USA > Virginia > Arlington County > Arlington County > Historic Arlington. A history of the National cemetery from its establishment to the present time > Part 2
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" After they had surfeited themselves with cruelties, they plun- dered the General's house and broke open his storehouses, so that his estate must have suffered by that day in money, plate, jewels, and household goods, by the most moderate computation, five thousand pounds sterling, for which his executors have ob- ained no satisfaction to this day. Thus died Col. Parke, whose brave end shows him sufficiently deserving of the commis- sion he bore, and by his death acquired an honor to his memory which the base aspersions of his enemies could not over- hrow."
This tragedy occurred on the 7th of December, 1810. But while Col. Parke was chasing the bubble reputation at the can- ion's mouth, Mrs. Parke was engaged in Virginia in rearing three beautiful and accomplished daughters. In his letters to his wife, Jol. Parke assured her that his heart was in Virginia, but a pro- onged absence from that highly important organ seems to have tad but little effect on the gallant Colonel, as his conduct shows hat he much preferred the fascinations of court life and the ex- itement of battle to the society of his own wife and daughters. They got along well enough without him, however, and the three girls grew into handsome young women, such as the Colonel Himself would have been proud of.
The eldest one, Frances, was a proud and haughty beauty, for
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whom a number of young Virginia gentlemen were sighing. Among the number was Col. John Custis.
Col. Custis was wealthy and occupied an influential position in the colonies. With these factors in his favor he was able to carry off the prize, and Miss Frances Parke became Mrs. John Custis.
The couple went to live on Col. Custis' estate on the eastern shore of Virginia, which they called Arlington, in honor of the Earl of Arlington, to whom Charles the Second had made exten- sive grants in the Old Dominion. Mrs. Custis, while she had in- herited a goodly portion of beauty from both her parents, had also inherited from her father some of his sterner qualities, and Custis was not long in finding out that, with him, marriage had been a failure. The union proved anything but a happy one, and only the death of the lady put an end to their domestic infelicity. As a result of his unhappy married life, Col. Custis had placed, at his death, an inscription on his tombstone which clearly shows his estimation of his wife. The inscription has been frequently published before, but is so remarkable that it is here reproduced.
Under this marble tomb lies the body of the Hon. JOHN CUSTIS, Esq., of the city of Williamsburg and parish of Bruton, formerly of Hengar's parish, on the Eastern Shore of Virginia and County of Northampton, aged 71 years, and yet lived but seven years, which was the space of time he kept a bachelor's home at Arlington, on the Eastern shore of Virginia.
This monument was erected on his estate at Arlington, and was standing until a few years ago.
Two children were the result of this marriage, a son, Daniel Parke Custis, and a daughter, Fannie Parke Custis. The latter married a Capt. Dausie, against her father's wishes, and was never afterwards recognized by her family. The son, Daniel, married the beautiful Martha Dandridge, afterwards the wife of Gen. George Washington. It was from this union that John Parke Custis, the father of the philosopher of Arlington, sprung The marriage of young Custis and Martha Dandridge was one of the big social event of colonial times. The young lad had been the
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reigning belle at Williamsburg, where the royal governors of the colony held their court, and her marriage attracted the attention of the entire official circle.
After their marriage they went to live at what was then the seat of the Custises, on the banks of the Pamunkey, where their union was blessed with four children, Daniel Parke, Fannie Parke, John Parke, and Martha Parke. The two oldest children died very young, and at the age of thirty their father also died, leav- ing Mrs. Custis a young widow, with two small children.
She was wealthy, having come into possession of all the Custis estates, and handsome, and when her period of mourning for the late Mr. Custis had expired, became once more as attractive to suitors as she had been before her marriage. It was therefore not long before the cavaliers of the Old Dominion once more " came a-wooing " to the home of the beautiful Custis widow.
There was among them a young and distinguished officer of the colonial service, who had already attracted attention, both by his courage and brilliant abilities as a soldier, and his sterling qual- ities of mind and character. Except for these qualities, however, the gentleman was little distinguished either by wealth or influ- ence, but this fact had small weight with the beautiful widow, and she was soon persuaded to cast off her weeds to become the wife of Col. George Washington.
