Editing Martha Washington (section)

=== 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}}