Description:

MARY CUSTIS LEE
(1806-1873) Wife of Confederate Lt. Gen. Robert E. Lee and the only daughter of George Washington Parke Custis, grandson of Martha Washington. MARY CUSTIS LEE'S SAD MEMORIES OF HER LOST ARLINGTON HOME Superb (and saddening) content A.L.S. 'Mary Custis Lee', 8pp. 8vo., Lexington, Oct. 11 (1871) to another lady who has written a work: 'Ladies of the White House', sending a copy to Lee. Mrs. Lee responds, in small part: '...you say that she [Martha Washington] did not pay much attention to household chores....she was remarkable for inspecting everything daily giving out with her own hands the meals, going into the dairy cellar, &c. I have heard my mother say she always wore a white divinity...it was spotless & served as her morning dress...Having well trained servants...it was not necessary she should with her own hands perform any household duties...with regard to Mrs. Lincoln...it seems almost a pity the world should know that such low & mean actions could have been committed by one in that station as to our house in Arlington...there are many who could tell you of the generous hospitality that existed there, the genteel refinement of my dear Mother...It was a beautiful happy house...I can not think of this house now without tears, every tree, almost every stone, had some hallowed association...among my many trials & sufferings of the last ten years, few have been more severe than my severance from all my early ties...My flower garden...its former beauty swept away. Those forest trees so cherished...leveled to the ground...the war came on, when Washington & all his teachings were as much forgotten as if he had never lived...' Fine condition. George Washington Parke Custis built Arlington House as a memorial to his namesake, George Washington, husband of his grandmother, Martha Dandridge Custis Washington. In mid-June 1864 Quartermaster Gen. Montgomery Meigs, who hated Lee for his joining the Confederacy, ordered that soldier burials commence immediately on the grounds of Arlington House, specifically around the Lees' former flower garden. The government had confiscated Arlington Estate claiming that its rightful owner, Mary Custis Lee, did not pay her property taxes on time in person (she had sent an agent to pay, who was refused). After the war, the property was returned to the Lee family, after a Supreme Court decision determined that the Federal Government had unlawfully refused payment, invalidating the subsequent confiscation. Custis Lee sold the property back to the U.S. with the graves undisturbed.

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April 1, 2025 10:00 AM EDT
Elkton, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $99 $10
$100 $499 $20
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 $999,999 $10,000
$1,000,000 $1,999,999 $50,000
$2,000,000 + $100,000