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MARY LEE2 FITZHUGH (WILLIAM COLVILLE1)1,2,3 was born April 02, 17884, and died April 23, 18535. She married GEORGE WASHINGTON PARKE CUSTIS6,7 July 07, 1804 in Alexandria, Virginia8. He was born April 30, 1781 in "Abingdon," Fairfax County, Virginia9, and died October 10, 185710.
More About MARY LEE FITZHUGH:
Appearance: Attractive, with kind eyes and a firm chin11
Personality: Intelligent; solid, practical approach to life; regular habits; pious; unassuming12
More About GEORGE WASHINGTON PARKE CUSTIS:
Appearance: Handsome13
Education: College of New Jersey(later Princeton); St John's College, Annapolis, Maryland14
Personality: Witty; intelligent; indolent; spoiled, self-centered adolescent15
Residence: Mount Washington (renamed Arlington), Virginia; Arlington House, Alexandria, Fairfax County, Virginia16,17,18,19
Children of MARY FITZHUGH and GEORGE CUSTIS are:
i. INFANT3 CUSTIS, b. May 15, 1805, Alexandria, Fairfax County, Virginia20; d. May 15, 1805, Alexandria, Fairfax County, Virginia20.
ii. MARTHA ELIZABETH ANN CUSTIS, b. May 15, 1806, Alexandria, Fairfax County, Virginia20; d. March 10, 1807, Alexandria, Fairfax County, Virginia20.
iii. MARY ANNA RANDOLPH CUSTIS21,22,23, b. October 01, 1808, "Annefield," Clarke County, Virginia24,25; d. November 05, 1873, Lexington, Frederick County, Virginia26,27; m. GENERAL ROBERT EDWARD LEE, SR28,29,30, June 30, 1831, Arlington, Virginia31,32; b. January 19, 1807, "Stratford Hall," Westmoreland County, Virginia33; d. October 12, 1870, Lexington, Frederick County, Virginia34,35.
More About MARY ANNA RANDOLPH CUSTIS:
Appearance: Sharp nose and chin36
Burial: 1873, University of Virgina College Chapel, Lexington, Virginia37
Interests: Painting38
Personality: Charming; thoughtful; vivacious39
Notes for GENERAL ROBERT EDWARD LEE, SR:
"IN HONOUR KEEP THE MEMORY OF LEE.
[Memoriam Epitaph of Gen'l Robert E Lee. Copyrighted, 1900, by Charles Patton Dimitry.]
THE GRAVE AND THE MONUMENT.
Beneath thy sod, Virginia's Lexington,
In hopeful slumber rests the honoured Dust
Of Robert Edward Lee,
Somethime General-in-Chief of the Armies
Of the Confederate States of America
In Heaven's peaceful Courts, remote from all alarm,
His Spirit lives;
His Effigy in perpetuating Bronze surmounts
This marble column
Reared by the Citizens of New Orleans, Louisiana's Chief City,
In lasting Honour to his deathless Name and Fame.
Its Iron face seems ever turned
To Richmond on the James, Behold!
By mighty Mississippi's murky flood
The Virginia City's true knight keeps his Vigil Still!
THE APOSTROPHE AND THE EULOGY.
Virginian of the Virginians, and Cavalier of the Cavaliers,
Soldier incomparable, Just and Considerate to all thy Subordinates,
To the Foe in War, distressed, most merciful,
The very Flower of Knightly Courtesy,
Thou wast Virginia's other Washington.
A Christian man, thou fearest the Lord,
And from the sensitive Soul of Honor thou didst draw
The inspirations of thy noble Life.
In war, true Soldier
Thou Welcomest Victory without Ostentation;
In peace, calm Councillor,
Thou didst bear Misfortune's Stroke with Dignity and Patience;
For Prosperity could not elevate,
Nor could Adversity depress
The ever steadfast Poise of they majestic character.
Thou, whose Achievements, as Commander
Of the invincible Army of Northern Virginia,
Revealed thee, the premier Captain of thine age,
In a cruel Civil War.
The reverberating Thunders of whose Cannon
Shook the World.
In that great War Victory long walked with thee,
Till the Last,
By numbers overwhelmed, and not by valour marred,
Hope exhausted, Victory reluctant, abandoned thee
In Tears.
Though Honour and Valour still remained with thee,
And at Petersburg, Virginia, April 9, 1865,
Surrounded by thy faithful, valiant few,
O'erbourne, but still dangerous in their Reverse,
Thou didst fall grandly, in all the pride of Martial Place.
