Evening star., 1929-12-15

from the great house, but those two sad events
were only as far back as 1853 and 1857. In
all seriousness Uncle Jim naively confessed
he could not remember back to 1928, mo, suh."
MRS GEORGE WASHINGTON PARKE
N'A CUSTIS, before her marriage when a
mere slip of a girl Mary Lee Fitzhugh,
daughter of William Fitzhugh cf Chatham
just the Rappahannock River from
Fredericksburg. George washington a
frequent visitor at Chatham, and it is said
that upon one OCCASION in writing a letter to
William Fitzhugh, he said: "I have put my
legs oftener under your mahogany at Chatham
than anywhere else in the world and have en-
Joyed your good dinners good wine and good
company more than any other" That the
mother of Mrs. CuStis was a Randolph before
her marriage to William Fitzhugh is fairly well
established. Mrs. Robert E. Lee, her grand
daughter, vouches for the fact. In an old
book, "Recollections and Private Memoirs of
Washington" by the historian Benson j.
LOSING published in 1885, Mrs. Lee furnished
quite an extensive introduction in which are set
forth many interesting facts pertaining to the
.Parke and Gusts families. In writing of the
death of her mother Mrs. Custis Mrs. Lee
refrained from entering into a eulogium but
without disclosing the author she permitted
the publishers to print letter, dated May Is,
1853, addressed to the editors of the National
:1ntelligencer, evidently by some friend of the
family, an extract from which reads as fol-
lsws:
Happy in her descent from the union
P of Fitzhugh of Chatham (the friend of
r Washington, a gentleman unsurpassed
T for dignity and courtesy of manners by
z any who enjoyed the society of Mount
E Vernon, with one of the most beautiful
/ accomplished and religious ladies that
ever bore the name of Randolph, all the
instructions and associations, the habits
and studies of her childhood and youth,
were suited to nurture those just princi-
pies and pure and generous sentiments
which ever pervaded and adorned her
r entire character"
That the Virginia RandoIphs were a part of
the ancestry of Mrs. Gusts is further indi-
Gated by the fact that Mrs. Lee the only sur
N1v1ng child and daughter of the Custises of
Arlington, and born there October /, 1903, was
chrlstened Mary Ann Randolph CuStis Mrs.
Mary Randolph, therefore, may have been a
1aVor1te aunt OF Mrs, Custis, assuming that the
Beautiful and accomplished Miss Randolph
who became the mistress of Chatham had a
brother who married daughter of the house.
mold OF AmpthiN. But If such be fact instead
OF mere surmise, why did LOSING make no
mention of Mrs. Randolph's grave when he
wrote an account of his visit to Arlington
House estate during the month of March
1853. and which can still be read in the old
bound volumes of Harper's Magazine for Sep
tember OF that year? Perhaps it was an over
sight, but at that time it was the only known
grave on the hillside that overlooks a broad
panorama of the Potomac.
0N the day after Mrs. Randolph died the
National Intelligencer for Thursday, jan
uary "a, 1928, carried the following obituary
notice:
DEATH
"In Washington, at o'clock, A. NJ, on
, the 23d inst, after an illness Of six days,
Mrs. Mary Randolph, formerly of Vir-
: ginia, aged sixty-five years. Respected
and esteemed through life by a very
! numerous acquaintance. Her friends are
requested to attend the procession Of her
funeral this morning, at 10 O'Clock, from
her late residence to the Potomac Bridge,
+ interment being to be made at Arlington,
in spot marked out by herself"
The identical notice appeared as of the same
date in the Daily National Journal-no more,
no less-indicating that the death notice was
furnished by some member of her family and
paid for. The Library Of Congress contains no
copies of the Washington City Chronicle for
the latter days of January, 1928, but it Is
doubtful if anything more definite would have
been found. search into Mrs. Colvins
Weekly Messenger" of that date served but to
fl,or