Richard Henry Lee

For other people named Richard Lee, see Richard Lee (disambiguation).

Richard Henry Lee
Lee at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.
President pro tempore of the United States Senate
In office April 18, 1792 – October 8, 1792
President	George Washington
Preceded by	John Langdon
Succeeded by	John Langdon
United States Senator from Virginia
In office March 4, 1789 – October 8, 1792
Preceded by	None; first
Succeeded by	John Taylor
12th President of the United States in Congress Assembled
In office November 30, 1784 – November 4, 1785
Preceded by	Thomas Mifflin
Succeeded by	John Hancock
Personal details
Born	January 20, 1732(1732-01-20) Westmoreland County, Colony of Virginia
Died	June 19, 1794(1794-06-19) (aged 62) Westmoreland County, Virginia
Political party	Anti-Administration
Spouse(s)	Anne Aylett (died 1768) Anne (Gaskins) Pinckard
Children	Brandon Myers
Profession	Law
Signature

Richard Henry Lee (January 20, 1732 – June 19, 1794) was an American statesman from Virginia best known for the motion in the Second Continental Congress calling for the colonies' independence from Great Britain. He was a signatory to the Articles of Confederation and his famous resolution of June 1776 led to the United States Declaration of Independence, which Lee signed. He also served a one-year term as the President of the Continental Congress, and was a U.S. Senator from Virginia from 1789 to 1792, serving during part of that time as one of the first Presidents pro tempore of the United States Senate. He was also the great uncle of famous Confederate general Robert E. Lee.

Early career

In 1757, Lee was appointed justice of the peace for Westmoreland County. In 1758 he was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses, where he met Patrick Henry. An early advocate of independence, Lee became one of the first to create Committees of Correspondence among the many independence-minded Americans in the various colonies. In 1766, almost ten years before the American Revolutionary War, Lee is credited with having authored the Westmoreland Resolution which was publicly signed by prominent landowners who met at Leedstown, Westmoreland County, Virginia on 27 Feb 1766. This resolution was signed by four brothers of George Washington as well as Gilbert Campbell.

American Revolution

In August 1774, Lee was chosen as a delegate to the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia. In Lee's Resolution on the 7th of June 1776 during the Second Continental Congress, Lee put forth the motion to the Continental Congress to declare Independence from Great Britain, which read (in part):

Resolved: 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.

Lee had returned to Virginia by the time Congress voted on and adopted the Declaration of Independence, but he signed the document when he returned to Congress

Quotes

"These United colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states."

"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."

"The first maxim of a man who loves liberty, should be never to grant to rulers an atom of power that is not most clearly and indispensably necessary for the safety and well being of society."

Lee Family Coat of Arms

Political offices

• Justice of the Peace for Westmoreland County, Virginia (1757)
• Virginia House of Burgesses (1758–1775)
• Member of the Continental Congress (1774–1779, 1784–1785, 1787)
• A Signer of the Declaration of Independence (1776)
• Virginia State House of Burgesses (1777, 1780, 1785)
• United States Senator from Virginia (March 4, 1789 – October 8, 1792)
• President pro tempore during the Second Congress (April 18 – October 8, 1792)

Marriages and children

Richard married first on December 5, 1757, Anne Aylett (1738–1768), daughter of William Aylett and Elizabeth Eskridge (1719), who married secondly, Dr. James Steptoe, Col. (1709–1757). Anne died December 12, 1768 at Chantille, Westmoreland Co., Virginia. The couple had four surviving children:

1. Thomas Lee (1758–1805).
2. Col. Ludwell Lee, Esq. (1760–1836), who married Flora Lee (1771–1795), daughter of Hon. Philip Ludwell Lee, Sr., Esq. (1727–1775) and Elizabeth Steptoe (1743–1789), who married secondly, Philip Richard Fendall I (1734–1805).
3. Mary Lee (1764–1795).
4. Hannah Lee (1765–1801), who married Hon. Corbin Washington (1764–1799), son of Col. John Augustine Washington (1736–1787) and Hannah Bushrod (1738–1801).
5. Marybelle Lee (1768), who died in infancy.

