Her late husband, Colonel Custis, her elder by fifteen years, had left her a large estate called White House, and a fortune which made her one of the richest women in Virginia.  From their first introduction, Washington and she seemed to be mutually attracted.  He lingered throughout the afternoon and evening with her and went on to Williamsburg with his despatches the next morning.  Having finished his business at the Capitol, he returned to William’s Ferry, where he again saw Mrs. Custis, pressed his suit upon her and was accepted.  Characteristic was it that he should conclude the matter so suddenly; but he had had marriage in his intentions for many years.

During the summer Washington returned to his military duties and led a troop to Fort Duquesne.  He found the fort partly demolished, and abandoned by the French; he marched in and took it, and gave it the name of Fort Pitt, in recognition of the great statesman who had directed the revival of British prestige.  The fort, thus recovered to English possession, stood on the present site of Pittsburgh.  I quote the following brief letter from Washington to Mrs. Custis, as it is almost the only note of his to her during their engagement that has been preserved: 

We have begun our March for the Ohio.  A courier is starting for Williamsburg, and I embrace the opportunity to send a few words to one whose life is now inseparable from mine.  Since that happy hour when we made our pledges to each other, my thoughts have been continually going to you as another Self.  That an all powerful Providence may keep us both in safety is the prayer of your ever faithful and affectionate friend.[1]

[Footnote 1:  P.L.  Ford, The True George Washington, 93.]

Late in that autumn Washington returned for good from his Western fighting.  On January 6, 1759 (Old Style), his marriage to Mrs. Custis took place in St. Peter’s Church, near her home at the White House.  Judging from the fine writing which old historians and new have devoted to describing it, Virginia had seen few such elegant pageants as upon that occasion.  The grandees in official station and in social life were all there.  Francis Fauquier was, of course, gorgeous in his Governor’s robes but he could not outshine the bridegroom, in blue and silver with scarlet trimmings, and gold buckles at his knees, with his imperial physique and carriage.  The Reverend Peter Mossum conducted the Episcopal service, after which the bride drove back with a coach and six to the White House, while Washington, with other gentlemen, rode on horseback beside her acting as escort.