William Fitzhugh and Robert E. Lee
Another fine example of late eighteenth century federal architecture in
Alexandria is the residence at 607 Oronoco Street,[Owners: Mr. and Mrs.
Robert C. Goodale.] commonly spoken of as the boyhood home of Robert E.
Lee. This house abounds with memories of Alexandria. Her history,
romance, and past are interwoven here in a perfect pattern. Washington,
perhaps, frequented this house more than any other save Dr. Craik's
after the Fitzhughs moved to Alexandria from Chatham near
Fredericksburg.
Built by John Potts in 1795 on land purchased from Charles Alexander,
the date is attested by the stone fixed high in the wall under the
carved cornice. Potts and his wife, Elizabeth, deeded the property to
William Fitzhugh in 1799 for the sum of twelve thousand dollars.
The house and garden occupy half a city block. A central hall runs
through the house and every room opens by window or door into the
garden. The woodwork in the house, while simple, is in the best
tradition and, save for two missing mantels, is undisturbed. The
stairway rises on the left of the hall in a series of easy steps to a
landing that crosses one end of the hall and then mounts on the right
side to the second floor. The decoration of the risers and landing, in a
diamond motif paneled in a delicate mold, is reminiscent of the
designer, Adam. Two superb rooms open off the hall on each side, and the
dining room and offices are in an ell on a lower level. There are Adam
mantels of great beauty in the two master bedrooms on the second floor.
The doors, chair rails, cornices, floors, and locks are in a fine state
of preservation throughout the house.
In the kitchen is the brick oven with patent doors made in England and
inserted in the chimney about the time the house was built. A few years
ago, the former owners, Dr. and Mrs. R.R. Sayers, went to the address of
the manufactory at Stratton, 173 Cheapside, London. It was still in
operation and there they were able to purchase needed parts for the
faithful old oven.
Virginia is more like the mother country in the relations that exist
between her aristocratic classes, than any other part of the Union save,
perhaps, South Carolina. These people moved in one large circle,
marrying and intermarrying, related and associated as one enormous
family. Welcome in one another's homes, they kept alive family ties by
visits and letters, both of considerable length. It was quite possible
to go away from home for several years for a series of visits, moving
from one estate to another and remaining for the season--all the while
renewing associations within the chosen orbit.
Of this hierarchy was William Fitzhugh. A man of charm and culture,
reared in the days and traditions of the great planters, he kept open
house at Chatham, near Fredericksburg, the year around. Travelers en
route to and from Williamsburg and Richmond were entertained in a lavish
fashion. With the formation of the new government, the stream of
visitors increased to such an extent that the Fitzhughs were being eaten
out of house and home, and found it necessary to escape from their
friends. They selected Alexandria as a place of domicile. Chatham was
placed on the market in 1796.
A lifelong friend and associate of George Washington, there was great
intimacy between the two families. Fitzhugh contributed two fine does to
the Mount Vernon deer park in 1786, and the same year forwarded a supply
of orchard grass seed for the General's use. A year before Washington's
death his good offices as neighbor and friend were directed toward the
acquisition of a horse that would best serve Washington's purpose.
Entries in George Washington's diaries attest the many times that the
Fitzhughs were at Mount Vernon, and the Washingtons at Chatham or
Alexandria. On January 3, 1798: "Mrs. Washington, myself, etc., went to
Alexandria and dined with Mr. Fitzhugh,"[164] and on April 3, 1799,
"went to Alexandria and lodged myself with Mr. Fitzhugh";[165] the next
day he "returned to Alexandria and again lodged at Mr. Fitzhugh's."[166]
The last mention in Washington's diary of his old friends is in the last
month of his life, dated November 17, 1799, "went to Church in
Alexandria and dined with Mr. Fitzhugh."[167]
[Illustration: The Alexandria home bought by William Fitzhugh of Chatham
to escape from his friends]
To Fitzhugh's house came Washington Custis wooing, and successfully,
too, Mary Lee Fitzhugh. George Washington did not live to see the
marriage between the daughter of this old friend and his adopted son,
George Washington Parke Custis; nor the splendid Arlington mansion,
following that new fashion of likeness to a Greek temple, that was to
house the Custis and Lee families for three generations. He knew those
rolling acres of the Arlington plantation, but never dreamed they were
destined to become the emerald pall for America's warrior dead.
In the _Alexandria Daily Gazette, Commercial and Political_ of Friday,
January 12, 1810, appeared the following advertisement:
On Wednesday, the 17th instant will be sold between the hours of ten
and eleven at the house of William Fitzhugh, esquire, deceased, a
quantity of
Household Furniture
consisting of carpets, chairs, tables, bedsteads, etc., as also a
carriage and one or two horses. Of all sums of twenty dollars or
under, immediate payment will be expected, on all over a credit of
six months will be given, and bond with approved security required:
Robert Randolph
Executor of Wm. Fitzhugh
[Illustration: The Alexandria home of "Light Horse" Harry Lee's widow.
