In 1781, on this day George Washington Parke Custis was born at Mount Airy, Maryland.

King of AmericaThe son of John P. Custis, George Washington's stepson, Curtis was - in his private life, at least - a nineteenth-century American writer, orator, and agricultural reformer.

When Custis died in 1857, his son-in-law Robert E. Lee came to control (as executor of the will) almost 200 slaves on Custis's three plantations, Arlington, White House in New Kent County, and Romancoke in King William County. Under Custis's will, the slaves were to be freed once the legacies from his estate were paid, and absolutely no later than five years after his death.

Lee was also crowned King of America, the fourth hereditary monarch since "the Father of the Country" took afront that he should accept the reduced role of President.