Built by his father-in-law, George Washington Parke Custis, the adopted son of General Washington, the mansion was for many years a principal repository of many objects associated with George Washington. As such, it greatly influenced Robert E. Lee when the building was his home. Like him, it experienced the vicissitudes of war and came to be associated with his fame. Now it is maintained by the Nation in his honor, and in the years to come will serve as a constant reminder of his nobility and greatness. Many years have passed since General Lee lived in the home at Arlington. But so real are the memories evoked by its historic atmosphere, it seems little more than yesterday that he left it for the last time. A visit to the Custis-Lee Mansion gives a deeper, more personal understanding of the life and worth of the man to whose memory it is now dedicated. _History of Arlington to 1861_ ANCESTRY OF GEORGE WASHINGTON PARKE CUSTIS. George Washington Parke Custis was born April 30, 1781. His mother was Eleanor (Calvert) Custis, a granddaughter of the sixth Lord Baltimore; his father, John Parke Custis, the only son of Martha Washington by her first marriage. John Parke Custis grew to manhood at Mount Vernon, married Eleanor Calvert in 1774, and died of camp fever in 1781 while serving as aide to General Washington at Yorktown. His death left four children fatherless, so the two youngest, George Washington Parke Custis and his sister Eleanor, were adopted by the Washingtons and taken to Mount Vernon to be raised as their own. HIS EARLY LIFE AT MOUNT VERNON. Only 6 months old when he was taken to live at Mount Vernon, it was a remarkable experience for a boy as sensitive and gifted as young Custis to grow up on terms of intimacy with General Washington, whose affection the fatherless lad reciprocated with the deepest love and respect. As far as public duties would allow, the General supervised the training and education of the boy, who acquired from him the interests and ideals which established the pattern of his life. “It is really an enjoyment to be here to witness the tranquil happiness that reigns throughout the house,” wrote a guest at Mount Vernon in 1799, “except when now and then a little bustle is occasioned by the young Squire Custis when he returns from hunting, bringing in a ‘valiant deer’, as he terms it, that Grandpa and the Colonel will devour: nice venison I assure you.” GEORGE WASHINGTON PARKE CUSTIS MOVES TO ARLINGTON. Custis was 18 when the General died in 1799. Mrs. Washington did not long survive her husband, and when she died, early in 1802, Custis moved to “Mount Washington,” as he first called the Arlington estate. This was a tract of nearly 1,100 acres that Custis’ father had bought in 1778 with the intention of establishing a family seat convenient to Mount Vernon, but in 1802 the only tangible remains of his brief ownership were the flourishing willows he had planted along the Potomac.