who gave the land for arlington national cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery The government acquired Arlington at a tax sale in 1864 for $26,800, equal to $410,000 today.[18] Mrs. Lee had not appeared in person but rather had sent an agent, attempting to pay the $92.07 in property taxes (equal to $1,400 today) assessed on the estate in a timely manner.[19] The government turned away her agent, refusing to accept the tendered payment. In 1874, Custis Lee, heir under his grandfather's will passing the estate in trust to his mother, sued the United States claiming ownership of Arlington. On December 9, 1882, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5â€“4 in Lee's favor in United States v. Lee, deciding that Arlington had been confiscated without due process.[19][20] After that decision, Congress returned the estate to him, and on March 3, 1883, Custis Lee sold it back to the government for $150,000 (equal to $3,271,364 in 2017) at a signing ceremony with Secretary of War Robert Todd Lincoln.[18][21] The land then became a military reservation.[22]