John Custis IV
(1678-1749)
BIRTH
August 1678
PLACE
Arlington County
DEATH
November 14, 1749
PLACE
Williamsburg, Virginia
FAMILY
WIFE
Frances Parke Custis
(c. 1686-1715)
CHILDREN
Margaret Michael
(1658-1692)
CHILDREN
Daniel Parke Custis
(1711-1757)
HOMES
RELIGIOUS VIEWS
RELIGION NOT DOCUMENTED
DENOMINATION NOT DOCUMENTED
MEMBERSHIPS
AWARDS
John Custis IV (1678–1749) was a wealthy Virginia planter, councillor and gardener whose estates relied on hundreds of enslaved people. He married Frances Parke and was the father of Daniel Parke Custis. In Williamsburg he developed an elaborate garden and exchanged plants and advice with naturalist Peter Collinson. He also freed Jack, his son by the enslaved woman Alice, and provided for him in his will. His precise death date remains disputed.
EARLY LIFE
John Custis IV was born Aug 1678 in Arlington County. The external genealogical record identifies John Custis III and Margaret Custis (Michael) as the parents. Surviving structured biographical sources provide limited detail about childhood, education, household routines, or the economic circumstances in which this person grew up.
The available external biographical record associates John Custis IV with the following work or social roles: politician. These labels provide the clearest documented basis for describing this person’s public or economic activity. John Custis IV died Nov 14, 1749. Additional claims about employment, officeholding, military service, or accomplishments have been omitted where the consulted record did not support them.
CAREER
DEATH
As Custis grew older he started to experience several issues with his health, which led him to correspond with his contacts in the horticultural sphere and seek curative advice. In 1742, Collinson wrote him a letter with a list of suggested medical treatments, which Custis responded to by writing that it was "impossible... to take a case... without seeing the patient". In 1744, Custis issued a petition to the governor of Virginia, Sir William Gooch and the Governor's Council, successfully asking that they manumit an enslaved child who Custis fathered and thought should be free. Over the last decades of his life, Custis grew increasingly sick, to the point where he was removed from the Governor's Council on August 26, 1749, after being too impaired to serve his duties properly. He also started to write his last will and testament, completing it by November 14, 1749, and dying on November 22 in Williamsburg. The available external biographical record associates John Custis IV with the following work or social roles: politician. Over the last decades of his life, Custis grew increasingly ill, and was removed from his position on the Governor's Council in August 1749. John Custis IV died on Nov 14, 1749, in Williamsburg, Virginia.
POPULAR BIOGRAPHIES
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