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THBMary Custis Lee, Wife of CSA Gen. Robert E. Lee, ALS Relating to Trials of Gen. Lee, April 23, 1866
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6270 Este Ave.
Cincinnati , OH 45232
United States
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About Auction
LiveJun 13, 2014 - Jun 14, 2014
Cowan's Auctions dawnie@cowans.com
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- Lot Description
ALS, 2pp, approx. 7.5 x 9.75 in. Lexington (VA), April 23, 1866. Mary Custis Lee to a friend, "Lettie," likely Lettie Burwell, wife of William McCreery Burwell, since she also references "Rosa," which is the name of a Burwell daughter, and "Avenel," which was the Burwell home in Bedford.
At this point, the South had only surrendered a year earlier, and the economy was still in shambles. Mrs. Lee mentions the "Baltimore Fair." She says, I trust it will be the means of relieving much suffering if it can be properly applied, but how much suffering it will not reach. Women organized "Sanitary Fairs" during the Civil War to raise money and needed items (bandages, clothing, etc.) for wounded soldiers after the formation of the U.S. Sanitary Commission. One fair was in Baltimore in 1864 to aid Union soldiers. In 1866, another fair was held with the goal of assisting southern states in their recovery.
She also mentions that the weather has been cold and rainy. It has become so cold again after a week of rain that I do not see how the young plants and chickens are going to live through it. Mildred has 2 broods and another one coming, but even if they live through this weather I suppose they will be stolen as soon as they are large enough, for the crowds of idle Negroes who live here do nothing but steal, they are as bad as the Yankees.
An earlier owner of this letter (maybe Lettie, herself) has attached a newspaper article about Mrs. Lee. Although it has no date, it is likely from a short time after this letter (Mary Lee only lived until 1873, and General Lee is not referenced in the past tense, and he died in 1870). The journalist mentions that he saw Mrs. Lee at Rockbridge Baths, known for healing rheumatism and other diseases. "Alas! I found her greatly changed by time, and still more by disease. The charm of her manners still continues, but her body has been terribly afflicted by rheumatism, which has made such a cripple that, for some years past, almost from the commencement of the late war, her only locomotion is affected in a chair with wheels, which is moved about by servants." Mary Lee suffered from rheumatoid arthritis and was using a wheelchair as early as 1861. The journalist also mentions the loss of Arlington by the Custis-Lee family: "Mrs. Lee...very naturally sighs for her old home at Arlington, from which she has been so ruthlessly and barbarously banished....she will never consent to receive back her estate if tendered with any conditions... by the Government which so cruelly devastated and appropriated property bequeathed by her patriotic father, and never legally acquired by the authority which now retains it."Light toning and a very small repair at margin of fold. Overall in very good condition.Condition
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