The White House

In the story of the Siege of Richmond there are several references to 'the White House'.  The White House referred to in the story was the home of Martha Dandridge Custis at the time of her marriage to George Washington.

Martha Dandridge was born on June 2, 1731, the first child of Colonel John Dandridge and Frances Jones, just a short distance from the White House at Chestnut Grove.  Chestnut Grove was was built by John Dandridge in 1722, and burned to the ground in 1927.  The White House estate was acquired by the eccentric John Custis IV, who gave it to his son, Daniel Parke Custis, as a home for Martha Dandridge, his bride in 1749.   Daniel died eight years later leaving Martha with two children, John Parke Custis and Martha Parke Custis.  Martha was therefore the mistress of this large plantation, 18,000 acres.

In May 1758, Colonel George Washington, attended by his body servant, Bishop, had crossed the Pamunkey River by the ferry on his way to Williamsburg with important dispatches.  Colonel Richard Chamberlayne, the owner of Poplar Grove, happened to be at the landing.  Colonel Chamberlayne invited Washington to dine at his home.  Washington said acceptance was impossible, that his mission to Williamsburg was urgent.   But when Colonel Chamberlayne promised an introduction to the "prettiest and richest widow in Virginia", George Washington yielded.  He "would dine only  --  only dine, " and by "borrowing of the night" could be in Williamsburg the following morning.  While the faithful Bishop waited, holding by the bridle the handsome charger which had been presented to Washington by General Braddock, Washington lingered on.    At sunset Colonel Chamberlayne declared that no man left his house at such an hour, so Washington stayed the night at Poplar Grove.   He went to Williamsburg the next day, but shortly returned to visit Martha Dandridge Custis at the White House before he set forth on the expedition against the French.  In July he wrote to her that he embraced the opportunity "to send a few words to one whose life is now inseparable from mine.  Since that happy hour when we made our pledges to each other, my thoughts have been continually going to you as to another self."

The White House is believed to have been the scene of Martha's wedding to Washington, which was celebrated on January 6, 1759, "at candle light".

The White House passed to John Parke Custis, then to his son George Washington Parke Custis, George Washington's adopted son, who left it in 1857 to his grandson, William Henry Fitzhugh Lee, second son of General Robert E. Lee.

Not long after General Lee's family left Arlington in 1861, Mrs. Lee came to stay at the White House with her daughter-in-law, Charlotte Wickham Lee, and was there when McClellan's army began the march up the Peninsula.  On May 11 the women left the White House, pinning a note on the front door which read, " Northern soldiers who profess to reverence Washington, forbear to desecrate the home of his first married life, the property of his wife, now owned by her descendants."  A few days later there was penned under the note: "Lady, a Northern officer has protected your property in sight of the enemy, and at the request of your overseer."

The Federal army stored supplies on the estate and General McCellan gave specific protection to the White House, however, in the confusion, after McClellan's defeat at Gaines Mill on June 27, the White House was set afire and burned.

Story by Sandra Tinsley Lea

From Wikipedia:  

Naming conventions

The building was originally referred to variously as the "President's Palace", "Presidential Mansion", or "President's House".[15] The earliest evidence of the public calling it the "White House" was recorded in 1811.[16] A myth emerged that during the rebuilding of the structure after the Burning of Washington, white paint was applied to mask the burn damage it had suffered,[17] giving the building its namesake hue.[18] The name "Executive Mansion" was used in official contexts until President Theodore Roosevelt established the formal name by having "White House–Washington" engraved on the stationery in 1901.[19][20] The current letterhead wording and arrangement "The White House" with the word "Washington" centered beneath goes back to the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt.[20]

Although it was not completed until some years after the presidency of George Washington, it is also speculated that the name of the traditional residence of the President of the United States may have derived from Martha Washington's home, White House Plantation in Virginia, where the nation's first President had courted the First Lady in the mid-18th century.[21]


Original Dated: August 18, 2013

Last updated: 8/18/2013
By     Fred Preston