Syphax family

The Syphax family is a prominent American family. A part of the African-American upper class, the family is descended from Charles Syphax and Mariah Carter Custis Syphax, a great-granddaughter of First Lady Martha Washington.[1]

Syphax
Parent houseDandridge family
Calvert family
Current regionAmerica
Place of originVirginia
Founded1825
FounderCharles Syphax
Mariah Carter Custis Syphax
Connected familiesMcKee family
Yamamoto family
Estate(s)Arlington

History
East front of Arlington Mansion in 1864. Charles and Mariah were married in the mansion.
Mary Custis Lee (1808–1873), Mariah's half-sister.

The Syphaxes are an illustrious Virginia clan that once owned land in Arlington County, Virginia, land that later became part of Arlington National Cemetery. The family is descended from Martha Washington (1731–1802), wife of President George Washington (1732–1799).[2] The family, considered aristocratic in African-American society, traces its origins to Mariah (with an "h") Custis, the mulatto daughter of George Washington Parke Custis (1781–1857), grandson of Martha Washington. Mariah's mother was Ariana Carter, one of Custis's house slaves.[3]

When Mariah Custis asked her father for permission to marry Charles Syphax, one of his slaves, he freed them both, held a wedding for them in his Arlington mansion, and gave them fifteen acres[lower-alpha 1] of his Arlington estate. Mary Custis (1808–1873), Mariah's white half-sister, was to marry the Confederate General Robert E. Lee (1807–1870).[5] Mariah and Charles had ten children, several of whom were given important political positions from the 1850s onward.[4]

Notable members
  • William B. Syphax: The eldest son of Charles and Mariah, William rose to hold the twin offices of the chief messenger of the Interior Department and the superintendent of Black schools in the District of Columbia. After his family's property was confiscated following the Civil War, he successfully petitioned for it to be restored to them by way of an Act of Congress.
  • Douglas Syphax: A grandson of Charles and Mariah, Douglas would serve in the U.S. military with distinction.
  • Theophilus John Syphax: A son of the preceding, T. John Syphax went on to live his life as a White man under the assumed name of Theophilus John McKee.
  • Charles Sumner Syphax: A prominent mathematician, Charles served as a dean of Howard University.
  • Charles Sumner Syphax II: A son of the preceding, Charles II worked as a physician after graduating from the University of Michigan in 1924.
  • Charles Sumner Syphax III: A son of the preceding, Charles III became one of the earliest African-American developers in Detroit.

See also

References
  1. Tracy Jan. "Reparations for Slavery and Japanese American internment". Washingtonpost.com. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  2. Graham 2007, p. 181.
  3. Graham 1999, p. 8.
  4. Graham 1999, p. 222.
  5. Graham 1999, p. 9.

Sources

Notes
  1. The Arlington property remained in the Syphax family until the 1940s, when the Federal government asked the Syphax family to exchange it for land elsewhere in the district to accommodate expansion of the cemetery. The Syphax family cemetery was transferred to the Lincoln Memorial Cemetery as part of the exchange.[4]
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