In 1834 Custis received an AB from Indiana College (later Indiana University) in Bloomington, and three years later the college, following a practice in force until 1876, automatically awarded him an AM without further academic study. Accounted an eloquent, persuasive speaker, Custis, a Democrat, represented Accomack County in the House of Delegates for the 1842–1843 session. He sat on the Committees on the Militia Laws and on Trade and Mechanic Arts. Reelected to the 1843–1844 assembly, he served on a committee to examine the clerk's office and again on the Committee on Trade and Mechanic Arts. Accomack voters returned Custis to the House for the 1845–1846 term. He chaired a committee to examine executive expenditures and also served on the Committee to Examine the Public Library. In August 1850 he campaigned for one of the two seats representing Accomack and Northampton counties in a convention called to revise the state constitution but finished third in the four-candidate poll.
In March 1869 the commander of the First Military District named Custis clerk of the Accomack County Court to fill a vacancy caused by the removal of the incumbent under a federal law that required replacement of all Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas officials who had any recorded Confederate activity. Custis continued in office through June 1887 and from 1869 until 1875 simultaneously served as clerk of the circuit court. About 1872 he moved from his home estate at Ravenswood to a 3.75-acre parcel he acquired at the county seat. After several weeks of declining health, Custis died at Accomac Court House on October 7, 1889, and was buried in the family cemetery at Ravenswood in Accomack County.
Time Line
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December 28, 1814 - William H. B. Custis is born in Accomack County.
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1817 - After his father's death, William H. B. Custis inherits part of his seaside plantation.
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September 1819 - Elizabeth Custis, the mother of William H. B. Custis, remarries.
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1834 - William H. B. Custis receives an AB from Indiana College (later Indiana University) in Bloomington.
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1837 - Indiana College automatically awards William H. B. Custis an AM degree without further academic study.
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Autumn 1839 - The stepfather of William H. B. Custis dies, leaving his stepchildren nothing.
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September 19, 1840 - William H. B. Custis posts a marriage bond for himself and Emeline V. S. Conquest.
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1842–1846 - William H. B. Custis serves in the House of Delegates as a Democrat representing Accomack County.
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February 13–May 1, 1861 - William H. B. Custis represents Accomack County at the state convention called to consider secession. He voted twice against leaving the Union but signed the ordinance.
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August 1865 - William H. B. Custis is elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, which refuses to seat him and any other representatives from the former Confederate states.
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1869–1875 - William H. B. Custis serves as clerk of the circuit court of Accomack County.
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March 1869–June 1887 - William H. B. Custis serves as clerk of the Accomack County Court.
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October 7, 1889 - William H. B. Custis dies at Accomac Court House.
References
Further Reading
Cite This Entry
- APA Citation:
Bearss, S. B., & the Dictionary of Virginia Biography. William H. B. Custis (1814–1889). (2017, February 16). In Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved from http://www.EncyclopediaVirginia.org/Custis_William_H_B_1814-1889.
- MLA Citation:
Bearss, Sara B. and the Dictionary of Virginia Biography. "William H. B. Custis (1814–1889)." Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Humanities, 16 Feb. 2017. Web. READ_DATE.
First published: January 13, 2017 | Last modified: February 16, 2017
Contributed by Sara B. Bearss and the Dictionary of Virginia Biography. Sara B. Bearss was senior editor of the Dictionary of Virginia Biography and author of The Story of Virginia, an American Experience (1995). She died in 2012.