Of the happiness of this union, the constant devotion of one to the other, and the perfection of domestic bliss which their home lives at Mt. Vernon attained, it is not the purpose of this volume to treat.
The importance of the union so far as this work is concerned lies in the fact that by the marriage of Washington and the Widow Custis the former became the guardian and natural protector of John Parke Custis, the head of the Custis family.
The two children, John and Martha Custis, were still quite young when their mother became Mrs. Washington. They were taken to Mount Vernon, and for several years spent the happy hours of their childhood playing about the lawns that slope from the historic old mansion down to the Potomac.
Of Martha little need be said. In what little was written about her by contemporaneous historians, she is described as being a 1
handsome, but exceedingly dark brunette. She had a great affec-
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tion for her stepfather, and he regarded her with all the feeling of pride and affection that a man could bestow upon his own child. Her life, however, was a brief one, and at the age of six- teen she died at Mount Vernon. All her fortune, which she had inherited from her father, she bequeathed to Washington.
John Parke Custis, the other child, was a sturdy youth on whom Mrs. Washington, after the death of her daughter, centered all her affections, and in whom Washington took a deep interest. Washington was exceedingly anxious that he should receive a thorough education, and with this end in view placed him under the care of an Episcopal clergyman at Annapolis, in Maryland. Young Custis, however, had little liking for study, and finding the restraint of the good clergyman, with whom he lodged, of the mildest form, he spent a great portion of his time in hunting, and in other pursuits, a taste for which he had inherited from his hearty and adventurous ancestors. Tiring altogether of his books, he conceived a passionate desire to travel, but in this he found himself opposed by the indomitable will of Washington.
It is almost unnecessary to say that in a conflict between the two the inflexible determination of Washington prevailed, and young Custis was sent back to his books.
But Custis was not a youth who could be totally suppressed, even by the conqueror of British armies, and before very long he had found a new diversion from his studies and had become en- gaged to Eleanor Calvert, the second daughter of Benedict Calvert, of Mt. Airy, Maryland, a direct descendant from Lord Baltimore. Custis was then about eighteen years of age and the news of his engagement, which Washington regarded as another youthful escapade, was received by that gentleman with great displeasure. He did nothing, however, to prevent the union, but on the other hand wrote to the young lady's father, suggesting that the engage- ment be continued, but insisting that the marriage be deferred until Custis had completed his education.
It was accordingly agreed that the youth should spend two years at Kings College, now Columbia College, New York, and he was sent there to continue his studies.
He remained at college but a few months, however, and then, despite the opposition of the elders on both sides, married Miss
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Calvert on the 3d of February, 1774, when little more than nine- teen years of age.
Custis took his youthful bride to Abbingdon, an estate not far from Alexandria, where four children were born to them. These were Elizabeth Parke, who afterwards married Mr. Law, a nephew of Lord Ellenborough ; Martha Parke, who was married early to Thomas Peter ; Eleanor Parke, who married Lawrence Lewis, a nephew of Washington, and George Washington Parke Custis, the owner of the Arlington estate.
With the beginning of the Revolutionary War, John Parke Custis promptly offered his services to his country and served with distinction through all the battles, as an aide to General Washington. His death was brought about by camp fever, which he contracted during the siege of Yorktown. The disease attacked him very violently, just as the siege was about to end. He real- ized that it would terminate fatally, but insisted on remaining in camp to witness the surrender of Cornwallis. He was supported by his attendants to the place where the surrender took place, and after he had seen the sword of the British commander turned over to Washington, was removed to Eltham, a country place not far distant. Washington followed him hastily the same evening, but arrived at Eltham only a short time before his death. Mrs. Custis was present when her husband expired, and as she stood beside his death-bed, weeping bitterly, Washington clasped her tenderly in his arms and said, "From this moment I adopt his two youngest children as my own."
In this manner George Washington Parke Custis and his sister Eleanor became the children of the first President, and their childhood was inseparably connected with the home life at Mount Vernon.
George Washington Parke Custis was but six months old when the death of his father left him to the care of General Washington. · From that time to the death of Washington himself, his life was spent principally at the home of the great patriot, sometimes at Mount Vernon and a portion of the time in the household of the Presi- dent at New York and Philadelphia.
The war in which the colonies had been plunged ended shortly after his birth, and it was with scenes of peace and rapidly extend- ing prosperity that his earliest recollections were associated. He
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was eight years of age when, in 1789, Washington was inaugurated the first President of the United States. Previous to this, the boy had played games with Lafayette and the other heroes of the Revolution, upon the lawns of Mount Vernon, and was as well acquainted with all the prominent men of the time as a boy could be. They were, in fact, about his only playfellows, and if not romping with them he was toddling along by the side of his foster parent, listening with precocious gravity to some discussion Washington was having with one of his numerous and distin- guished visitors.
When Washington moved to New York, as President of the United States, little Custis and his sister Eleanor were taken along and became a part of the Presidential household, in the old Osgood house, on Cherry street. Of his surroundings and asso- ciations during the eventful years he spent there, an idea can be best obtained from his own description of the Washington house- hold, given in his memoirs of Washington. These were published after his death by his daughter, Mrs. Robert E. Lee, and can now be found only in a few of the more complete libraries of the country.
" His domestic family," Mr. Custis says, speaking of President Washington, " consisted of Mrs. Washington, the two adopted children, Mr. Lear, Colonel Humphreys, and Messrs. Nelson and Lewis, secretaries, and Major William Jackson, aide-de-camp.
" Persons visiting the house in Cherry street at this time will wonder how a building so small could contain the many and mighty spirits that thronged it. Congress, Cabinet, all public functionaries in the commencement of the Government, were se- lected from the very élite of the nation. Pure patriotism, com- manding talent, eminent services, were the proud and indispen- sable requisites for official station in the first days of the Republic.
" The first Congress was a most enlightened and dignified body. In the Senate were several members of the Congress of 1776, and signers of the Declaration of Independence-Richard Henry Lee, who moved the Declaration, John Adams, who seconded it, with Sherman, Morris, Carroll, and others.
" The levees of the first President were attended by these illustri- ous men and by many others of the patriots, statesmen, and sol- diers, who could say of the Revolution, " Magna pars fui," while
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numbers of foreigners and strangers of distinction crowded to the seat of the General Government, all anxious to witness the grand experiment that was to determine how much rational liberty man- kind is capable of enjoying, without that liberty degenerating into licentiousness.
" Mrs. Washington's drawing-rooms on Friday nights were at- tended by the grace and beauty of New York. The President himself was always present, and about him gathered the most dis- tinguished of the Revolutionary heroes."
Amid such scenes and with such surroundings young Custis grew to manhood. He had constantly before him as a guide to his conduct and habits of thought the lofty example of Washing- ton and his compatriots, while over his studies and pleasures Washington exercised a careful and a fatherly supervision. The idol of his grandmother and the hope of his foster father, the re- straint placed upon him by his guardians was only that which might save him from habits of dissipation, or licentious associa- tion. It was small wonder, then, that the boy should reach his early manhood with the loftiest ideas of honor and propriety of conduct. His unswerving integrity was almost as marked as that of Washington himself. He abhorred the licentious vices of other young men of his age, while his patriotism and generosity, which he breathed in with the atmosphere in which he lived, were mani- fest in his character throughout his entire life. /
But though Custis was in the matter of virtue and sentiment a credit to his friends, he was woefully lacking in firmness and in energy. The term dillettante describes his character exactly. He had some knowledge of art, and at his home in Arlington painted a number of pictures, principally of battle scenes, with Washing- ton as the central figure. He was a graceful and forcible writer, but his literary works consist only of an imperfect series of papers on Washington, some fragmentary poems, and a few poor dramas. He was an orator capable of rare eloquence, but he never used this ability save at a few funerals or on some occasion where the duty of welcoming a guest or of praising a friend devolved upon him. Even as a farmer he was a theorist and a dreamer, and though he made numerous wise efforts to improve the agricul- tural methods of his time, his weakness of purpose and lack of ambition rendered these endeavors abortive. But with all this,
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his character stands out, in the early history of the century, with great prominence, as that of a genial and accomplished gentleman, simple and modest in demeanor, unswerving in his integrity and friendships, a lover of all that was best in his fellow-men and in the institutions of his country. He was such a man as historians ignore but mankind bestows its reverence and affection upon.
The weakness in the character of Custis was very apparent to Washington and caused him great anxiety and disappointment. " He had a tear, for we have seen it shed with parental solicitude over the manifold errors and follies of our unworthy youth," says Custis himself, in treating of the character of Washington, but the tears shed by the General were due entirely to his own dis- appointment. He had very ambitious hopes for his adopted son, and it was with bitter regret that he saw they could never be realized. Custis cared nothing for the allurements of public life. He never conceived the idea that there was any likelihood his country would need his services as a statesman, and while he entered, as a student, into Washington's schemes for his future welfare with good- natured complaisance, he never made the slightest effort to bring about their success.
Custis' early education he received from tutors at Mount Vernon, but when he was fifteen years of age he was sent to Princeton College, and while there he was constantly receiving letters from Washington urging him to attend closely to his studies, and finding fault at times with the younger man's slow progress. The correspondence between Washington and young Custis at this period is of considerable interest. Custis is con- stantly veiling excuses for his own idleness under expressions of the warmest admiration and affection for Washington. He ad- dresses his foster father in terms that must have seemed to the elder man pedantic and affected ; for in his replies Washington pays no attention to the well-meant flattery which Custis' letters contain, but shows clearly that he fully understands the youth's subterfuges and takes no care to conceal the anger they cause him.
In a letter written from Philadelphia in 1796, he says to Custis :
"You are now extending into that stage of life when good or
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bad habits are formed ; when the mind will be turned to things useful and praiseworthy, or to dissipation and vice. Fix on whichever it may, it will stick by you; for you know it has been truly said ' that as the twig is bent so it will grow.' This, in a strong point of view, shows the propriety of letting your inexpe- rience be directed by maturer advice, and in placing guard upon the avenues which lead to idleness and vice. The latter will ap- proach like a thief, working upon your passions, encouraged, perhaps, by bad examples, the propensity to which will increase in proportion to the practice of it and your yielding.
" This admonition proceeds from the purest affection for you ; but I do not mean by it that you are to become a stoic, or to de- prive yourself in the intervals of study of any recreations or manly exercises which reason approves.
"'Tis well to be on good terms with all your fellow-students, and I am pleased to hear you are so ; but while a courteous be- havior is due to all, select the most deserving only for your friend- ships, and before this becomes intimate weigh their dispositions and characters well.
" True friendship is a plant of slow growth ; to be sincere there must be a congeniality of temper and pursuits. Virtue and vice cannot be allied, nor can idleness and industry.
" Of course, if you resolve to adhere to the two former of these extremes, an intimacy with those who incline to the latter of them would be extremely embarrassing to you ; it would be a stumbling-block in your way, and act like a millstone hung to your neck, for it is the nature of idleness and vice to obtain as many votaries as they can. I would guard you, too, against im- bibing hasty and unfavorable impressions of any one. Let your judgment always balance well before you decide; and even then where there is no occasion for expressing an opinion it is best to be silent, for there is nothing more certain than that it is at all times more easy to make enemies than friends. And besides, to speak evil of any one, unless there is unequivocal proof of their deserving it, is an injury for which there is no adequate reparation. For, as Shakespeare says, 'He that robs me of my good name enriches not himself, but renders me poor indeed.' "
There are a number of other letters showing the fatherly solici-
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tude of Washington for Custis' welfare, all couched in a tone of mild reproof. As the years pass, the reproof becomes more pro- nounced until it closely resembles fault-finding. For, in spite of all that Washington could do or say, Custis was willing only to do the work he found most agreeable, and his reading was of a desultory character, such as his own inclinations led to.
The young man was transferred from Princeton to Annapolis, where he continued his studies under the direction of Mr. Mc- Dowell, president of Annapolis College. Washington, in a letter to that gentleman, in 1798, gives an estimate of Custis' character and ability which is here valuable. He says, after explaining that a fever had prevented his writing earlier :
" Were the case otherwise, I should, I confess, be at a loss to point ont any precise course of study for Mr. Custis. My views regarding him have already been made known to you, and therefore it is not necessary to repeat them on this occasion. It is not merely the best course for him to pursue that requires a consideration, but such an one as he can be induced to pursue and will contribute to his improvement and the object in view. In directing the first of these objects, a gentleman of your literary discernment and knowledge of the world would be at no loss, without any suggestion of mine, if there was as good a disposition to receive as there are talents to acquire knowledge ; but as there seems to be in this youth an inconquerable indolence of temper and a dereliction, in fact, to all study, it must rest with you to lead him in the best manner, and by the easiest modes you can de- vise, to the study of such useful acquirements as may be serviceable to himself and eventually beneficial to his country."
Almost immediately after the date of this letter Custis left col- lege at Annapolis and was permitted by Washington to continue his studies with a tutor at Mount Vernon.
About this time he was appointed a cornet of horse in the army and soon afterwards was promoted to the position of aide-de- camp to Gen. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, of South Carolina, with the rank of colonel. A few months afterwards the death of Washington occurred, and this event had a marked effect upon young Custis' character and after-life.
He was sincerely attached to his foster-father and never lost the feeling of extreme admiration and reverence with which Wash-
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ington had inspired him. But, with the latter's death, all the am- bitious plans for Custis' advancement vanished into thin air, and the young man became the good-natured and indolent gentleman of refined tastes such as we find him years afterwards at Arlington. Washington's confidence in him is shown by the fact that in his will he made him one of the executors of his estate.
CHAPTER III.
CUSTIS' LIFE AT ARLINGTON-HIS ASSOCIATES AND CUSTOMS-THE WASHINGTON RELICS.
The death of Washington caused no immediate change in the domestic circle at Mount Vernon. Mrs. Washington continued to live at the old homestead, and her grandson remained with her. At Mrs. Washington's death, two years later, however, the estate passed to other members of the Washington family, and Custis took up his residence at Arlington.
At this time Custis was a very wealthy man. He had just reached his 21st birthday and had succeeded to all the Custis estates left by his father. They consisted of extensive and fertile plantations in Westmoreland county and along the Pamunkey river, and the Arlington estate, embracing about 1,100 acres, which his father, John Custis, as already stated, had purchased from the Alexanders. In addition he inherited from Washington a tract of 1,200 acres of land lying north of Arlington, in Fairfax county. He possessed a large number of slaves, a great many horses, used in the cultivation of his estates, and other forms of property.
It was the magnificent location of the Arlington estate that caused Custis to select it, from among his other possessions, as his home. The Capital of the Nation had already been moved to Washington, and the growth of the magnificent federal city was making fair progress. Within sight of the Capitol building and overlooking the beautiful river, with which Custis had been familiar from his earliest childhood, no better site for a future home could possibly have been selected. It was contiguous to the country about Mt. Vernon, endeared to him by so many valued associations, and within easy reaching distance of Alexan- dria, then a centre for the wealth and fashion of the Old Domin- ion.
But the Arlington on which Custis took up his residence then bore no rosemblance in appearance to the Arlington of his later years. The estate consisted chiefly of woodland, with but a few
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hundred acres of cleared land lying below the hills, on the banks of one river. In this cleared space stood the manor house, an un- pretentious dwelling containing only four rooms. It was located near the bank of what was called the Little River, about a mile to the eastward of the present mansion, and was surrounded by a grove of magnificent oaks. Not far below it was the famous Cus- tis Spring, about which so much has been written. The crumbling walls of the old mansion still stand to mark the spot on which it stood, and until the occupation of the estate by the Federal forces, it was in a fair state of preservation. Within a few years, however, the building has been almost completely demolished by direction of the War Department, for what purpose no one has yet been able to determine.
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