John Dandridge

Colonel John Dandridge (13 July 1700 – 31 August 1756) was a distinguished colonel, planter, and Clerk of the Courts of New Kent County, Virginia from 1730 to 1756. Dandridge is best known as the father of the first First Lady of the United States Martha Washington, wife of George Washington, the first president of the United States.

Early life

Born on 13 July 1700 in England, Dandridge was the youngest son of John Dandridge (born 1655). He immigrated to Virginia at the age of 14 in 1715.

Marriage and children

Dandridge married Frances Orlando Jones, daughter of Orlando Jones and Martha West Macon, on 22 July 1730. John and Frances had eight children:

• Martha Dandridge Custis Washington (1731–1802)
• John Dandridge (1733–1749)
• William Dandridge (1734–1776)
• Bartholomew Dandridge (1737–1785)
• Anna Marie "Fanny" Dandridge Bassett (1739–1777)
• Frances Dandridge (1744–1757)
• Elizabeth Dandridge Aylett Henley (1749–1800)
• Mary Dandridge (1756–1763)

Career and residences

Upon their marriage in 1730, John and Frances moved to their new home on the banks of the Pamunkey River in New Kent County, Virginia, Chestnut Grove. John became Clerk of Courts in New Kent County and kept that position for the next 26 years. He was also vestryman and churchwarden for St. Peter's Church. John was a prominent planter, and a colonel in his military district.

John's older brother, William Dandridge (1689–1743), lived on the opposite bank of the river with his wife Unity West Dandridge at their estate, Elsing Green, in King William County. Chestnut Grove burned down in 1926, but its former site was only four miles from the location of the current county court house for New Kent.

Along with Chestnut Grove in New Kent, John and Frances also owned a house in Williamsburg and visited there frequently.

Later life

Dandridge died on 31 August 1756 at the age of 56 in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Dandridge is interred at St. George's Episcopal Church burial ground in Fredericksburg.