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I appreciate your zeal for editing Wikipedia but your changing of "dower" to "dowry" in this article is incorrect. "Dower" is a legal term regarding property law. As the widow of Daniel Parke Custis, Martha Dandridge Custis received a dower interest of one-third from the estate of her first husband Daniel Park Custis, property which she did not outright own but which she was able to use during her lifetime and from which she received a lifetime income. The concept of "dower property" is further explained in this Encyclopedia Britannica article Dower and in the Wikipedia Dower article. The usage in the George Washington article refers to the dower slaves, slaves who were not technically owned by the Washingtons themselves but were held in a type of temporary trust as dower property and as property would have been eventually intended to be passed on to her children by Custis. I have reverted your changes to their original meaning. Thanks, Shearonink (talk) 06:59, 7 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]
