First Family: George Washington's Heirs and the Making of America

by Cassandra A. Good

For readers of Never Caught and You Never Forget Your First , a revealing true story of celebrity, race and the children George Washington raised.

While it’s widely known that George and Martha Washington never had children of their own, few are aware that they raised children together. In First Family , we see Washington as a father figure and are introduced to the children he helped raise, tracing their complicated roles in American history.

The children of Martha Washington’s son by her first marriage—Eliza, Patty, Nelly and Wash Custis—were born into life in the public eye, well-known as George Washington’s family and keepers of his legacy. By turns petty and powerful, glamorous and cruel, the Custises used Washington as a means to enhance their own power and status. As enslavers committed to the American empire, the Custis family embodied the failures of the American experiment that finally exploded into civil war—all the while being celebrities in a soap opera of their own making.

First Family brings new focus and attention to this surprisingly neglected aspect of George Washington’s life and legacy, shedding a light

As the country grapples with concerns about political dynasties and the public role of presidential families, the saga of Washington’s family offers a human story of historical precedent. Award-winning historian Cassandra A. Good shows how the outspoken step-grandchildren of George Washington played an overlooked but important role in the development of American society and politics from the Revolution to the Civil War.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Presidents, Biography, Historical

432 pages, Hardcover

First published June 6, 2023

About the author

Cassandra A. Good is an historian, writer, and teacher in the Washington, DC area. She received in PhD in History from the University of Pennsylvania as well as a BA/MA in American Studies from George Washington University. Good previously worked for the Smithsonian Institution at art museums and as Associate Editor of the Papers of James Monroe at the University of Mary Washington. Her work has been supported by institutions including Mount Vernon, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Virginia Museum of History and Culture. She currently serves as associate professor of history at Marymount University.

Reviews

[Daniel Koch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable deep dive into the world of George Washington through the lens of his step family - the Custises. My knowledge on the Custis family going into this book was pretty minimal. I knew that was the family GW married into when he married Martha Dandridge Custis. I knew Martha brought with her a bunch of enslaved folks with her as part of the dowry, and that GW had grandiose plans for land purchases. I also knew that George Washington Parke Custis was an orator of some kind that rode his step grandfather's coattails. That was pretty much it.

I was curious why the Custis family fell out of favor with the public as the 19th century rolled on. I had assumed that it was a simple matter of the further away you get from GW, the less relevant you are as a step relative. That was partly true! The other part is when many members of your clan choose the Confederacy over the Union. See when GW betrayed his country, it was patriotism because his side eventually won. When you choose the losing side in a civil war, your home gets turned into a military cemetery and you lose access to it forever. That's how the cookie crumbles if you're a Custis.

Aside #1: I definitely wasn't expecting a starring role from everyone's favorite problematic traitor general Robert E Lee in this tale!

Anyway, this is a well researched book that shed a lot of light/empathy/context on a family I was only vaguely familiar with. I am an 18th century nerd, and I love genealogy so this was right up my wheelhouse. The Custises are an interesting lot. They are invested in politics, land, slavery, and most importantly served as curators of GW's legacy (especially Wash...omg, the dude made his being related to his step grandfather a career). I think of the 4, Eliza was probably my favorite.

Aside #2: No matter how often I hear about it, the sheer amount of early childhood mortality will never not shock me.

Aside #3: I appreciate Good having an explainer of why/why not she chose certain terminology at the beginning of the book. While I have no problem with using "Enslaved Persons" over "Slaves". I do roll my eyes a bit at the thought that by using the term enslaved persons I am acknowledging their humanity...do you think I mistook slaves for machines or something...? Of course they're people.

Anywhoo, off to read some of Wash's patriotic plays.

4****!

[Jeremy Lucas · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a stunning level of overkill in this sweeping narrative of the Custis children, a constant, nagging, often annoying reminder to readers that this or that thing happened on the backs of enslaved people. And I certainly don't offer that literary criticism as a denial of history or a point of selective ignorance. On the contrary, our nation owes a debt of unresolved gratitude to the countless men and women who gave their unnamed lives to our continued existence. It just comes across poorly in the text, an ongoing presumption that we, the readers, haven't caught onto the truth of slavery just yet. So we're told, informed, and nudged by the author's personal angst on the matter, over and over and over, page after page, chapter after chapter.

Nevertheless, Cassandra Good has still penned a timely and necessary biography of four people whose lives might otherwise be forgotten, left to the annals of American irrelevance. In so many ways, my heart goes out to an early version of Wash Custis, the baby of the family who outlived them all. As a boy, Wash had never known his real father (he died of a fever when he was barely six months old), so he spent his entire childhood and adolescent years with his grandparents, George and Martha, often disappointing his grandfather immensely because he didn't have an aptitude or an interest in learning, or politics, or anything that would have, in the first president's mind, made Wash a good citizen of this new nation. And yet, when the great patriarch died in 1799, I imagine this eighteen year old stepson (or grandson), with no guarantee of anything, no blood connection to the family, no promise of fame or fortune, pausing to consider the moment, what his life had been up to that point, and what it might be in the years ahead. The author definitely sheds light on this image of mine, showing Wash and his elder sisters with stories of before and after their departure from Mount Vernon. And I do, still, feel empathy for the adolescent Wash. But his controversial relationship with multiple women he had enslaved, for decades and decades after Washington's death, for decades and decades before the Civil War, make me conscious of the limits to empathy.

