Forest Lawn Lawn Cemetery - LINKS
America Pinckney Peter Williams
By Patrick Kavanagh
History of Women in Forest Lawn Lawn Cemetery
Section A, Lot 19
Date of Death: 1/1 /1842Great granddaughter of Martha Washington (see below). Her parents were Thomas Peter (see below) and Martha Custis Peter (see below) Her sisters were Britannia and Columbia. All three were also first cousins to Mrs. Robert E. Lee (see below) of Arlington on the Potomac.
Her husband, buried with her, is Captain William G. Williams, of the U.S. Topographical Engineers, who was killed September 21, 1846 while leading a charge at the Battle of Monterey, Mexico. Prior to this, he was assigned the task of directing a government triangulation survey of Lake Erie at Buffalo. He also surveyed a route for a ship canal around Niagara Falls.
America Pinckney Peter Williams Monument in the East North Street Cemetery. In Forest Lawn today, the monument has been replaced by a bronze plaque.
Later, in 1839 or early 1840, Captain and Mrs. Williams arrived at their home in Buffalo. According to City Directories for the years 1840-1842, their home was located in the then fashionable Darrow Block, a solid building of several residences on the east side of Washington Street below Clinton Street,which has long since disappeared.
Mrs. Williams died on April 15, 1842 at the age of 39. Her funeral was held in St. Paul's Cathedral. Shortly after the death of his wife, Captain Williams left the Darrow Block and took up residence in the American Hotel on Main Street. They both were first buried at the old North Street Cemetery located where the Masten Avenue Armory now stands. They were moved, along with many other graves, to Forest Lawn Cemetery in 1901. Their grave is now marked with a bronze ledger marker on a granite base.
Martha Washington was born Martha Dandridge, June/1731. Married Colonel Daniel Parke Custis in 1748. Custis was a plantation owner and Martha lived in the plantation home known as the "White House." By 1756, Mrs. Custis was a widow at the age of 25 with 2 children: John Parke (Jacky) Custis and Martha Parke (Patsy) Custis. In 1759 Martha married George Washington. Washington took guardianship of the children. Later, when "Jacky" died, Washington took guardianship of "Jacky's" children, George Washington Parke Custis and Martha (Nelly) Custis.
Thomas Peter was the son of a Scottish tobacco merchant who was the first Mayor of Georgetown.
Martha Custis Peter; granddaughter of Martha Washington, married Thomas Peter in 1795. When George Washington died, Martha Peter received an inheritance from which she purchased eight acres, one city block, on Georgetown Heights, Washington, D.C.In 1805 they began construction on the home they called "Tudor Place" which was completed in 1816. Dr. William Thornton, architect of the US Capitol, designed this house.
George Washington Parke Custis built Arlington House, which is now the Custis-Lee Mansion and part of Arlington Cemetery. Custis married Mary Lee Fitzhugh in 1804. Custis's only child, Mary Anna Custis, married her childhood friend and distant cousin, Robert E. Lee. Lee was the son of former three term Virginia Governor Henry ("Light Horse Harry") Lee and was himself a graduate of West Point. The Custis-Lee Mansion was taken over by the Union Army during the Civil War and became Arlington Cemetery.
