Elizabeth Parke Custis Law (21 August 1776 – 31 December 1831)[1][2] was a granddaughter of Martha Dandridge Washington and the step-granddaughter of George Washington. She was a social leader of the District of Columbia and a preserver of the Washington family heritage.
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Elizabeth Parke Custis was born on 21 August 1776.[1] She was the eldest daughter of John Parke Custis, 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.[1] Elizabeth's siblings included Martha Parke Custis Peter (1777–1854), Eleanor Parke Custis Lewis (1779–1852), and George Washington Parke Custis (1781–1857). She was known to her family as "Betsey."[3] Elizabeth was the eldest grandchild of George and Martha Washington.
After the death of her father John Parke Custis in 1781, her mother married Dr. David Stuart, an Alexandria physician.[3] The eldest two daughters (Elizabeth and Martha) lived with their mother and stepfather, while the two youngest children (Eleanor and George) lived with their grandparents, George and Martha Washington.[3]
On 20 March 1795, Elizabeth married Thomas Law, the son of Edmund Law, Bishop of Carlisle,[1][4] and the brother of Edward Law, 1st Baron Ellenborough, George Henry Law, later Bishop of Bath and Wells, and John Law, a Church of Ireland bishop.[5] The announcement of their engagement came as a surprise to her grandparents George and Martha Washington, as Thomas was twice Elizabeth's age.[4][6] Elizabeth and Thomas separated in 1804 and divorced on 15 January 1811.[4]
The couple had one daughter who survived infancy,[1][7][8] Elizabeth Parke Custis Law (19 January 1797–9 August 1822),[7] married Nicholas Lloyd Rogers on 5 April 1817.
George and Martha Washington were unable to attend the Laws' wedding, but invited the couple to honeymoon in Philadelphia at the President's House.[9] The First Lady promised one of the slaves in the presidential household, Oney Judge, as a wedding gift, but the young woman fled after learning of the plan.[10] (Her younger sister, Delphy, was bequeathed to the bride and groom; Delphy and her children were manumitted in 1807.)
Upon her marriage, Elizabeth Law inherited about 80 slaves from her late father's estate; following Martha Washington's 1802 death, she inherited about 35 dower slaves from her grandfather Daniel Parke Custis's estate; following her mother's 1811 death, her father's estate was liquidated, and she inherited about 40 more slaves.[11]
Elizabeth and Thomas built a Washington, DC mansion in 1796, near present day 6th and N Streets. Following her separation from Thomas, Elizabeth resided between 1805 and 1809 at a "small country house" and estate on Seminary Hill in Alexandria that she called Mount Washington.[12] Mount Washington later became the central administration building of Episcopal High School in which capacity it was referred to as Hoxton House.[13]
Martha Washington's bequeathed to Elizabeth the John Trumbull portrait of General Washington, as well as a dressing table and looking glass.[14]
Although her death date is sometimes given as 1 January 1832, Elizabeth Parke Custis Law died in Richmond, Virginia at the home of a friend "on Saturday night (that is, 31 December 1831), ten minutes before 12 o'clock," according to her obituary in the Richmond Enquirer.[2] Elizabeth was buried at Mount Vernon.
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