And to that end, I can forgive Cassandra Good of the overkill. Because some things need to be said, over and over and over, until they resonate. This, I read and concluded, on Presidents Day 2025.

[Adam Carman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm always hooked by books that offer new perspectives on Washington. In this volume, Cassandra Good traces the grandchildren of Martha Washington, raised by her and President Washington, in their quest to remain custodians of the Washington legacy. Interestingly, Good notes, during Washington's lifetime, these stepgrandchildren, Wash and Nelly, were universally recognized as Washington's family, even appearing in a portrait of the Washington family, despite the fact they were not related by blood. In the years and decades, following his death, they sought to remain in the public eye and to maintain their link with him, despite the most obvious property (Mount Vernon) passing to a series of nephews who had the last name Washington. Good seeks to explain why the Custis Family lost its hold on Washington's legacy, despite their best efforts. Getting caught up in the debates of the early republic is one reason. The family split politically with most remaining tied to the Federalists (although they were enamored of Andrew Jackson briefly) and only a few joining the Party of Jefferson. The other issues was slavery. The Custises remained enslavers of workers and even sometimes outright defenders of slavery to the end of their days. They also complicated their stepgrandfather's directions to free his enslaved workers by holding on to their own. But in the end, Americans' obsessions with bloodlines and the treachery of most of the Custis descendants during the Civil War, including the most famous, General Robert E. Lee. led to the family's fall from grace. Indeed, when Wash belatedly tried to free his entire enslaved workforce in his will, Robert E. Lee tried to sell them off to raise money for the estate. When the Washington Monument was dedicated in 1885, nobody surnamed Custis was invited. Good has written an excellent, focused study of an often overlooked group of people in their quest to preserve their famous relative's legacy. While most histories tend to simply act as if nobody else in the Washington Family ever amounted to anything. Good shows us this isn't entirely true as the Custis family offered or withheld validation to anyone seeking political power and remained involved commentators on political affairs. Unfortunately, in the quest to remain custodians of Washington's legacy, they were doomed to failure because lives spent hyping their connection to the Father of his Country left them without significant achievements of their own own.

[Tammy Mannarino · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fascinating book! Carefully researched with so many important details. I appreciated Good's first defining what it means to be Washington's family. The answer is not as straightforward as you might think. By delving into the Custis family and how they carried forward Washington's legacy (or didn't), the author takes us through the changes that occurred in the U.S. immediately after Washington's passing and then through the Civil War. I am excited to read more of Cassandra Good's work. She provides in depth coverage of the subject while keeping the writing lively.

[Mike Shoop · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author Good has used the four Custis grandchildren of Martha Dandridge Custis Washington in an effort to show how their lives mirrored the American experiment from the Revolutionary War to the Civil War. Nelly and Washington Custis were raised by George and Martha Washington at Philadelphia and Mount Vernon after their parents died at young ages. Their two older sisters went to other relatives, but all four were influenced greatly by their grandparents and grew to become adults who were very involved in Washington society and politics and were celebrities during their lifetimes. They were constantly in the public eye as part of the First Family, and ever after made use of Washington's name and legacy to forward their own goals and dreams. They firmly believed in Washington's America, and fought to defend those ideals, all the while participating in the practice of slavery. Their lives were like a soap opera, with failed marriages, childbirth, lovers, death, financial problems, political fights, and illness. All fought to keep the Union (and their step-grandfather's legacy) alive, but as the Union moved ever closer to failure, so did the Custis siblings. The once glamorous and celebrated Custis children all died before the Civil War, and were soon forgotten. Wash Custis, the last of them, died in 1857, pleading to keep the Union together; ironically, his only child, Mary, married the man who would become Confederate General Robert E. Lee.
Good has done plenty of research and she writes well, but I got weary of reading about the whole slavery issue. She took every opportunity to rub it into the reader's face that these men and women owned slaves, that their fortunes were made off the enslaved, that the enslaved worked their fields, built their homes, etc., etc., ad nauseum. Yes, the Custis family did own slaves (even though they participated in the antislavery movement and considered freeing their slaves), as they were part of a society at the time that participated in that system. Enough already! I don't need to be beaten about the head and shoulders with it constantly. I found it overdone and unnecessary and the constant repetition of it was annoying.
But kudos to Good for bringing the Custis story back into the light.

[IrenesBookReviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like American History or just really enjoy anything written about George Washington this book is for you. There were facts in this book that I never knew about George Washington's family. I liked how the author took a closer look at the generations that followed him as well as those who were there with him during his time in our nation's history. The writing held my attention and kept me reading and wanting to know what was going to happen next. Overall, a great book with interesting facts.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher Harlequin Trade Publishing, for the temporary digital ARC that I read and gave my honest opinion of.

