In 2015, the Martha Washington Papers Project commenced the task of collecting, transcribing, and annotating all existing correspondence to and from the first first lady. The compilation netted nearly 400 pieces of correspondence, including the four surviving letters and one brief postscript between Martha and George Washington, and more than 170 financial documents.
A book of the papers, set to be published in 2021 by the University of Virginia Press, will also include contextual editorial essays, the inventory of Martha Washington’s possessions at the time of her death, a detailed list of the division of the Custis dower slaves, her last will and testament, and original maps created by historian and cartographer Rick Britton.
The Papers of Martha Washington will reveal the multifaceted character of the General’s life partner and place her experiences into their proper historical context. For example, letters from the widow Martha Dandridge Custis to merchants in England, after the death of her first husband Daniel, show her business savvy. Then upon her marriage to George Washington, letters illustrate the transition of control to her new husband, as was the practice in the 18th century.
The book also surfaces unique and heretofore unpublished documents reflecting Martha Washington’s life and experiences. Her recipe for cough medicine, for example, won’t taste good, but it will offer relief “as long as the stomach will bear it.” Contemporary newspapers followed the new first lady in May 1789 as she traveled from Mount Vernon to the new capital of New York City. The journey included a lavish meal at Gray’s Ferry and Gardens in Philadelphia with well-known politicians of the day. The menu, which featured 10 bottles of Madeira wine and 45 bowls of punch, will be reprinted in the edition. Extensive family trees for the Dandridges, Custises, and Washingtons will undoubtedly be useful to scholars and genealogists alike. The volume will also include images of various individuals important to Martha Washington, such as her youngest children Jacky and Patsy, her favorite niece Fanny Bassett Washington Lear, and her grandchildren raised by the Washingtons—Eleanor and George Washington Parke Custis.
Beyond these items, the volume will also contain forgeries—a fact that some people may find surprising. By including these spurious letters, editors confirm to readers that these items were, indeed, wrongly attributed to Martha, not simply missed by or omitted in the publication.
Martha Washington’s papers tell the story of a woman—as an individual and as a famous wife—a family, a community, and the creation of the United States. Her story is crucial to understanding George Washington’s life and character. During her lifetime, Martha became the most well-known woman in America. Later generations reinvented her persona to fit their own historical narrative, an act that continues today. By making available the story of Martha Washington through her own words and those of her contemporaries, The Papers of Martha Washington will provide the most three-dimensional, accurate portrait yet published of perhaps the most important person in George Washington’s life.
The publication of The Papers of Martha Washington was supported by the Dr. Scholl Foundation, The Founders, Washington Committee for Historic Mount Vernon, Richard S. Reynolds Foundation, and Karen Buchwald Wright, and other generous donors.