Mary Anna Randolph Custis Lee was the wife of the Confederate general Robert E. Lee and the last private owner of Arlington Estate. She was the daughter of George Washington Parke Custis who was the grandson of Martha Washington, the wife of George Washington. Lee was a highly educated woman, who edited and published her father's writings after his death.

Mary Randolph was a Southern American cook and author, known for writing The Virginia House-Wife; Or, Methodical Cook (1824), one of the most influential housekeeping and cook books of the 19th century. Many of the recipes used local Virginia ingredients including Tanacetum vulgare virginia pudding, pickled nasturtiums and desserts with the native gooseberry. She was the first person known to be buried at what would become known as Arlington National Cemetery.