Tudor Place, a National Historic Landmark, is located in Georgetown, Washington, DC. The neoclassical mansion was
designed by Dr. William Thornton, first architect of the United States Capitol, for Thomas and Martha Custis Peter
and completed in 1816. The property originally was conveyed with eight and one-half acres and became the home of the
Custis-Peter family, descendants of Martha Dandridge Custis Washington, from approximately 1802-1984. The buildings,
gardens, collections, and archives reflect a family continuity of 180 years unique in the nation’s capital. On the
death of Armistead Peter III in 1983, Tudor Place Foundation, Inc., assumed management of the property. The house
and grounds were opened to the public in 1988.
The Tudor Place Manuscript Collection of approximately 300 linear feet consists of the personal papers of the
Custis-Peter family from the mid-18th century to 1984. It includes correspondence, diaries, scrapbooks, financial
records, inventories, photographs, blueprints, architectural drawings, and ephemera. The Collection documents the
history of the family and its collateral relations and is particularly complete in recording the history of the
property, the house and its contents, and the garden from the 1860s to 1984. The Collection includes: 1) one of the
three known surviving letters written by George Washington to his wife Martha; 2) land records of Robert Peter, first
mayor of Georgetown and one of the sixteen original landowners of the District of Columbia; 3) bills and receipts
from 1860 to 1983 covering daily living expenses, servants' wages, and repairs and renovations of the property; and
4) the papers of Paul Wayland Bartlett, an American expatriate sculptor working at the turn of the 20th century.
The correspondence, subject files, and financial and legal documents in these papers deal almost exclusively with
the land transactions of Robert Peter, the first mayor of Georgetown, and the settlement of his estate. The material
spans the years 1746-1814 and is fragmentary.
These papers consist of correspondence, subject files, and financial and legal documents, that deal with the
financial transactions of Thomas Peter. The material spans the period 1796-1848 and is highly fragmentary.
Highlights include: business correspondence with George Washington; information on Thomas Peter's land holdings; the
purchase of the Tudor Place property; and a list of the slaves Martha Custis Peter brought to the marriage as part
of her dowry. Martha Custis Peter was a granddaughter of Martha Washington.
This material spans 1770-1811, and includes letters of condolence on George Washington's death, as well as other
documents relating to the settlement of his estate and the estate of Martha Washington. Included in this collection
is one of the two known surviving letters from George to Martha Washington, written on June 18, 1775 as he assumed
command of the Continental Army.
These papers include correspondence, subject files, legal and financial documents, and printed material ranging in
date from 1800-1854, and therefore provide a record of the activities of Major George Peter, resident of Georgetown
and Montgomery County, MD. This collection includes his military career from 1800-1809 when he served with General
James Wilkinson, his service in Congress, and his land holdings in Montgomery County. Major George Peter was a
brother of Thomas Peter.
This material from 1801-1857 consists chiefly of correspondence and other documents written by and relating to
George Washington Parke Custis, a grandson of Martha Washington and brother of Martha Peter. Members of the Robert
E. Lee family are also represented.
This collection holds correspondence, subject files, scrapbook material, and diaries. The diaries of 1852 and 1853
include observations of a young American woman travelling in England and France; a brief diary of 1862 mentions
war-torn Washington; and a diary of 1878 describes her first year of marriage. A large portion of this grouping
relates to Carter’s brother Colonel Laurence Abert Williams' reinstatement in the U.S. Army; another portion
includes information on her brother Captain William Orton Williams of the Confederate States of America. Martha
Custis Williams Carter was the eldest daughter of Captain William G. and America Williams and the wife of Rear
Admiral Samuel Powhatan Carter; she was a granddaughter of Thomas and Martha Peter.
This collection includes correspondence, subject files, legal and financial documents, and printed materials from
1828-1911. Britannia Kennon was mistress of Tudor Place from 1854 to 1911. Of particular interest are household
accounts, bills and receipts relating to Tudor Place from 1860-1911, and materials related to the estates of her
husband, Commodore Beverley Kennon, and her father, Thomas Peter. Also included are subject files on some community
activities in Georgetown and Washington, including founding of patriotic societies during the Colonial Revival.
