Smyrna times., 1932-06-01
OLD LEE MANSION
BEING RESTORED
Experiments Being Watched
By Medical Men Which
Promise a Cure
STILL IN EARLY STAGES

gfnia, center of historical inter.
est and a symbol of the life and
culture of the Old South, has been
saved for posterity. Through the
efforts of the United Daughters of
the Confederacy and the Lee Memo
rial foundation the mortgage on the
eleven-hundred=acre estate in West
moreland county has been paid off
and the last obstacle to the preser-
vatton of the mansion as a national
shrine has been removed, says the
New York Times.
There remains now the work of
renovating the fine old house and
restoring the extensive grounds
which formerly made it one of the
show places of the state, and this
work will proceed as funds for the
purpose are made available. Within
a reasonably short time plantation
life of the Eighteenth century will
be resumed there In all its pictur-
esque phases.
Completion of the purchase fund
marked the close of another chapter
In a dramatic story which had its
start in Greenwich, Conn.,, early in
1923. Mrs. Charles D. Lanier of
Greenwich, head of the William
Alexander, Jr., chapter Of the United
Daughters of the Confederacy, while
rummaging through a desk which
belonged TO her mother-in-law, Mrs.
Sidney Lanier, widow of the poet,
came upon a penciled manuscript
by Lanier, until then not known to
exist.
A Speech on Lees Death.
The paper proved to be a speech
he had made In Macon, Ga, in 1870,
on the death of General Lee. in
which. he urged the establishment
Of q memorial 'Sby contributions as
shall be within the compass of the
humblest citizen who loved him and
who desires the grateful privilege
or laying something on his tomb"
On the following day Mrs. Lanier
received a letter from a friend de
scribing a visit to Stratford and
asking why it could not be pre-
served. On the same morning she
called a meeting of her organiza-
ton, which resulted in the adoption
Of resolutions looking to the ac-
QUESTION Of the homestead.
After months OF negotiations ar
rangements were made with Charles
r. Stuart, the owner, for its pur.
chase, and the Robert E. Lee Memo |
rial foundation was formed to ac-
quire the property and conduct
campaign for contributions in all
parts Of the country. Tile price
was fixed at $4,000. The mort
gage was cleared away by an IN
conditional advance Of $4,000 BY
prominent Delaware woman.
StratfOrd hall is more than two
hundred years old and bears the
distinction Of having been the birth
place Of two signers of the Dec
laratiOn Of Independence, Richard
Henry Lee and Francis Lightfoot
Lee, as well as the home Of Light
Horse Harry" Lee and other gen
erations Of the distinguished family.
1t stands on a hillock not far re-
moved from the Potomac in a Sec
tion Of the Northern Neck which
the older generation Of Virginians
especially looks upon as hallowed
ground. The estate fronts for two
miles on the river, and within a few
miles are the birthplaces of three
Presidents - Washington, Madison
and Monroe.
The house itself, built in the
shape of the letter II, is two stories
In height, with a tall basement
forming the first floor, and is topped
by massive Quadruple chimneys on
each wing. 1t was started In 172e .
by Queen Caroline, wife of George ;
III of England, with a gift of f3OO ]
toward the cost of It's erection fol- ;
lowing fire which destroyed the ]
original manor house, on the site
Of which now is located the Lee
family burial plot. ,
The House Well Preserved. 4
The mansion, In a fine state of {
preservation, is built of brick on I
English lines by English standards.
with walls of fortress thickness. s
and was known as the stateliest {
house Of Its time in Colonial Vfr-
yinia. {
In restoring the plantation with (
is Colonial atmosphere and Its arts {
md Industries as pursued two GEN. 7
.uries ago. the old brick and saw S
Mill, which is now In ruins, VIII be re- i
'uilt and placed In operation. Spin g
ling, weaving and wrought-iron i
will be practiced for !
he enlightenment Of visitors and &
Students. The tobacco warehouse S
will be reconstructed, and scenes of a
he old planting season revived v
rhe old kitchen, with its 12-foot {
REPLACE. will be fired again, and b
he tall brick wall again will hide n
he culinary operations from alien 4
yes. 9
The Garden Clubs of Virginia will a