Lee Mansion National Memorial, Arlington, Virginia (1953)

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Title: Lee Mansion National Memorial, Arlington, Virginia (1953)
Author: Anonymous
Language: English
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ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA (1953) ***

Lee Mansion
NATIONAL MEMORIAL
_Arlington National Cemetery_

VIRGINIA

[Illustration: NATIONAL PARK SERVICE • DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR]

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
March 3, 1849

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Douglas McKay, _Secretary_

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
Conrad L. Wirth, _Director_

Reprint 1953 16—52238-7 U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

_Lee Mansion National Memorial_

In this Mansion, which became his home when he married Mary Custis,
Robert E. Lee wrote his resignation from the United States Army in
April 1861, to join the cause of Virginia and the South.

The Lee Mansion National Memorial, or Arlington House, as it was
formerly known, distinctive through its associations with the families
of Custis, Washington, and Lee, stands within the Nation’s most famous
cemetery on the Virginia side of the Potomac opposite Washington. This
house of the foster son of the First President was for years the
treasury of both the Washington heirlooms and the Washington tradition.
Here Robert E. Lee, a young lieutenant in the U. S. Army, and Mary
Custis, the great-granddaughter of Martha Washington, were married and
reared a family. Here, also, Col. Robert E. Lee, torn between devotion
to his country and to his native State, made his fateful decision, the
substance of which he had written to his son a few months before: “It is
the principle I contend for.... But I can anticipate no greater calamity
for the country than a dissolution of the Union.... Still, a Union that
can only be maintained by swords and bayonets ... has no charm for me. I
shall mourn for my country and for the welfare and progress of mankind.
If the Union is dissolved ... I shall return to my native State ... and
save in defence will draw my sword on none.” Today Arlington House,
furnished with appointments of its early period, preserves for posterity
the atmosphere of gracious living, typical of a romantic age of American
history.

_Early History_

George Washington Parke Custis, builder of Arlington House, was the
grandson of Martha Washington and the foster son of George Washington.
When Martha Dandridge Custis became the wife of Col. George Washington
she was a widow with two children, Martha Parke Custis and John Parke
Custis. Martha Parke Custis died in her teens without having been
married, but John Parke Custis married Eleanor Calvert of Maryland in
1774, and upon his death at the close of the Revolutionary War left four
children. The death of John Parke Custis was a shock, not only to his
mother, Mrs. Washington, but to General Washington as well, as he is
reported to have remarked to the grieving mother at the deathbed, “I
adopt the two youngest children as my own.” Their names were Eleanor
Parke Custis (Nellie) and George Washington Parke Custis. They were
reared at Mount Vernon and are often referred to as the “Children of
Mount Vernon.”

In 1802, the year his grandmother, Mrs. Washington, died, George
Washington Parke Custis began building Arlington House on the estate of
1,100 acres which his father had purchased from the Alexander family in
1778. He named the estate “Arlington” and the home “Arlington House” in
honor of the ancestral homestead of the Custis family on the Eastern
Shore of Virginia. The house was to receive the legacy of his
grandmother—furniture and pictures, plate and china from Mount Vernon,
and more precious still, personal effects of Washington. Two years
later, at the age of 23, he was married to Mary Lee Fitzhugh of Chatham.

[Illustration: Portrait of Robert E. Lee, about 1850
(G. Louvrie)]

It is believed that Mr. Custis designed and supervised the original
building and that its remodeling about 1820 was under the direction of
the architect, George Hadfield. The foundation stone and timber came
from the estate. The bricks with which the house was built were burned
from native clay by slaves.

_Arlington_

The extent of the front of the Mansion, with its two wings, is 140 feet.
The wings are identical, except that in the north wing the space
corresponding to the state dining room in the south wing was divided
into small rooms for the temporary accommodation of Mr. and Mrs. Custis
while the house was being built and was never changed. The central
portion is divided by a wide central hall. A large formal drawing room
with two fine marble fireplaces lies south of this hall, while to the
north of it can be seen the family dining room and family parlor
separated by a north and south partition broken by three graceful
arches. The second story is also divided by a central hall on either
side of which there are two bedrooms and accompanying dressing rooms. A
small room used as a linen closet is at the end of this hall. The third
floor was used only for storage purposes and remained an unfinished
attic. The grand portico facing the Potomac, with its eight massive
Doric columns, was modeled after the Temple of Theseus at Athens. At the
rear, two outhouses used as servants’ quarters, smokehouse, workroom,
and summer kitchen form a courtyard.

[Illustration: The family dining room]

_General Lafayette Visits Arlington_

One of the most pleasant incidents in the history of Arlington House was
the visit in 1824 of General Lafayette, whose reverence for the memory
of Washington matched that of his host. It is related that on entering
he commented on the iron lantern in the hall, which he remembered at
Mount Vernon. The view from the portico he pronounced unrivaled,
entreating Mrs. Custis never to sacrifice any of the fine trees. General
Lafayette returned again to Arlington House in 1825 as the guest of the
Custises for several weeks.

