Charles Carter Lee

Other Events and Attributes:

• Residence: 1801, , , Virginia, USA
• Residence: 1810, , Westmoreland, Virginia, USA

Notes:

Henry Lee III (29 January 1756 – 25 March 1818) was an early American patriot who served as the ninth Governor of Virginia and as the Virginia Representative to the United States Congress. During the American Revolution, Lee served as a cavalry officer in the Continental Army and earned the name Light Horse Harry. He was also the father of Confederate general Robert E. Lee.

Lee was born near Dumfries, Virginia, the son of Henry Lee II (1730–1787) of "Leesylvania" and Lucy Grymes (1734–1792) the "Lowland Beauty." His father was first cousin once removed to Richard Henry Lee, sixth President of the Continental Congress. His mother was an aunt of the wife of Virginia Governor Thomas Nelson Jr. His great-grandmother Mary Bland was a great-aunt of President Thomas Jefferson and he descended once from King John of England, twice from King Edward I of England, once from King Jean de Brienne of Jerusalem, twice from King Edward III of England and once from King Pedro I of Castile.

Lee graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1773, and began pursuing a legal career. With the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, he became a Captain in a Virginia dragoon detachment, which was attached to the 1st Continental Light Dragoons. In 1778, Lee was promoted to Major and given the command of a mixed corps of cavalry and infantry known as Lee's Legion, with which he won a great reputation as a leader of light troops. It was during his time as commander of the Legion that Lee earned the sobriquet of "Light Horse Harry" for his horsemanship. Lee was presented a gold medal–a reward given to no other officer below a general's rank– for the Legion's actions during the Battle of Paulus Hook in New Jersey, on 19 August 1779.

Lee was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and was assigned with his Legion to the southern theater of war. Lee's forces served at the Battle of Guilford Court House, the Battle of Camden and the Battle of Eutaw Springs. He was present at Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown, but left the Army shortly after due to an illness. During the infamous Whiskey Rebellion, Lee commanded the 13,000 militiamen sent to quash the rebels.

Between 8-13 April 1782, at "Stratford Hall", Lee married his second cousin, Matilda Ludwell Lee (1764-1790), who was known as "The Divine Matilda". Matilda was the daughter of the Hon. Philip Ludwell Lee, Sr., Esq. and Elizabeth Steptoe. Matilda had three children before she died in 1790;
• Philip Lee (1784-1794)
• Lucy Lee (1786-1860)
• Henry Lee IV (28 May 1787 — 30 January 1837), was a historian and author who also served as a speech writer for both John C. Calhoun and presidential candidate Andrew Jackson, also helping the latter to write his inaugural address.

On 13 June 1793, Lee married the wealthy Anne Hill Carter (1773-1829) at Shirley Plantation. Anne was the daughter of Charles Carter, Esq., of Shirley, and his wife Ann Butler Moore. She was also a descendant of King Robert II of Scotland through the 2nd Earls of Crawford. They had six children, the eldest died unnamed in infancy in 1796;
• Unnamed Infant (1796-1796)
• Charles Carter Lee (1798-1871)
• Anne Kinloch Lee (1800-1864)
• Sydney Smith Lee (1802-1869)
• Robert Edward Lee (19 January 1807 — 12 October 1870), the fifth child of Henry and Anne, served as a Confederate general during the American Civil War.
• Mildred Lee (1811-1856)

From 1786 to 1788, Lee was a delegate to the Continental Congress, and in the last-named year in the Virginia convention, he favored the adoption of the United States Constitution. From 1789 to 1791, he served in the General Assembly and, from 1791 to 1794, was Governor of Virginia.
In 1794, Lee accompanied Washington to help the suppression of the Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania. A new county of Virginia was named after him during his governorship. Henry Lee was a major general in the U.S. Army in 1798–1800. From 1799 to 1801, he served in the United States House of Representatives of the Congress. He famously eulogized Washington to a crowd of 4,000 at the first President's funeral on December 26, 1799 —"first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen."
The Panic of 1796-1797 and bankruptcy of Robert Morris reduced Lee's fortune.

On 27 July 1812, Lee received grave injuries while helping to resist an attack on his friend, Alexander Contee Hanson, editor of the Baltimore newspaper, The Federal Republican. Hanson was attacked by Democratic-Republican mob because his paper opposed the War of 1812. Lee and Hanson and two dozen other Federalists had taken refuge in the offices of the paper. The group surrendered to Baltimore city officials the next day and were jailed. Laborer George Woolslager led a mob that forced its way into the jail and removed and beat the Federalists over the next three hours. One Federalist, James Lingan, died.
Lee suffered extensive internal injuries as well as head and face wounds, and even his speech was affected. Lee later sailed to the West Indies in an effort to recuperate from his injuries. He died on 25 March 1818, at Dungeness, on Cumberland Island, Georgia.
Lee was buried with full military honors provided by an American fleet stationed near St. Marys. In 1913 his remains were removed to the Lee family crypt at Lee Chapel, on the campus of Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia.

