Hello friends, welcome to what you're here with me today because we are going to move

from political power players, Sarah Polk, to our next first lady, a total Frontiers woman

who was more comfortable roughing it in the wild with army soldiers than throwing a

society ball in Washington, DC.

I'm sharing a big band, and here's where it gets interesting.

Farred Smith was born in September of 1788 in Maryland just a few months after Maryland

became the seventh state to ratify the Constitution.

Her father was a celebrated revolutionary war veteran and were not successful to back all

plantation in the Chesapeake Bay region. We don't have very much information about Margaret's

early years, but we do know that she was raised, you guessed it, and our wealthy household,

and likely rubbed elbows with the other children of wealthy Virginia families. In fact,

one of the few records we do have from Margaret's younger years indicates the state of friendship

with a girl named Nelly Kustis. And that they may not ring about to you, but Nelly short

for Eleanor was the youngest granddaughter of Martha Washington. Martha was widowed remember,

and so George Washington was her step-grandfather, and president while she was growing up.

Nelly lived at Mount Vernon and was under Martha's care.

Nelly and Margaret Smith's other social acquaintances usually refer to her as Peggy.

Peggy, it always seems, is an unusual nickname to get from Margaret.

Nelly from Eleanor? Yeah, okay, we get it, but Peggy from Margaret, where does the pee even come from?

I will tell you, I will tell you, by the way, nicknames were used in Europe before surnames.

Last names were permanently adopted. They were an easier way to identify someone when they were

multiple people with the same name, which as we've learned throughout the series was super common.

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