Description:

Robert E. Lee's Wife Tells Pastor Her Horse Is Still Lame and Slave Advises Patience

In this brief but fascinating note written from Arlington House, Mary Custis Lee tells her pastor that their horse is still lame but that their African-American slave Daniel thinks the horse will recover in a few days. Apparently, Rev. Dana had planned a visit, and Lee tells him to prepare to stay for several days until the horse heals.

"Daniel" was likely the Lees' enslaved African American man, "Old Daniel," whom Mary Custis Lee had inherited from her father and who was one of the slaves whom Robert E. Lee emancipated in late December 1862, as the executor of his father-in-law's estate. Mary C. Lee seems to have trusted Daniel's judgment on the condition of her horse, reflecting the complex relationships that existed between masters and their enslaved "property" in the antebellum South.

MARY CUSTIS LEE, Autograph Letter Signed, to Charles B. Dana, ca. June 1854, Arlington, Virginia. 2 pp., 4" x 5". Expected folds; very good.

Complete Transcript
I regret exceedingly my dear sir that our horse still continues so lame that we cannot use him without risk of making him more so Daniel says if we let him alone for a few days longer he thinks he will have a better chance I think he will be well enough for me to take you home when you want to go but you must come prepared to remain most of the week with us. In haste yrs truly
M C Lee
You will not forget our mail

[Address:] Revd C B Dana / Alexa

Mary Anna Randolph Custis Lee (1807-1873) was born in Virginia as the great-granddaughter of Martha Custis Washington and therefore step-great-granddaughter of George Washington. The only surviving child of her parents, she was pampered and well-educated. Like her mother, she taught enslaved people how to read and write, and she supported gradual emancipation and colonization in Africa but opposed abolitionism and racial equality. In 1831, she married her third cousin, Lt. Robert E. Lee (1807-1870) of the U.S. Army, and they had seven children. After the death of her father George Washington Parke Custis in 1857, she edited and published his writings in 1859. She also inherited Arlington House from him, which she only evacuated on May 15, 1861. When trapped behind Union lines at her son's plantation east of Richmond in May 1862, Union Major General George B. McClellan allowed her to pass through the lines into Richmond. After the war, she lived with her husband in Lexington, where he was president of Washington College from October 1865 until his death.

Charles B. Dana (1806-1873) was born in New Hampshire and graduated from Dartmouth College in 1828. He graduated from Andover Theological Seminary in 1833, became a clergyman in the Protestant Episcopal Church, and briefly taught rhetoric at Mount Hope College, from which he received the degree of D.D. He served as rector of Christ Church in Alexandria, Virginia, from 1834 to 1860. While there, he presented Robert E. Lee to his bishop for confirmation. In 1860, he married his parishioner Elvira Rosebell Close (1833-1886), and they had two sons. Later in 1860, Dana moved to Port Gibson, Mississippi, where he was rector of St. James's Church. In 1866, he moved to Natchez as rector of Trinity Church, where he remained until his death.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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