Daily union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1865-1866, 1866-10-23
AND IRIS PRoPRIETORs.

! Union Of equal and honOred States.
I
ARLINGTON AND ITS PROPRIETORs.
On lofty plateau, about half mile from
the Potomac, near the road from George
town Viaduct to Long Bridge, stands Ar
lington House, the home Of GEORGE WASH
4 ISGToN PARKE GUSTS, and his son-ln-laW,
I ROBERT EDMUND LEE. Here the adopted
son Of WASHINGTON resided for more than
half a century, cultiyating his broad and
( luxuriant acres, and passing his time IN the
+ simple duties Of a country gentleman, varied
4 by a passion for painting and literature, in
neither of which was he more than an anna
. teur.
+ Mr. CUsTIs inherited the estate, contain
] ing more than twelve hundred acres, from
! General WASHINGTON. His father, JOHN
/ PARK CUsTTs, was a son of Mrs. WASHING
TON by former marriage, and while acting
as aid-de-camp to WASHINGTON, atthe seige
Of Yorktown, contracted camp-fever, of
which he died at Ethan, Maryland, in
1871. WASHINGTON hastened TO his step
son, and arrived Just in time 10 see him die.
he was deeply affected, and, weeping, said
TO the mother:
Il adopt the two younger children as my
own"
These were ELEANOR, then two years old,
and GEORGE WASHINGTON PARKE, six
months old General WASHINGTON took
unwearied painsin the trainingof Nilsson, bat
perceiving his want of success, said that be
could command an army better than he
could control his hayward boy.
GUSTS was placed at the college of New
Jersey but, being ayerse to study, he re-
turned, without completing the curriculum,
TO Mount Vernon, where he resided till the
death of his grandmother, in 1902.
As the Mount Vernon estate then passed
TO BUsHRoD WASHINGTON, young GUSTS
built the Arlington mansion, and having
married MARY LEE FITZHUGH, of Chatham,
Virginia, resided there till his decease in
1857. Mrs. CUsTIs died in 1858, and was
buried in a sequestered grove, near the house,
having requested that her body might not
be carried 70 Mount Vernon. 1t was thede-
sire Of Mr.. GUSTS, and he had so expressed
it in his will, that they both should be bu-
ried there; but the idea of being carried so
far was not pleasant 70 her, and her wish was
respected. When Mr.. GUSTS died his body
was placed by her side; large number Of
persons testified by their presence their re-
spect and reverence for the deceased. -Four
daughters were born TO them, all Of whom
died in infancy, except MARY, now the wife
Of RoBERT +. LEE.
By her fathers will life-interest in the
estate only was given her, and, after her
death, to her children, so that her husband
had no claim to the property. When he,
young and singularIy handsome soldier, Just
from West Point with the second honors of
his class, was paying his addresses to Miss
GUSTS, il was his custom to ride out to the
gardens Of Mr.. PIERCE, well-known florist
in Washington, for flowers for his sweetheart.
II happened that she had two young la
dies visiting her at the time, and LEE being
naturally gallant, as well as DESTROYS of
pleasing the whole family, never failed to
procure three boquets. As he had nothing
except his pay as a second lieutenant, this
was rather expensive; but he bore il with
great philosophy, only saying, in a joking
way, that it was hard to court three girls for
one wife.
Months passed on, when one bright after
noon he rode up pale and breathless, and
cried out as he approached:
"PIERcE, old boy, make me six bOquets,
and don't spare pains or expense. It's the
last YOU will get out of me, for / am going
to be married on Thursday night, and then
the girls may gather wild flowers"
ROBERT E. LEE is the son Of Gen. HENRY
LEE, of revolutionary memory, whose
mother the beautiful Miss GRIMES, was
WAsHINGToN's first love, and whom he cele-
brated as the "Lowland beauty" HENRY
LEE was member Of Congress when WASH
INGToN died, and was appointed to pro-
nounce the funeral Grafton. In the perora-
ton Of his address he spoke the well-known
sentence, "First in war, first in peace, and
first in the hearts Of his countrymen."
Al Al l. a -
Sumter had aroused the nation, Colonel LEE
deliberately turned his back on the govern
ment that nourished him and entered upon
the rebellion. Just five days before our sol
diers crossed Long Bridge, Mrs. LEE, reluct-
antly obeying the repeated summons Of her
husband. rode away from her home, accom-
panied by her daughters, AGNES and ANNIE,
and her oldest son GUSTS. The farewell
scenes are represented as exceedingly pain
full Weeping bitterly, she went from room
10 room, and, as the recollections Of the
beautiful poet came TO her mind, of her hap
py childhood home, Of the place where her
children were born, and her mother and
father died and were buried, she could not
restrain her grief, and, bursting into open
lamentatiou, declared that it was hard, that
she, the only grandchild of WASHINGTON,
should be compelled to leave her home, and
that she would not 60 till dragged away.
Her son sought to comfort her by speaking
Of his father, and saying that if they should
remain no one would trust them. With her
children she went around the estate to the
quarters Of her slaves and bid them all fare
we'll.
No one could then foresee the years Of
terrible war that would intervene before the
rebellion could be crushed but, from that
time, we can see that the glory Of Arlington
began TO fade. The forest of oaks that COW
cred the estate are gone. The thunder Of
arms has frightened from its pleasant slopes
and groves the presiding spirit which piped
the reeds Of peace and strewed the land with
plenty. A city of the dead is scattered over
its lawn, which was once trod by dancing
feet, and village Of negro refugees holds
possession of the heart Of the manor. Ar
lington House. which was evidently built on
the plan of Mount Vernon, having board
piazza, supported by massive pillars, and
wide hall, extending the entire length, has
been stripped Of its numberless articles of
value. The paintings have nearly ali dis
appeared, and the furniture stolen or de-
stroyed, and a mere handful of books re-
main of what was once a valuable and ex-
tensiye library Nandal hands have not
spared even the marble tombstones placed
over the graves Of Mr.. and Mrs. CUsTTs
but they have been Clipped and marred BY
relic hunters and curiosity mongers.
In the immediate vicinity Of the mansion
house three hundred acres Of land have been
. permanently appropriated by our Govern
ment as a cementery, and the plateau is now
and ever will be the resting place of the
patriot dead. Ten thousand soldiers who
died in ornear Washington have been buried
here. The grave Of each is neatly marked
by wooden slab, painted white, having at
a little distance the appearance Of marble,
and inscribed with the name Of thedeceased,
with his company and regiment. In one
grave lie buried the left arms Of two cavalry
sergeants Of a New York regiment Occa-
sionally, side by side with loyal dead, can
be seen the grave Of a Confederate soldier:
but on the wooden headboard, in letters Of
black, is painted the word rebel"
1 Here Turks no treason. here no envy swells;
I Here grows no damned grudFes; here are no
| storms"
When Mr.. CUsTIs died he owned nearly
two hundred slaves, who were by his will to
be freed at the expiration Of Eve years. The
most Of them were kept on the White House
plantation, which WAsHrNoroN's wife owned
when she married him; but when the rebel
lion began, the young and strong were taken
TO Richmond. At the end Of FIVE years, in
October, 1852, they were sent through the
lines 20 Washington, or wages were given
III ~