Lee Mary Custis Lee

[CSA Today]

"General Lee had known Mary Custis from childhood. She was the great-granddaughter of Martha Washington, the first, First Lady of the United States. He started courting Mary in 1829 but her father George Washington Parke Custis didn't consider Robert a suitable match for his daughter as Robert's father had spent time in jail. However, Robert and Mary were able to change his mind and they married with his approval on June 30, 1831. The couple went on to have seven children."

 

[NH Civil War Gal]

I believe she suffered from some sort of terrible inflammatory arthritis?

 

[Dylan's Mimi]

Hi, this is is my first comment. I read the post indicating that this thread is more than 3 years old and not to bump old threads without a good reason. However, this is a photo of Mary Custis Lee, the oldest daughter of Robert E Lee and his wife Mary Anna Custis Lee. The similarity of names is confusing. Even family members encountered trouble with mother and daughter having the same name. She was referred to in the family as "Sister." She was an interesting woman who was very independent from her family and somewhat eccentric. Mary was arrested in Alexandria, Virginia in 1902 at the age of 67 because she refused to sit in the white only section of a segregated street car and sat with her maid in the black section. Like all of the Lee daughters, she never married and Mary lived a somewhat nomadic existence traveling all over the world and using her status as the daughter of Robert E. Lee to meet important leading figures of the day. She even had an audience with Queen Victoria!

 

[Saint Jude]

John Perry wrote a biography of Mary Custis Lee abut twenty years ago. He focused on her faith. Anybody know of other biographies of her?