1800 Estate Inventory The 1800 estate inventory of Mount Vernon represented over 40 years of George and Martha Washington's purchases of furniture, porcelain, and silver. The inventory included silver tablewares George Washington purchased for his Revolutionary War camp table, as well as the silverplated wine coolers and sterling silver bottle rollers he ordered for the presidential dining cable.

The Inheritance in Martha Washington's Will Martha Washington’s will was signed in September 1800 and was probated in June 1802, one month after her passing. The will detailed bequests of property, funds, and specific household goods to family members and friends. It also specified that a public auction be held to sell items not named in the will. Mrs. Washington's will also included a section which bequeathed "all the silver plate of every kind of which I shall die possessed, together with the two large plated cooler the four small plated coolers with the bottle castors," to her grandson, George Washington Parke Custis.

Washington's Step-Grandson's Daughter Marries Robert E. Lee George Washington Parke Custis's daughter, Mary Anna Randolph Custis Lee, inherited the Washington silver collection as well as Arlington House from her father. At the start of the Civil War, Mary Custis Lee lived at Arlington with her husband, Robert E. Lee, and three of their seven children.

War Threatens the Lee Family and their Washington Heirlooms On April 22, 1861, General Robert E. Lee rode away from Arlington House for the last time. Leaving behind his wife and children, he traveled to Richmond and accepted command of Virginia's forces. Lee knew that his home in Arlington was a strategic and symbolic target for the Union forces and so he urged his wife to be ready to evacuate: "l think therefore you had better prepare all things for removal, that is the plate, pictures, &c., & be prepared at any moment." In her memoirs, Mary Custis Lee wrote that "the family plate so long treasured, especially that portion of it which my Father inherited from Mt Vernon was first secured." With Federal troops advancing on Northern Virginia, the flatware engraved with Washington's crest, the large wine coolers, and even the bottle rollers were packed into trunks and sent first to Alexandria, and then on to Richmond. General Lee forwarded them to the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington for safekeeping.

The Silver is Buried Mary Anna Randolph Custis and Robert E. Lee send their precious family heirlooms, Martha and George Washington's silver, to the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia. The silver was saved from destruction by the actions of the superintendent of the Virginia Military Institute, Francis H. Smith and the ordnance sergeant, John Hampsey. As General Hunter advanced on the town of Lexington, Smith arranged for Hampsey to bury the two large trunks that held the Washington silver.

Union Troops Raze VMI On Sunday, June 12, Union troops set fire to all of the public buildings on the VMI campus. Concealed beneath the earth's surface, the Lee's family heirlooms avoided destruction.

Unearthing the Treasure In the fall of 1865, the Lee family called upon their "trusty friend," John Hampsey, to help unearth the two large chests of treasure buried beneath the burnt remains of the Virginia Military Institute. Hampsey escorted Robert E. Lee, Jr., to the burial site, and the General's son later reminisced: "I was sent out with him to dig it up and bring it in. We found it safe and sound, but black with mould and damp, useless for the time being, so my father opened his camp-chest and we used his forks, spoons, places, etc., while his camp-stools supplied the deficiency in seats."

Mary Anna Custis Lee Dies and the Silver Disappears The Washington silver remained in the Lee's home at Washington College until Mary's death in 1873. While Mary Custis Lee bequeathed many of the family relics to her unmarried daughter, Mary, pieces of the Washingtons' silver descended to all branches of the family. For over a hundred years, curators at Mount Vernon believed the silver was lost, yet continued to hope that these objects might be rediscovered.