Mary Lee: The Serial Monogamist

Here Lies Mary Lee 

Mary Wilkerson Middleton Pinckney Lee was born August 14, 1874 and died May 19, 1959 at 84. She was born in Charleston South Carolina and died in Asheville, North Carolina.  Mary Lee is buried at Magnolia Cemetery on a plot of land with her three loves.

Mary was the child of Ralph and Sarah Middleton both buried at Magnolia Cemetry just in a different area. She had three brothers and a sister. Mrs. Lee became an influential woman of her views.

She was noble and this would pay off for her in life. On the bottom of her die, base, and cap it says "LOVE IS THE PERFUME OF THAT WONDROUS FLOWER THE HEART".

Mrs. Lee first got married in 1909 at the age of 35 to Gustavus Pinckney. Pinckney had the same first name as Mrs. Lee's oldest brother. According to In the Arms of Angels by Patrick Harwood, Mr. Pinckney was an attorney in Charleston and an author. He wrote multiple books but his most famous one was on the infamous John C. Calhoun.

Robert E. Lee III's Grandfather

Their marriage only lasted around three years and Pinckney died in 1912 at the age of 44 from general paralysis, also known as general paralysis of the insane. Mrs. Lee eventually married Robert E. Lee III their marriage also only lasted for three years.

Mr. Lee eventually died too young at the age of 53 due to heart problems. He died 1922 and was buried in Roanoke, Virginia with family but did not remain here. After Mrs. Lee had to grieve both her husbands' deaths she never got married again but did find happiness once more.

She met a German military attache and was a representative to the U.S. and a neurologist. His name was Frederich August Richard and he died January 21, 1941. On his side of the stone, it says "LOVE FILLS THE WORLD WITH MELODY FOR MUSIC IS THE VOICE OF LOVE".

After her husbands had both passed she realized she wanted all the loves of her life to be buried with her. She bought a plot of land at Magnolia Cemetery in 1939. She fought for both of her husbands, Pinckney and Lee, to be exonerated and buried in her plot of land.

Mary Lee's Plot For Her Grave With Her Loves

In the Arms Of Angels: Magnolia Cemetery, Harwood describes that after Lee got moved, Mrs. Lee took legal action, she won and Robert Lee III was brought down from his resting site in Virginia. She also fought for Pinckney, her determination and nobility helped her to convince the courts to let her bury him with her. In the end, they both were buried in her plot of land.

Once Frederich died, he was also buried in her plot of land at Magnolia Cemetery. In the end, once Mary Wilkerson Middleton Pinckney Lee died, she took the last side on the plot of land she bought. She lies there with the loves of her life, eternally resting with them by her side for the rest of time.

I chose Mary Lee as my Old Charlestonian because she lived her life to the fullest, never being afraid of what others would think even after she died. She was passionate and loved wholeheartedly, Mary definitely loved the men she was with and wanted to be with them forever. I think that is brave to not be concerned by others judgment and doing what she wants for herself regardless of peoples reactions.