The first Arlington cemetery has just two grave sites

An enigmatic sign along U.S. 13 near Kiptopeke says "Custis Tombs" and points to the west. After 25 years of wondering about it, curiosity finally won out. I turned onto Arlington Road.

A short distance later, Arlington made a sharp left, and I stayed straight onto Custis Tomb Drive, although not without some misgiving. It appears to be a driveway straight to a large yellow house, but the road, in fact, curves right around behind the house and keeps going for a few miles.

In 1891 a writer for The New York Times drove down this way to see the Custis Tombs.

What was written then still holds true, and I quote: "It does not seem possible that a hundred years ago this was a great plantation with a commerce of its own, but gradually the sites upon which large buildings rested are pointed out, although no sign of them is seen."

Today there is an unpaved parking lot outlined with tar-spattered poles laying on their sides, and a lot of grass. So much grass that it lay like hay on the path that had been mowed through the field to allow access to... a slightly greener patch of grass.

At this spot along Old Plantation Creek was "the most architecturally sophisticated house of the time," according to an archaeological report about the site, written for the owner, Preservation Virginia. The foundation lines of Arlington, a three-story house built circa 1670, stood out pale green against the hay, and upright poles marked the corners.

Some interpretive signs described the now-vanished house, which was built by John Custis II. A member of the Governor's Council, Custis offered refuge to Gov. William Berkeley, who was driven from the colonial capital of Williamsburg in 1676 by Bacon's Rebellion.

Supported by other Eastern Shore residents, Berkeley fought back and captured the rebel fleet that had come after him and resumed power.

"The clash at Arlington proved to be the decisive turning point of the rebellion," the archaeologists wrote.

When John Custis II died, the house went to his grandson, John Custis IV. The house was described by contemporaries as having "a handsome garden and fine orchard" as well as two cellars with plastered walls, brick floors and vaulted ceilings, along with at least three chimneys, three levels and garrets.

Arlington prospered until John IV moved to Williamsburg sometime between 1714 and 1721. The house dwindled away until now all that remains is a few bricks and some interpretive signs.

A box with a sign reading "Please Take One" was empty, so the meaning of small numbered posts around the site remained elusive.

If you're thinking that you've heard the names Custis and Arlington before, you have. John Custis IV was Martha Custis Washington's first father-in-law. After her first husband's death, she married George Washington.

Martha's grandson built a fine house on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., which he named Arlington House after the Eastern Shore site. Today, it is the site of Arlington National Cemetery.

The family plot on the edge of Old Plantation Creek is much smaller. Surrounded by a brick wall and shaded by trees, it contains two tombs.

The smaller one belongs to John Custis II. The larger one belongs to John Custis IV, and on one side is inscribed, "Aged 71 years and yet liv'd but seven years which was the space of time he kept a bachelors house at Arlington on the Eastern Shore of Virginia."

Read what you will into that.

Diane Tennant, (757) 446-2478, diane.tennant@pilotonline.com

A

n enigmatic sign along U.S. 13 near Kiptopeke says "Custis Tombs" and points to the west. After 25 years of wondering about it, curiosity finally won out. I turned onto Arlington Road.

A short distance later, Arlington made a sharp left, and I stayed straight onto Custis Tomb Drive, although not without some misgivings. It appears to be a driveway straight to a large yellow house, but the road, in fact, curves right around behind the house and keeps going for a few miles.

In 1891 a writer for The New York Times drove down this way to see the Custis Tombs.

What was written then still holds true, and I quote: "It does not seem possible that a hundred years ago this was a great plantation with a commerce of its own, but gradually the sites upon which large buildings rested are pointed out, although no sign of them is seen."

Today there is an unpaved parking lot outlined with tar-spattered poles lying on their sides, and a lot of grass. So much grass that it lay like hay on the path that had been mowed through the field to allow access to... a slightly greener patch of grass.

At this spot along Old Plantation Creek was "the most architecturally sophisticated house of the time," according to an archaeological report about the site, written for the owner, Preservation Virginia. The foundation lines of Arlington, a three-story house built circa 1670, stood out pale green against the hay, and upright poles marked the corners.

Some interpretive signs described the now-vanished house, which was built by John Custis II. A member of the Governor's Council, Custis offered refuge to Gov. William Berkeley, who was driven from the Colonial capital of Williamsburg in 1676 by Bacon's Rebellion.

Supported by other Eastern Shore residents, Berkeley fought back and captured the rebel fleet that had come after him and resumed power.

"The clash at Arlington proved to be the decisive turning point of the rebellion," the archaeologists wrote.

When John Custis II died, the house went to his grandson, John Custis IV. The house was described by contemporaries as having "a handsome garden and fine orchard" as well as two cellars with plastered walls, brick floors and vaulted ceilings, along with at least three chimneys, three levels and garrets.

Arlington prospered until John IV moved to Williamsburg sometime between 1714 and 1721. The house dwindled away until now all that remains is a few bricks and some interpretive signs.

A box with a sign reading "Please Take One" was empty, so the meaning of small numbered posts around the site remained elusive.

If you're thinking that you've heard the names Custis and Arlington before, you have. John Custis IV was Martha Custis Washington's first father-in-law. After her first husband's death, she married George Washington.

Martha's grandson built a fine house on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., which he named Arlington House after the Eastern Shore site. Today, it is the site of Arlington National Cemetery.

The family plot on the edge of Old Plantation Creek is much smaller. Surrounded by a brick wall and shaded by trees, it contains two tombs.

The smaller one belongs to John Custis II. The larger one belongs to John Custis IV, and on one side is inscribed, "Aged 71 years and yet liv'd but seven years which was the space of time he kept a bachelors house at Arlington on the Eastern Shore of Virginia."

Read what you will into that.

Diane Tennant, (757) 446-2478, diane.tennant@pilotonline.com