Eleanor Parke Custis Lewis

Eleanor Parke Custis Lewis was born on March 31, 1779, at Mount Airy in Prince George's County, Maryland. She was the daughter of John Parke Custis and Eleanor Calvert Custis. Her father was the only surviving son of Daniel Parke Custis and Martha Dandridge Custis, who married George Washington in 1759. Through her paternal lineage, she was a granddaughter of Martha Washington and a step-granddaughter of George Washington. Eleanor Calvert Custis, her mother, was a granddaughter of Benedict Swingate Calvert, an illegitimate son of Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore. Benedict Swingate Calvert's mother was possibly a granddaughter of King George I, and her ancestry included descent from Charles II through Barbara Villiers's daughter Charlotte FitzRoy.

Following the early death of her father in 1781, Eleanor and her brother, George Washington Parke Custis, were placed under the guardianship of George and Martha Washington and grew up at Mount Vernon. They also visited their mother, stepfather David Stuart, and older sisters at Abington and later at estates in Fairfax County. During George Washington's presidency, Eleanor assisted in entertaining guests at the presidential mansions located on Cherry Street and Broadway in New York City, and later at the presidential mansion in Philadelphia.

On February 22, 1799, Eleanor Custis married Lawrence Lewis, a nephew of George Washington. Prior to this marriage, there was consideration of her marrying Thomas Adams, son of John and Abigail Adams. However, the Adams family preferred Adams to marry after his brother, John Quincy Adams. The Washington family transferred their "best and most productive farm," the 2,000-acre Dogue Run farm at Mount Vernon, to the couple as a wedding gift.

The Lewises established Woodlawn Plantation after visiting various relatives and dealing with illnesses affecting both Lawrence and Eleanor, as well as Eleanor's pregnancy. They had eight children, four of whom lived to adulthood: Frances Parke Lewis (1799–1875), Martha Betty Lewis (1801–1802), Lawrence Fielding Lewis (1802–1802), Lorenzo Lewis (1803–1847), Eleanor Agnes Freire Lewis (1805–1820), Fielding Augustine Lewis (1807–1809), George Washington Custis Lewis (1810–1811), Martha Eleanor Angela Lewis Conrad (1813–1839). Eleanor experienced multiple miscarriages throughout her marriage, with records indicating miscarriages in 1800, 1804, 1806, 1808, 1809, 1811, 1812, and 1814.

Through inheritance and estate liquidations following Martha Washington's death in 1802 and Eleanor Calvert's death in 1811, Eleanor Custis Lewis inherited about 80 slaves. The estate of her grandfather Daniel Parke Custis was also liquidated, resulting in her inheritance of approximately thirty-five "dower" slaves from Mount Vernon and around forty slaves from the John Parke Custis estate.

Around 1830, the Lewises relocated to Audley plantation in Clarke County, Virginia. Beginning in the mid-1830s, they divided their time between Virginia and their daughters' residences in Louisiana. Eleanor continued to reside at Audley after Lawrence Lewis's death in 1839. She maintained an active role in preserving George Washington's legacy, sharing memories and mementos, engaging in correspondence, and providing information about the first president.

Eleanor Parke Custis Lewis died on July 15, 1852. She is buried in a shaft east of the Washingtons' tomb at Mount Vernon.