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Donna McCreary · (This post was last modified: 05-22-2014 09:37 AM by Donna McCreary.)

Gerald Swick and I found the letters mentioned above in a private collection which had been that of RTL's last aunt, Emilie Todd Helm. The originials have since been lost, and I have the only known copies. For those who do not have access to the above mentioned article - here is an explaination.

Robert died on July 26, 1926. All of the telegrams which were sent to family members said that there would be a service in Manchester on Wednesday, deferring interrement at Springfield in the Autumn. So, the original plan of MHL's was for her husband to be buried in Springfield.

A few weeks later, MHL wrote to Emilie's daughter (and one of MHL's best friends) Katherine Helm, that on August 11th, she begin to believe: "that the beloved one should be intered in the Arlington National Cemetery . . . instead of within a crypt at Springfield. . . . "

She went on in the letter to explain that once she left Manchester for the winter, she would go directly to Washington and scure a temporary resting place for Robert until she could have "a suitable tomb built for him, final interment to take place next spring." She felt that ". . . our darling was a personage, made his own history, independanty (underlined three times) of his great father, and should have his own place "in the sun"!
Her next letter to Katherine discussed the process of picking a grave site, getting approval from the Secretary of War, and how "it takes time to settle matters of this nature, as they have to go through the hands of so many officials, assistant Secretary, Quarter Master General. . . " Once approval was granted, she had to meet with the Chairman of the Fine Arts Committe and others. Then she had to design a stone and have all of those plans approved.
As those who work for the government know, paperwork and approval in these matters takes time.

I have always invisioned Robert standing at the gates of Heaven waiting for his wife. When she arrived, his first comment to her may have been: "Mary, about Arlington . . . "