| Show to U I I II Ii i A HI T k SACRED SHRINE OF AMERICAN ARLINGTON SACRED ARLINGTON t 1 I WIN DEVOTION ON MEMORIAL DAY AY I By ELMO SCOTT WATSON F THERE Is one place in inthe inthe inthe IF I the United States toward which more than to any other the hearts of Americans turn on Memorial Day it is isI I Arlington national cemetery in Virginia There the first Memorial Day exercises were held beld on May 30 1868 after Gen John A A. A Logan in commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic had is issued issued issued is- is sued his historic Order No 11 setting aside this day each year for honoring the Civil war dead The principal speaker on this occasion was Gen James A A. Garfield I later ter president of the United States and at that time was was inaugurated the custom of honoring the Unknown Dead as well as those whose names are known For the principal ceremony at that first Memorial Day celebration was decorating with flags and flowers lowers a monument ment merit that had been erected to the memory of 2111 unidentified fied fled dead found on the fields of Bull Dull Run and the route to the Rappahannock There in 1921 was entombed the die Unknown Soldier of the World war to give the nation its most precious shrine And there as a crowning glory has been erected the magnificent magnificent mag amphitheater of classic design in which the President of the United States on each Memorial Day speaks to the nation nation na tion and for or the nation in paying pay ing tribute to its dead Truly this is hallowed ground and Arlington is a hallowed name Rich Rich In to sentiment Arlington Is also allO rich In tradition and In historic association tt its Iti story goes goel back to the year lIr 1600 1000 when Sir William Berkeley royal roal governor of Virginia Vir Vie ginia by authority of King Ing Charles Charlet II U b by the tho grace of ot Jail Cod and by bl the discovery of ot John Cabot granted grunted to Robert Hawser a sea sen captain acres of ot land Including the present site te of at Arlington for bringing bring bring- bringing ing settlers to Virginia Hawser Is I. said laid to have sold old life his grant the very UI same ame year to the Alexander family for six hogsheads of tobacco nut Hut they thel do not seem to have taken advantage of ot what was obviously a good goal bargain until 1735 when John and Gerald Alexander asserted title under ender the grant made 00 CO years pr previously pre and their title was Will sus sua tamed On Christmas day doy of at 1773 1778 Gerald Alexander sold two tracts tract on the Potomac to a t certain John Parke lurke CutI One of these tracts embracing log ing 1100 acres acre and Including the present national cemetery brought pounds pound sterling In Virginia currency John Joha Parke arke CultiS was Wal the son eon of ot CoL Cot Daniel Parke who had married seventeen old year old Martha Dandridge tile the reigning belle of ot Williamsburg then the leading city In the Old Dominion Daniel Parke larke died In the spring of at 1757 1151 leaving besides his hi widow and their two children John Parks Parke CotI and Martha Parke arte an aD estate valued at more than An Historic Marriage A little utile more than a year rear later a ayoung ayoung young officer In 10 the tha Virginia colonial col onial troops who bad had distinguished himself at Braddock defeat came a wooing a the Widow IDs m. name was wal George Washington and be and Martha Dandridge Custis We were married on 00 January 0 e 6 1750 11 Washington grew passionately fond of at his hi two te step children and when Martha Parks Parke died on June 10 10 1773 1713 at the age of ot seventeen seven seven- seventeen teen teeD he be was almost almot heart heartbroken Meanwhile her ber brother John Parke bad had become deeply smitten with the charms of at Miss Eleanor Calvert second daughter of ot Benedict Benedict Bene fleas dict diet Calvert of Mount Airy Mil Mel a descendant of ot Lord Baltimore Ills marriage took place In io February February Feb Feb- 1774 nn At Al the beginning of ot the Revolution Revolution tion Uon young promptly offered I his hll services to hla his country and as II atan asan an aD aide aldo to Washington he served with distinction down to tb the tha siege Ieee of Yorktown There however he contracted camp fever ferer and before the surrender took place he be was w. forced to leave leut his hi Ha He post was removed removed remond re re- moved mond to the home of his hla uncle unde Colonel Bassett at st where he be died on November 6 1781 1181 leavIne leav leav- lug Ing his hi young widow and ancl four tour small mall children This second blow was almost as II great creat a one ODe to Washington as u the death of ot Martha Parke Custis C had bad been He lie Immediately adopted as II his own the two younger C lIdren Parka Parke Castle end and George Washington Parka Parke Castle who Tho were wr taken takeD to Mount Vernon and aDd placed la In the cars car of ot Mrs lire Lund Washing Washing- 4 7 i t Tl tt J 4 f ri Br 1 JI t v w fw f j. j I 1 4 wt Arlington louse House Built by George Washington Parke Parks Custis on His Ills Estate Now Arlington National Cemetery I ton on whose husband was managing the he renera generals general's property at th t place When permanent peace came and Washington again took up his hla residence