Arlington National Cemetery was once freed-slaves community called Freedman's Village

[spanishspy]

Only a mile or so from where I grew up. Some biting irony given it was made for the dead of the war that ended slavery in this country.

[stevep]

Feb 12, 2019 2:55:35 GMT spanishspy said:

Only a mile or so from where I grew up. Some biting irony given it was made for the dead of the war that ended slavery in this country.

  Interesting.  I remember reading somewhere that before it was a cemetery at least some of it was part of the Lee family estate and it was occupied early in the USCW.  That during the war a unionist official, who was actually from the south, decided to make it a war graves site so that Robert E Lee would be unable to return to his home.  That seems to contradict part of what the link says, as it suggests that the cementary was only founded after the war.

  Checking on Wiki, see Arlington_National_Cemetery both seem to be largely true.  It was the estate of Lee's wife although it sounds like he lived there.  Rebel forces were driven from the area shortly after the war began as it was too close to Washington.  The feedman's village was established in 1863 and the first burials were made in May 64, after which the freed slaves were larger removed. It is noted the the seizure may not have been legal as Lee's wife Mary tried to pay outstanding taxes on the lands but her agent was turned away and in 1882 her son successfully won a Supreme Court case against the US government, having started proceedings in 1874 but shortly after sold the estate to the US government, presumably because it was impractical to remove the dead buried there?

  Sounds like the decision to establish the cemetery did squash a promising black settlement that was very advanced for it time.  However if it hadn't I'm not sure what would have happened post-war, as the Lee family would have had a clear legal claim to the land so unless something had been sorted out the settlement would probably have had to move.  Might have been possible as the houses built were for rental so it might have just ended up with the blacks paying rent to the Lee family which could have seemed a suitable compromise in the aftermath of a northern victory.  [In the unlikely event of some butterfly meaning the south won its independence then no doubt the blacks would have fled to the north to secure their freedom.

[spanishspy]

Feb 12, 2019 11:42:19 GMT stevep said:

Feb 12, 2019 2:55:35 GMT spanishspy said:

Only a mile or so from where I grew up. Some biting irony given it was made for the dead of the war that ended slavery in this country.

  Interesting.  I remember reading somewhere that before it was a cemetery at least some of it was part of the Lee family estate and it was occupied early in the USCW.  That during the war a unionist official, who was actually from the south, decided to make it a war graves site so that Robert E Lee would be unable to return to his home.  That seems to contradict part of what the link says, as it suggests that the cementary was only founded after the war.

  Checking on Wiki, see Arlington_National_Cemetery both seem to be largely true.  It was the estate of Lee's wife although it sounds like he lived there.  Rebel forces were driven from the area shortly after the war began as it was too close to Washington.  The feedman's village was established in 1863 and the first burials were made in May 64, after which the freed slaves were larger removed. It is noted the the seizure may not have been legal as Lee's wife Mary tried to pay outstanding taxes on the lands but her agent was turned away and in 1882 her son successfully won a Supreme Court case against the US government, having started proceedings in 1874 but shortly after sold the estate to the US government, presumably because it was impractical to remove the dead buried there?

  Sounds like the decision to establish the cemetery did squash a promising black settlement that was very advanced for it time.  However if it hadn't I'm not sure what would have happened post-war, as the Lee family would have had a clear legal claim to the land so unless something had been sorted out the settlement would probably have had to move.  Might have been possible as the houses built were for rental so it might have just ended up with the blacks paying rent to the Lee family which could have seemed a suitable compromise in the aftermath of a northern victory.  [In the unlikely event of some butterfly meaning the south won its independence then no doubt the blacks would have fled to the north to secure their freedom.

Lee did live there, and it was commemorated in the naming of several things in the area, many until recently and some still persisting. The creation of the cemetery is one of my hometown's foundational events and it is commemorated a lot; the mansion forms the image of the county seal and until recently was used as the symbol of the county library system. Postwar, it was likely something would happen to the Village but it was still sad. 

It might feed into the story of Hall's Hill, a historically black neighborhood of Arlington County that came into existence when, after the abolition of slavery, a plantation owner named Hall wanted to spite another plantation owner and so deeded some of his land in between the two plantations to free blacks to piss off aforementioned landowner. We could see a larger Hall's Hill if Freedman's Village is removed some other way.

[stevep]

Feb 12, 2019 17:14:09 GMT spanishspy said:

Feb 12, 2019 11:42:19 GMT stevep said:

  Interesting.  I remember reading somewhere that before it was a cemetery at least some of it was part of the Lee family estate and it was occupied early in the USCW.  That during the war a unionist official, who was actually from the south, decided to make it a war graves site so that Robert E Lee would be unable to return to his home.  That seems to contradict part of what the link says, as it suggests that the cementary was only founded after the war.

  Checking on Wiki, see Arlington_National_Cemetery both seem to be largely true.  It was the estate of Lee's wife although it sounds like he lived there.  Rebel forces were driven from the area shortly after the war began as it was too close to Washington.  The feedman's village was established in 1863 and the first burials were made in May 64, after which the freed slaves were larger removed. It is noted the the seizure may not have been legal as Lee's wife Mary tried to pay outstanding taxes on the lands but her agent was turned away and in 1882 her son successfully won a Supreme Court case against the US government, having started proceedings in 1874 but shortly after sold the estate to the US government, presumably because it was impractical to remove the dead buried there?

  Sounds like the decision to establish the cemetery did squash a promising black settlement that was very advanced for it time.  However if it hadn't I'm not sure what would have happened post-war, as the Lee family would have had a clear legal claim to the land so unless something had been sorted out the settlement would probably have had to move.  Might have been possible as the houses built were for rental so it might have just ended up with the blacks paying rent to the Lee family which could have seemed a suitable compromise in the aftermath of a northern victory.  [In the unlikely event of some butterfly meaning the south won its independence then no doubt the blacks would have fled to the north to secure their freedom.

Lee did live there, and it was commemorated in the naming of several things in the area, many until recently and some still persisting. The creation of the cemetery is one of my hometown's foundational events and it is commemorated a lot; the mansion forms the image of the county seal and until recently was used as the symbol of the county library system. Postwar, it was likely something would happen to the Village but it was still sad. 

It might feed into the story of Hall's Hill, a historically black neighborhood of Arlington County that came into existence when, after the abolition of slavery, a plantation owner named Hall wanted to spite another plantation owner and so deeded some of his land in between the two plantations to free blacks to piss off aforementioned landowner. We could see a larger Hall's Hill if Freedman's Village is removed some other way.

  I like it.