Wonder of the wounded bleeding, innumerable Foe,
Hero of the Warlike South.
The Praise and admiration of the world.
Thy Master Sword forever sheathed--Behold!
On cloistered Learning of peaceful shrine,
Thou layedst the Tribute of thy closing years.
Pray good Men and Women, pray for him,
Weep for him thou dear Virginia, his Mother State,
Ye gentle Daughters of the South, weep for him;
Mourn, ye Widows and ye Orphans, mourn for him,
Lament him all ye Warriors of the Cause that failed!
Shed tears for him, ye brave of every Clime.
And thou, O proud and unforgetful South, which lovedst him,
Treasuring amid the high hopes of Peace and Prosperity
The Recollection of thy heroic and beloved Sons,
Who oft had marched and fought
Where Valour led the Front.
Still to the ever crowding children
Of the happy Nations say:
Your Flag, your Country, love on Land and Sea,
In Honour keep the Memory of Lee.'"
[Pecquet du Bellet, Louise, Some Prominent Virginia Families, Volume III, J P Bell Company Publishers, Lynchburg, Virginia, 1907, pp. 144-146.]
More About GENERAL ROBERT EDWARD LEE, SR:
Burial: 1870, University of Virgina College Chapel, Lexington, Frederick County, Virginia40,41
Cause of Death: Rheumatic inflammation of the sack enclosing the heart42
Education: West Point43
Epitaph: By Charles Patton Dimitry44
Graduation: July 01, 1829, United States Military Academy45
Interests: Indifferent to culture46
Military service: Served in the Confederate States Army47
Occupation: Teacher; President of Washington College48,49
Personality: Gentleness of manner50
Residence: "Arlington House," Fairfax County, Virginia51
iv. EDWARD HILL CUSTIS, b. October 14, 180952; d. October 19, 181052.
Endnotes
1. Therese Fisher, A G, Skeletons in the Closet, (Heritage Books, Inc., 1540E Pointer Ridge Place, Bowie, Maryland, 2001.), 52.
2. Perry, John, Mrs Robert E Lee, The Lady of Arlington, (Multonomah Publishers, Inc., Sisters, Oregon, 2001), 37.
3. Wardlaw, Georgia Dickinson, The Old and the Quaint in Virginia, (The Dietz Press, Publishers, Richmond, Virginia, 1939.), 2.
4. Wardlaw, Georgia Dickinson, The Old and the Quaint in Virginia, (The Dietz Press, Publishers, Richmond, Virginia, 1939.), 3.
5. Barnes, Robert, Indexed by, Genealogies of Virginia Families, Volume II, (Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, Maryland, 1981.), 852.
6. Barnes, Robert, Indexed by, Genealogies of Virginia Families, Volume II, (Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, Maryland, 1981.), 123.
7. Wardlaw, Georgia Dickinson, The Old and the Quaint in Virginia, (The Dietz Press, Publishers, Richmond, Virginia, 1939.), 2.
8. Perry, John, Mrs Robert E Lee, The Lady of Arlington, (Multonomah Publishers, Inc., Sisters, Oregon, 2001), 38.
9. Barnes, Robert, Indexed by, Genealogies of Virginia Families, Volume II, (Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, Maryland, 1981.), 123.
10. Barnes, Robert, Indexed by, Genealogies of Virginia Families, Volume II, (Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, Maryland, 1981.), 624.
11. Perry, John, Mrs Robert E Lee, The Lady of Arlington, (Multonomah Publishers, Inc., Sisters, Oregon, 2001), 38.
12. Perry, John, Mrs Robert E Lee, The Lady of Arlington, (Multonomah Publishers, Inc., Sisters, Oregon, 2001), 38, 42.
13. Perry, John, Mrs Robert E Lee, The Lady of Arlington, (Multonomah Publishers, Inc., Sisters, Oregon, 2001), 28.
14. Perry, John, Mrs Robert E Lee, The Lady of Arlington, (Multonomah Publishers, Inc., Sisters, Oregon, 2001), 29, 30.
15. Perry, John, Mrs Robert E Lee, The Lady of Arlington, (Multonomah Publishers, Inc., Sisters, Oregon, 2001), 29.
16. The South, A Collection From Harper's Magazine, (The Octopus Group Limited, Michelin House, 81 Fulham Road, London, 1990), 144.
17. Barnes, Robert, Indexed by, Genealogies of Virginia Families, Volume II, (Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, Maryland, 1981.), 623.
18. 1850 Federal Census of Alexandria County Virginia, HH #1555.
