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Will of George Washington Parke
Custis
In the name of God, amen. I, George
Washington Parke Custis, of Arlington House, in the county of
Alexandria and State of Virginia, being sound in body and mind,
do make and ordain this instrument of writing as my last will
and testament, revoking all other wills and testament whatever,
I give and bequeath to my dearly beloved daughter and only
child, Mary Ann Randolph Lee, my Arlington House estate, in the
county of Alexandria and State of Virginia, eleven hundred
acres, more or less, and my mill on Four-Mile Run, in the county
of Alexandria, and the lands of mine adjacent to said mill, in
the counties of Alexandria and Fairfax, in the State of
Virginia, the use and benefit of all just mentioned during the
term of her natural life, together with my horses and carriages,
furniture, pictures, and plate, during the term of her natural
life.
On the death of my daughter, Mary Ann
Randolph Lee, all the property left to her during the term of
her natural life I give and bequeath to my eldest grandson,
George Washington Custis Lee, to him and his heirs forever, he,
my said eldest grandson, taking my name and arms.
I leave and bequeath to my four
granddaughters, Mary, Ann, Agnes, and Mildred Lee, to each ten
thousand dollars. I give and bequeath to my second grandson,
William Henry Fitzhugh Lee, when he shall be of age, my estate,
called the White House, in the county of New Kent and State of
Virginia, containing four thousand acres, more or less, to him
and his heirs forever.
I give and bequeath to my third and youngest
grandson, Robert Edward Lee, when he is of age, my estate in the
bounty of King William and State of Virginia, called Romancock,
containing four thousand acres, more or less, to him and his
heirs forever.
My estate of Smith Island, at the Capes of
Virginia, and in the county of Northampton, I leave to be sold
to assist in paying my granddaughter's legacies, to be sold in
such manner as will be deemed by my executors most expedient.
And and all lands that I may possess in the
counties of Stafford, Richmond, and Westmoreland, I leave to be
sold to aid in paying my granddaughter's legacies.
I give and bequeath my lot and square No. 21,
Washington City to my son-in law, Lieut. Col. Robert E. Lee, to
him and his heirs forever. My daughter, Mary A.R. Lee, has the
privilege, by this will, of dividing my family plate among my
grandchildren, but the Mt. Vernon altogether, and every article
I possess relating to Washington and that came from Mt. Vernon
is to remain with my granddaughter at Arlington House during
said daughter's life, and at her death to go to my eldest
grandson, George Washington Custis Lee, and to descend from him
entire and unchanged to my last posterity.
My estate of the White House, in the county of New Kent, and
Romancock, in the county of King William, both being in the
state of Virginia, together with Smith's Island, and the lands I
may possess in the counties of Stafford, Richmond, and the
Westmoreland counties are charged with the payment of the
legacies of my granddaughters.
And upon the legacies to my four granddaughters being paid,
and my estates that are required to pay the said legacies, being
clear of debts, then I give freedom to my slaves, the said
slaves to be emancipated by my executors in such manner as to my
executors may seem most expedient and proper, the said
emancipation to be accomplished in not exceeding five years from
the time of my decease.
And I do constitute and appoint as my executor Lieut. Col.
Robert Edward Lee, Robert Lee Randolph, of Eaton View, Rt. Rev.
Bishop Meade, and George Washington Peter.
This will written by my hand, is signed, sealed, and executed
the twenty-sixth day of March, eighteen hundred and fifty-five.
George Washington Parke Custis (Seal)
26th March, 1855
Witnesses:
Martha Custis Williams
M. Eugene Webster Source: Historic Arlington, By Karl Decker and Angus McSween,
pages 80-81 / Leslie S. Smyth, Contributor
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George
Washington Parke Custis (April 30, 1781 –
October 10, 1857), the step-grandson of United
States President
George Washington, was a nineteenth-century
American writer, orator, and agricultural reformer.
. . . Custis died in 1857 and was buried at
Arlington alongside his wife,
Mary Lee Fitzhugh Custis.
Custis's will [see above] provided that:
Arlington
plantation (approx. 1100 acres) and its contents,
including Custis's collection of George Washington's
artifacts and memorabilia, would be bequeathed to
his only surviving child
Mary Anna Custis Lee (wife of
Robert E. Lee) for her natural life, and upon
her death, to his eldest grandson
George Washington Custis Lee;
White House plantation in
New Kent County and
Romancoke plantation in
King William County (approx. 4000 acres each)
would be bequeathed to his other two grandsons
William Henry Fitzhugh Lee ("Rooney Lee") and
Robert Edward Lee, Jr., respectively;
Legacies (cash
gifts) of $10,000 each would be provided to his four
granddaughters, based on the incomes from the
plantations and the sales of other smaller
properties; (Some properties could not be sold until
after the Civil War and it was doubtful that $10,000
each was ever fully paid.)