Britannia Kennon was the mother of Martha Custis Kennon Peter, and a daughter of Thomas and Martha Peter.
These papers include correspondence from 1821-32 with Robert Beverley of Blandfield, Virginia, and a will.
Commodore Kennon was the husband of Britannia Peter Kennon.
These papers span 1845-96, and contain fragmentary correspondence, legal and financial records, and printed
material. They relate to Kennon’s service during the Civil War with the Confederate Secret Service and later with
the Khedive of Egypt. Captain Beverley Kennon II was the son of Commodore Beverley Kennon by his first marriage to
Elizabeth Dandridge Claiborne.
Fragmentary correspondence and scrapbook material from 1850-1886 are included in this collection. Martha Kennon
Peter was the daughter of Commodore and Britannia Kennon, and the wife of Dr. Armistead Peter.
This collection is composed of correspondence, subject files, legal and financial documents, diaries, and ephemera
from 1856-1912, and document the life of a wealthy woman who traveled extensively and lived in New York City and in
Cambridge, NY. Sarah Law Williams was the wife of Colonel Laurence Abert Williams, and the daughter of George Law,
a wealthy New York businessman.
Correspondence, subject files, and printed material from 1842-78 include information on Williams’ education and
marriage, and his efforts to be reinstated in the United States Army after the Civil War. Colonel Laurence Williams
was the son of Captain William G. and America Williams; he was a grandson of Thomas and Martha Peter.
These papers include correspondence, subject files, and financial records from 1861-1902. Personal material relates
to the life of the prominent Georgetown physician and his family, as well as material on the execution of his
brother Walter Gibson Peter and cousin William Orton Williams as Confederate spies in 1863. Some materials,
including call books and ledgers from Peter’s medical practice from 1862-97, document his career. Dr. Armistead
Peter was the husband of Martha Kennon Peter; their son Armistead Peter, Jr., became third owner of Tudor Place.
This large collection holds correspondence, subject files, legal and financial documents, diaries, printed material,
and ephemera from 1892-1960. Owner of Tudor Place from 1911 to 1960, Peter’s diaries record everyday life from the
1890s almost to the end of his life. There are extensive records of the renovations of Tudor Place in 1914 and
voluminous writings on the genealogy of the family, reminiscences of his grandmother Britannia Kennon, and notes on
objects in the collection. The development of the garden is also documented. Armistead Peter, Jr., married Anna
Williams Peter; their son Armistead Peter III became fourth owner of Tudor Place.
These papers are composed of correspondence and subject files from 1809-67. Haines was a resident of Portland,
Maine, and an agent for the Laconia Textile Mills. He was the father of George Augustine Haines, and father-in-law
of Josephine Haines.
This collection consists of correspondence, subject files, legal and financial documents, and printed material from
1877-1901, and document the life of a sophisticated and wealthy American woman in Europe, especially at her home on
Lake Como in Italy. Some material relates to the estate of her father, George Law, an influential American
transportation entrepreneur who lived in New York City and Cambridge, NY. She was the wife of George Augustine
Haines and a sister of Sarah Law Williams.
These papers include correspondence from 1871-1914, subject files from 1894-1913, and legal and financial documents
from 1897-1914. George Haines was active in stock market dealings; he dealt with important financiers of his time.
The bulk of the material concerns renovations to his wife's home on Lake Como, 1895-1905, and includes scrapbook
material, sketches, postcards, and ephemera. George Haines was the second husband of Josephine Law May Haines.
This collection holds correspondence, subject files, legal and financial documents, printed material, and ephemera
from 1893-1961. The material, which is fragmentary after 1923, documents the daily life of a wealthy woman in New
York and Washington in the late 19th and early 20th century. Receipts from the renovation of her country house in
Cambridge, NY, show the cost of a large-scale renovation, and the materials and manpower required for such a venture in the period 1920-23. Records of servants and their wages document the social and economic conditions of the time. Anna Williams Peter was the wife of Armistead Peter, Jr., and the daughter of Colonel Laurence and Sarah Williams.
