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In his article “Curious George” (6/4), Eddie Dean states that the husband of Mrs. Robert E. Lee IV “is the great-grandson of the Confederate general,” as if that were somehow relevant, but suppresses the fact that the wife of the Confederate general was a great-granddaughter of Martha Washington, which means that Mrs. Lee’s husband is also a great-great-great-great-grandson of Martha Washington. Why would Mr. Dean ignore this more relevant point?
The descent is as follows:
1. Martha Dandridge (1731-1802) m1. 1749 Daniel Parke Custis (-1757) m2. 1759 George Washington (1732-1799).
2. John Parke Custis (1754-1781) m. 1774 Eleanor Calvert (1757-1811).
3. George Washington Parke Custis (1781-1857) m. 1804 Mary Lee Fitzhugh (1788-1853).
4. Mary Anna Randolph Custis (1807-1873) m. 1831 Robert Edward Lee, (1807-1870).
5. William Henry Fitzhugh Lee (1837-1891) m. 1867 Mary Tabb Bolling (1846-1924).
6. George Bolling Lee (1872-1948) m. 1920 Helen Madeline Keeney (1895-1968).
7. Robert Edward Lee IV (b. 1924).
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