Lee Robert E. Lee Children

[Cek3]

I am a bit curioused by the fact that none of Lee's daughters ever married. A wonder why? They were around plenty of men at Washington College after the War. I would appreciate the Groups thoughts.

Concomitantly, Custis Lee never married. They say he was very shy. He appears very handsome, and was well-respected. Again, I would appreciate anyone's thoughts.

 

[luinrina]

The thing with Custis is that before the war, he inherited Arlington when his grandfather died. When the Civil War broke out, the Union confiscated Arlington and created the cemetery in Mary Lee's rose garden. Years after the war, he was able to get his property back by a court ruling, but with thousands of graves that would have needed to be moved, he instead sold the property to the government. Until then, he didn't have much to bring into a possible marriage, least of all a house to live in. The house in Lexington was the property of Washington & Lee and the Lee family lived in there only as long as first General Lee and then Custis was president of the college.

As to Lee's daughters, Agnes came close to marrying. But he was killed during the war. And she died not long after the war ended. Anne died during the war, in 1862. After her mother's death, Mildred was more or less the lady of the house, living with Custis when she wasn't traveling. And Mary was traveling all over the world. I read somewhere that she had an independent character. For her, marriage might have felt like being trapped.

I would also think that with Lee being so revered, courting one of his daughters and asking the general for her hand in marriage might have been a daunting task to many a possible suitor.

 

[Crazy Delawares]

I remember reading years ago that Lee was a doting father but that he. had a special penchant for his daughters. So much so, that when the girls came of marrying age, it was tough to find a man who could measure up to Daddy. I hope I remember that correctly. It may have come from the book, MARBLE MAN. I don't quite remember.

 

[Cek3]

I remember reading years ago that Lee was a doting father but that he. had a special penchant for his daughters. So much so, that when the girls came of marrying age, it was tough to find a man who could measure up to Daddy. I hope I remember that correctly. It may have come from the book, MARBLE MAN. I don't quite remember.

yes. I kind of suspected that. Thanks

 

[bwthompson]

I am a bit curioused by the fact that none of Lee's daughters ever married. A wonder why? They were around plenty of men at Washington College after the War. I would appreciate the Groups thoughts.

Concomitantly, Custis Lee never married. They say he was very shy. He appears very handsome, and was well-respected. Again, I would appreciate anyone's thoughts.

Yes! Poor Custis! However, he did have relationships with women in his circle. He was engaged to a Sally Warwick for a short period of time during 1864. There are a few different theories as to the reason for the engagement's end. Some being that Miss Warwick was not serious about marrying Custis, others saying that Custis himself was openly seeing another Richmond lady.

Custis maintained several friendships and correspondences with female cousins and other Southern ladies. Though shy and reticent, it seems his main obstacle was his lack of property after the loss of Arlington.

 

[Cek3]

Yes! Poor Custis! However, he did have relationships with women in his circle. He was engaged to a Sally Warwick for a short period of time during 1864. There are a few different theories as to the reason for the engagement's end. Some being that Miss Warwick was not serious about marrying Custis, others saying that Custis himself was openly seeing another Richmond lady.

Custis maintained several friendships and correspondences with female cousins and other Southern ladies. Though shy and reticent, it seems his main obstacle was his lack of property after the loss of Arlington.

While appreciate your response, it saddens me that Lack of Property would stand in the way of Love.

Yes! Poor Custis! However, he did have relationships with women in his circle. He was engaged to a Sally Warwick for a short period of time during 1864. There are a few different theories as to the reason for the engagement's end. Some being that Miss Warwick was not serious about marrying Custis, others saying that Custis himself was openly seeing another Richmond lady.

Custis maintained several friendships and correspondences with female cousins and other Southern ladies. Though shy and reticent, it seems his main obstacle was his lack of property after the loss of Arlington.

 

[bwthompson]

While appreciate your response, it saddens me that Lack of Property would stand in the way of Love.

Yes! It's a sad prospect. However, it doesn't seem that Custis had a true "love" in his life. Bernice-Marie Yates argues that finding an intellectual equal would've been of utmost importance to him, and the women of his time were not educated in the way that we are today.