Martha was 8 months older than George
On the property of Chestnut Grove owned by her parents in the Colony of Virginia, Martha Dandridge was born on June 2, 1731. She was the oldest child born to Virginia planter and English immigrant John Dandridge (1700–1756) and his American-born wife Frances Jones (1710–1785), who was also of English, Welsh, and French ancestry. Martha had four sisters and three brothers, three of whom passed away at an early age. At his father's property in Westmoreland County, Virginia, nearly 100 miles north of Martha's birthplace, George was born on February 22, 1732, making him eight months younger than her. Although his father had had three children from a previous marriage, he was the oldest of Augustine Washington and Mary Ball's six children.
Washington married Martha Dandridge, the 27-year-old widow of rich plantation owner Daniel Parke Custis, on January 6, 1759, when he was 26 years old at the White House plantation. The marriage was lavish. Blue and silver fabric with red trimming and gold knee buckles made up George's costume. Mount Vernon has a pair of the bride's purple silk shoes with spangled buckles on display. Before settling at George's Mount Vernon home, the couple spent several weeks on their honeymoon at the White House plantation owned by the Custis family. They seemed to have enjoyed a stable union.
