Lee Mansion NATIONAL MEMORIAL Arlington National Cemete ry VIRGINIA by a wide central hall. A large formal Mount Vernon. The view from the por­ seven Lee children were born here. By drawing room with two fine marble fire­ tico he pronounced unrivaled, entreating the will of George Washington Parke Cus­ places lies south of this hall, while to the Mrs. Custis never to sacrifice any of the tis, who died in 1857, the estate of Arling­ north of it can be seen the family dining fine trees. General Lafayette returned ton was bequeathed to his daughter for Lee Mansion National Memorial room and family parlor separated by a again to Arlington House in 1825 as the her lifetime, and afterward to his eldest north and south partition broken by three guest of the Custises for several weeks. grandson and namesake, George Washing­ graceful arches. The second story is also ton Custis Lee. divided by a central hall on either side of Lt. Robert E. Lee's Marriage Never a thrifty farmer and an easygoing In this Mansion, which became his home when he married Mary which there are two bedrooms and accom­ Custis, Robert E. Lee wrote his resignation from the United States master, requiring little of his slaves, Mr. panying dressing rooms. A small room On June 30, 1831, Mary Ann Randolph Army in April 1861, to join the cause of Virginia and the South. Custis' death found the Arlington planta­ Custis, only child of the Custis family at used as a linen closet is at the end of this tion sadly run down. Robert E. Lee as Arlington, became the wife of Robert E. hall. The third floor was used only for executor felt that his presence at Arling­ storage purposes and remained an unfin­ Lee, a young lieutenant in the U. S. Army, ton was necessary if he was to give proper The Lee Mansion National Memorial, ished attic. The grand portico facing the just 2 years out of West Point. The cere­ Early History attention to the estate. He, therefore, ob­ or Arlington House, as it was formerly Potomac, with its eight massive Doric col­ mony took place under a floral bell hung tained extended leave and settled down to known, distinctive through its associations George Washington Parke Custis, builder umns, was modeled after the Temple of in the archway between the family dining the life of a farmer. Three years elapsed with the families of Custis, Washington, of Arlington House, was the grandson of Theseus at Athens. At the rear, two out­ room and parlor. The wedding party re­ mained at Arlington in festivity and merri­ before he rejoined his regiment. During and Lee, stands within the Nation's most Martha Washington and the foster son of houses used as servants' quarters, smoke­ ment until July 5, when the groom's fellow this period, the traditions of Arlington famous cemetery on the Virginia side of George Washington. When Martha Dan- Portrait of Robert E. Lee, about 1850 house, workroom, and summer kitchen (G. Louvrie) officers, their leaves ending, were forced to House were maintained. Situated on the the Potomac opposite Washington. This dridge Custis became the wife of Col. form a courtyard. say good-by. Some of the bridesmaids main-traveled road from the South, Arling­ house of the foster son of the First Presi­ George Washington she was a widow with lingered until the end of the week. ton was a favorite stopping place for rela­ dent was for years the treasury of both the two children, Martha Parke Custis and Shore of Virginia. The house was to re­ General Lafayette Visits Arlington tives and friends. Its hospitable doors Washington heirlooms and the Washing­ John Parke Custis. Martha Parke Custis ceive the legacy of his grandmother— One of the most pleasant incidents in the died in her teens without having been furniture and pictures, plate and china Mrs. Lee Inherits Arlington were always open to such guests. ton tradition. Here Robert E. Lee, a history of Arlington House was the visit in young lieutenant in the U. S. Army, and married, but John Parke Custis married from Mount Vernon, and more precious 1824 of General Lafayette, whose rever­ Much of Mrs. Lee's married life was Eleanor Calvert of Maryland in 1774, and still, personal effects of Washington. Two The Lees Leave Arlington Mary Custis, the great-granddaughter of ence for the memory of Washington spent at the home of her girlhood, some­ upon his death at the close of the Revolu­ years later, at the age of 23, he was mar­ Martha Washington, were married and matched that of his host. It is related that times with her husband, sometimes await­ Following the news of the secession of tionary War left four children. The