Alexandria Library -- Special Collections

Document of the Month

August 2005

Letter from Robert E. Lee to Messrs. Green & Bro. About Furniture, November 29, 1872

Robert Edward Lee, Jr. (1843-1916) was the Lees' youngest son. Appointed a Captain in the Confederate Army, he served as aide to his brother Custis. After the war he returned to Romancock, his inheritance from his grandfather, George Washington Parke Custis. Romancock was on the Pamunkey River in King William County.

The Lees were good friends with the Green family. William Green, an Englishman, arrived in Alexandria in 1817 and established a cabinetmaking and furniture manufacturer that would last for more than 70 years. William was succeeded by his son, James, who later turned over the business to his son, John W. Green. John and his brother, Stephen, closed during the Civil War.

Click on the letter to view a larger image of the first page. A transcript appears below.


Richmond, VA
Nov. 29th, 1892

Messrs. Green & Bro.
Alexandria, Va

Gent -
My mother has written to me telling me that she had told you to send me when you send my furniture some other things. I write to say that you had better send everything that is now there for me & that is ready by the 1st of Dec., right on to me. At Romancoke _________ York River RR Va. My idea of the best way to ship is via Baltimore - by water all the way to West Point, thence four miles by rail to Romancoke. But you’ll know best & I leave it to you. I am ready now for everything you have ready & would be glad if you would send everything that is ready on now & ____________.

Yours truly,

R E Lee

Transcribed by Rita Holtz, August 2005


Related Resources
  • Peyton Neale Clarke. Old King William Homes and Families
  • Oscar P. Fitzgerald. The Green Family of Cabinetmakers: An Alexandria Institution, 1817-87
  • Edmund Jennings Lee, MD. Lee of Virignia, 1642-1892, Biographical and Genealogical Sketches of the Descendants of Colonel Richard Lee
  • Robert E. Lee, Jr. Recollections and Letters of General Robert E. Lee
  • Manuscript Box #240: VF Correspondence -- Lee, Robert E. Jr, 1872
  • Vertical File: Biographies -- Green Family
  • Vertical File: Biographies -- Green, William and James


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