Daniel Parke Custis (October 15, 1711[1] – July 8, 1757) was an American planter and politician who was the first husband of Martha Dandridge.

The October 1759 Custis estate inventory listed 17,779 acres (71.95 km2), or 27.78 square miles of land, spread over five counties.

[15] Upon Martha Custis' marriage to George Washington in 1759, her dower share came under his control, pursuant to the common law doctrine of seisin jure uxoris.

John Parke Custis was the only child to reach his majority, upon which he inherited the non-dower two-thirds of his father's estate.

[16] As Washington stated in his will, he "earnestly wished" to free his own slaves at the time of his death but acknowledged that doing so would create "insuperable difficulties" because they had intermarried with Martha's "dower negroes," over whom he had no authority.

The principal reason that Martha gave for requesting that her husband's slaves be set free is that she was concerned about her personal safety.