at the house of William Fitzhugh, esquire, deceased, a
quantity of

Household Furniture

consisting of carpets, chairs, tables, bedsteads, etc., as also a
carriage and one or two horses. Of all sums of twenty dollars or
under, immediate payment will be expected, on all over a credit of
six months will be given, and bond with approved security required:

Robert Randolph
Executor of Wm. Fitzhugh

[Illustration: The Alexandria home of "Light Horse" Harry Lee's widow.
The house that General Lee loved]

William Fitzhugh's will was probated on December 23, 1809. To each of
his two daughters who had "made themselves as dear as children can be to
an affectionate Father," he left the sum of two thousand pounds, certain
slaves (about sixteen) and lands containing eight hundred acres, for
since they were "equal in his affections" he wished them to have an
equal quantity. After other bequests, the residue of his estate passed
to his only son, William Henry Fitzhugh, with the admonition and hope
that he would make proper use of it. He appointed his two sons-in-law,
William Craik and George Washington Parke Custis, also Edmund I. Lee and
Robert Randolph, as guardians of his son's estate until he came of age,
and as executors of his will. The inventory of the contents of his house
is that of a rich man, who lived in the comfort and elegance of his
time. Appropriately enough, a pair of his knife boxes have found their
way to Mount Vernon.

[Illustration: General Lee's bedroom, showing the railing of the little
stair leading to his mother's room]

William Henry Fitzhugh married Anna Maria Goldsborough of Maryland and
built the house on the Ravensworth estate so intimately associated with
the Fitzhughs and Lees. In September 1820, he sold the house in
Alexandria to William Brent of Stafford for ten thousand dollars.
William Brent Jr., lost the house by indebtedness to the Mechanics Bank
of Alexandria in 1824. The bank was the highest bidder at $3,500.

Young Fitzhugh met an early death shortly after his marriage when thrown
by his horse. He was an only son and he died childless so that branch
of the clan ended with the death of Mrs. George Washington Parke Custis.
Fitzhugh's widow lived for forty years at Ravensworth.

[Illustration: The mantel in Mrs. Harry Lee's bedroom]

Later William Hodgson and his family owned the Oronoco Street house for
a couple of generati