Martha Parke Custis

Martha Parke Custis (1756 – June 19, 1773) was the stepdaughter of George Washington who died from an epileptic seizure at the age of 17, fifteen years before he was elected as the first president of the United States. She was the youngest child of Martha Custis, who later became known as Martha Washington, and Daniel Parke Custis, who died one year after she was born. She was called "Patsy" by her family. Analysis of George Washington's diary entries describing Patsy Custis's seizures and the treatments she received have led modern medical historians to conclude that the cause of death was SUDEP, or sudden unexpected death in epilepsy. Her death is considered one of the first well-documented descriptions in history of SUDEP by a witness, who happened to be George Washington. Early life Patsy Custis was born in 1756 at White House Plantation in Virginia. She was the fourth child of Martha Custis (née Dandridge) and Colonel Daniel Parke Custis. Her eldest brother had died at the age of three, before she was born, while her sister Frances died in 1757 at the age of four; both had died of unknown causes. Her father died on July 8, 1757, possibly from a virulent throat infection.