Certain
property in "square No. 21, Washington City"
(possibly located between present day Foggy Bottom
and Potomac River) to be bequeathed to
Robert E. Lee "and his heirs."
Custis's
slaves, numbered around 200, were to be freed once
the legacies and debts from his estate were paid,
but no later than five years after his death.
(Fulfilled by Robert E. Lee, executor, in the winter
of 1862.)
Custis's death
had great effect on the careers of Robert E. Lee and
his two elder sons on the cusp of the
American Civil War. Lt. Col.
Robert E. Lee, named as an executor of the will,
took leave from his Army post in Texas for two years
to settle the affairs. During the period Lee was
ordered to lead troops to quash
John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry. By 1859,
Lee's eldest son, George Washington Custis Lee,
transferred to an Army position in Washington, D.C.
so that he could care for Arlington plantation,
where his mother and sisters were living. Lee's
second son, Rooney Lee, resigned his army
commission, got married, and took over farming in
White House plantation and nearby Romancoke. Robert
E. Lee was able to leave for Texas to resume his
Army career in February, 1860.
At the outbreak
of the
American Civil War, the 1,100-acre (4.5 km2)
Arlington Plantation was confiscated by Union forces
for strategic reasons (protection of the river and
national capital). A "Freedman's Village" was
established there for freed slaves in 1863. In 1864,
Montgomery C. Meigs, Quartermaster General of
the US Army, appropriated some parts of Arlington
Plantation be used as a military burial ground.
After the Civil War,
George Washington Custis Lee sued and recovered
the title for the Arlington Plantation from the
United States government. Congress subsequently
bought the property from Lee for $150,000. Arlington
Plantation is now
Arlington National Cemetery and
Fort Myer. Arlington House, built by Custis to
honor George Washington, is now the
Robert E. Lee Memorial. It is restored and open
to the public under the auspices of the
National Park Service.— Wikipedia
posted 29 June 2008
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Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in
America
By Melissa V.
Harris-Perry
According to the
author, this society has historically exerted
considerable pressure on black females to fit into one
of a handful of stereotypes, primarily, the Mammy, the
Matriarch or the Jezebel. The selfless
Mammy’s behavior is marked by a slavish devotion to
white folks’ domestic concerns, often at the expense of
those of her own family’s needs. By contrast, the
relatively-hedonistic Jezebel is a sexually-insatiable
temptress. And the Matriarch is generally thought of as
an emasculating figure who denigrates black men, ala the
characters Sapphire and Aunt Esther on the television
shows Amos and Andy and Sanford and Son, respectively.
Professor Perry
points out how the propagation of these harmful myths
have served the mainstream culture well. For instance,
the Mammy suggests that it is almost second nature for
black females to feel a maternal instinct towards
Caucasian babies.
As for the source
of the Jezebel, black women had no control over their
own bodies during slavery given that they were being
auctioned off and bred to maximize profits. Nonetheless,
it was in the interest of plantation owners to propagate
the lie that sisters were sluts inclined to mate
indiscriminately.
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Sex at the Margins
Migration, Labour Markets and the Rescue Industry
By Laura María Agustín
This book explodes several myths: that selling sex is completely different from any other kind of work, that migrants who sell sex are passive victims and that the multitude of people out to save them are without self-interest. Laura Agustín makes a passionate case against these stereotypes, arguing that the label 'trafficked' does not accurately describe migrants' lives and that the 'rescue industry' serves to disempower them. Based on extensive research amongst both migrants who sell sex and social helpers, Sex at the Margins provides a radically different analysis. Frequently, says Agustin, migrants make rational choices to travel and work in the sex industry, and although they are treated like a marginalised group they form part of the dynamic global economy. Both powerful and controversial, this book is essential reading for all those who want to understand the increasingly important relationship between sex markets, migration and the desire for social justice. "Sex at the Margins rips apart distinctions between migrants, service work and sexual labour and reveals the utter complexity of the contemporary sex industry. This book is set to be a trailblazer in the study of sexuality."—Lisa Adkins, University of London |
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The White Masters of the
World
From
The World and Africa, 1965
By W. E. B. Du Bois
W. E. B. Du Bois’
Arraignment and Indictment of White Civilization
(Fletcher)
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Ancient African Nations
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Black World
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Enjoy!
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The Death of Emmett Till by Bob Dylan
/
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
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Only a Pawn in Their Game
Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson Thanks America for
Slavery /
George Jackson /
Hurricane Carter
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The Journal of Negro History issues at Project Gutenberg
The
Haitian Declaration of Independence 1804
/
January 1, 1804 -- The Founding of
Haiti
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update 5 February 2012
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