death ried to Mary Lee Fitzhugh of Chatham. reared a family. Here, also, Col. Robert E. on entering he commented on the iron lan­ ing his return from the Mexican War, or Virginia, news which he had hoped never of John Parke Custis was a shock, not only It is believed that Mr. Custis designed Lee, torn between devotion to his country tern in the hall, which he remembered at other distant tours of duty. Six of the to hear, Colonel Lee, on April 20, 1861, and to his native State, made his fateful to his mother, Mrs. Washington, but to and supervised the original building and General Washington as well, as he is re­ decision, the substance of which he had that its remodeling about 1820 was under The family dining room The state drawing room written to his son a few months before: "It ported to have remarked to the grieving the direction of the architect, George Had- is the principle I contend for . But I mother at the deathbed, "I adopt the two field. The foundation stone and timber can anticipate no greater calamity for the youngest children as my own." Their came from the estate. The bricks with country than a dissolution of the Union ... names were Eleanor Parke Custis (Nellie) which the house was built were burned Still, a Union that can only be maintained and George Washington Parke Custis. from native clay by slaves. by swords and bayonets . has no charm They were reared at Mount Vernon and for me. I shall mourn for my country and are often referred to as the "Children of Arlington for the welfare and progress of mankind. Mount Vernon." The extent of the front of the Mansion, If the Union is dissolved ... I shall re­ In 1802, the year his grandmother, Mrs. with its two wings, isj40 feet. The wings turn to my native State . and save in Washington, died, George Washington are identical, except that in the north wing defence will draw my sword on none." Parke Custis began building Arlington the space corresponding to the state dining Today Arlington House, furnished with House on the estate of 1,100 acres which his father had purchased from the Alex­ room in the south wing was divided into appointments of its early period, preserves ander family in 1778. He named the small rooms for the temporary accommo­ for posterity the atmosphere of gracious estate "Arlington" and the home "Arlington dation of Mr. and Mrs. Custis while the living, typical of a romantic age of Ameri­ House" in honor of the ancestral home­ house was being built and was never can history. stead of the Custis family on the Eastern changed. The central portion is divided 16— 52238-8 resigned his commission in the U. S. Army. restoration of Arlington House to the con­ Monday morning, April 22, at the request dition in which it existed prior to the War of the Governor of Virginia, he departed Between the States and to procure for it, for Richmond. Mrs. Lee remained at when possible, furniture known to have Arlington engaged in the work of disman­ been in the Mansion, replicas of that furni­ tling her home and sending family posses­ ture, or other pieces of a style suitable to sions to a place of safety. She had not the first half of the nineteenth century. completed this task, when, on May 24, the Some of the historical originals have been seizure of lands between Washington and returned, and for those that could not be Alexandria by Federal troops caused her obtained similar period pieces and a few Lee Mansion to abandon everything. The remaining copies have been substituted. In 1933 family possessions were later taken from Arlington House was transferred from the Arlington and locked up in the old Patent War Department to the Department of the NATIONAL MEMORIAL Office in Washington, but not before many Interior. things, including some of the Mount Ver­ non heirlooms, had been carried away. Visitor Service and facilities Arlington National Cemetery Lee Mansion National Memorial is lo­ The United States Acquires Arlington cated in Arlington National Cemetery. Situated on the line of fortifications Bus service is available via Arlington guarding Washington, Arlington estate Memorial Bridge to the main cemetery VIRGINIA soon became an armed camp, and, after gates. Automobiles use the same approach the First Battle of Bull Run in July 1861, but may drive the short distance through was used as a field hospital. In 1864, at a the cemetery to parking facilities near the tax sale, the United States acquired title to Mansion. Visiting hours are as follows: Arlington for $26,800. Upon the death of October through March, g a. m. to 4:30 Mrs. Lee in 1873—General Lee having p.