The land comprising the Arlington estate, 1,100 acres, was sold by Gerard Alexander to John Parke Custis in December, 1778, for a consideration of £11,000 Virginia currency. John Parke Custis never lived at Arlington, and on his death in 1781 his son, George Washington Parke Custis, inherited the Arlington estate. Mr. Custis lived at Mount Vernon, however, until after the death of Martha Washington, which occurred on May 22, 1802. He then took possession of the tract, changed the name to Arlington, after an old family seat on the eastern shore of Virginia. While he was building the mansion he lived in a small cottage on the Potomac. The two wings were built first. The central portion of the house, with its massive columns, is said to have been built from plans drawn by George Hadfield, an English architect, who came to this country with the intention of designing the new Capitol. The date when the mansion was completed is uncertain, but Mrs. Robert E. Lee is authority for the statement that it was completed just before the Civil War. The family lived in the wings for many years. In 1804 Mr. Custis married Mary Lee Fitzhugh, daughter of William Fitzhugh, of Chatham, at Alexandria, Va. To this union four children were born, but only one, Mary Ann Randolph Custis (born October 1, 1808), lived. On June 30, 1831, she became the wife of Lieut. Robert E. Lee. Upon the death of her father, in 1857, title to the estate passed to Mrs. Lee. On May 24, 1861, Union troops occupied Arlington, and it soon became an armed camp. Under an act of Congress passed June 17, 1862, certain commissioners of the Government were appointed to levy and collect taxes in Virginia and elsewhere; and if default in payment was made, to sell the real estate upon which the taxes were levied. Prior to January, 1864, the commissioners had adopted a rule by which payment of taxes in the district where the Arlington property was located would not be accepted unless tendered by the owner in person. Mrs. Lee could not comply with this rule, so she sent a cousin, Mr. Fendall, to pay the taxes. The money was refused, and he was informed that Mrs. Lee must be present in person. On January 11, 1864, there was due only the sum of $92.07 on the 1,100 acres of the Arlington estate, together with a 50 per cent penalty, when the property was sold “according to law,” as stated in the tax certificate. The United States acquired title to the property at public auction by the payment of $26,000. [Illustration: ARLINGTON MANSION--RECEPTION HALL]