William Fitzhugh and Robert E. Lee

Another fine example of late eighteenth century federal architecture in Alexandria is the residence at 607 Oronoco Street,[Owners: Mr. and Mrs. Robert C. Goodale.] commonly spoken of as the boyhood home of Robert E. Lee. This house abounds with memories of Alexandria. Her history, romance, and past are interwoven here in a perfect pattern. Washington, perhaps, frequented this house more than any other save Dr. Craik's after the Fitzhughs moved to Alexandria from Chatham near Fredericksburg.

Built by John Potts in 1795 on land purchased from Charles Alexander, the date is attested by the stone fixed high in the wall under the carved cornice. Potts and his wife, Elizabeth, deeded the property to William Fitzhugh in 1799 for the sum of twelve thousand dollars.

The house and garden occupy half a city block. A central hall runs through the house and every room opens by window or door into the garden. The woodwork in the house, while simple, is in the best tradition and, save for two missing mantels, is undisturbed. The stairway rises on the left of the hall in a series of easy steps to a landing that crosses one end of the hall and then mounts on the right side to the second floor. The decoration of the risers and landing, in a diamond motif paneled in a delicate mold, is reminiscent of the designer, Adam. Two superb rooms open off the hall on each side, and the dining room and offices are in an ell on a lower level. There are Adam mantels of great beauty in the two master bedrooms on the second floor. The doors, chair rails, cornices, floors, and locks are in a fine state of preservation throughout the house.

In the kitchen is the brick oven with patent doors made in England and inserted in the chimney about the time the house was built. A few years ago, the former owners, Dr. and Mrs. R.R. Sayers, went to the address of the manufactory at Stratton, 173 Cheapside, London. It was still in operation and there they were able to purchase needed parts for the faithful old oven.

Virginia is more like the mother country in the relations that exist between her aristocratic classes, than any other part of the Union save, perhaps, South Carolina. These people moved in one large circle, marrying and intermarrying, related and associated as one enormous family. Welcome in one another's homes, they kept alive family ties by visits and letters, both of considerable length. It was quite possible to go away from home for several years for a series of visits, moving from one estate to another and remaining for the season—all the while renewing associations within the chosen orbit.

Of this hierarchy was William Fitzhugh. A man of charm and culture, reared in the days and traditions of the great planters, he kept open house at Chatham, near Fredericksburg, the year around. Travelers en route to and from Williamsburg and Richmond were entertained in a lavish fashion. With the formation of the new government, the stream of visitors increased to such an extent that the Fitzhughs were being eaten out of house and home, and found it necessary to escape from their friends. They selected Alexandria as a place of domicile. Chatham was placed on the market in 1796.

A lifelong friend and associate of George Washington, there was great intimacy between the two families. Fitzhugh contributed two fine does to the Mount Vernon deer park in 1786, and the same year forwarded a supply of orchard grass seed for the General's use. A year before Washington's death his good offices as neighbor and friend were directed toward the acquisition of a horse that would best serve Washington's purpose. Entries in George Washington's diaries attest the many times that the Fitzhughs were at Mount Vernon, and the Washingtons at Chatham or Alexandria. On January 3, 1798: "Mrs. Washington, myself, etc., went to Alexandria and dined with Mr. Fitzhugh,"[164] and on April 3, 1799, "went to Alexandria and lodged myself with Mr. Fitzhugh";[165] the next day he "returned to Alexandria and again lodged at Mr. Fitzhugh's."[166] The last mention in Washington's diary of his old friends is in the last month of his life, dated November 17, 1799, "went to Church in Alexandria and dined with Mr. Fitzhugh."[167]

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The Alexandria home bought by William Fitzhugh of Chatham to escape from his friends

To Fitzhugh's house came Washington Custis wooing, and successfully, too, Mary Lee Fitzhugh. George Washington did not live to see the marriage between the daughter of this old friend and his adopted son, George Washington Parke Custis; nor the splendid Arlington mansion, following that new fashion of likeness to a Greek temple, that was to house the Custis and Lee families for three generations. He knew those rolling acres of the Arlington plantation, but never dreamed they were destined to become the emerald pall for America's warrior dead.

