantation to the Mount Vernon estate. Washington treated both of the Custis children as his own. Both Patsy and her brother, John, referred to George Washington as "papa" even though Washington never formally adopted them. Martha "Patsy" Parke Custis inherited an estimated $2,250 (about $67,600 in today's currency) in bank shares from inheritance from her late father, as well as dozens of enslaved individuals. Patsy enjoyed dancing and wore expensive clothing and jewelry. She was reportedly very attractive and received numerous offers in order to be courted.[3]

Patsy owned a parrot named Snipe that became the beloved family pet. Patsy made Snipe's cage by hand with sewing wires. Also, Snipe moved into The First Presidential Mansion when Washington was elected to the presidency in 1789. Snipe outlived both George and Martha Washington.[4]

Around the age of 11, Patsy became plagued with epilepsy and had frequent seizures and fainting fits. She had been diagnosed with epilepsy earlier. However, the seizures grew more frequent and violent as she grew older. George and Martha Washington feared that Patsy would not survive to adulthood. The Washingtons did everything medically possible at the time in order to accommodate her needs. They tried giving her a special diet in hopes that it would help ease her seizures.[1]

The proposed treatment failed to stop the seizures. By the summer of 1770, Patsy was having an average of two seizures each day. George Washington kept a log of these seizures and contacted doctors all over the country trying to find something that would alleviate Patsy's disorder, but to no avail.[1]

The Washingtons continued to search for a cure, with unconfirmed reports of her mother visiting a witch doctor (there is little evidence to support this rumor). General Washington retrieved water from streams in hopes of curing her condition with natural elements, but it is possible that bacteria in the water worsened her ill health, causing a mild case of pneumonia.[5]

Custis died on June 13, 1773.[6] Although, there is no full account of her passing, letters sent by witnesses provide an idea of the event. In the afternoon of the 13th there was a large family gathering at Mount Vernon.[7] Patsy and her brother's fiancee, Eleanor Calvert were talking quietly in a corner. Patsy went upstairs to her room to receive a letter from her brother, who was currently attending college. Patsy did not return and Eleanor recalled hearing a noise. She went to Patsy's room to find her in the midst of a seizure.[1]

Calvert alerted the guests who moved Custis to her bed, while Martha Washington called for the doctor. Washington cried and prayed for Custis. She eventually passed sometime around 5 o'clock. Washington wrote in his diary, "At home all day. About five o'clock poor Patsy Custis Died Suddenly."[8] She was buried at the Mount Vernon estate.