The Whiskey Rebellion
In the history of Southwestern Pennsylvania there have been many noteworthy personalities, but who are they and what did they do to catch our attention? One of them is Henry Lee III, who was born in Virginia on January 29, 1756 to Maj. Gen. Henry Lee II, and Lucy Grymes. Lee’s family tree includes links to America’s founding fathers and European royalty. He graduated from the College of New Jersey (Princeton) and when the Revolutionary War began, he was a Captain in a Virginia dragoon detachment. He was next given the rank of Major and the command of a corps of cavalry and infantry called “Lee’s Legion.” For his horsemanship he was known as “Light Horse Harry.” He was made Lt. Colonel and he served in three major southern battles, ending at the British surrender at Yorktown . Lee’s first marriage was to Matilda Ludwell and they had three children. She died in 1790. In 1793 he married Anne Hill Carter and she bore six children, the fifth child being Robert Edward Lee (1807-1878), who became a Confederate general in the Civil War. Lee served in the Continental Congress, where he favored the adoption of the United States Constitution. From 1791 to 1794 he was Governor of Virginia. In July, 1794, only 5 years after the United States Constitution was ratified, President Washington was truly called upon “to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” Distraught farmers in Washington County, Pennsylvania organized themselves as rebels to repeal the federal law that they register their stills and pay an excise tax on whiskey. Washington tried to negotiate a peaceful solution, but when the radicals persisted, he would not let their treason, politics or bloodshed splinter the Constitutional unity of the United States. The President proclaimed on September 20 that military action was needed to remove the rebellious leaders. Some 13,000 men from four states quickly responded to his call to arms. By the end of September, the federal army’s march reached Carlisle, and on October 4 Washington joined them there. On October 11, the President went to Cumberland to review the troops coming from Maryland and Virginia . On the nineteenth, all met at Bedford. Here Washington turned the command of the troops over to General “Light Horse Harry ” Henry Lee. Lee, still the Governor of Virginia, was given executive orders “to suppress opposition to the law, by military force and judicial process.” The President then returned to Philadelphia , and the troops marched in two columns toward Parkinson’s Ferry, (Monongahela, in Washington County) which was the epicenter of the farmer’s rebellion. Lee led the southern column and by November 1, they arrived in Uniontown. Gen. John Neville and Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton were in this group. Col. Presley Neville was in the northern column. On November 8 Lee issued a proclamation that the troops were there because the people of the United States were determined to uphold the new government they had just constituted. Lee identified to Gen. William Irvine the leaders of the rebellion who were to be arrested, and on November 12, in what has been called “The Terrible Night” several score citizens were arrested. The march of eighteen insurgents to Philadelphia for trial soon followed. Violence was minimal so on November 17, John Neville and others began to reopen their tax offices. Lee ordered most of the troops to return to their own homes. To maintain peace in and around Pittsburgh, Gen. Daniel Morgan was placed in charge of small detachments of troops. On Christmas Day the 20 captured rebels arrived in Philadelphia for their court trial. Lee pardoned many local insurgents on November 29, except David Bradford from Washington County, who had earlier fled to New Orleans. President Washington pardoned those who had been tried in Philadelphia. The Whiskey Rebellion was now over. The excise law was rescinded in 1802 by President Jefferson. After the Whiskey Rebellion, Lee became a member of the United States House of Representatives where he wrote the phrase “first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen” in his oration on Washington at the President’s death. In the financial panic of 1796, Lee was reduced to poverty and he was temporarily placed in debtor’s prison. In 1812 Lee was beaten while helping to defend the editor of a Baltimore newspaper from a mob because the paper opposed the War of 1812. Lee suffered internal and head injuries. He went to the West Indies in an attempt to heal the wounds. He died on March 25, 1818 and he is buried in the Lee crypt in the Lee Chapel, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia.

References:
The Whiskey Rebellion: Southwestern Pennsylvania’s Frontier People Test the American Constitution,” Jerry A. Clouse, PHMC. 1994 Historical Magazine of Monongahela, 1909 Art sketch: J. Howard Iams “The Terrible Night”

Family of Light-horse Harry Lee
Between April 8 and 13, 1782, at Stratford Hall, Lee married his second cousin, Matilda Ludwell Lee (1764–1790), who was known as "the Divine Matilda". She was the daughter of Philip Ludwell Lee, Sr., and Elizabeth Steptoe. Matilda had three children before she died in 1790:

Philip Ludwell Lee (1784–1794)
Lucy Grymes Lee (1786–1860)
Henry Lee IV (May 28, 1787 – January 30, 1837), was a historian and author who also served as a speech writer for both John C Calhoun and presidential candidate Andrew Jackson, also helping the latter to write his inaugural address.

On June 18, 1793, Lee married the wealthy Anne Hill Carter (1773–1829) at Shirley Plantation. Anne was the daughter of Charles Carter, Esq., of Shirley, and his wife Ann Butler Moore. They had six children:

Algernon Sidney Lee (April 2, 1795 – August 9, 1796), died at Sully Plantation, buried there in an unmarked grave.
Charles Carter Lee (1798–1871)
Anne Kinloch Lee (1800–1864)
Sydney Smith Lee (1802–1869)
Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870), the fifth child of Henry and Anne, served as Confederate general-in-chief during the American Civil War.
Mildred Lee (1811–1856)