rest resi dence at Mount Vernon ernon be he and Mrs lira Washington assumed Intimate and active care of ot the two children who proved of ot much comfort to them In their heir declining years Why Named Arlington In 1700 1100 what are now the ton on lands land were allotted by the court courto to o the legal representative representatives of John Parke who had died Ites- Ites tate ate fly lly the law of ot primogeniture the he estate descended to Washing Washington's tons ton's namesake George Washington Washing Washing- ton Parke Custis It was Wal G. G W W. 1 P. P who named It Arlington after after aft aft- er cc the ancestral home In to Northampton county on the eastern shore hore of at Virginia George Washington Parke Custis had tad an Interesting career From the thelme time he was six aux months old until the lie death of at his hi grandmother Martha Mar liar tha Washington on 00 May Mal 22 1802 i I t t's s wb f J b George Washington Parke Custis he tie was continually under her guidance guidance guidance guid guid- ance ance and Influence or under the tile Instruction Instruction In In- of his famous adopted fa tat ther lhor Perhaps no other American boy ever had bad better advantages offered him than thaD young youna had In his hi day As A. a child he met all of the great men who had bad taken takeD part In le the American Revolution and when Washington became beame President he be was taken takeo with him to live In to NewYork New NewYork NewYork York and later to Philadelphia In both places he be frequently came In contact with the builders of the republic republic re re- public as su well as II the most moat cultured and retired element with wills which the first President resident continually surrounded surround surround- ed himself He tie was waa educated along the most practical tines lines In the best schools of his hili day da forming the foundation for tor his subsequent taste for tor art and literature and equipping him as II aswell aswell well tor for the speakers speaker's platform which he be delighted In filling In 10 after after aft aft- er years Jear Following the death of at his hla grandmother grand mother he made mode his hi home borne for two years fears with his sister who had hid married mar mar- marI I tied fled Maj Ma Lawrence Lewis In 10 1802 In anticipation of ot his own marriage to Mary Lee Fitzhugh he began building Arlington mansion or Lee mansion as It later was called To this house bouse designed after alter the Temple Tem Tern pIe of Theseus In 10 Athens a Greece reece he brought his hIa year old bride In 1803 land ISO and nd for the next half ceo century tury th the Sage of ot Arlington a as a. he became became be be- came known was a leading figure gure In 10 the life of the national capital capita There were few tew men of at note whom he be did not know and few tew men Oleo who did not know him lIe He was wa popular with the people it ct t Washington for tor whose entertainment be he generously threw the grounds of ot his bl estate open They were glad to take ads an tare tags of ot hit his hospitality even een though he be was regarded as something of ot an eccentric character Relics Relic of the Arlington hO hone became the repository re to- of ot a largo large and aDd interesting collection of ot relics of ot the Washing Washing- tons Ions which were given to him b by his doting grandmother or fell tell to his hi lot In the tho foal final nal division of ot the household goods roods or which he purchased purchased pur pun chased from less affluent posses posses- sore sors These Included among other things the bed In 10 which Washington Washing ton Ion died and the tha tent which had sheltered him during the Uon tion The latter was wu often otten pitched on 00 the Arlington lawn for tor the aw amid admiration of ot residents of ot Georgetown George town and Washington on who were ferried across the Potomac to attend at at- tend end the annual sheep-shearing sheep fes- fes theta which Custis held since the breeding of at merino sheep was one of his bl hobbles bobbles A barbecue was the reward of at those who attended these festivals and an oration Cutts Custis was the penalty at penalty at feast that Is the he way one of his hie descendants put pat patIt It Although he be was waa one of at the wealthiest men of ot his hi day Custis was often hard bard pressed for tor ready nodI cash On one he asked the bonk bank to defer payment of ot a note for 05 and In 10 1831 he be applied to the Bank nank of the United States for tor a aloan aloan loan loaD of ot In order to finance nance a trip to France There he proposed to go to obtain from Lafayette all of at his hla Revolutionary war papers and his personal recollections of Washington for a book on The Private Memoirs of the Life and Character of ot Washington which proposed to write Besides aspiring to be the biographer pher of his adopted father Custis also had ambitions ambition as 88 a painter a poet and sod a playwright As Aa the later lat ter er he wrote such productions as a. Launch of ot Columbia or Our Blue DIlle Jackets Forever National Dream of Pocahontas of the First Settlers of Virginia and an aD operetta called The Railroad Pocahontas was played In Charleston and Columbia S. S S O 0 a. a and The Tits Railroad was produced pro pro- du ed