Custis, John, 1678-1749

Colonel John Custis IV (August 1678 – November 22, 1749) was an American planter, politician, government official and military officer who sat in the House of Burgesses from 1705 to 1706 and 1718 to 1719, representing the electoral constituencies of Northampton County and the College of William & Mary. A prominent member of the Custis family of Virginia, he utilized his extensive landholdings to support a career in horticulture and gardening.

Born in 1678 into a slaveholding family who resided in Northampton County, Virginia, Custis was sent to London at a young age to study the tobacco trade under Micajah Perry. He returned to his grandfather's plantation at Arlington in 1699 to familiarize himself in the management of slaves. In 1705, he was elected to the Virginia General Assembly, sitting there for a year. Custis married Frances Parke, the eldest daughter of Daniel Parke, in 1706.

In 1714, his father John died, passing control of the family estates to Custis, which included two plantations and numerous slaves. His wife died two years later, and in 1717, Custis moved to Williamsburg, Virginia. There, he revived his interest in political affairs and was again elected to the general assembly for another year. In 1727, Custis was appointed to serve on the Governor's Council of Virginia, having established himself in Williamsburg.

Custis purchased the White House plantation in 1735, arranging for his son and heir Daniel to manage it. Over the last decades of his life, Custis grew increasingly ill, and was removed from his position on the Governor's Council in August 1749. On November 14, 1749, he wrote his will and testament, dying eight days later on November 22. Custis' body was buried in the family cemetery near Cheapside, and his estate passed over to Daniel's control. In 1705, Custis was elected to the House of Burgesses, the lower house of the General Assembly of Virginia, representing the electoral constituency of Northampton County. Unlike his father, Custis only served a single term in the house, choosing not to run for re-election in 1706.[2] On May 4, 1706, he married heiress Frances Parke, who was the eldest daughter of Daniel Parke. Custis was appointed as a justice of the peace in the same year.[1][5] Custis was appointed to serve on the Governor's Council on September 11, 1727.[3] Eight years later, he purchased the White House, a plantation situated along the Pamunkey River in New Kent County from fellow planter John Lightfoot III and inherited the plantation's slaves.[14] Custis then sent his son Daniel, who was twenty-five years old by that point, to manage the White House and learn how to oversee the daily operations of a slave plantation. During this time, Custis was recorded as having been commissioned into the Virginia Militia, holding the rank of colonel by 1735.[14] At the age of 37, Daniel met 16-year-old Martha Dandridge at St. Peter's Church near Talleysville, Virginia, where he served as a vestryman and she attended services regularly.[17] The pair soon formed a romantic relationship; Custis initially opposed Daniel being together with Martha due to her family's relatively poor financial status, though he ultimately relented.[c] The couple eventually married on May 15, 1750, after a prolonged courtship which lasted roughly two years.[5]