Henry married Anne Hill Carter on 18 Jun 1793 in , , Virginia, USA. Anne (daughter of Charles Hill Carter, Sr, Esq and Annie Butler Moore) was born on 26 Mar 1773 in Shirley Plantation, Charles City, Virginia, USA; died on 26 Jun 1829 in Ravensworth, Fairfax, Virginia, USA; was buried in Lexington, Independent Cities, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Henry married Lucy Grymes on 1 Dec 1750 in , Gloucester, Virginia, USA. Lucy was born on 26 Apr 1734 in Richmond, Independent Cities, Virginia, USA; died in 1792 in Leesylvania, Westmoreland, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Residence: 1779, , Stafford, Virginia, USA
• Residence: 1803, Shirley Plantation, Charles City, Virginia, USA
• Probate: 20 Nov 1805, , Charles City, Virginia, USA

Notes:

Charles Carter
Birth: 1732
Death: Jun. 24, 1806 Charles City County Virginia, USA
During the first War for American Independence (1776-1783) Shirley Plantation and the Carter's of Shirley played a vital role in the forming of the new nation. Charles Carter, fifth generation owner of Shirley, was a loyal member of the House of Burgesses. He was member of the House representing two localities, Lancaster and Charles City County, from 1758 until 1774. The reasons this membership ceased was due to the Declaration of Independence being signed and the House of Burgesses was dissolved by Governor Lord Dunmore. Charles then served as a member of Virginia Convention of March and December, 1775. He then served in Charles City County Militia during the Revolutionary War, but records do not indicate that he saw any action. Charles allowed his James River home of Shirley to serve as a supply depot for the Continental Army towards the end of the war. This action allowed the Marquis de Lafayette to supply his army with the munitions and armaments needed to besiege Yorktown, ultimately resulting in General Lord Cornwallis' surrender and the United States of America becoming an independent and sovereign nation.

Charles Carter's will of 1803 reads: "That is to say I commend my body to the Earth to be decently laid near my honored parents as soon after my decease as may be convenient, without any funeral pomp and nothing but the burial service to be read over my grave by the parson of the Parish (should we be so fortunate as to have one among us) for which trouble, I desire he may be amply paid: And when this my departure may happen, I earnestly request of my family and friends that they do not go into mourning or wear black clothes; and this whim I expect they will gratify me in, as I always thought the custom absurd and extravagant answering no good purpose that I know of."

Parents:
John Carter (1690 - 1742)
Elizabeth Hill Carter Cocke (1703 - 1771)
Spouse:
Anne Butler Moore Carter (1750 - 1809)
Children:
Robert Hill Carter (1774 - 1806)
Bernard Carter (1776 - 1776)
John Carter (1777 - 1784)
Catherine Spotswood Carter Berkeley (1778 - 1809)
Anne Hill Carter Lee (1779 - 1829)
Bernard Moore Carter (1780 - 1843)
Butler Carter (1784 - 1786)
Infant Daughter Carter (1792 - 1792)
Infant Carter (1794 - 1794)
Calphemia Carter (1796 - 1797)

Burial: Shirley Plantation, Shirley, Charles City County, Virginia, USA

Charles married Annie Butler Moore in 1771 in , Lancaster, Virginia, USA. Annie (daughter of Bernard Moore Sr and Anne Catherine Spotswood) was born in 1756 in , Westmoreland, Virginia, USA; died on 16 Apr 1809 in Shirley Plantation, Charles City, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: Lieutenant Colonel Richard Henry Lee I

Henry married Mary Elizabeth Bland in 1723 in , Prince William, Virginia, USA. Mary was born on 21 Aug 1704 in Jordans Point, Prince George, Virginia, USA; died on 29 May 1764 in Lee Hall, Westmoreland, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: Mary Ann Sarah Bland

Notes:

Shirley Plantation
Shirley Plantation is Virginia's first plantation (1613) and one of the first economic engines of the new world. Only six years after John Smith's settlement at Jamestown, the crown grant carving Shirley Plantation out of the Virginia frontier was established. The chronicle of Shirley Plantation best exemplifies the period in our nation's history between the settlement at Jamestown in 1607 and the movement towards American independence from Great Britain in 1776. During its long history and under the leadership of one family, Shirley Plantation has survived the Indian Uprising, Bacon's Rebellion, the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and the Great Depression.

Shirley Plantation is the oldest family-owned business in North America dating back to 1638. Construction of the present mansion began in 1723 when Elizabeth Hill, great-granddaughter of the first Hill, married John Carter, eldest son of Robert "King" Carter. Completed in 1738, the mansion, referred to as the “Great House,” is largely in its original state and is owned, operated, and lived in by direct descendants of Edward Hill.

The guided tour of the Great House highlights original family furnishings, portraits, silver, and hand-carved woodwork as well as stories of the Hill-Carter family, eye witnesses to eleven generations of American history. As one architectural historian contends," Shirley Plantation is the most intact 18th century estate in Virginia". Several features such as the "Flying Staircase" and the Queen Anne Forecourt are the only remaining examples in America of this architectural style.

