Mary Lee Fitzhugh Custis was born 22 April 1788 to William Fitzhugh (1741-1809) and Ann Randolph Fitzhugh (1747-1805). She married George Washington Parke Custis (1781-1857) in 1806, and they were the parents of Mary Randolph Custis (1808-1873) who married Robert E. Lee (1807-1870). Mary Fitzhugh Custis died 23 April 1853 at Arlington in Alexandria County, Virginia, and was buried there. George Washington Parke Custis was the son of John Parke Custis (1755-1781), and the grandson of Daniel Parke Custis (1711-1757) and Martha Dandridge Custis Washington (1731-1802).
Mary Randolph Custis Lee was born 1 October 1808 at Annedale, Clarke County, Virginia to George Washington Parke Custis (1781-1857), the grandson of Martha Washington, and Mary Lee Fitzhugh (1788-1853). She married Robert E. Lee (1807-1870) at Arlington House 30 June 1831, where they lived off and on for many years before the Civil War began. Mary Custis Lee died 5 November 1873 in Lexington, Virginia. She was buried in the Lee Chapel at Washington and Lee University, Lexington. The Lees had seven children including George Washington Custis Lee (1832-1913).
James Murray Mason was born 3 November 1798 in Georgetown, District of Columbia, to John Mason and Anna Maria Murray. Educated at schools in Georgetown, he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1818. Mason studied law at the College of William and Mary, then moved to Winchester, Virginia, in 1820 to practice law. Mason served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1826 to 1831, except for 1827-1828. Elected to Congress, he served from 1837 to 1839. The Virginia state senate sent Mason to the United States Senate in 1847, and he became chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations and Finance Committees. When the Civil War began, Mason left the Senate and offered his services to the Confederate States of America. He was appointed the Confederate diplomatic commissioner to Great Britain. Taken from the British ship Trent, Mason spent a brief time in U.S. custody before being released. He went to Great Britain to carry out his duties. After the Civil War, Mason moved to Canada where he stayed before returning to Virginia in 1868. Mason died near Alexandria, Virginia, 28 April 1871, and was buried at Christ Episcopal Church. He married Elizabeth Margaretta Chew (1798-1874) 25 July 1822, and they had eight children.
