The history of other nations would have suggested to the historian that the result must be open riots and secret assassinations, a reign of violence and terror, years of turbulence and lawlessness, before society would settle down to its former condition.  But how different was the result.  The parole upon which the soldier was released was in no instance violated.  The situation was accepted without a murmur or complaint.  The laws were obeyed.  The terms imposed were acceded to.  Soon the busy hum of industry was heard through the land.  The arts of peace were revived.  Agriculture and trade once again flourished, and our fair country began to bloom again into something like its old-time beauty and prosperity.

There were few Southern soldiers who returned to a greater desolation than did our late associate, Gen. LEE.  Fate seemed to have done its worst.  The beloved wife and the two dear children who had made his home at the “White House” a paradise had died in 1863, while he was held as a prisoner and a hostage at Fort Lafayette and Fort Monroe.  The place had been occupied by Union troops; the mansion, with all its surroundings, had been destroyed by fire, and, as has been well said by another, there was “not a blade of grass left to mark the culture of more than a hundred years.”  Had he been an ordinary man he would have sunk with the load of sorrow and trouble which weighed him down.  But he had a brave heart, which defeat and affliction and disaster with united effort could not conquer.

With the same noble spirit which had actuated his father, the elder Lee, he threw aside his discouragement and took up the duties of life and citizenship anew.  He had made himself famous as a soldier; he now began in earnest to cultivate the arts of peace.  It was no easy task, for the era of reconstruction immediately succeeded the war, and only those who were actually under its ban can realize the burdens and hardships it entailed upon an unfortunate people emerging from a disastrous conflict.

He rebuilt and reestablished his home at the White House plantation.  He was married November 27, 1867, to Miss Mary Tabb, daughter of Hon. George W. Bolling, of Petersburg.  In 1874 the family removed to Ravensworth, in Fairfax County.

At both these places he cultivated his broad acres and interested himself in all matters relating to agricultural progress and development.  He advanced and promoted these interests as president of the Virginia State Agricultural Society.  He represented his county for a term in the State senate, but declined a reelection, and returned to his plantation and the enjoyment of home life.  After a few years of quiet he was called, in 1886, to a new field of activity by neighbors and political friends, who desired his services at the national capital, and he became the Representative from the Alexandria district in the Fiftieth Congress, and he was in his third term, when, on the 15th day of October, 1891, the hand of death removed him from his career of usefulness.  For weeks his strong constitution and vigorous frame had resisted disease in his Ravensworth home.  All that kindness and skill could suggest was done in his behalf, but skill and kindness were of no avail, and he bade adieu to home and family, companions and associates, earthly duties and surroundings, and entered upon his eternal rest.  His mortal life was closed.