19. Perry, John, Mrs Robert E Lee, The Lady of Arlington, (Multonomah Publishers, Inc., Sisters, Oregon, 2001), 38.
20. Perry, John, Mrs Robert E Lee, The Lady of Arlington, (Multonomah Publishers, Inc., Sisters, Oregon, 2001), 39.
21. Barnes, Robert, Indexed by, Genealogies of Virginia Families, Volume II, (Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, Maryland, 1981.), 123.
22. Perry, John, Mrs Robert E Lee, The Lady of Arlington, (Multonomah Publishers, Inc., Sisters, Oregon, 2001), 33.
23. Wardlaw, Georgia Dickinson, The Old and the Quaint in Virginia, (The Dietz Press, Publishers, Richmond, Virginia, 1939.), 3.
24. Barnes, Robert, Indexed by, Genealogies of Virginia Families, Volume II, (Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, Maryland, 1981.), 624.
25. Perry, John, Mrs Robert E Lee, The Lady of Arlington, (Multonomah Publishers, Inc., Sisters, Oregon, 2001), 39, "In the fall of 1808, Molly Custis traveled to Annefield, the home of Fitzhugh relatives in Clarke County, and there, at that ivy-covered, white-columned mansion in the company of loving relations and attentive servants, Mary Ann Randolph Custis entered the world on October 1."
26. Barnes, Robert, Indexed by, Genealogies of Virginia Families, Volume II, (Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, Maryland, 1981.), 623.
27. Nanney, Frank L, Jr, Some Prominent Virginia Families, Volume II, (J P Bell, Lynchburg, Virginia, 1907), 224.
28. Nanney, Frank L, Jr, Some Prominent Virginia Families, Volume II, (J P Bell, Lynchburg, Virginia, 1907), 208.
29. Slaughter, Rev Philip Slaughter, D D, A History of St Mark's Parish, Culpeper County, Virginia, (Culpeper, Virginia, 1900.), 3, "Anne Catherine (Kate) married Bernard Moore, of Chelsea in King William; and their daughter married Charles Carter of Shirley, and was the grandmother of our Chevalier Bayard (sans peur et sans reproche), General Robert Edward Lee, named after two of his uncles, Robert and Edward Carter."
30. Slaughter, Rev Philip Slaughter, D D, A History of St Mark's Parish, Culpeper County, Virginia, (Culpeper, Virginia, 1900.), 72.
31. Barnes, Robert, Indexed by, Genealogies of Virginia Families, Volume II, (Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, Maryland, 1981.), 623.
32. Nanney, Frank L, Jr, Some Prominent Virginia Families, Volume II, (J P Bell, Lynchburg, Virginia, 1907), 224, "The public notice of the marriage was short: 'Married: June 30, 1831, at Arlington House, by the Rev Mr Keith. Lieutenant Robert E Lee, of the United States Corps of Engineers, to Miss Mary A R Custis, only daughter of G W P Custis, Esq."
33. Taylor, Jr., L B, The Ghosts of Virginia, (Progress Printing Co., Inc., U S A, 1993. Third printing, 1997.), 144.
34. Rothery, Agnes, Virginia, The New Dominion, (D Appleton-Century Company, New York, 1940), 161.
35. Nanney, Frank L, Jr, Some Prominent Virginia Families, Volume II, (J P Bell, Lynchburg, Virginia, 1907), 208.
36. Perry, John, Mrs Robert E Lee, The Lady of Arlington, (Multonomah Publishers, Inc., Sisters, Oregon, 2001), 52.
37. Nanney, Frank L, Jr, Some Prominent Virginia Families, Volume II, (J P Bell, Lynchburg, Virginia, 1907), 224.
38. Perry, John, Mrs Robert E Lee, The Lady of Arlington, (Multonomah Publishers, Inc., Sisters, Oregon, 2001), 52, "Her ability soon far surpassed her father's, though her pictures were never exhibited publicly. She painted for her own pleasure and sometimes painted pictures as gifts for special friends. Her pastoral and seaside canvases wre styled after the northern Italian or Flemish school, with shadings, human figures, landscape features, composition, and prespective that were the equal of much of what hung on the walls of fine homes and museums in America and abroad."
39. Perry, John, Mrs Robert E Lee, The Lady of Arlington, (Multonomah Publishers, Inc., Sisters, Oregon, 2001), 52.
40. Nanney, Frank L, Jr, Some Prominent Virginia Families, Volume II, (J P Bell, Lynchburg, Virginia, 1907), 224, "Upon the tombstone is only a name and two dates: ROBERT EDWARD LEE Born January 19, 1807 Died October 12, 1870."
