Family
Arlington House is uniquely associated with three of Virginia's most influential families; the Washingtons, Custises, and Lees. Arlington was the home of George Washington Parke Custis, the grandson of Martha Washington and her first husband, Daniel Parke Custis. After his father, John Parke Custis died, the young Custis and his sister Eleanor Parke Custis went to live at Mount Vernon. There Martha Washington and her second husband, General George Washington, raised the two as their own children.

Even as an elderly man, Custis loved to be referred to as “the child of Mount Vernon.” He dedicated life to honoring the Washington’s memory through his speeches, plays, and art. Custis had a huge collection of Washington memorabilia, and delighted in showing his “Washington Treasury” to all.
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Custis and Lee Families at Arlington  
Home Life at Arlington House

Artist Benson Lossing painted a watercolor of Arlington House and described the Treasury in a Harper's Weekly article in September, 1853.

Custis and Lee Families
The Custis and Lee families immigrated to Virginia from England in the 1600s and acquired large landholdings. In 1750 Daniel Parke Custis married Martha Dandridge. After Daniel’s death, his widow took over management of their extensive lands, fisheries, gristmills, and other businesses. In 1759, Martha married a young officer, Col. George Washington. Her son, John Parke Custis, married Eleanor Calvert, a granddaughter of the sixth earl of Lord Baltimore. After John’s death in 1781, their two youngest children, George Washington Parke Custis and Eleanor “Nelly” Parke Custis, were raised by General and Mrs. Washington at Mount Vernon.

G.W.P. Custis married 16-year-old Mary “Molly” Lee Fitzhugh in 1804. Mrs. Custis devoted herself to her family, the Episcopal Church, and the education of the enslaved people at Arlington. She was deeply attached to her only surviving child, Mary Anna Randolph Custis.

Exceptionally devout, Mrs. Custis was responsible for the emphasis on religion and spiritual growth that distinguished family life at Arlington. She conducted family prayers twice each day and was likely responsible for the creation of a chapel on the plantation. Mrs. Custis provided organized religious instruction for her daughter as well as the enslaved people of Arlington plantation.. The family worshipped at Christ Church in Alexandria, Virginia.

Great-grand-daughter of Martha Washington, Mary Custis and Lt. Robert E. Lee, her distant cousin and childhood sweetheart, exchanged wedding vows in the parlor at Arlington in 1831. The marriage united two of Virginia’s “first families.” Lee was descended from a long line of famous soldiers and statesmen. His father, Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee III was an American Revolutionary War hero, governor of Virginia, and member of Congress. Two of Henry Lee’s cousins, Richard Henry Lee and Francis Lee, signed the Declaration of Independence.

Between 1832 and 1846, Mrs. Lee bore seven children. Six were born at Arlington House. Lee once referred to their children as “the annuals of the season.” The Lees divided their time between Arlington and U.S. Army duty stations. When military obligations took Lee to remote locations, Mary and the children remained at the plantation with her parents. Although separations proved difficult for the entire family, Robert and Mary accepted them as a fact of military life.

Home Life at Arlington House
Life at Arlington House was distinguished by religion and education, as well as warm hospitality and close family life. Lee often read to the children in the evening. Mrs. Lee, who read Latin, French, and Greek as well as four daily newspapers, oversaw the children’s early education. From their grandfather, G.W.P. Custis, the Lee children heard tales of life with George and Martha Washington, and thrilling stories of the American Revolution.

The family gathered together twice each day for prayers, and again at mealtimes. Christmas was an especially happy occasion for it was one of the few times that the entire family was together at home. For over twenty years, three generations of the Custises and Lees enjoyed family life at Arlington.