[Janilyn Kocher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always had a keen interest in Martha Washington and her family. Last year I listened to all the Intertwined podcasts about the family and the lives of those who lived and worked on Mount Vernon. It ignited my passion for learning more, especially about the Curtis grandchildren. Then this book came out. Fortuitous timing!
I loved all the details provided by Good. I poured through her notes and bibliography, almost more than the text.
It’s a great contribution to all readers who inquire about the next generation and what happened.
Thanks to NetGalley and Hanover Square Press for the early copy.

[Eric Burroughs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was pretty interesting. Argued that the Custis’ tried to stay relevant in their own time by connecting themselves to Washington and thus became irrelevant later because they didn’t do anything to make names for themselve. GWP Custis had lots of children with enslaved people. Would have been 4/5 stars but the epilogue shits on Robert E Lee which bumped it to 5 stars.

[Roger Smitter · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s not a story of what I was told in elementary and high school. The book can be surprising. There’s ;itt;e about

The power of the book is that the story is very different from what did we learned in 4th grade.

[Joan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. A fascinating read about George Washington, Martha Washington and the Custis families. Well researched and thought provoking. I highly recommend it to all who enjoy history!

[Becca Tingstrom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned a great deal from this. While I agree with her perspective on the realities of slavery, I grew frustrated with her use of the same or similar phrases over and over whenever she discussed the topic. Overall, it was a very good read on the subject and I would recommend.

[HTP Books]

Revolutionary Period (1775-1800) US History, Civil War Period (1850-1877) US History, Historical Biographies & Autobiographies, Presidents & Heads of State Biographies & Autobiographies

[Tina Panik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meticulously researched, this work presents a 365’ view of the Washington heirs lives and influence.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wacky families. Even George Washington had one.

[Jon Scarborough · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-written. One enjoyable story after another.

[Barb Farrar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting. Also upsetting to hear about people dying so young.
And slavery.
Non fiction

[Stef · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little hard to follow all the relationships at first in Audiobook format. Would have liked better without the sometimes heavy-handed social commentary.

[Gail Green]

Not a good book for an audible..too many names to remember and so many moves! I was expecting more

[Alicia]

Reading during my 2023 committee work.

[Maggie Huggins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I automatically trust female historians more. Super fascinating story!! Shoutout Washingtoniana and DC history 🤝

[Brendan (History Nerds United) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some apples do fall far from the tree. Some fall far from the tree and then roll down the hill and get muddy. Some weren't actually apples at all but oranges the entire time pretending to be apples. Okay, I'll stop torturing the metaphor. The apples are actually the Custis kids who may be better known as the stepchildren of George Washington. Actually, they aren't know much at all which is why Cassandra Good did the dirty work for all of us and wrote First Family.

Good's book fills in so many holes for me as an American history nerd. Mount Vernon, George Washington's home, is one of my favorite places on the planet. I have often looked at the names on the headstones around Washington's tomb and wondered, "Who the heck is Bushrod?" It turns out, Bushrod was a lot more like Washington than the Custis children. Good dives deep into the Custis clan and follows each sibling as they disappoint, aggravate, and then try to profit off their association with the Father of the United States.

You may be asking why on Earth should you read about these people who are clearly not getting a ringing endorsement from me. I don't like them, but I did love the research and the storytelling done by Good for this book. It's an easy read, deeply investigated, but does not overstay it's welcome. Good also takes the time to highlight the lives of the people living on Mount Vernon who didn't have the choice to leave. It's this type of well-rounded storytelling which makes this a must read for anyone interested in American history.

(This book was provided as an advance copy by the author.)

[Jim Dreier · Rating 5 out of 5]

First Family follows the lives of Martha Washington’s four surviving grandchildren, Elizabeth “Eliza, Martha “Patty”, Eleanor “Nelly”, and George Washington “Wash” Custis. The narrative moves at a solid pace through the Washington’s and Custis’s as a family. Of course, being the family of Washington, their lives are intertwined with the history of the young United States. The families attempts to leverage the legacy of Washington and their lives near the Capitol city further connect them to history at large. Their differing political views, need for attention, marriages, and tragedies all play out. A lot of space is given to the use of slave labor. The author never misses a chance to remind the reader that the Custis’s position is built by the labor of enslaved people. While heavy handed, this is fitting as the Custis’s poor attempts to reconcile slavery with liberty, mostly on Wash’s part, come to nothing. As the four grandchildren pass away, the Custis family legacy crashes when their children and grandchildren choose to join the Confederacy. Overall a refreshing book on Washington’s family life. I especially recommend the first chapters.

[Elizabeth Reese · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although George Washington had no children of his own, the Custis grandchildren took on the mantle of his legacy. Dr. Good's fantastically researched book breathes life into the lesser-known members of Washington's family and makes these flawed, interesting, and complicated people tangible to a modern audience. The story of the Custises is intrinsically linked with the people they enslaved, and Dr. Good's scholarship weaves their lives together in a way that is a refreshing change from the typical Washington narrative.

I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to pull back the curtain on the Washington/Custis family and early American celebrity.