Mary Anna Custis Lee, the wife of the Confederate general Robert E. Lee, stayed in the Fluvanna County area on several occasions as a safe haven from the Civil War. She spent time at the Bremo Plantation, where her family friend and owner, Dr. Cary Charles Cocke, had a special bed built to accommodate her needs because of rheumatoid arthritis. She was usually accompanied by her son Rob and daughters Agnes and Mildred. Despite the risk of prosecution, Mary Anna Custis Lee and Dr. Cocke taught slaves to read, which was illegal at that time in the Confederate States of America, as they were opposed to slavery.