Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1873-07-26
MRS LEE AT ARLINGTON.
An Interview with Correspondent
Her claims against the United States
Government.

Her claims against the United States
Government.
Mrs. Lee. widow of the late Genera
Robert 4. Lee, is great granddaugh.
ter of the wife of George Washington
and a daughter of George Washington
Parke Custis, whom Washington adop-
ted at the age of six months. Mrs
Lee is apparently about sixty years oi
age. She is lady whose noble char
acter and Christian grace render her
an object of reverence to all who meet
her. Her mind is richly stored with
the recollections of the patriotic, cul-
tivated and distinguished persons who
| will ever be prominent in our national
history as among our government's s
wisest statesmen, and some of whom
were her own nearest kinsmen.
The home of her youth and married
life, Arlington, was built by her father,
George Washington Park Gusts. To
this charming place she was carried
when only one month old, and all the
associations of her life centre in and
cling to this spot Among the classi-
cal localities which our Government
claims as its property Arlington is one
of the first, and is almost equal to
Mount Vernon in its historical memo
ries Here were entertained all the
statesmen and men of letters promi-
nent in our early history. Here all
distinguished foreigners were invited
in the name of American hospitality,
and year after year, as summer restor-
ed her beauties to the yards and gar
dens and fields of this noble estate,
which included in its limits eleven
hundred acres, all American visitors
were made free guests to enjoy the cool
retreats, and free to examine the in
structive relies, books and papers there
preserved.
Open handed hospitality reigned at
Arlington. In 1892 Mary Gusts mar
ried Robert Z. Lee. He- father,
George Washington Parke Custis, dy-
ing in 1857, gave to Mrs. Lee, by his
will, the entire Arlington estate. The
terms of the will vested the property
in her absolutely. Beyond the simple
duties of an executor, General Lee
had no control of the property, and
never, either before or since, assumed
or attempted to assume a single right
of ownership.
This important statement of fact
was made by Mrs. Lee at the house of
her aunt, Mrs. Fitzhugh, in Alexan-
dria, on the 10th instant. 1t would
be very interesting to repeat all the
conversation of that interview in usual
form of an interview, but that would
be violation of her wishes and dis
pleasing to Mrs Lee
Mrs. General Lee has for many years
been a great sufferer from inflammato-
ry rheumatism, and quite unable to
move withoutassistance but in her age
and affiictiOn she has a noble and dig
nifed countenance. Her features
much resemble those of Martha Wash
ington. With her sad, yet firm ex-
preston of face and eyes, beautiful
and sparkling with the uncommon in
telligence which marks her conversa-
ton; with the almost snowy hair,
soft, and in waves, and curls, framing
her full forehead, and covered by her
plain widows cap, she sits before one
grand and lovely picture, combining
within itself much Of the history and
glory of the immortal past with the
modern events of our history.
No one can see this much suffering
lady, and hear her accounts of her old
home, and not feel convinced that on
the day our Government shall have re-
munerated the mistress Of Arlington
for its loss, and made that settlement
with her which is esteemed just and
legal by all who fully understand the
circumstances of her absolute owner
ship of the estate, it will add to its
repute for just and honorable dealing.
From Mrs. Lee, herself, it was def
nitely ascertained that not only was
Arlington her unqualified bequest
from her father, but that Gen. Lee
never participated in any way In its
ownership or control, always refusing
(from scruples not unfrequentwith gen.
tlemen in regard to wives estates to
arbitrate in important matters rela-
ting to it, and from the termination of
war to the date of his death he con-
stantly avoided any authority, control,
right or independence relative to the
estate, and refused to act concerningit
in any way.
When Mrs. Lees father died he
made in his will an obligation that all
the slaves belonging to the estate
should be set free after the expiration
of five years. The time of their man
omission came on in 1868, and right in
the very height of the war. General
Robert L. Lee, as the executor of the
will, summoned these slaves together
at a convenient point within his lines,
and gave them their free papers and
passes through the Confederate lines
to go whittier they would.
Concerning these two great and i'm
portant facts we have reason to think
the community generally have not been
quite familiar. They certainly have
an important bearing upon the ease.
Mrs. Lee does not ask to have the es-
tate restored to her. 1t has become
national cemetery, and as much as she
presumes with other citizens will ever
remain, but she does expect a rea-
sonable remuneration for the ground.
There are eleven hundred acres in
all, and some two hundred acres of
the estate are occupied as a soldiers
cemetery. The land at the time of its
literal occupation by the Government
could not have been worth less than
two hundred dollars per acre. Since
that time, its value for various reasons,
has rapidly appreciated. At the time
of its nominal purchase by the
Government for the faintest sort of a
song, under the operation of tax sale,
there were several of Mrs. Lees
friends ready to make the purchase for
her or to pay the taxes. They were
not allowed an opportunity to do ell
ther, and Mrs. Lee is now hardly more
serious in calling in question the va
lidity of the present title of the Gov
ernmeht to the land than even high
legal authority within the lines of the
Government itself.
Neither does Mrs Lee regard ques-
tions as to the validity of the title at
all settled. TO her mind the property
has simply been seized, conhscated in
short, and without the slightest remu-
neration being granted to her. In
Justice has been done, and she believes
a Just and generous Government, sus-
tanned by an enlightened public opin-
ion, will repair the wrong.
The pure and lofty womanhood, and
the true nature of Mrs. Lees charac-
ter, was revealed in the father fact that
she oonVersed upon the whole matter
without one single expression or shade
of bitterness. OF the President and
his administration she spoke in the