41. Brock, Dr R A, VIRGINIA AND VIRGINIANS, Volume I, (H H Hardesty, Publisher, Richmond and Toledo, 1888.), 261, "The remains of General and Mrs Lee, and of their youngest daughter, rest in a mausoleum annex to the Memorial Chapel erected in the College grounds by the Lee Memorial Association. In a chamber directly over the crypt is the sarcophagus and famed recumbent statue of the great chieftain, executed by the sculptor Valentine.HERE LEE RESTS.'He loved not war, but could not well renounceThat fealty to his native land first due ---O, countrymen, there was a soldier onceFrom instinct brave, but brave from duty, too!A great self-mastered spirit, who outviedThe empty pageants which is age supplied!* * * * * * * Lie still in glory, hero of our hearts,Sleep sweetly in thy vaulted chapel grave!The splendor of the far excelling star departs ----Not so the lustre of the god-like brave!Thy glory shall not vanish, but increase.Thou boldest son of war and mildest child of peace!Lie still in glory! patient, prudent, deep!O, central form in our immortal strife,With an eternal weight of glory, sleepWithin her breast, who gave thee name and life!Lie very still! no more contend with odds!Transcendent among men---resplendent with the gods!'."
42. Nanney, Frank L, Jr, Some Prominent Virginia Families, Volume II, (J P Bell, Lynchburg, Virginia, 1907), 223, "Wednesday, September 28, 1870, General Lee attended a vestry meeting of Grace Episcopal Church. The church was rather cold and damp, and General Lee sat in a pew with his military cape cast loosely about him. When he returned to his home, finding his family waiting tea for him, he took his place at the table, standing to say grace. The effort was vain; the lips could not utter the prayer of the heart; he took his seat quietly and without agitation. His physicians arrived promptly and applied the usual remedies and placed him on the couch, from which he was to rise no more. The symptons of his attack resembled concussion of the brain, without the attendant swoon. On October 10, during the afternoon, his pulse became feeble and rapid and his breathing hurried, with evidences of great exhaustion. On October 11, he was evidently sinking: his resipiration was hurried; his pulse feeble and rapid. His decline was rapid, yet gentle, and soon after nine o'clock on the morning of October 12 he closed his eyes and his soul passed peacefully from earth."
43. Nanney, Frank L, Jr, Some Prominent Virginia Families, Volume II, (J P Bell, Lynchburg, Virginia, 1907), 223.
44. Pecquet du Bellet, Louise, Some Prominent Virginia Families, Volume III, (J P Bell Company Publishers, Lynchburg, Virginia, 1907), 144-146.
45. Brock, Dr R A, VIRGINIA AND VIRGINIANS, Volume I, (H H Hardesty, Publisher, Richmond and Toledo, 1888.), 256.
46. Rothery, Agnes, Virginia, The New Dominion, (D Appleton-Century Company, New York, 1940), 78, "Robert E Lee, who was completely indifferent to esthetic literature (as well as to painting, sculpture and music)..."
47. Barnes, Robert, Indexed by, Genealogies of Virginia Families, Volume II, (Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, Maryland, 1981.), 620.
48. Rothery, Agnes, Virginia, The New Dominion, (D Appleton-Century Company, New York, 1940), 160, "For it was General Robert E. Lee, then President of Washington College--which position had previously been held by Ruffner's father--who suggested and recommended the young Presbyterian minister for the position of first Superintendent of Public Instruction."
49. Rothery, Agnes, Virginia, The New Dominion, (D Appleton-Century Company, New York, 1940), 161, "However, to the invitation of Washington College--which was composed of forty students and four professors--that he become its president on a salary of fifteen hundred a year, he wrote, 'Should you...think that my services in the position tendered me by the Board will be advantageous to the College and country, I will yield to your judgment and accept it."
50. Rothery, Agnes, Virginia, The New Dominion, (D Appleton-Century Company, New York, 1940), 49, "Tall and graceful, of extraordinary personal beauty and gentleness of manner, he [Robert E Lee] has continued to dominate not only popular imagination but to compel and hold the admiration of the military critics of the world."
51. Lossing, Benson J, George Washington's Mount Vernon, (Gramercy Books, New York, New York, 2001.), 99.
52. Perry, John, Mrs Robert E Lee, The Lady of Arlington, (Multonomah Publishers, Inc., Sisters, Oregon, 2001), 39.
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Posted December 9, 2005.
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