John married Elizabeth Hill on 6 Oct 1723 in Shirley Plantation, Charles City, Virginia, USA. Elizabeth (daughter of Colonel Edward Hill, II and Mary Aston) was born on 23 Apr 1667 in Shirley Plantation, Charles City, Virginia, USA; died on 4 Jan 1761 in Shirley Plantation, Charles City, Virginia, USA; was buried in Shirley Plantation, Charles City, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Bernard married Anne Catherine Spotswood in 1742 in King William Parish, Goochland, Virginia, USA. Anne was born on 19 Oct 1728 in Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, Virginia, USA; died on 9 Feb 1801 in Chelsea, King William, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Richard married Laetitia Corbin in 1674 in , Westmoreland, Virginia, USA. Laetitia was born on 25 Aug 1657 in Christ Church, Middlesex, Virginia, USA; died on 6 Oct 1706 in Mt Pleasant, Westmoreland, Virginia, USA; was buried in Coles Point, Westmoreland, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Robert King Carter son of John Carter and Sarah Ludlow

Robert King Carter married 1680 Virginia, to Judith Armistead.
From the "ENCYCLOPEDIA of VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY" Under the Editorial Supervision of Lyon Gardiner Tyler, LL. D., VOLUME V, 1915, pages 848-849

The epitaph on his tomb in Christ Church, records his virtues and achievements. Translated from the Latin, it says:
Here lies Robert Carter an honorable man who by noble endowments and pure morals gave luster to his gentle birth. Rector of William and Mary College, he sustained that institution and its most trying times. And he was Speaker of the House of Burgesses and Treasurer under the most serene princes, William, Ann, George I. and George II. Elected by
the House of Burgesses its Speaker six years and Governor of the Colony for more than a year he upheld equally the regal dignity and the public freedom. Possessed of ample wealth, blameless acquired, he built and endowed this sacred edifice, a signal monument of his piety towards God. He furnished it richly. Entertaining his friends kindly, he was neither a prodigal nor a parsimonious host.

His first wife was Judith, daughter of John Armistead, Esq. His second, Betty, a descendant of the noble house of Landon. By these wives he had many children and whose education he expended large sums of money. At length, full of honors and of years, when he had well performed all the duties of an exemplary life he departed from this world on the 4th of August, 1732, in the 69th year of his age.

This man's grandson had Washington himself as neighbor, and Robert E. Lee's mother was the great granddaughter of his grandfather, Robert "King" Carter. "It was 230 years ago that Robert Carter III, the patriarch of one of the wealthiest families in Virginia, quietly walked into a Northumberland County courthouse and delivered an airtight legal document announcing his intention to free, or manumit, more than 500 slaves.

He titled it the "deed of gift." It was, by far, experts say, the largest liberation of Black people before President Abraham Lincoln signed the District of Columbia Emancipation Act and Emancipation Proclamation more than seven decades later.

Ancestor of William Henry Harrison - 9th US President.

Robert Carter was born 4 August 1663 at Corotoman plantation, Lancaster County, Virginia, a son of John Carter and Sarah Ludlow.[3] His father died when Robert was a young boy, in 1669. So his half-brother, Lt. Col. John Carter (15 years older than Robert), took on the parental role.[3] Per their father's specific instructions, Robert was educated well in England. He had a tutor for English and Latin, and lived with Arthur Bailey who was a family friend and merchant.[3]

He married 1) in 1688 at Heese, Lancaster, Virginia to Judith Armistead (died 1699).[4] She died in 1699.
He married 2) in 1701 to Elizabeth (Landon) Willis (marriage contract written April 9, 1701), widow of Richard Willis, and daughter of Thomas Landon.[3]
Robert "King" married in 1688 to Judith Armistead, daughter of John Armistead of "Hesse," Gloucester County. Their children were:[4]

John, born ca 1689, died 1742; mar Elizabeth Hill of Shirley
Elizabeth born 1692; mar Nathaniel Burwell
Judith died in infancy,
Sarah died at age 15
Judith born 1695 (the second named Judith); mar Mann Page[3]
Note: Some sources, including the Foundation for Historic Christ Church, place the birth date of John Carter III at 1696,[4]while others place it at 1689/90.[5][3]

Little is known about the intimate family life of Robert and Judith during these years.[3] Judith died February 23, 1699, and only three of her children survived to adulthood.[5]

Robert's second wife was Elizabeth Landon Willis, (mother of ten of Robert Carter's children) married in 1701:[4]

Anne Carter (1702–1743) married Benjamin Harrison IV; (parents of Benjamin Harrison V and grandparents of President William Henry Harrison).
Robert Carter II (1704–1734) married Priscilla Churchill.
Sarah Carter (~1705–1705)
Betty Carter (~1705–1706)
Charles Carter (1707–1764) married Anne Byrd, daughter of Col. William Byrd II.
Ludlow Carter (born ~1709)
Landon Carter (1710–1778) married Maria Byrd, daughter of Col. William Byrd II.
Mary Carter (1712–1736) married George Braxton; (parents of Carter Braxton).
Lucy Carter (1715–1763) married Henry Fitzhugh
George Carter (1718–1742)[3]

