Mildred Childe Lee
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Mildred Childe Lee | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | February 10, 1846 |
| Died | March 27, 1905 (aged 59) New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Resting place | University Chapel |
| Education | Saint Mary's School |
| Parents | |
| Relatives | Lee family |
Mildred Childe Lee (February 10, 1846 – March 27, 1905) was an American society hostess and the youngest child of Robert E. Lee and Mary Anna Custis Lee. She was the last member of the Lee family to be born at Arlington Plantation and had a privileged upbringing typical of members of the planter class, attending boarding schools in Winchester, Virginia, and Raleigh, North Carolina. A favorite of her father's, she was doted upon and given the nickname "Precious Life", often being referred to by this nickname in family letters. During the American Civil War, she sewed clothing for soldiers of the Confederate States Army and volunteered as a nurse in Confederate hospitals. Lee never married or had children, instead devoting her time to caring for her parents in their later years. After her father's death, she assisted her brother, George Washington Custis Lee, as hostess while he served as president of Washington College.
Mildred Childe Lee was born on February 10, 1846, at Arlington Plantation to Robert E. Lee and Mary Anna Custis Lee.[1] She was named after her father's sister, Catherine Mildred Lee Childe.[1][2] Lee was her parents' fourth daughter and seventh child.[2] She was the last member of the Lee family to be born at Arlington.[2] At the time of her birth, her father was stationed at Fort Hamilton in New York City.[2]
A member of the Lee family, she was a descendant of the colonist Richard Lee I. Her paternal grandparents, Henry Lee III and Anne Hill Carter Lee, were the ninth governor and first lady of Virginia. On her mother's side, Lee was descended from several colonial families, including the Randolph family of Virginia.[3] Through her maternal great-grandmother, Eleanor Calvert, she descended from Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore, making her a descendant of Charles II of England.[4] Through her grandmother, Mary Lee Fitzhugh Custis, she was a descendant of William Fitzhugh.[3] Her maternal grandfather, George Washington Parke Custis, was George Washington's step-grandson and adopted son and the founder of Arlington House.[5] Lee was the sister of Robert E. Lee Jr., Mary Custis Lee, Anne Carter Lee, Eleanor Agnes Lee, George Washington Custis Lee, and William Henry Fitzhugh Lee.
A member of the planter class, she had a privileged upbringing typical for American gentry. She and her siblings grew up at Arlington House, the family's plantation that had been inherited by their mother.[6] Her childhood at Arlington was a happy one, and she spent days playing in the gardens and orchards.[6] She was adored by her father, who nicknamed her "Precious Life".[6][7][2] Her father once wrote her "Experience will teach you that notwithstanding all appearances to the contrary, you will never receive such a love as is felt for you by your father and mother... Your own feelings will teach you how it should be returned and appreciated."[6] When she was three years old, the family moved to Baltimore, where her father was stationed.[2] Her mother described her in a letter to a friend as "a most finished coquette."[2] Later, the family moved to West Point.[2]