Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1895-06-09

Of Virginia. in the drawing room Of the
old mansion where visitors are now re-
ouested to register their names. She
inherited the property from her taJner
and Arlington was the home OF the
great chieftain of the Confeeracy When
Fort Sumter was fired upon.
Down in the corner toward AleXandrla
where several hundred Confederate
dead are buried, are two simple LaDiels
that mark the graves Of George WASH
ineton Parke Curtis and Mary Lee Cur
tbs. his wife They were erecteu Dy
their daughter Mrs Robert T. Lee anu
have no inscription except the names
and dates. and The words,
Blessed are the mercitul Ior Chey
shall obtain mercy
On the hillside north Of the mansion
is an old tomb that contains the re-
mains OF Mrs. Mary Randolph r S,i
tive of Mrs. Curtis, which bears tnis
stately inscription:
Sacred to the Memory Oh MIS-
Mary Randolph.
Her Intrincic Worth Needs NO Eulo-
GUM.
The deceased was born the 9th OF Au-
gust 1902. at Ampthill, near Richmond
Va. and died the 28d of January, 1870
in Washington City.
A Victim OF Maternal Love an Duty.
AS a Tribute OF Fnial Gratitude TINS
Monument is Dedicated to Her
F,vaIted Virtues by Her Youngest Son.
On Pace
Near by is the grave OF lrgin IL !.
wife of George Mason, OF Hahn han,
who died i'm 1888, and was probably III
some way connected with the GURUS OF
Lee families
The letter in which Gen. Lee re
signed his commission In the army "e,-
writtenat Arlington on saturday Aprll
20. 1861. and was brought over TO
washington by himself and handed 10
Cen Winfield Scott. ON the morning OF
Monday April %. That afternoon Col.
Lee. with his wife and children leiI
Arlington for Richmond, never 10 Ie-
turn. and on the day following he ac-
ceDted the command OF the Confederate
forces
Three days after the Lee family de-
sorted their home the first battalion OF
the great army of the North marched
tbroreb the city of Washington ana
across the acQueduct bridge INTO IT.
einia: and the first camp hres OF Ile
rebellion were lighted that night unuei
the great oaks Of Arlington
The venerable steward of the Lee es-
tate remained i'm possession OF me Pfop-
ery until shortly after the batte OF
Bull Run. when the Government TOOK
session of the fine old mansion Tor
q hospital. and it was used Tor thay p't-
pose until the close OF the war. bnI lJ
was not until the 18th of May lob4
that the body of a soldier was buried
within its gates. Gen. Meigs gave the
order and personally suDerlntende1 Jhe
interment of the first body, which was
tbat of Confederate who died I'D the
bosDital and whose name was 10 Hein-
har6l OF the Tweu,y-third North Caro-
lima Infantry. The second inJerment
was that of Edward S. Fisher Ser
geaut iu Company ID, ForueJh lnIan. ",
who died in the old manson. Di'l-1
the two months follow.ng, 1913 Federal
soldiers were buried there, including
231 colored men and about forty Con-
feder9tes. The roster of the silent army
that CAMPS there now embraces more
than sixteen thousand names. Long
rows of white headst0nes mark the
graves of The priyatas and imposing
shafts OF granite and marble Jnal
CLEAN through the foliage show where
the officers rest The Government luf-
nishes only simple white marble head
stones and fo0tstOues, with only rel
ercnca number corresponding TO the
record books, but The friends OF those
who are buried there may erect any
monument ihat may suit their taste.
a few months before Che first burial
I think it was January. 1864, the prop
erty was sold at auction under the dl-
rect tax laW and was purchased oy
Ouartermasler General Mcigs for the
use for The Government Neither Gen.
Lee uOr his wife ever made amy attempt
to recover &c. but. i'm 1871 their son..
George Washington Curtis Lee, brought
suit i'm the United States circuit
Court at Alexandria for the ejectment
of Frederick Kaufman, the superin-
teudent OF The cemetery, and COL K. T..
Strong. the commanding officer of Fort
Wh.ppie. the military post adjoining,
now called Fort lyer5 which Was also
up0n The Lee estate. The lower court
rendered verdict I'm favor OF the plain
tiff. but fin 1852 ii was reversed by the
United States Supreme Court, ON the
ground thata sovereign can not be sued
without it's own consent, aud the lower
court had no power 90 render Judgment
where f. could not enforce execution.
Justice Miller. who rendered the de-
cfsi0n. however admitted the equity Of
the Lee claim. and, in consequence. the
Secretary OF War was instructed by
resolution of Congress TO negotiate for
the purchase OF tie title. which was
transferred TO him in 1888 for the sum
of $4,000. about double what the prop
ers would have been worth had the
soldiers of the Union army not been
buried there.
The remains Of thousands OF the dead
were BROUGHT from the bat-lehelds
around Richmond, and from the valley
of the Rappahanu0ck. and the land
scape was plotted and beauldet under
the direction OF Gen. Meies IKE any
other cemetery. There are RESERVATIONS
of lawns and groves for ornamental
purposes. but the greater part oil the cs-
tate lis laid out i'm small lots, generally
twelve feet square. as permanent