The first actual land grant found on record in the Northern Neck section of Virginia is to Col. Robert "King" Carter, as the agent of Lord Fairfax and to his sons and grandsons. As the agent of Lord Fairfax, the Proprietor of the Northern Neck of VA, Col. Carter handled vast bodies of land and by his will left over 300,000 acres of land to his children.[6]
Robert was known as "King" Carter due to his immense wealth. He had a remarkable reputation as a Colonial Official and an agent for Lord Fairfax, V. At the age of 28, Robert entered the Assembly as a Burgess from Lancaster County, serving five consecutive years. In 1726 he served as acting governor of Virginia after the death of Governor Drysdale. He served two terms as agent for the Fairfax proprietary of the Northern Neck of Virginia, the first being, 1702-1711, and the second term, 1722-32. During his first term, he began to acquire large tracts of land for himself in the Rappahannock region of Virginia. After acquiring some 20,000 acres for himself, he was succeeded by Edmund Jennings. When he became representative of Fairfax's interests again in 1722, he succeeded in securing for his children and grandchildren some 110,000 acres in the Northern Neck. He also had additional acquisitions beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia. Robert's gifted and productive life centered around the original Christ Church, a smaller wooden structure. His parents were buried within the chancel of the church. A historic marker outside of the Church reads: "Christ Church was built in 1732, on the site of an older Church by Robert ("King") Carter, who reserved one quarter of it for seating his tenants and servants. It is one of the very few colonial churches in America that have never been altered, a typical early eighteenth-century structure.[7]

Robert owned many slaves. An inventory of his slaves, apparently made as part of the inventory of his estate, was taken in 1733.[8] There are 345 slaves listed with names like: Old Crabb, Old Gumby, and Old Fortune a Woman past Labour.[8]

Robert left quite a list of property, including the slaves above-mentioned. He held numerous plantations in eight different counties of Virginia:

INVENTORY, [1733] November ?, of the estate of Robert Carter comprising a detailed list of agricultural equipment, blacksmith tools, books, coaches, furniture, glassware, horses and other livestock, milling tools, silverware and utensils, and slaves at Carter's estates in
Caroline (Pewmond's End),
King George (Falls and Richland quarters),
Lancaster (Brick House Quarter, Changilins Quarter, Corotoman, Corotoman Quarter, Gibson's Plantation, Great Mill, Hills Quarter, Indian Town Quarter, Little Mill, Morattico Quarter, Office Quarter, Old House Quarter, Poplar Neck Quarter, and Wolf House Quarter),
Northumberland County (Blough Point Quarter, Feilding's Plantation, Jones's Plantation, and Old Plantation),
Prince William (Bull Run, Frying Pan Quarter, Lodge Quarter, Range Quarter, and Red Oak Quarter,),
Richmond (Brick House Quarter, Bridge Quarter, Dickinson's Mill, Fork Quarter, Thomas Glascock's, Gumfield's Quarter, Hickory Thickett, Hinson's Quarter, Old Quarter, and Totuskey Quarter),
Spotsylvania (Mount Quarter and Norman's Ford), Stafford (Hamstead Quarter, Hinson's Quarter, Park Quarter, and Poplar Quarter), and
Westmoreland (Brent's Quarter, Coles Point, Dick's Quarter, Forrest Quarter, Head of the River, Medcalf's Plantation, Moon's Plantation, The Narrows, Old Ordinary, and Pantico Quarter), counties, Virginia[9]

Robert Carter died 4 Aug 1732 at Corotoman, Lancaster, Virginia and was buried at Christ Church.[4] "(see tombstone inscription and pictures). At his death in 1732, his obituary in Gentleman's Magazine described his estate to be "about 300,000 acres of land, about 1000 Negroes, 10,000 pounds in money." The tombstones of Robert and his two wives were placed at the east end of the old Christ Church.
The tombstones have been replaced by the church, and the inscription on his tombstone (taken from the original):

"Here lies buried Robert Carter, Esq., an honourable man, who by noble endowments and pure morals gave lustre to his gentle birth. Rector of William and Mary, he sustained that institution in its most trying times. He was Speaker of the House of Burgesses, and Treasurer under the most serene Princes William, Anne George I and II. Elected by the House its Speaker six years, and Governor of the Colony for more than a year, he upheld equally the regal dignity and the public freedom. Possessed of ample wealth, blamelessly acquired, he built and endowed, at his own expense, this sacred edifice - a signal monument of his piety toward God. He furnished it richly. Entertaining his friends kindly, he was neither a prodigal nor a parsimonious host. His first wife was Judith, daughter of John Armistead, Esq.; his second Betty, a descendant of the noble family of Landons. By these wives he had many children, on whose education he expended large sums of money. At length, full of honours and of years, when he had performed all the duties of an exemplary life, he departed from this world on the 4th day of August, in the 69th year of his age. The unhappy lament their lost comforter, the widows their lost protector, and the orphans their lost father."

Robert married Judith Armistead in 1678 in Hesse, Mathews, Virginia, USA. Judith (daughter of Lt Colonel John Armistead and Judith Bowles Hone Robinson) was born on 23 Feb 1665 in Hesse, Gloucester, Virginia, USA; died on 23 Feb 1699 in Corotoman Plantation, Lancaster, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Arrival: 1635, , , Virginia, USA
• Residence: 1650, , , Virginia, USA

Notes:

In 1646, Richard Lee sat on York bench as a magistrate, with a Dr. Henry Lee, who married Marah Adkins. Richard patented 1,250 acres in York County, VA in 1648, and named, amongst his headrights, Henry, Matthew, and George Lee, who may have been relatives. That Richard settled first in York County is proved by grant of 1,000 acres, dated August 10, 1642, patent states his land was due "unto the said Richard Lee by and for his own personal Adventure, his wife Ann, and John Francis and by assignment from Mr. Thomas Hill, Florentine Paine and William Freeman of their right of land due for the transportation of Seaventeene p'sons." This land was the plantation, Paradise in his will, and bequeathed to his second son, Richard. On July 22, 1674, in a patent issued to "Major Richard Lee for 1,140 acres in Gloster, called Paradise, on a branch of Poropotank Creek; 1,000 thereof being due to said Richard Lee by two former patents, and the residence now found to be within the bounds."

