Editing Martha Washington (section)

==Marriage to George Washington (1758–1774)==
=== Courtship and wedding ===
[[File:The Marriage of Washington to Martha Custis by Junius Brutus Stear.jpg|thumb|''The Marriage of Washington to Martha Custis'' by Junius Brutus Stears (1849)]]
By one account Custis met George Washington during the [[Williamsburg, Virginia|Williamsburg]] social season, and they courted over the following months during his leaves from the military.<ref name="gould"/>{{Rp|page=4}} By another, they were introduced by Colonel Chamberlayne, a mutual acquaintance, when they both stayed the night at his home in May 1758.<ref name="boller"/>{{Rp|pages=8–9}} They married on January 6, 1759, at the White House plantation.<ref name="gould"/>{{Rp|page=5}}

The couple honeymooned at the Custis family's White House plantation,<ref name="Bryan"/>{{Rp|page=124}} followed by a stay in Williamsburg where her husband was a representative in the [[House of Burgesses]] before setting up house at his [[Mount Vernon]] estate.<ref name="schneider"/>{{Rp|page=3}} At the time of their wedding, she was one of the wealthiest widows in the [[Thirteen Colonies]].<ref name="beasley">{{Cite book |last=Beasley |first=Maurine H. |url=https://archive.org/details/firstladiespress0000beas |title=First Ladies and the Press: The Unfinished Partnership of the Media Age |publisher=Northwestern University Press |year=2005 |isbn=9780810123120 |pages=27–30}}</ref>{{Rp|page=27}} Their marriage remained happy over the following 40 years, in part because of their similar worldviews.<ref name="gould"/>{{Rp|page=4}} It was a marriage based in mutual respect and shared habits, with both maintaining similar schedules in day-to-day life and both prioritizing family and image over excitement and vice.<ref name="watson"/>{{Rp|page=11}}

=== Mount Vernon ===
From 1759 to 1775, the Washingtons lived at Mount Vernon where they tended to their plantation.<ref name="diller"/> Washington ran the household and regularly entertained visitors. She knitted and oversaw the making of clothes, and she became talented in [[Curing (food preservation)|curing]] meat in their [[smokehouse]].<ref name="schneider"/>{{Rp|page=3}} Washington entertained almost daily, having visitors for dinner or for longer stays as the family became more prominent in the political and social life of Virginia.<ref name="gould"/>{{Rp|page=5}} Washington's husband used her wealth to expand their home at Mount Vernon and turn it into a profitable estate.<ref name="schneider"/>{{Rp|page=3}}

The Washingtons had no children together, but they raised Martha's two surviving children. She was highly protective of them, especially after her two previous children had died and Patsy was found to have [[epilepsy]].<ref name="schneider"/>{{Rp|page=3}} In 1773, Patsy died when she was 17 during an [[SUDEP|epileptic seizure]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Doherty |first=Michael J. |title=The sudden death of Patsy Custis, or George Washington on sudden unexplained death in epilepsy |journal=Epilepsy & Behavior |date=August 2004 |volume=5 |issue=4 |pages=598–600 |doi=10.1016/j.yebeh.2004.03.010 |pmid=15256201 |s2cid=21485281 }}</ref><ref name="Yates">{{Cite book |last=Yates|first=Bernice-Marie|title=The Perfect Gentleman: The Life and Letters of George Washington Custis Lee|location=Fairfax, Virginia|publisher=[[Xulon Press]]|year =2003|pages=34–39 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l8Z8e4-XIVEC&pg=PA34|isbn=1-59160-451-6|oclc=54805966|access-date=May 25, 2019}}</ref> Washington's last surviving child, John, left King's College that fall and married [[Eleanor Calvert]] in February 1774.<ref name="Yates"/> The Washingtons hoped for more children throughout their marriage, but they were unable to conceive.<ref name="schneider"/>{{Rp|page=|pages=3–4}}