George Washington Parke Custis was named after his grandfather, the first president. His father was the only remaining son from Martha Washington's first marriage. When he was born, his mother was too ill to care for him. He and his sister Nelly were sent to live at Mt. Vernon with their grandmother, Martha Washington. George Washington adopted the boy and his sister and treated them like his own children. Washington hired a private tutor for the "little folks" as he called them, and spent around $300 a year on their education.

Mrs. Washington referred to the boy as "Wash" or "Tub", and she spoiled him and his sister. His tutor, Tobias Lear, wrote that little Washington was not to be severely scolded because it would upset his grandmother. Wash was only 9 years old when the family moved into the President's House in Philadelphia. Martha was fearful that the children "would not enjoy so many advantages to the point of education" in Philadelphia as in New York. Wash's education did prove troublesome. He did not seem to be doing very well in school. Martha once wrote: "Wash attends but does not learn". He attended Princeton University but quit, and later was schooled in Annapolis.

Washington enjoyed his grandson's spirited nature. He said that Wash was "as fat and saucy as ever...as full of spirit as an eggshell is of meat". He was always close by the President's side, and he attended his grandfather's second inauguration in Congress Hall, a block away from the President's House.

Image courtesy Virginia Historical Society, Richmond, Virginia.

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