The house that General Lee loved]
William Fitzhugh's will was probated on December 23, 1809. To each of
his two daughters who had "made themselves as dear as children can be to
an affectionate Father," he left the sum of two thousand pounds, certain
slaves (about sixteen) and lands containing eight hundred acres, for
since they were "equal in his affections" he wished them to have an
equal quantity. After other bequests, the residue of his estate passed
to his only son, William Henry Fitzhugh, with the admonition and hope
that he would make proper use of it. He appointed his two sons-in-law,
William Craik and George Washington Parke Custis, also Edmund I. Lee and
Robert Randolph, as guardians of his son's estate until he came of age,
and as executors of his will. The inventory of the contents of his house
is that of a rich man, who lived in the comfort and elegance of his
time. Appropriately enough, a pair of his knife boxes have found their
way to Mount Vernon.
[Illustration: General Lee's bedroom, showing the railing of the little
stair leading to his mother's room]
William Henry Fitzhugh married Anna Maria Goldsborough of Maryland and
built the house on the Ravensworth estate so intimately associated with
the Fitzhughs and Lees. In September 1820, he sold the house in
Alexandria to William Brent of Stafford for ten thousand dollars.
William Brent Jr., lost the house by indebtedness to the Mechanics Bank
of Alexandria in 1824. The bank was the highest bidder at $3,500.
Young Fitzhugh met an early death shortly after his marriage when thrown
by his horse. He was an only son and he died childless so that branch
of the clan ended with the death of Mrs. George Washington Parke Custis.
Fitzhugh's widow lived for forty years at Ravensworth.
[Illustration: The mantel in Mrs. Harry Lee's bedroom]
Later William Hodgson and his family owned the Oronoco Street house for
a couple of generations and in turn sold the house to William C. Yeaton,
who owned it for some twenty-odd years. This family planted many
tropical trees, the unique magnolia and the lemon trees among them. In
1883 the house was sold at public auction for one thousand dollars to
Mary E. Fleming, widow of Dr. Robert F. Fleming, "she being the highest
bidder."
It is a strange coincidence that to this Alexandria home of the
Fitzhughs came, about 1818, the widow of a gentleman active in the
affairs of the nation. He had commanded, during the Revolution, a Legion
bearing his own name; he had served as governor of his state from 1792
to 1795; as a member of Congress from 1799 to 1801, and he it was who
prepared the memorial resolutions which were presented when word reached
Philadelphia of Washington's decease, declaring him in immortal words:
"First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his fellow
citizens." In fact, he liked the phrase himself and used it with a
slight modification in the halls of Congress when making his celebrated
eulogy of Washington.
This widow then resident in the former home of William Fitzhugh was Mrs.
Henry Lee, born Anne Carter of Shirley. Exiled from Stratford when her
eldest stepson came into his patrimony, she and her husband, General
Lee, known to all Virginians as "Light Horse Harry," moved to
Alexandria. The Lees occupied several houses from time to time, but on
October 14, 1824, Mrs. Lee was at home in the house on the northwest
corner of St. Asaph and Oronoco Streets and she received a visitor of
such importance that it made history. The guest, who was no less a
personage than General the Marquis de la Fayette, came to pay his
respects to the wife of his friend. This visit was witnessed by the
young Quaker, Benjamin Hallowell, who had moved into the house next door
with his bride of a day, and stood in the doorway to watch the Marquis
go by. Moreover, the Marquis saw the young couple and "made a graceful
bow."
Mrs. Henry Lee, with her family of boys, occupied this house for seven
years. Robert Edward's room adjoined hers, on a lower level, being
connected by a small stairway.
Shortly after Mr. Hallowell opened his school, Robert E. Lee went to him
in February 1825, for instruction in mathematics, preparatory to going
to West Point to prepare himself for the Army.
Naturally the friendliest intimacy existed between the family at
Arlington and the house on Oronoco Street. And so, two years after
leaving West Point, Lieutenant Robert E. Lee, Corps of Engineers,
married, on June 30, 1831, Mary Custis, granddaughter of William
Fitzhugh, and great-granddaughter of Martha Washington.
General Lee always loved this house and after defeat he came back to
Alexandria, which for some time had been in command of the Union forces,
to take farewell of his family and friends and went again to look once
more upon the scenes of his childhood. The story is told that people
next door were startled to see a man peeping over the wall. Upon
investigation, it proved to be General Lee, who had climbed upon the
wall to look into the garden. He apologized, saying, "I just wanted to
see if the snowballs were in bloom."
To this day the garden, as the house, retains its integrity. All the
growing things associated with old gardens are there--the lilacs,
boxwood, magnolias, lemon trees, iris, syringa, lilies, jonquils,
jasmine, honeysuckle--and General Lee's remembered snowballs.
[Illustration: George Washington Parke Custis; grandson of Martha;
adopted son of George Washington; husband of Mary Fitzhugh;
father-in-law of Robert E. Lee. By Saint Memin. (_Courtesy Corcoran
Gallery of Art_)]
[Illustration]