Martha Washington father John Dandridge
Early life
Martha Dandridge was born on June 2, 1731, on her parents' plantation Chestnut Grove in the Colony of Virginia. She was the oldest daughter of John Dandridge, a Virginia planter and immigrant from England, and Frances Jones, the granddaughter of an Anglican rector.: 2  Her father was also a county clerk.: 9  Martha had three brothers and four sisters: John (1733–1749), William (1734–1776), Bartholomew (1737–1785), Anna Maria "Fanny" Bassett (1739–1777), Frances Dandridge (1744–1757), Elizabeth Aylett Henley (1749–1800), and Mary Dandridge (1756–1763). As the oldest of eight, including one sister that was 25 years her junior, Dandridge played a maternal and domestic role beginning early in life.: 10 Dandridge may have had an illegitimate half-sister, Ann Dandridge Costin, who was born into slavery. Costin's enslaved mother was of African and Cherokee descent, and her father was believed to be John Dandridge. She may have also had an illegitimate half-brother named Ralph Dandridge, who was most likely white.Dandridge's father was well-connected with the Virginia aristocracy despite his relative lack of wealth, and she was taught to behave as a woman of the upper class. She received a relatively high quality education for the daughter of a planter, though it was still inferior to that of her brothers. She took to equestrianism, at one point riding her horse up and down the stairs of her uncle's home and escaping chastisement because her father was so impressed by her skill.: 8
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