Richard Henry Lee (1732 - 1794)

Born 20 Jan 1732 in Stratford, Westmoreland Co, Virginia Colony

Ancestors

Husband of Anne (Aylett) Lee — married 5 Dec 1757 in Colony of Virginia

Husband of Anne (Gaskins) Lee — married Jul 1769 in Virginia

Descendants

Died 19 Jun 1794 at age 62 in Westmoreland Co, Virginia, USA

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Richard Lee participated in the American Revolution. Join: 1776 Project Discuss: 1776

Preceded by John Langdon US Constitution Ratified March 4, 1789

Richard Henry Lee President pro tempore of the US Senate 1792 US Senator (Class 2) from Virginia[1] 1789—1792

Succeeded by John Langdon Succeeded by John Taylor

Biography

Richard Lee is Notable.

Richard Lee was a Founding Father in the American Revolution.

Signer of the Declaration of Independence from Virginia; and one of the only pair of brothers (see also Francis Lightfoot Lee) to sign the Declaration of Independence.

He was also the 1st cousin of General "Lighthorse Harry" Lee of Revolutionary War fame, and 1st cousin, twice removed, of Civil War Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Born at Stratford, Virginia, he was the seventh child of eleven (while some scholars believe he was born in 1732, the family Bible states that he was born in January 1733). After being home tutored, he was sent to England at age 11 to be formally taught, eventually returning to Virginia when he was 18.

When Richard was in his mid-20s he married Anne Aylette, and they would have four children who lived to adulthood. He established a plantation, called Chantilly, on the Potomac River, becoming a gentleman farmer. In 1768, he had a hunting accident that blew four fingers off his hand, and in December 1768, his wife, Anne, died.

He would later marry Anne (Gaskins) Pinckard with whom he had another five children who lived to adulthood. This was a second marriage for both of them.

He was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses (the state legislature), where he served from 1758 until 1776. He was especially active in Virginia's campaign of resistance to the hated Stamp Act and Townshend Acts. In 1774, Lee was a delegate to the First Continental Congress, and initially, he favored a policy of economic boycott to bring the British to reason in their colonial policies. But he began to change his mind when the King closed the port of Boston, and he began to think more and more of independence from Britain. In 1776, he obtained a resolution from the House of Burgesses to introduce into the Second Continental Congress that "these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown; and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved." This resolution, introduced by Lee on June 7, 1776 into Congress, began the process that produced the Declaration of Independence. The Second Continental Congress approved the resolution on July 2, 1776.

After the Revolutionary War, Lee served as President of Congress, from 1784 to 1785, under the Articles of Confederation, and thus, actually was President of the United States, although this title is now reserved for those who were elected under the Constitution. Lee supported the adoption of the US Constitution, and after it was adopted, Lee served as a Senator from Virginia from 1789 to 1792, when he resigned because of illness and injuries suffered in a carriage accident. His last effort as a senator was to give enthusiastic support for the adoption of a Bill of Rights (the first ten amendments to the US Constitution).

Marriage and Issue

Children of Richard and Anne Aylett (1738–1768)

1. Elizabeth Lee (1755) died young
2. Thomas Lee (1758–1805)^[2]
3. Col. Ludwell Lee, Esq. (1760–1836) m. Flora Lee (1771–1795)^[3][2]
4. Mary Lee (1764–1795)^[2]
5. Hannah (Washington) Lee (1765–1801) m. Hon. Corbin Washington (1764–1799)^[3][2]
6. Marybelle Lee (1768) died young

Children of Richard and Anne (Gaskins) Pinckard.

1. Anne "Nancy" Lee (1770–1804) m. Hon. Charles Lee (1758–1815)^[3][2]
2. Henrietta "Harriotte" (Maffit) Lee (1773–1803) m. Hon. George Richard Lee Turberville (c. 1770)^[3][2]
3. Sarah Caldwell "Sally" (Bland) Lee (1775–1837) m. Edmund Jennings Lee I (1772–1843)^[3][2]
4. Cassius Lee (1779–1850).^[2]
5. Francis Lightfoot Lee II (1782–1850) m. Jane Fitzgerald (died 1816)^[3][2]
6.  ? Lee (1784) died young
7.  ? Lee (1786) died young^[4]

Richard Henry Lee died at his home, Chantilly, Virginia, in 1794, in his early sixties and was buried at Burnt House Fields, Lee Family Estate, Coles Point, Westmoreland County, Virginia, ^[5]
(bio by: Kit and Morgan Benson)

Legacy

• Lee County, Georgia is named in his honor.

Sources

1. ↑ Resigned, vacant October 8, 1792 – October 18, 1792 when successor elected.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8} The Society of the Descendants of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5} Verified by DAR records Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR Genealogical Research Databases, database online, (http://www.dar.org/ : accessed 18 1Aug 2020), "Record of Richard Henry Lee", Ancestor # A068703.
4. ↑ Wikipedia entry for Richard Henry Lee Wikipedia entries for wife and children are Unsourced on Wikipedia
5. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #1168

See also:

• Srtatford Hall Biography

• the Federalist Papers, Richard Henry Lee, The Pennsylvania Gazette, Feb. 20, 1788 . On April 10, 2011, in Richard Henry Lee, by admin

• Microsoft Encarta 98, "Lee, Richard Henry"

• Dictionary of American Biography; Lee, Richard Henry.

• The Letters of Richard Henry Lee. Edited by James Ballagh. 1911-1914. Reprint. New York: Da Capo Press, 1970; Chitwood, Oliver.

• Richard Henry Lee, Statesman of the Revolution. Morgantown: University Library, 1967.

• United States Rosters of Revolutionary War Soldiers and Sailors, 1775-1783, Pg. 346.

• Signer of the Declaration of Independence representing the Colony of Virginia. Virginia records.