at the Old National theater In a W Washington and also ran for seven leven nights In Baltimore Writer of Melodrama Pocahontas was criticized ns os beIng being beng be- be Ing ng too melodramatic and Cutts Custis wrote to a friend Melodrama Is all the go now and even In historical playa plays you must mut sprinkle show and Ind pageant and things to please the Ule senses lenses as well as the Judgment The play Is In London In the hands bands of at Washington Irving and John Howard Payne layne who will under their able auspices bring It out on on the London stage If successful there why I may be considered here bere as something of a dramatist But Dut It If Custis never became known as something ng of at a dramatist be he Is Js remembered for tor many other reasons One of ot them Is the fact tact that It was in his mansion on June SO 30 1831 that his only daughter Mary Marr Ann Randolph Ran Itan- dol dolph ph Custis was WOl married to a ayoung ayoung young lieutenant In la the engineers go with his state when It left the Union although It meant the sacrifice seen fice flee of ot everything which he held dear On April 22 1861 1801 Colonel and Mrs lira Lee left lett Arlington for tor Richmond Richmond Rich Rich- mond where he Immediately entered entered entered en en- the military service first of Virginia and later of ot the Coated Coated- From the date of at their departure departure departure de de- Arlington was wal occupied only by bl servants and soon afterwards a force torce of at Union troops commanded by br Colonel took charge I of ot It First Firt Burials After the first battle o o. o Bull Dull Run Bun McDowell's army entrenched hed Itself on 00 Arlington Heights the mansion was waa occupied by officers officer soldiers were encamped on Its grounds and two strong forts torts were built there for tor the defense of Washington After Aft Att er the battles bottles of ot the Wilderness Quartermaster Gen Oen M. M C C. l. ordered ordered or or- ordered dered burial at Arlington for tor all soldiers dying In the military hospi hospi- hospitals hospitals In and around Washington The official records of ot such Buch burials begin begin begin be be- gin with May 13 1804 1 so 80 Arlington has haa been a burial place of soldier dead for tor nearl nearly three-quarters three of ot a century When the bodies of at the unknown soldier dead burled b between be tween the Potomac and the Rappahannock Rappa nappa hannock were In Arlington Arling Arling- ton It brought the total of ot Civil war burials there to As Ae for tor the process by which Arlington Arlington Ar Ar- lington became a national cemetery It came about In this way In 1802 by bl act of congress a property tax was levied In all the states for the conduct of the war This tax totaled 92 12 for tor the Arlington property and since It was unpaid the property was ordered sold mold oa ott January 11 1804 1803 The government was empowered empowered empowered ered to bid the property In and ond to use It for tor educational and military purposes The price paid was 20 a.- a. In 1877 1817 George Jeorge Washington Custis Lee brought suit In circuit court for tor the ejectment of ot persons living on the estate The federal government government govern govern- ment had bad rented out parcels of ot land to small farmers while on one cornor cor I Iner ner nor of ot the property a village of nearly 1000 persons persona had bad grown Irown up Lee won his case In 10 the lower court and In 1882 the Supreme court upheld upheld upheld up up- held the verdict The government then had made Itself a party to the suit and following the handing I II i a s aa a e r t 4 0 w a 55 1 s a ef r. r W I The Tomb of the Unknown wn Soldier In Arlington corps corp of at the United States State army His IW name was Robert Edward Lee and through that marriage the name Dame of at another famous Virginia family became linked with Arlington The approaching storm torm of civil chit war greatly troubled the mind of ot the muter mister of Arlington but he did not live UfO to see It U break Us n. died on 00 October October October Oc Oc- tober 10 1857 Custis hid had bequeathed the Arlington Arling Arting ton House estate of at SW acres acre to his hll daughter and at t her ber death to her eldest son on George Georce Washington Custis Lee Colonel Lee Leo obtained I I leave from the tie army to go to Acting Arling I ton to settle ettle the estate and during his hi brief stay there brought order out of ot the chaotic conditions Into which It had hid fallen tallen In 10 the last days dars of at Custis' Custis life It U was waa at A r. s that Lee LH made his hla momentous decision to down dOWD of ot the Supreme court decision It agreed to pay pal Lee the he ho asked as a compromise This sum lum was appropriated by congress and turned over to Lee After the close of ot the Civil war Arlington house bouse or the Lee Iee mansion as It became known because of Its association with the Ibe great creat leader of the Lost Loat Cause remained a deserted de- de sorted mansion In recent years however It has been restored am and completely furnished with origin al pieces piece of furniture or faithful reproductions re re- productions of ot them and contempo nary articles so that a visit fish to 1 It takes one back to the days day when the Sage of ot |