Richard represented York County as Burgess in 1647 and in 1651 was paid for services as Burgess of Northumberland County. He was Member of the Council, secretary of State of the Colony, and a Justice; is said to have been the first white man to have settled in the Northern Neck of Virginia. Source: Colonial Families of the United States of America, Volume I, edited by George Norbury MacKenzie, LL.B., Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore, 1966. He was engaged in commerce as well as agriculture, and had an interest in vessels trading between England and Virginia. In his will, he bequeathed to his son, Francis, his interest in two ships, which was 1/8th part in each vessel. He appeared to have made frequent voyages to and fro, being in England in 1654-55, again in 1659, and later in 1661 and in 1663.

Richard's first home was on York River, near head of Poropotank Creek, where he had a store or warehouse. His next home was located on Dividing Creeks in Northumberland, which afforded a very safe harbor. On two necks of the creek he located his two plantations, where there are grants for 800 and 600 acres in 1651 and 1656 respectively.

Richard was not only Burgess for several counties, but served in several capacities, having been Justice, member of the Council and Secretary of State. He also served on various commissions (See Lee of VA, p.59). While in England in 1663, his wife and children being there also, he made his will, the wording of the will indicates that he had given up his intention of settling permanently in England. He ordered his estate there should be sold, gave minute directions for payment of his debts, and closing up of his interests in that country, and made arrangements for the settlement of his children in Virginia. The account of his property given in his will shows him to have been possessed of considerable wealth for that day. His will was executed in London on February 6, 1663/64, prov. 10 Jan 1664/65, London/England.

Richard Lee's will directed that his property at Stratford, England be sold and that the proceeds be used to discharge his debts. complete the education of John and Richard at Oxford, and to provide dowries for his daughters, Elizabeth and Anne. In Virginia, he left the Machodoc Plantation to his son, John, Paradise Plantation to Richard, "War Captain's Neck" to Francis, and Maryland Plantation to William. The Dividing Creek Plantation he left to his widow for her lifetime and afterwards to be divided among his younger sons, William, Hancock, and Charles.


Richard Lee arrived at Jamestown, Virginia in 1639 with little wealth, but on the same ship as Virginia's incoming royal governor, Sir Francis Wyatt (who had been the colony's first governor two decades earlier). Wyatt would become an important mentor before receiving an order recalling him to England in late 1641 (and departing the following spring). Another passenger on that ship was Anne Constable, an orphaned ward. Lee began his career as a government official handling land records among other duties.

Lee traded with his brother John in England as well as Native Americans, including for furs. His first land patent was for land on the north side of the York River at the head of Poropotank Creek, in what was then York, later Gloucester County. Lee received the title to this 1,000 acre (4 km2) tract on 10 August 1642, supposedly through the headrights of thirty-eight immigrants unable to pay their own passage. However, Lee did not take title to this land until 1646, and a record exists of his purchasing 100 acres (0.4 km2) at this location. Also, Lee may have actually transported those emigrants in his own ship when returning from Breda in the Netherlands in 1650.[citation needed] In any event, the Lee family's first home was likely a log cabin on leased land on the same side of the York river, at the head of Tindall's Creek near the Native American community of Capahosic Wicomico. Lee moved his bride and infant son John away from the capital city (notoriously unhealthy due to stagnant waters nearby in summers), and they lived near the frontier of settlement. However, on 18 April 1644, Powhatan warriors led by Chief Opchanacanough massacred many newcomers to the area and their native allies. They killed 300, but colonists successfully counterattacked and drove the raiders away. Nonetheless, the English abandoned the north side of the York river for several years.

Lee and his family escaped the 1644 raid, then settled at New Poquoson on the lower peninsula south of the York River, where it was safer from attack. They lived at the new 90 acres (360,000 m2) plantation for nine years, which was a comfortable ride from Jamestown and Lee's government duties.[11] Later, as discussed below, Lee moved his family further north in Virginia's Tidewater region, becoming among the first white settlers in what became known as the northern neck of Virginia between the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers.

Meanwhile, on 20 August 1646 Lee took out a patent for 1,250 acres (5 km2) on the Pamunkey River in York, later New Kent County, at the spot "where the foot Company met with the Boats when they went Pamunkey March under ye command of Capt. William Claiborne" during the counteroffensive against the Indians after the massacre of 1644. He did not develop these lands, but exchanged them in 1648 for a tract along the north side of the York near the present Capahosic, retaining the 400 acres (1.6 km2) he called "War Captain's Neck" and selling the other 850 acres (3.4 km2).

Colonial politician and officeholder
Lee's first Virginia office was as Clerk of the Quarter Court at Jamestown, within the Secretary of State's office. He later became Clerk to the burgesses of the Virginia General Assembly in 1640 and 1641.[12] In 1643 the new governor, Sir William Berkeley, on the recommendation of Sir Francis Wyatt, appointed Lee as Attorney General of the Colony, and he also continued as clerk.[13][14] Like both his superiors, Lee was a loyal supporter of King Charles I of England, and his public offices technically ceased after Oliver Cromwell seized power in England in 1649 (although Lee would ultimately negotiate terms of accommodation with the new government before temporarily ending his public career in 1652).

Fellow colonists in York County elected Lee a Burgess in the Assembly of 1647-1648.[15] In 1649 Lee was appointed a member of the King's Council (both a primitive executive branch of government and the precursor of the upper house of Virginia's legislature). As Secretary of State, Lee was next in authority to the Governor, Sir William Berkeley (1606–1677). That same year, Charles I, King of England (1600–1649), was beheaded and Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658) began his control. In part because people in the distant colonies could not believe the news from England, they remained loyal to the Crown and to Charles II (1630–1685), heir to the throne. In 1650, Secretary of State Lee sailed to the Netherlands to report Virginia's loyal adherence to the exiled Charles II, and returned with a new (but worthless) commission from the late King's heir for Governor Berkeley.[16] During the next two years (and Berkeley's forced retirement), Lee negotiated the Virginia colony's capitulation to the Commonwealth of England, and was satisfied with the terms that were laid out.

Lee then retired from public office, but continued to represent the Virginia interests in London. Between 1652 and his death in 1664, Lee spent nearly as much time in London (36 months), as he did in Virginia (46 months), though he continued to hold local Virginia offices.[17] When Charles II took the throne in 1660, Berkeley was restored as governor, and Lee continued to serve on the Council of State.[18]

Meanwhile, Lee served a time as High Sheriff as well as held various offices in the local counties where he lived, as discussed below, including as a Justice of the York County Court, and as a Colonel in the Northumberland County Militia.[19]

Merchant and planter
Lee would come to characterize himself as a merchant, but early in his career he became a real estate investor, and after Cromwell came to power, became a tobacco planter. He became a part owner of a trading ship, whose cargoes brought indentured servants with headrights that Lee used to enlarge his Virginia property. Lee also became involved in the slave trade as his landholdings grew, and he needed labor to operate plantations.[13] He both employed and imported both English indentured servants (i.e. employees who paid for their passage to America with seven years of labor) and at least 90 African slaves (for which he claimed 4000 acres of headrights in 1660).[20]

After returning from his Continental voyage on Gov. Berkeley's behalf in 1850, Lee began acquiring many land grants on the Middle Peninsula between the York and the Rappahannock River, although the colonial capital would not move to the "Middle Plantation" and later to Williamsburg until after his death. After peace with the Indians had been concluded and the lands north of the York reopened for settlement in 1649, Lee acquired a patent for 500 acres (2 km2) on 24 May 1651, on land adjacent to "War Captain's Neck". That same year he also acquired an additional 500 acres (2 km2) on Poropotank Creek. He sold 150 acres (0.6 km2) of his original grant, the tract on Poropotank Creek. This left 850 acres (3.4 km2) at the original site, to which he later gave the name "Paradise", and resided from 1653 to 1656 in the newly created Gloucester County.

After a trip back to London with his wife in 1654-1655 (leaving their children in Virginia), in 1656 Lee moved his family to Virginia's Northern Neck, the peninsula formed between the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers. Leaving the "Paradise" tract to overseers, they resettled on a spot acquired from the Wicomico Indians, which consisted of 1,900 acres (8 km2). In 1648 the Virginia General Assembly had created Northumberland County in this area, and in 1653 separated Westmoreland County from Northumberland County. The new plantation was called "Dividing Creek", near what is today the town of Kilmarnock in Northumberland County.[21] Later generations of Lees came to call parts of this plantation "Cobbs Hall" and "Ditchley". Lee later purchased another 2,600 acres (11 km2) at Machodoc Creek, which also seemed a possible port along the Potomac River where ships could traffic with England, and which became part of Westmoreland County. This tract was patented on 18 October 1657, and re-patented the following year on 5 June 1658 as 2,000 acres (8 km2). Later generations of Lees developed this area into the "Mount Pleasant" and "Lee Hall" plantations. Lee also acquired 4,000 acres (16 km2) farther up the Potomac, near and westward of where the city of Washington, D.C., would rise, in what was became Westmoreland County (but after various subdivisions became part of modern Fairfax and Alexandria). Part of one tract would eventually become Mount Vernon plantation, and later generations of Lees would develop "Leesylvania" and "Stratford" plantations.

Disposing of several lesser properties he had obtained, Lee consolidated and developed four major plantations. He had two in Gloucester County: "War Captain's Neck" and "Paradise", and two on the Northern Neck: "Dividing Creek" in Northumberland County and "Machodoc" in Westmoreland County. At the end of his life, Lee also acquired a plantation called "Lee's Purchase", located across the Potomac in Maryland, which after its reacquisition by the Lee family would give rise to the "Blenheim" branch of Lee descendants.[22]

During a trip to England in 1658 with his eldest son John, Lee acquired a residence at Stratford Langthorne, in the County of Essex, then a pleasant suburb of London. In 1661 he moved his wife and children there, although the steward he had found to manage his Virginia property (and to whom he had promised to marry one of his daughters) had grown homesick and returned with them.[23] Essex County borders London on the east, and persons of means developed the village of Stratford Langthorne to avoid unhealthy London. It is located about a mile from Stratford-at-Bow on the north side of the Thames in West Ham Parish, and later became the site of great wharves, docks, and the congestion of east London. Lee in part returned to England so that his younger children would have a proper education, since his oldest two sons, John and the scholarly Richard Lee II, had enrolled as students at Oxford. Nevertheless, in his final days, described below, Lee decided he wanted his children to reside in Virginia, and continued in his role as a Virginia planter and merchant.

