Great-granddaughter of Martha Washington and wife of Robert E. Lee (1807-1873). Uncommon 2.5 x 3.75 carte-de-visite portrait of Mary Custis Lee by Boude & Miley of Lexington, Virginia, signed on the mount in ink, "M. C. Lee," and signed and inscribed on the reverse, "For my kind though unknown friend, T. L. Jones, M. C. Lee." In very good condition, with a trimmed top edge, mounting remnants on the back, and some staining and heavy fading to the Lee's image.
The recipient, Thomas Laurens Jones (1819-1887), served in the Kentucky Legislature from 1853 to 1855. Even though he opposed secession, he was arrested in 1862 as a Southern sympathizer and was imprisoned for three months at the Newport Barracks in Kentucky and at Camp Chase in Columbus, Ohio. After the war, he was elected as a Democrat to represent Kentucky in the U.S. House of Representatives (1867-1871, 1875-1877).
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