Richard re-married in June or July 1769 to Anne (Gaskins) Pinckard. The couple had five surviving children:

1. Anne Lee (1770–1804), who married Hon. Charles Lee (1758–1815), U.S. Attorney General under John Adams. Charles was the son of Maj. Gen. Henry Lee II (1730–1787) and Lucy Grymes (1734–1792).
2. Henrietta "Harriotte" Lee (1773–1803), who married Hon. George Richard Lee Turberville (c. 1770), son of Hon. George Richard Turberville, Jr. (1742–1792) and Martha Corbin (1742).
3. Sarah Caldwell "Sally" Lee (1775–1837), who married Edmund Jennings Lee I (1772–1843), son of Maj. Gen. Henry Lee II (1730–1787) and Lucy Grymes (1734–1792).
4. Cassius Lee (1779–1850).
5. Francis Lightfoot Lee II (1782–1850), who married Jane Fitzgerald (died 1816), daughter of Col. John Fitzgerald and Jane Digges. (grandparents of Francis Preston Blair Lee)
6. ? Lee (1784), who died in infancy.
7. ? Lee (1786), who died in infancy.

Richard honored his brother, Francis Lightfoot Lee (another signer of the Articles of Confederation and the Declaration of Independence), by naming his youngest son after him.

The younger Francis married Jane Fitzgerald on 9 Feb 1810. In 1811 he purchased the estate Sully in Fairfax County, Virginia from his second cousin Richard Bland Lee. Jane died on 25 Jul 1816, shortly after the birth on their fifth child.

Children

1. Jane Elizabeth Lee (January 1, 1811 – June 25, 1837); married Henry T. Harrison
2. Samuel Philips Lee (February 13, 1812 – June 5, 1897); Rear Admiral; married Elizabeth Blair, daughter of Francis Preston Blair
3. John Fitzgerald Lee (May 5, 1813 – June 17, 1840)
4. Arthur Lee (February 18, 1815 – August 3, 1841)
5. Frances Ann Lee (June 29, 1816 – December 5, 1889); married Goldsborough Robinson

Ancestry

Richard was the son of Col. Thomas Lee, Hon. (1690–1750) of "Stratford Hall", Westmoreland Co., Virginia. Thomas married Hannah Harrison Ludwell (1701–1750).

Hannah was the daughter of Col. Philip Ludwell II (1672–1726) of "Greenspring", and Hannah Harrison (1679–1731).

Thomas was the son of Col. Richard Lee II, Esq., "the scholar" (1647–1715) and Laetitia Corbin (c. 1657 – 1706).

Laetitia was the daughter of Richard’s neighbor and, Councillor, Hon. Henry Corbin, Sr. (1629–1676) and Alice (Eltonhead) Burnham (c. 1627 – 1684).

Richard II, was the son of Col. Richard Lee I, Esq., "the immigrant" (1618–1664) and Anne Constable (c. 1621 – 1666).

Anne was the daughter of Thomas Constable and a ward of Sir John Thoroughgood.

Jason Barfield II (1626–1700)

Legacy

Lee County, Georgia is named in his honor. Richard Henry Lee Elementary School in Rossmoor, California and Richard Henry Lee School in Chicago, Illinois are also named in his honor. Richard Henry Lee Elementary in Glen Burnie, Maryland is also named after him.

Representations in fiction

Richard Henry Lee is a key character in the musical 1776. He was portrayed by Ron Holgate in both the Broadway cast and in the 1972 film. The character performs a song called "The Lees of Old Virginia," in which he explains how he knows he will be able to convince the Virginia House of Burgesses to allow him to propose independence.

External links

• Richard Henry Lee at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Richard Henry Lee
• Biography by Rev. Charles A. Goodrich, 1856
• Richard Henry Lee at Find a Grave
• Richard Henry Lee Bio
•  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Lee, Richard Henry". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

Political offices
Preceded by Thomas Mifflin	President of the Continental Congress November 30, 1784 – November 6, 1785	Succeeded by Nathan Gorman
Preceded by John Langdon	President pro tempore of the United States Senate April 18, 1792 – October 8, 1792	Succeeded by John Langdon
United States Senate
Preceded by None	United States Senator (Class 2) from Virginia March 4, 1789 – October 8, 1792 Served alongside: William Grayson, John Walker, James Monroe	Succeeded by John Taylor