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George Washington and Family
After the presidency, George and Martha Washington returned to Mount Vernon to raise their two grandchildren, George Washington "Wash" Parke Custis (far left) and Eleanor "Nelly" Custis (center). As an adult, Wash Custis fathered a daughter named Maria with an enslaved house servant, Arianna Carter. In 1825, he freed Maria, providing her with land from his Virginia estate, which was called Arlington. Wash's other surviving daughter, Mary Anna Randolph Custis, went on to marry Robert E. Lee and occupied the nearby mansion house on the property that is now known as Arlington National Cemetery.
In this popular print, the Washingtons gather around a map. An enslaved servant, possibly Christopher Sheels, stands at right, alluding to the complex interracial relationships and dependencies that shaped the Washington family's life and legacy.
David Edwin (1776–1841), after Edward Savage
Engraving, 1798
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution |