Mary Anna Custis was the daughter of George Washington Pike Custis, a grandson of Martha Washington. She married Robert E. Lee, her third cousin, at the home of her parents: Arlington. Many people assume that Robert E. Lee built and owned Arlington, but that is not the case. Despite the fact that they were cousins and came from many prominent colonial families, Arlington came into the Lee's possession through Mrs. Lee. She was very interested in politics, and was well educated, which helped her debate and understand a variety of topics. She was deeply religious, and fiercely loyal. She enjoyed painting, and many of her paintings are still on display at Arlington. She did not participate in abolitionism, but did educate her slaves and did support abolition in theory. It is unfortunate that her husband was her husband.

Since my current classes are about American Slavery and African American history, and my upcoming class is about the Civil War, I have been trying to get through what remains of my unread Civil War era books. I have had this one for quite some time, and I am glad to be getting the rest of these off my shelf and out of my house in preparation to move. The book was informative and provided an interesting history of Arlington before it became a National Cemetery. I would love to visit one day, and it is definitely on my 1000 Cemeteries Bucket List.