_Lt. Robert E. Lee’s Marriage_

On June 30, 1831, Mary Ann Randolph Custis, only child of the Custis
family at Arlington, became the wife of Robert E. Lee, a young
lieutenant in the U. S. Army, just 2 years out of West Point. The
ceremony took place under a floral bell hung in the archway between the
family dining room and parlor. The wedding party remained at Arlington
in festivity and merriment until July 5, when the groom’s fellow
officers, their leaves ending, were forced to say good-by. Some of the
bridesmaids lingered until the end of the week.

_Mrs. Lee Inherits Arlington_

Much of Mrs. Lee’s married life was spent at the home of her girlhood,
sometimes with her husband, sometimes awaiting his return from the
Mexican War, or other distant tours of duty. Six of the seven Lee
children were born here. By the will of George Washington Parke Custis,
who died in 1857, the estate of Arlington was bequeathed to his daughter
for her lifetime, and afterward to his eldest grandson and namesake,
George Washington Custis Lee.

[Illustration: The state drawing room]

Never a thrifty farmer and an easygoing master, requiring little of his
slaves, Mr. Custis’ death found the Arlington plantation sadly run down.
Robert E. Lee as executor felt that his presence at Arlington was
necessary if he was to give proper attention to the estate. He,
therefore, obtained extended leave and settled down to the life of a
farmer. Three years elapsed before he rejoined his regiment. During this
period, the traditions of Arlington House were maintained. Situated on
the main-traveled road from the South, Arlington was a favorite stopping
place for relatives and friends. Its hospitable doors were always open
to such guests.

_The Lees Leave Arlington_

Following the news of the secession of Virginia, news which he had hoped
never to hear, Colonel Lee, on April 20, 1861, resigned his commission
in the U. S. Army. Monday morning, April 22, at the request of the
Governor of Virginia, he departed for Richmond. Mrs. Lee remained at
Arlington engaged in the work of dismantling her home and sending family
possessions to a place of safety. She had not completed this task, when,
on May 24, the seizure of lands between Washington and Alexandria by
Federal troops caused her to abandon everything. The remaining family
possessions were later taken from Arlington and locked up in the old
Patent Office in Washington, but not before many things, including some
of the Mount Vernon heirlooms, had been carried away.

_The United States Acquires Arlington_

Situated on the line of fortifications guarding Washington, Arlington
estate soon became an armed camp, and, after the First Battle of Bull
Run in July 1861, was used as a field hospital. In 1864, at a tax sale,
the United States acquired title to Arlington for $26,800. Upon the
death of Mrs. Lee in 1873—General Lee having died in 1870—Custis Lee
took steps to recover his property, as under the will of his
grandfather, George Washington Parke Custis, he became entitled to
Arlington. His case was carried to the United States Supreme Court,
where a decision favorable to Mr. Lee was obtained. He then consented to
give the United States a clear title to the property for $150,000, and
Congress in 1883 appropriated the necessary funds.

_Arlington House Restored_

For years after the war, the Mansion stood an empty shell—an office for
the superintendent of the cemetery and a place for his tools. By act of
Congress, approved March 4, 1925, the Secretary of War was empowered to
undertake the restoration of Arlington House to the condition in which
it existed prior to the War Between the States and to procure for it,
when possible, furniture known to have been in the Mansion, replicas of
that furniture, or other pieces of a style suitable to the first half of
the nineteenth century. Some of the historical originals have been
returned, and for those that could not be obtained similar period pieces
and a few copies have been substituted. In 1933 Arlington House was
transferred from the War Department to the Department of the Interior.

_Visitor Service and Facilities_

Lee Mansion National Memorial is located in Arlington National Cemetery.
Bus service is available via Arlington Memorial Bridge to the main
cemetery gates. Automobiles use the same approach but may drive the
short distance through the cemetery to parking facilities near the
Mansion. Visiting hours are as follows: October through March, 9 a. m.
to 4:30 p. m.; April through September, 9 a. m. to 6 p. m. There is a
small admission charge, which is waived for children and educational
groups.

_Administration_

Lee Mansion National Memorial is administered by the National Capital
Parks of the National Park Service, United States Department of the
Interior. Other national memorials administered by the National Capital
Parks are: The Lincoln Memorial, the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, the
Washington Monument, the Lincoln Museum, and the House Where Lincoln
Died. Communications should be addressed to Edward J. Kelly,
Superintendent, National Capital Parks, Interior Building, Washington
25, D. C.

[Illustration: Lee Mansion overlooks the city of Washington]

Transcriber’s Notes

—Silently corrected a few typos.

—Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook
is public-domain in the country of publication.

—In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by
_underscores_.

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