The son-in-law of Custis's sister wrote in 1853 that the descendants of those who remained slaves, many of them now in his possession, had been "prosperous, contented and happy", while those who had been freed had led a life of "vice, dissipation and idleness" and had, in their "sickness, age and poverty", become a burden to his in-laws.
In 1853, the son-in-law of Custis's sister wrote that those who remained enslaved under his ownership were prosperous, content, and happy, while those freed had led lives of vice, dissipation, and idleness, becoming a burden on his in-laws as they aged and fell into poverty.