“From the Archives” — Thomas Tracy

There were many Catholics in the Alexandria area as early as 1750, with a number of Irish Catholics settling here by the early 1800s. Thomas Tracy was one of those early Irish settlers.

A well-educated man, Tracy came from Dublin and served in the Revolutionary War. He was originally a music teacher. Tracy was hired to teach piano to the children of John Parke Custis, son of Martha Washing- ton, and stepson of George Washington. John Parke Custis (known as Jacky when younger, and Jack as he

The Custis children got older) was around four years old when his mother Martha married George Washing- ton. Tracy was so successful that he became the family’s regular academic tutor, both at Mount Vernon and Abingdon, the Custis mansion that stood where Reagan Airport is located today. After John Parke Custis died in 1781, his widow married Dr. David Stuart in 1783. They moved to Hope Park Plantation in southeastern Fairfax County. Because Thomas Tracy was able to provide the Custis children with a good education, the Stuarts asked him to come with them. While at Hope Park, Tracy also taught separate classes for the enslaved children on the plantation.

Tracy became quite affluent. In 1811, he bought a plantation, named Mount Erin after his homeland, which is still standing in Virginia Hills, near Telegraph Road. He died in 1821, leaving his estate to a nephew, James Tracy, a sign painter from Dublin. James emigrated and lived at Mount Erin until his death in 1830.