The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1929-07-05

North has Joined South in. paying him
honor. His memory is preserved IN
many ways-in the college at Lexing-
ton, Va, which bears his name and OF
which he became president in the
later years of his life; in the marble
figure which stands in Statuary hall
in the National Capitol at Washins-
ton; and in the preservation of his
home darlington" as national
memorial and last resting place for
our soldier dead.
Recently new memorial has been
added to the list and it is singularly
appropriate that this should be done
in the centennial year of his entrance
into the service of his country. For
on January 10, the anniversary. of mis-
birth, this year the announcement
was made that William Alexander
chapter of the United Daughters of
the Confederacy in Connecticut had
purchased Stratford hall and the
plantation of 1922 acres. where Lee
was born, spent his boyhood years.
to be preserved as national memo
rial and administered by the Robert
e. Lee foundation, whose advisory
board includes prominent men In the
North as well as the South. That
the movement to preserve Stratford
hall as a Lee national memorial orig
mated in New England state and
that it has the backing of North as
we'll as the South is significant of the
fact that the partisanship of 60 years
ago no longer denies him the right to
be regarded as great American, nor
denies the enshrining of his memory
in the hearts Of all his countrymen.
The romantic interest atracnq
the establishment Of this iatestNnhe-
mortal to Lee was told in the follow
ing news item which appeared at the
time of the Stratford hall purchase
last January:
Purchase of the Lee estate marks
the first step in the plan sponsored
by the William Alexander Chapter OF
the Daughters of the Confederacy to
make the place mot merely shrine,
but a living national educational menu
orial and a center of historical re-
search" according to Miss Ethel Armes.
of the William Alexander chapter.
Announcement of the sale, on the
anniversary of General Lees birth, and
the 20Oth anniversary of the building
of historic Stratford hall, marks the
fulfllment of a determination born OF
a dramatic story starting In Green
IL q
Charles D. Lanier of Greenwich, head
of tine William Alexander chapter.
while going through an old broken
desk of her mother-in-law, Mrs. Sid
ney Lanier, widow of the poet, came
upon a penciled manuscript by Lanier.
unpublished and until then not known
to exist, which turned out to be
speech he made before citizens OF Ma
con-, Ca, in 1870 upon the death OF
General Lee in which he urged the es-
Establishment of a memorial to honor
Lee, to which every person who loved
the southern leader could contribute.
The following day Mrs. Lanier re-
ceived a letter from a friend visiting
in Virginia, describing a trip to STRAIT
ford hall and asking why it could not
be preserved.
The same day Mrs. Lanier called a
meeting of her chapter which resulted
IN the passage VI IcSOiul'OhS AoOhiA5
| to the purchase of the tract. The deed
| of purchase was signed at Stratford
hall by the owners, Mr.. and Mrs.
| Charles E. Stuart. after seven months
| negotiations.
Miss Armes set forth the purposes
of the Robert E. Lee memorial
| foundation, now being formed to
| operate similarly to the Mount Ver-
| non association, as being fourfold: To
purchase, restore and furnish the home;
| to restore the famous old library, make
| of it a center of research and to es-
| tablish scholarships; to restore the
| colonial gardens, the Stratford wharf
| on the Potomac and reproduce some
| of the boats which two centuries ago
were tied there; and to perpetuate the
| ideals and character of the Lees, chief
ly by historical studies.
Stratford was the gift Of Queen
| Caroline, wife of King George II. to
members of the Lee family. 1t was
the home of Richard Henry and Fran
| els Lightfoot Lee, signers of the Dec
| Iaration of Independence; of Light
| Horse Harry" Lee and other genera
| tions of the family. Prior to the Revo-
| lutionary war it was a gathering place
for Virginia leaders and the origin
of much of the sentiment for inde-
pendence.