A lithograph of Martha Washington, George Washington's wife, after a painting by Gilbert Stuart made in 1796. Martha Dandridge Custis Washington (1731-1802) was the wife of George Washington, the first president of the United States. Although the title was not coined until after her death, Martha Washington is considered to be the first First Lady of the United States. During her lifetime, she was known as "Lady Washington". Martha Washington was a fashionable dresser, assertive, and a woman of independent means. Through the duration of the American Revolutionary War she traveled thousands of miles to be with her husband at military encampments in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York. In 1902, she became the first American woman to be honored on a U.S. postage stamp. Martha Washington is the only woman whose portrait has appeared on the face of a U.S. currency note.