Mary Lee "Molly" Fitzhugh Custis (April 22, 1788 – April 23, 1853) was an Episcopal lay leader in Alexandria County (now
Arlington County
Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county ...
, Virginia, United States). She was the mother of
Mary Anna Randolph Custis who was the wife of
Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, towards the end of which he was appointed the overall commander of the Confederate States Army. He led the Army of Nor ...
. Early in the 1820s, Molly Custis helped form a coalition of women who hoped to eradicate slavery.
Early life
The daughter of
William Fitzhugh
William Fitzhugh (August 24, 1741June 6, 1809) was an American planter, legislator and patriot during the American Revolutionary War who served as a delegate to the Continental Congress for Virginia in 1779, as well as many terms in the House o ...
(1741–1809) a member of the Continental Congress, and
Ann Bolling Randolph Fitzhugh
William Fitzhugh (August 24, 1741June 6, 1809) was an American planter, legislator and patriot during the American Revolutionary War who served as a delegate to the Continental Congress for Virginia in 1779, as well as many terms in the House o ...
, Molly Custis was most likely born at
Chatham Manor
Chatham Manor is a Georgian-style mansion home completed in 1771 by farmer and statesman William Fitzhugh, after about three years of construction, on the Rappahannock River in Stafford County, Virginia, opposite Fredericksburg. It was for m ...
, in
Stafford County, Virginia.
Marriage and Family
On July 7, 1804, she married
George Washington Parke Custis, an orator, playwright, writer, and the grandson of
Martha Custis Washington
Martha Dandridge Custis Washington (June 21, 1731 — May 22, 1802) was the wife of George Washington, the first president of the United States. Although the title was not coined until after her death, Martha Washington served as the inaugural ...
through her first marriage to
Daniel Parke Custis. Molly Custis thus became
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...
's step-granddaughter-in-law. Molly's father William Fitzhugh and George Washington were long-time friends, with Washington mentioning in his diaries the hospitality of Molly's mother
Ann Bolling Randolph Fitzhugh
William Fitzhugh (August 24, 1741June 6, 1809) was an American planter, legislator and patriot during the American Revolutionary War who served as a delegate to the Continental Congress for Virginia in 1779, as well as many terms in the House o ...
; a visit to William Fitzhugh turned out to be the last time Washington left Mt. Vernon before his death.
The Custises lived at
Arlington House Arlington House may refer to:
*Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial
*Arlington House (London) a hostel for the homeless in London, England, and one of the Rowton Houses
*Arlington House, Margate, an eighteen-storey residential apartment bloc ...
, an plantation in Alexandria County, Virginia. Of their four daughters, only
Mary Anna Randolph Custis, who later married
Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, towards the end of which he was appointed the overall commander of the Confederate States Army. He led the Army of Nor ...
, survived childhood; Lee's father Henry had famously eulogized President Washington at the 1799 funeral.
Molly's brother,
William Henry Fitzhugh, supported his niece
Anne Lee and her six children by allowing them to stay at his home in
Fairfax County
Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is part of Northern Virginia and borders both the city of Alexandria and Arlington County and forms part of the suburban ring of Washington, D.C. ...
,
Ravensworth
Ravensworth is a village and civil parish in the Holmedale valley, within the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England. It is approximately north-west of Richmond and from Darlington. The parish has a population of 255, according ...
where she died in 1829.
In 1824, when
Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, towards the end of which he was appointed the overall commander of the Confederate States Army. He led the Army of Nor ...
was 17,
William Henry Fitzhugh wrote to the
Secretary of War
The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...
,
John C. Calhoun
John Caldwell Calhoun (; March 18, 1782March 31, 1850) was an American statesman and political theorist from South Carolina who held many important positions including being the seventh vice president of the United States from 1825 to 1832. He ...
, urging that Robert be given an appointment to the
United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...
at West Point.
Religious influence
Molly Custis was a member of a family network in northern Virginia that helped revive the state's Episcopal Church in the first part of the nineteenth century. She particularly influenced her cousin, Bishop
William Meade. Molly Custis promoted Sunday schools and supported the work of the
American Colonization Society
The American Colonization Society (ACS), initially the Society for the Colonization of Free People of Color of America until 1837, was an American organization founded in 1816 by Robert Finley to encourage and support the migration of freebor ...
.
Molly followed the teachings of the
Second Great Awakening
The Second Great Awakening was a Protestant religious revival during the early 19th century in the United States. The Second Great Awakening, which spread religion through revivals and emotional preaching, sparked a number of reform movements. R ...
, with its emotional surrender to a just but inscrutable God and rejection of transient worldly pleasures.
Death
She died at Arlington on April 23, 1853, a day after her 65th birthday and was buried on the estate. Her husband survived her by four years, at which point Arlington House and the grounds were inherited by their daughter
Mary Anna Randolph Custis, Mrs.
Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, towards the end of which he was appointed the overall commander of the Confederate States Army. He led the Army of Nor ...
.
References
*^ Death notice and tribute in ''Alexandria Gazette'', May 16, 27, 1853.
External links
Custis and Lee family biographies by the National Park Service
{{DEFAULTSORT:Custis, Mary Lee Fitzhugh
1788 births
1853 deaths
People from Arlington County, Virginia
People from Stafford County, Virginia
Custis family of Virginia
Washington family
Fitzhugh family of Virginia
Bolling family of Virginia
18th-century American Episcopalians
19th-century American Episcopalians
18th-century American women
19th-century American women
Burials at Arlington National Cemetery