The correspondence from 1887-1925 documents the personal and professional life of an American sculptor who worked
in Paris and Washington. Bartlett’s commissions of note include the Lafayette statue in Paris, a pediment on the
United States Capitol, and proposed Washington, DC, monuments never completed. Other materials, including drawings,
photos, bills, and printed material, record many aspects of the career of this artist. This collection complements
the Bartlett Papers at the Library of Congress, and relates to Bartlett sculpture at Tudor Place and other museums
across the United States. Paul Wayland Bartlett’s stepdaughter, Caroline, married Armistead Peter III.
The wife of sculptor Paul Wayland Bartlett, Suzanne Bartlett’s papers include correspondence, photographs, and other
materials important to the study of Bartlett's work and the disposition of his estate, both financial and artistic.
Additional correspondence and other materials document Suzanne Bartlett's life in Washington, DC, and Paris, and her
relationship with her daughter Caroline, who married Armistead Peter III.
This collection holds correspondence and subject files from 1899-1983. Armistead Peter III was the owner of Tudor
Place from 1960-83. This material is extensive regarding house and garden restoration projects, Peter’s work on his
book Tudor Place, and the establishment of the Tudor Place Foundation. Financial records here are important in
recording purchases for the estate, repairs and renovations of the house, expenses of daily life, and records of
servants. The financial records of Armistead Peter, Jr., from the 1920s onward are also included here, as Armistead
Peter III took over the management of Tudor Place from his father. Material also documents his career in the U.S.
Navy during World Wars I and II, and his artistic career.
Caroline Peter was the first wife of the last owner of Tudor Place, Armistead Peter III, and was the stepdaughter
of Paul Wayland Bartlett. Beside household accounts and personal correspondence relating to life at Tudor Place and
the family's New York farm, these papers include information about the distribution of Bartlett sculpture to museums
throughout the United States and settlement of Suzanne Bartlett's estate.
This collection includes personal correspondence, literary manuscripts, artwork, academic papers and records,
financial documents, and scrapbook and printed materials dating from the birth of Armistead and Caroline Peter’s
daughter in 1922 to her marriage in 1953. The bulk of the collection is composed of correspondence from family
members (1941-52) and academic papers (1929-44). Special subject files include education and social events.
This extensive collection dates from the 1840s to 1984. It includes daguerreotypes, glass plates, cartes de visite,
studio photos, black and white 20th-century prints, color slides, and home movies, and documents family members,
family activities and trips, domestic help, residences both interior and exterior, and the garden.
Detailed finding aids are available at Tudor Place for all of the collections. In addition, the manuscript
collections are listed in the National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (NUCMC) and Collections/DC, a
computerized register of local historical sources.
The Tudor Place Archives are open by appointment to researchers with legitimate and approved research requests.
Requests for access should be made by telephone or letter to the archivist, noting area of interest and proposed
project. The procedures for access are detailed in "Rules Governing the Use of Materials in the Tudor Place
Archives," and are available upon request. Use of the papers and all literary rights are controlled by the
Foundation.
Wendy Kail, Archivist
Tudor Place Foundation, Inc.
1644 31st Street, NW
Washington, DC 20007
202.965,0400 ext. 105
wkail@tudorplace.org
By appointment
The Tudor Place archival program has as its specific mission the preservation of the Collection bequeathed by
Armistead Peter III, facilitation of the Collection's use, and acquisition of related manuscripts. The Collection
Management Policy calls for the acquisition of materials related to the Custis-Peter family including its collateral
branches, the property from the 1790s to the present, and the social and economic history of Georgetown and
Washington, DC, as it pertains to the history of Tudor Place. The arrangement and description of the Tudor Place
Manuscript Collection were made possible by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records
Commission.
