El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-02-20
Y TAsH1NGToN. D. C., FEB. 70

w Mrs, Mrs. George s5,1 Wass hin
first husband was a very rich
man. When he died he left her a man
sion, known as the six chimney
house" and 100000 in money. But he
owned much other property, including
the great Arlington estate, across the
Potomac from Washington, a portion of
which is now occupied by famous ma
uOnal cemetery.
There is so much confusion in most
peoples minds about the children Of
the widow GUSTS that it really seems
worth while to set the matter straight
II is commonly supposed, for instance,
that Nellie Custis was her daughter-
the fact being, of course, that Nellie
was her granddaughter.
Mrs. GUSTS was q years old when
she married Washington, Icing nine
months his senior She had two children,
both under Seven-JOhn Parke Gusts
and Martha Cnicknamed Patsy Custis.
Patsy died before reaching womanhoOd;
but Jack married, had two children
of his own, boy and a girl, and served
as Washington's aide-de-camp during
the revolution. Camp fever (typhus)
killed him, in 1871.
"Jacks' children were George Wash
ingtOn Parke Custis and Eleanor (Nellie)
Gusts. Mr.. Washington adopted them,
non, where Nellie was wooed and won
by colonel Lewis, Washingtons pri-
Vate secretary. Their aunt Patsy had
inherited from her father $4,000, which
on her death reverted to her mother,
Mrs. Washington. The Arlington estate
had been left to Jack" and on his de-
mise became the property Of his son,
George Washington Parke Custis.
Family Loses Arlington.
The latter had one child, a daughter,
who married Robert Z. Lee, after
wards chief Of the Con-
federate armies. She in turn became by
Inheritance the owner of Arlington,
which was the home OF herself and hus-
band when the civil war broke out. The
United states government, later on,
seized the property for unpaid taxes,
but eventually acquired full title to it
by a payment of $3.50. 600 to the heirs.
Washington Wanted Money.
Now. the Father Of his Country" al
ways had keen appreciation Of the
usefulness of money. Three young Wo-
men whom he sought valnly IN marrl-
age were all Of them the daughters of
very wealthy men; and it is not un-
likely that subsequently, in soliciting the
hand of the fair and plump young
widow GUSTS, his ardOr was augmented
by his knowledge of the fact that she
would bring what was in those days a
large fortune
Already he was himself quite rich
having been uplifted from poverty to
affluence by inheriting, from his half
brother Lawrence, the estate called
Mount Vernon and a good deal Of other
property. But he was a shreWd business
man, and the widows money enabled
him to extend the lands Of Mount Yer
non by the purchase Of several farms.
She had inherited from her first hus-
band thirty-Odd slaves, who were use
ful as agriculture laborers.
EnIarEes Mount Vernon.
The mansion of Mount Vernon was
built by Lawrence Washington in 1743,
when George was only. IL years old. the
bulk of the labor being furnished by
transported convicts from England. 1t
was originally a "four-room cottage"
with four rooms on the first floor and
with chimneys built outside the gable
ends But. after his marriage, Wash
ingtOn added a library at the south
end and q banquet hall" at the north
end, the ceilings of both adorned with