Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1885-01-17
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A Notable Family.
THE Sons AND DAUGHTERS OF THE LATE
GEN. ROBERT E. LEE.

GEN. ROBERT E. LEE.
At the recent opening of the Metropol-
itan museum of art saw among the many
notable people there Miss Mary Lee. the
second daughter of Gen. Robert E. Lee,
She is plain-looking lady of thirty-fve,
and, like her father. is altogether unpre-
tentious. She wore heavy cashmere
wrap, and was in company with a lady
similarly attired. Miss Mary Lee resem-
bles her mother in appearance more than
her father 1t is a remarkable fact that
the only one of Gen. Lees children who
at all resembles him is the Oldest son,
Gen. G. w. Gusts Lee. now the president
of Washington and Lee University, at
Lexington, Va. There are five of the Lee
children-three sons and two daughters.
They were all born in Arlington, the old
Gusts homestead. near Washington,
where Mrs. Lee continued to live after her
marriage The eldest daughter, Mildred.
has travelled great deal since the war,
spending much of her time in Europe, but
when here makes her home with her
brother Gusts at Lexington. Miss Mary,
the next sister, also lives with him. Miss
Agnes, the youngest sister, died during the
war at health resort in North Carolina
None OF the daughters married, and
Gusts Lee is also single. but Runey Lee
and Robert E., Jr., are both married and
are both Virginia farmers. One of them
only has children, and the probabilities
are that it is through him alone that the
Lee family and the Gusts family are to
be perpetuated.
Mrs Robert E. Lee was the only child
of George Washington Park Curtis, who
was the ouly son and heir of Martha
Washington. 1t was from George Wash
ington and Maria Washington that Custis
obtained Arlington, which at the opening
of the war was one of the finest pieces OF
country property of the South. 1t was the
ideal Southern homestead. The Union
forces took. possession OF it at the very
opening of hostilities in 1861, and during
the war it was converted into a national
cemetery. According to a provision of
the will of George Washington Park Cur
tbs. the entire property was to go to the
eldest son of Mrs. Lee. The eldest son
was the present Gen. G. w G. Lee, and he
obtained S125,000 from the government
in payment for Arlington last winter,
there having been a long contest at law
about it. That money represents the bulk
of the property now in possession of the
Lee family, and is but a trilling remnant
of the magnificent estates they owned in
Virginia before the war, not to speak of
the hundreds of slaves that belonged to
these estates. But the family has Jared
better than many others of the South that
were equally wealthy before the war.
Gen. Gusts Lee. though the legal pos
SCISSOR of S125,000 he received from Ar
lington, has a big heart and makes the
most liberal provision for his two maid
en- sisters. Though, as stated at the
opening Of this paragraph, Miss Mary
Lee is a pain-looking lady, with no pre-
tentions to beauty, she is gifted in intel
lect and is a most charming person. Dur
ing the war she was most of the time in
Richmond with her mother and sisters,
and with them endured many privations.
have seen little account book in which
there was record of expenditures made
on account of the little party Mrs. Lee
and her daughters messed with. 1t was
seldom they had meat or coffee, and the
most exorbitant prices had to be paid for
a chicken, or even green corn. The bulk
of the diet was made up of rice, bread and
such light articles. Mrs Lee was one OF
the most patient and self-abnegating of
women. and though confirmed invalid
during the entire war in which her hus-
band was such a prominent actor, never
complained. but was. in the face of con-
slant misfortunes and threatened dangers.
always resigned and serene She main
tanned this character up to the very hour
of her death.
A touching story, of which Miss Mary
Lee is the heroine, is that after one of the
terrible battles near Richmond, just pre-
vious to the close of the war, she and some
other ladies went on the field to render
whatever assistance they could in the care
of the wounded and dying soldiers of her
fathers army. One among those to whom
she went to offer relief was youth of
not over l6. who had been fatally shot
and was ready to expire. She saw the
poor fellow was going to die Immediately,
and, being struck by his youth and neat
attire, asked him if he had any message
to leave behind. Yes" said he; my
name Is. and my mother lives at;
tell her, if you please, that | have Just
seen our splendid Commander. Gen. Lee,
ride by, and that | am content to die
That was all. He never knew it was his
splendid commanders daughter to whom
he was confding his final message Cor.
NeW York World.