In the Alexandria Daily Gazette, Commercial and Political of Friday, January 12, 1810, appeared the following advertisement:

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The Alexandria home of "Light Horse" Harry Lee's widow. The house that General Lee loved

William Fitzhugh's will was probated on December 23, 1809. To each of his two daughters who had "made themselves as dear as children can be to an affectionate Father," he left the sum of two thousand pounds, certain slaves (about sixteen) and lands containing eight hundred acres, for since they were "equal in his affections" he wished them to have an equal quantity. After other bequests, the residue of his estate passed to his only son, William Henry Fitzhugh, with the admonition and hope that he would make proper use of it. He appointed his two sons-in-law, William Craik and George Washington Parke Custis, also Edmund I. Lee and Robert Randolph, as guardians of his son's estate until he came of age, and as executors of his will. The inventory of the contents of his house is that of a rich man, who lived in the comfort and elegance of his time. Appropriately enough, a pair of his knife boxes have found their way to Mount Vernon.

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General Lee's bedroom, showing the railing of the little stair leading to his mother's room

William Henry Fitzhugh married Anna Maria Goldsborough of Maryland and built the house on the Ravensworth estate so intimately associated with the Fitzhughs and Lees. In September 1820, he sold the house in Alexandria to William Brent of Stafford for ten thousand dollars. William Brent Jr., lost the house by indebtedness to the Mechanics Bank of Alexandria in 1824. The bank was the highest bidder at $3,500.

Young Fitzhugh met an early death shortly after his marriage when thrown by his horse. He was an only son and he died childless so that branch of the clan ended with the death of Mrs. George Washington Parke Custis. Fitzhugh's widow lived for forty years at Ravensworth.

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The mantel in Mrs. Harry Lee's bedroom

Later William Hodgson and his family owned the Oronoco Street house for a couple of generations and in turn sold the house to William C. Yeaton, who owned it for some twenty-odd years. This family planted many tropical trees, the unique magnolia and the lemon trees among them. In 1883 the house was sold at public auction for one thousand dollars to Mary E. Fleming, widow of Dr. Robert F. Fleming, "she being the highest bidder."

It is a strange coincidence that to this Alexandria home of the Fitzhughs came, about 1818, the widow of a gentleman active in the affairs of the nation. He had commanded, during the Revolution, a Legion bearing his own name; he had served as governor of his state from 1792 to 1795; as a member of Congress from 1799 to 1801, and he it was who prepared the memorial resolutions which were presented when word reached Philadelphia of Washington's decease, declaring him in immortal words: "First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his fellow citizens." In fact, he liked the phrase himself and used it with a slight modification in the halls of Congress when making his celebrated eulogy of Washington.

This widow then resident in the former home of William Fitzhugh was Mrs. Henry Lee, born Anne Carter of Shirley. Exiled from Stratford when her eldest stepson came into his patrimony, she and her husband, General Lee, known to all Virginians as "Light Horse Harry," moved to Alexandria. The Lees occupied several houses from time to time, but on October 14, 1824, Mrs. Lee was at home in the house on the northwest corner of St. Asaph and Oronoco Streets and she received a visitor of such importance that it made history. The guest, who was no less a personage than General the Marquis de la Fayette, came to pay his respects to the wife of his friend. This visit was witnessed by the young Quaker, Benjamin Hallowell, who had moved into the house next door with his bride of a day, and stood in the doorway to watch the Marquis go by. Moreover, the Marquis saw the young couple and "made a graceful bow."

Mrs. Henry Lee, with her family of boys, occupied this house for seven years. Robert Edward's room adjoined hers, on a lower level, being connected by a small stairway.

Shortly after Mr. Hallowell opened his school, Robert E. Lee went to him in February 1825, for instruction in mathematics, preparatory to going to West Point to prepare himself for the Army.

Naturally the friendliest intimacy existed between the family at Arlington and the house on Oronoco Street. And so, two years after leaving West Point, Lieutenant Robert E. Lee, Corps of Engineers, married, on June 30, 1831, Mary Custis, granddaughter of William Fitzhugh, and great-granddaughter of Martha Washington.

General Lee always loved this house and after defeat he came back to Alexandria, which for some time had been in command of the Union forces, to take farewell of his family and friends and went again to look once more upon the scenes of his childhood. The story is told that people next door were startled to see a man peeping over the wall. Upon investigation, it proved to be General Lee, who had climbed upon the wall to look into the garden. He apologized, saying, "I just wanted to see if the snowballs were in bloom."

To this day the garden, as the house, retains its integrity. All the growing things associated with old gardens are there—the lilacs, boxwood, magnolias, lemon trees, iris, syringa, lilies, jonquils, jasmine, honeysuckle—and General Lee's remembered snowballs.

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George Washington Parke Custis; grandson of Martha; adopted son of George Washington; husband of Mary Fitzhugh; father-in-law of Robert E. Lee. By Saint MÈmin.
(Courtesy Corcoran Gallery of Art)

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