Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1876-08-26
ARkfSeT0s.

acres. He was the last Of the line of
being by adoption the 1
honored son of "The Father II His |
Country" He left Mount Vernon
three years after the death of the Gen
eral, and his young and accomplished |
wife, Mary Lee FHzhugh, took up his
abode upon Arlington HEIGHTS. He
survived his wife some three years. and
In 1857 was laid by her side Ia o lonely
spot not many rods distant from the
venerable old mansion. Upon his
death his sole surviving daughter,
Mary Gusts, the wife of Robert 4.
Lee, inherited the estate. At this
time. 81 is said. no aemesne surpassed
it In America. Possessing peculiar
natural advantages, which were adorn-
ed BY lavish taste and rare cultiva-
ton, With als the Improvements then
known to the world Of it, it has long
borne the reputation of being one OF
the most desirable places of residences
and resort in the vicinity of the Ma
tional Capital. Its interestiug assocla-
tions, and the generality Of its quaint
old proprietor, with his three cornered
hat, his knee breecbes, queue and
buckles, added to the varied attrac-
lions OF the place.
But with the War new tenor came
over the spirit of its dreams. When
war sneoeededz pence Arlington felt
the force OF 4he shock. 1t realized a
rev destiny-one as strange as 1t was
new. Its wooded heights, grassy lawns,
and quiet dell heard the tread aud
shouts of soldieTy, and saw ''the pomp
and circumstances of glorious war.
The quiet that brooded over the vast
estate In time of peace was disturbed
by the echoes of artillery laundering
from the forts that environed the
heights. But al this has again died
away, and has left fifteen thousand
soldiers 70 slumber on in silence. 10 a
seduesteEed grove:Wifhin few steps, of
the mansson where the chief of the
Confederate forces once held ,undls-
turbed possession of his thousand OF
beautiful acres. The war give to Ar
lington a new history, and a new yet
melancholy interest. To understand
this place. therefore, one must learn
what it ohc6 Vvasy andsee what by the
fate of war it now is.
CHANGING at ''the last will and tesla
ment of George Washington, of Mount
Vernon" which is dated July 9, 1893,
only few months before the death of
the illustrious testator,. we learn that
Arb fs5oh was. beaqeathed to George
w. Parke Custisin the following lam
guage: x give and beqaeath to George
Washington Parke GUSTS. the grand
son Of my wife; and my ward, and 70
his heirs the trao4 4 bel GohlF.our mile
Run, in the vicinity of Alexandria,
containing one thousand two hundred
acres, more or less"
1t will be remembered by those vers-
ed IN genealogical lore that G.. W.
Parke Gusts aud Eleanor NelD Parke
Gusts, were the children of John
Parie Gusts, who was the onlyiehild
that lived TO its maturity, of Mrs. Mar
tina Washington and her former .hus=
band Daniel Gusts. These two child
rem were adopted when young by Cen
eral Washington. Miss Nelly after
ward married Mr., Lawrence Lewis,
the nephew oetiro GsaeT5A, being the
son Of Mrs. Betty ". Lewis. Wash
ington's sister. The old harpsichord,
stiilpreserved as a relic in the mansion,
at Mount Vernon, was wedding pres
ent to her from General Washington
on the OCCASION of her marriage to Els
nephew. Her brother, q. W. Parke
Gusts, having been appointed by the
great Washington is one of the execu-
tors of his will, Mount Vernon con-
tiuued to be his home until after the
d6sth Of his grandmother, Mrs. Martha
Dandridge GUSTS WashiHgton, which
occurred MAY q ..lS01, she having 1T
tanned the age of seyenty-one years.
Soon after this sad event he commenced
the erection of a beautiful mansion at
Arlington. on lovely spot overlook
ing the Potomac. In addition TO the
Arlington estate Washington had. in
one OF the clauses Of his will, bequeath-
ed to him his entire square, No, q
in the city Of Washington"
At the age of twenty-three Mr.. Gus.
It's married Mary Lee Fitzhugh. They
lived happily together at their beauti-
full home on the west side Of the Poto-
mac until the death Of he latter, which
tdnE place IN the Arlington mansion
April %, 1853. Mrs. Gusts, the moth
er of Mrs. General Lee, was buried
in n sequestered aud delightful grove
near the mansion. Mr.. GUSTS died
October 10, 1857, and hisremains were
deposited by her side, vast eOncOurse
of every rank testifyiUg their Tever.
euce for the departed by their presence
at the Obsequies.'
That sequcsteEed grove, thus selected
by its owner as the. last resting place
tempest of the times, invaded; the
l. I r 4
of the dead; and two marble columns
marking the remains of Mr.. and Mrs
GUSTS are now in the midst Of nearly
sixteen thousand sOIdie4sgraves.i From
the noble portico that adOrns the from
of the Arlington mansion, so cOnSipeu
GUS from every point of the Fedora
Capital and it's vicinity, Mr.. Gusts
had seen Washington rise, from al
humble and uninteresting village int
something like its present proportions
George Washington Park Gusts, thu
proprietor of the Arlington estate
who died on the 10Th of October, 1857
made and published his last will ant
testament, dated the 10Th of March
1853, and which was duly admitted {,
probate and record in the county cOur
Ofthe county of Alexandria, at its De
cember term, in 1857. In this instrumen
he bequeathed to his daughter anC
only child, Mary Ann Randolph Lee
the use and benefit of his Arlington
House estate, containing eleven hun
dred acres, more or less, that of hi
mill on Four-miIe run, and of tn,
lanas of his, adjacent to said mill, il
Alexandria and Fairfax counties. Vir
ginia, together with his horses anC
carriages, furniture, pictures and plate
during the term of her natural life
On the death of Mrs. Lee, all the prop
erty left to her WAS to go 10 his eides
grandson, George Washington Gusts
Lee, and to his heirs forever, Mr.. lee
taking his grandfather'S name anC
arms. To each Of his four granC
daughters, Mary, Anna, Agnes ant
Mildred Lee, Mr.. Gusts bequeatheC
ten thousand dollaSs.. To his seconC
grandson, Willism Henry FuzhugE
Lee. when he should be of age, and {,
MS heirs forever, he bcqueath hi
estate called the White House, II
New Kent county. Va, cOntainingf,ou1
thousand acres. To to his third anC
youngest grandson. Robert EiwarJ
Lee, when he should be Of age, and t.
his hers lorever, ne bequeathed hi
estate in King William county, Va.
called Romancock, containing fou
thousand acres. HIS estate on Smith
Island, at the Capes of Virginia, II
Northampton county, he left to be solo
L. I i. l.. 49,.