Mary Anna Randolph Custis Lee
Mary Anna Randolph Custis Lee ( October 1, 1808 , † November 5, 1873 ) was the wife of Robert E. Lee , Commander in Chief of the Northern Virginia Army and the Confederate Army and later President of Washington College in Lexington .
Life
Mary was the only surviving child of George Washington Parke Custis , the step-grandson of George Washington , and Mary Lee Fitzhugh Custis , daughter of William Fitzhugh. Her godmother was Mary Randolph , author of an early book on housekeeping and a cookbook. Mary's year of birth is generally given as 1808, but the Custis family Bible and her mother's records and letters speak of the spring of 1807. Mary received a good education; she learned both Latin and Greek. She enjoyed having political discussions with her father and later with her husband. She knew about contemporary literature and after the death of her father in 1859 published his notes under the title "Recollections and Private Memoirs of Washington, by his Adopted Son George Washington Parke Custis, with a Memoir of this Author by his Daughter" .
Mary was described as petite and lively, and among her admirers was Sam Houston . On June 30, 1831, she married Robert E. Lee, whom she had known since childhood, at Arlington House , her parents' estate. The couple had three sons and four daughters: George Washington Custis "Custis", William H. Fitzhugh "Rooney", Robert Edward Jr., Mary, Eleanor Agnes, Anne and Mildred. Mary Anna was deeply religious and, like her husband, a member of the Episcopal Church .
After her father's death in 1857, she inherited Arlington House . The couple had used it before, as far as their husband's military uses permitted. Mary was considered a graceful hostess and enjoyed having many visitors. Like her father, she painted, including many landscapes, some showing the view of Arlington. She loved roses and raised eleven species.
Mary taught her female slaves to read and write and was an advocate of abolitionism , even though she did not give freedom to her slaves even when a law permitted. She suffered from rheumatoid arthritis , which weakened her with age; from 1861 she needed a wheelchair.
When the civil war broke out , her husband and sons joined the army and militia in their home state of Virginia . When Mary had to leave Arlington House a short time later, on May 15, 1861, at the urging of her husband, she managed to save some of the family's valuables. Earlier this month, Lee had written to Mary:
- "War is inevitable, and there is no telling when it will burst around you... You have to move and make arrangements to go to some point of safety which you must select. The Mount Vernon plate and pictures ought to be secured. Keep quiet while you remain, and in your preparations... May God keep and preserve you and have mercy on all our people. "
At first she moved with her daughters between different family plantations. In May 1862, while she was stuck behind the Union lines at her son Rooney's White House plantation in New Kent County , Virginia, she was allowed to pass by the Union Forces Commander in Chief George B. McClellan . She settled in Richmond , ironically the target of McClellan's campaign.
She lived with her daughters at 707 East Franklin Street for the remainder of the war. After the war, she lived in Powhatan County for a short time until she accompanied her husband to Lexington, where he became President of Washington College, which later became Washington and Lee University was renamed. Before she died, Mary had another opportunity to visit Arlington House , but she was so overwhelmed by her feelings that it was impossible for her to get off the carriage. Mary died at the age of 65 and was buried with her husband in the Lee family crypt on the Washington and Lee University campus .
ancestors
Mary Anna was the descendant of numerous well-known families in the South , including the Parke Custises, Fitzhughs, Dandriges, Randolphs, Rolfes and Gerards. Through her paternal grandmother, Eleanor Calvert , she was a descendant of Lord Baltimore. Through her mother, Mary Lee Fitzhugh Custis, Mary Anna was a relative of William Fitzhugh as well as Princess Pocahontas and the Rolfe family.
Individual evidence
- ^ Custis, GW Parke. Recollections and Private Memoirs of Washington by GW Parke Custis, of Arlington. Compiled from files of the National Intelligencer, etc . Washington: William H. Moore, 1859.
- ↑ Lee, Captain Robert E. (son). Recollections and Letters of General Robert E. Lee . New York, Doubleday, Page & Company, 1904. ISBN 978-1-43262-231-2
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Lee, Mary Anna Randolph Custis |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Lee, Mary Custis |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Wife of Robert E. Lee |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 1, 1808 |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 5, 1873 |