Description
Many of us know something about her husband, Robert E. Lee; most likely even more know her great-grandfather, George Washington; some have even visited her circle of relatives estate. But few people lately know much about Mary Custis Lee – wife, mother, daughter, and the Lady of Arlington, Virginia. Chronically sick and regularly in excruciating pain, Mary trusted God as she raised her seven children, faithfully witnessing to her husband for years before his conversion and, later, his confirmation in the Anglican Church. Throughout the Civil War, she was once instrumental in negotiating the release of her circle of relatives from house arrest and her son from a prisoner-of-war camp. Later, she retained her dignity and faith right through a fruitless, heartbreaking try to win compensation for the confiscation of her home and valuables. History is never more powerful than when it provides a role model for enduring hardship with sturdy and radiant faith. Mary Custis Lee is such an example.