White House (plantation)

White House Plantation
White House plantation, 1862
Map
General information
TypePrivate residence
Architectural styleGeorgian
LocationNew Kent County, Virginia
CountryUnited States
Coordinates37°34′31.142″N 77°1′43.477″W / 37.57531722°N 77.02874361°W / 37.57531722; -77.02874361
Construction startedLate 17th Century
Destroyed1862; 1875
OwnerCol. John Lightfoot III
Goodrich Lightfoot
John Custis
Daniel Parke Custis
Martha Washington
John Parke Custis
George Washington Parke Custis
William Henry Fitzhugh Lee

The White House was a late 17th-century plantation on the Pamunkey River near White House in New Kent County, Virginia. There were a total of three White Houses all built on the original pre-1700 foundation. The original White House Mansion was built by Colonel John Lightfoot III just before 1700 and while he was Counselor of State.

The White House Plantation was part of a large land holding that John Custis, father of Daniel Parke Custis, purchased from the family of John Lightfoot III.[1] After John Custis died, he left the White House Plantation to his son Daniel Parke Custis, the first husband of Martha Dandridge Custis. The two would marry on May 15, 1750. Daniel Parke Custis would unexpectedly die in 1757, leaving the White House Plantation to his wife.[2][3] After the death of her first husband, Martha Dandridge Custis would later meet George Washington and on January 6, 1759 would hold their wedding ceremony in one of the rooms of the White House Mansion.[1][4]

Union troops stationed at the White House Plantation (of the Army of the Potomac) under the command of George B. McClellan, would burn the second White House to the ground on June 28, 1862, as they retreated during the Seven Days Battles.[4][1] The third and final White House burned in 1880. The three White Houses collectively spanned over 180 years. The 2nd and 3rd iterations were smaller than the original White House Mansion.[1]

  1. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (2009). "Martha Dandridge Custis Washington". The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Retrieved 2008-03-05.
  3. ^ Yates, Bernice-Marie (2003). The Perfect Gentleman: The Life and Letters of George Washington Custis Lee. Fairfax, Virginia: Xulon Press. pp. 37–38. ISBN 1-59160-451-6. Retrieved 2011-06-27.
  4. ^ a b Horn, Jonathan. "White House on the Pamunkey." New York Times. June 29, 2012. Accessed 10-25-2013.

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