Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1897-12-18


ihent for the recovery of the property, |
or the value of 1t, as the government |
had already turned 1t into a burial |
ground. which. of course, ruined 1t SO far |
as the family was concerned Finally |
THE SUPREME COURT DECIDED |
THE CASE
in favor of the Lee heirs; whereupon
a bill was introduced In the Senate
(by Senator Edmunds of VermonD to
pay Mrs Lee the sum of $250,0O0 for
the property. The bill was passed and
the money was turned over to General
Custs Lee, the heir-at-law under the
will of his grandfather, as recorded in
the Fairfax county court house. all
but $4,000 which was retained by the
government until the state of Vir-
ginia had been paid all taxes due. AS
Will be seen. there was some injustice
even in this. especially after the direct
tax law had been repealed making
the rightful owners of the place pay
for 1t during the time 1t was forcibly
held by other parties. The national
cemetery was formally established by
the government in 1867, upon 200 acres
of the land. Besides the Boys in Blue,
e few hundreds who wore the Gray are
also buried here; and back of the man.
sion Is a much older family grave
yard, enclosed within stone wall. In
the latter lies Mary Randolph, one or
the proud Randolphs of the Roanoke
valley and mother of Mrs. Robert IL.
Lee. Near the beginning of the CEN
tury she came up from Richmond to
live with her daughter, Colonel Parke
Custis' wife, who was then the mis-
tress of Arlington; and there she found
n final resting place. the first occupant
of the family burial ground. Beside
her lie Colonel Parke Gusts and Flea
| nor his lovely wife, who was once the
gayest belle of all the surrounding
region.
Close by this tiny gods-a acre is an OBJ
| ject of great interest to the country at
large-the great granite sarcophagus,
under which so many mothers boys
sleep in one grave Four cannon are
| mounted on top, with pyramid of
balls between, and the polished face OF
| the monument bears this inscription:
Beneath this stone repose the bones
of Eli unknown soldiers, gathered ar
| ter the war from the field of Bull Run
and the route to the Rappahannock.
| Their bodies could not be identified,
but their names and deaths are re-
| corded in the archives of their country.
and its grateful citizens honor them as
| its noble army of martyrs. May they
| rest in peace.
In the rear of this is the amphithe-
| alter, where every year the services of
| Memorial Day are performed. 1t is
| covered with n large circular arbor
over which variety of grape vines
shade in their season. All about ars
| flag stats and beautifully kept flower
| beds, and benches scattered upon green
| lawns and pathways leading to shady
| hooks beneath grand old trees-a very
| paradise for summer-d days lettering.
The interior of Arlington house still
bears some resemblance to the time
when its great rooms were famous for
| elegant hospitality and the first So
ciety'' of the infant republic ate, drank.
danced and made merry within them.
From the day of it's building, the proud
| old mansion always sheltered some of
the noblest men and most beautiful
| women of America, and no other of the
| several historic houses of the country
has SO plainly retained the SAVIOR OF
| greatness. Monticello flourished only
while jefferson lived. The Heritage
jackson died; Ashland. Sunnyside,
Marshfield shared the same ignoble fate
| Mount Vernon had no succession OF
fame; the illustrious Washington of
| long ago was enough.
Beneath the cornices of Arlington
| parlors may yet be seen the hooks
that once held the celebrated pictures
| which George Washington's adopted
son brought from it. Vernon, includ-
ing several original portraits of the
] Father of His Country, dating from
1172 to 1896. There was also the
| sldNut, ny INC
| Williams crayon, from actual
sittings; three originals, by
| stuart: the bust, master
| piece, from which so many copies have
been made; the full-length portrait.
made by order from the marquis of
! Lansdoune, and another painted ex-
pressiy for Martha Washington, the
widow. There We're many miscellane-
| Gus pictures, too, some of them of
great value, which had been presented
to Washington by eminent people at
one time or another; and the quaint
| hiGh-posted bedstead upon which he
died. These are all gone now, with
the scattered remnant of his descend
ants. and only a shadow of departed
glory mantles the edifice.
Behind the house runs the well-worn
path beneath the oaks which Robert II.
Lee paced ell night long-so 1t is said
while
MAKING UP HIS MIND
which way duty lay-whether to cast
his fortunes with his kindred of the
I South, or to remain loyal to the gov
( crnment to which he owed his educa-
ton as soldier He was n prayerful,
upright man, who doubtless acted up
on his honest convictions of right. un-
biased by self-interest. At any rate,
he snatched from that niggard Time,
an immortal fame, though he died in
poverty self-exiled from his once
l
mourn for their beloved Arlington, and
like Rachel mourning for her children,
refuse to be comforted but 1t is to be
hoped that when they come here to
visit the graves of their ancestors and
TO bewail the grandeur which was
once theirs. they viii also remember
the more than $4,000 homes, and the
many times 1900 hearts. made DESC
late by tine death of the men who now
occupy the estate,
General Robert f. Lees Oldest son
is at present one of the substantial
farmers of Fairfax county, Va. The
other day I read nm item In local
paper which spoke of him as having
Just passed our office setting behind
fine pair Of mules. which seemed TO
know that n master hand held the rib
bons.' Mrs. Smith Lee mother of
General FitzhuFh Lee and sister-in-
law of Robert r., stil lives at Cam
eron, the old homestead near AleNan-
dra. She is as proud and exclusive a
grand dame of the old regime as one
may find in weeks iourney-even In
Virginia. Before the war, from which
unhappy epoch dates the winter of
their discomfort for all these people,
she was n familiar figure in Washing
ton society ms one of Its most conspcu-
Gus leaders. OF late years she has
lived in strict retirement, devoted to
the memories Of better DAYS. Another
member of the family, Charles n. Lee
Ia a Washington attorney, and one OF
the local managers of an agricultural