Death and legacy
Just before returning to Virginia to oversee his interests in the Colony, Lee executed a will in London (on 6 February 1663-4). Lee died in the Virginia colony, probably after an illness at his "Dividing Creek" plantation based on gaps in his service in the Northumberland County court.[24][25][26] On 20 April 1664 his son John (who had probably returned to Virginia with his father) made an application for land due to his father, deceased).

Lee's final will directed that his wife and children, "all except Francis if he be pleased", were to return to Virginia. Francis Lee had become a London merchant. His property at Stratford in England was to be sold, and the proceeds be used to discharge his debts, as well as pay for the education of his two eldest sons (John and Richard), and if any remained, to provide dowries for his daughters (Elizabeth and Anne). Lee left the rest of his land to his widow Anne for her lifetime, then to be divided among all his sons as instructed. Following Anne's death, the "Dividing Creek" and "Mocke Nock" plantations were to be divided among his three youngest sons; his son John would inherit the "Machodoc" plantation and three islands in Chesapeake Bay; Richard Lee II received the "Paradise" plantation; Francis Lee received "Paper-makers Neck" and "War Captain's Neck"; William Lee received "all the land on the Maryland side", and his two youngest sons (Hancock and Charles) received the remaining plantations and land. Lee specifically left his widow 5 "negro" slaves for "during her widowhood and no longer" as well as 10 English (indentured) servants. He gave John 10 "negro" slaves as well as 10 English (indentured) servants. He left Richard II the indentures (contracts) of English servants (i.e. employees) on the "Paradise" plantation, and Francis received five "negro" slaves and the indentures of 10 English servants. Other property that was divided among his 8 surviving children included livestock and furniture. Francis also received Lee's share in 2 trading ships Francis.[26]

His widow Anna (or Anne) obeyed his wishes and returned to Virginia. She remarried, to Edmund Lister, also a Northumberland County colonist with extensive English ties, who would sue his stepson John Lee (also executor of his father's estate; the documents being lost) before his death on 24 September 1666.[27][26] The date of her death is unknown, although family tradition claims that she was buried beside Lee near the house at "Dividing Creek".[28]

Richard married Ann Owen Constable in 1641 in Jamestown, James City, Virginia, USA. Ann was born on 21 Feb 1622 in South Scarle, Nottinghamshire, England; died on 6 Oct 1706 in Dividing Creek, Northumberland, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Residence: , , Virginia, USA
• Married: 1665, , Gloucester, Virginia, USA

Notes:

A son of William Armistead, of Elizabeth City county, and grandson of Anthony Armistead, of Kirk Deighton, in Yorkshire, England, settled in Gloucester county, of which he was sheriff in 1676, and a justice and lieutenant-colonel of horse in 1680. In 1685 he was a member of the house of burgesses, and on Feb. 14, 1687-88, Gov. Effingham wrote to the English government that a vacancy had occurred in the council and that he had nominated Col. John Armistead as in every way qualified for the place. This nomination was confirmed on April 30, 1688, and Col. Armistead was sworn as member on Oct. 18 of the same year. He remained a councillor until 1691, when, feeling that he could not consistently with the allegiance he had sworn to James II., take the same oath to William and Mary, he declined and was accordingly removed from the council. It is probable that he later realized the hopelessness of the Stuart cause, and relented in his determination, for in 1693 Gov. Andros wrote that Col. John Armistead had retired from the council. He died soon after. He left two sons and two daughters and through them was the ancestor of many distinguished Virginians.; ; III--Colonial Councillors of State

John Armistead was a member of the governor's Council of Virginia late in the seventeenth century. A planter in Gloucester County, he also entered into several successful business ventures. Becoming active in politics, Armistead sat on the county court and served as sheriff. He opposed the tobacco cutting riots and favored English policies put in place after Bacon's Rebellion (1676–1677). Armistead twice represented Gloucester in the House of Burgesses before the governor appointed him to the Council in 1688. Armistead relinquished his seat in 1691 when he refused to take the oaths to the new monarchs William and Mary. Although restored to his place later in the decade, Armistead did not rejoin the Council. His date of death is unknownArmistead was the second of three sons and one of at least four children of William Armistead and Anne Armistead, of Kirk Deighton, Yorkshire, England. He may have been born in Virginia, his parents having settled in Elizabeth City County in the mid-1630s, which is the most likely approximate time of his birth. When he reached adulthood he moved to Gloucester County, where he lived and farmed for the rest of his life. His father had prospered so rapidly after immigrating to Virginia that both of his surviving sons began their adult lives as substantial planters. He may have sent John Armistead to Gloucester County in the 1650s to manage the properties he acquired after that section of the colony was first opened to English settlement.

Sometime in the 1660s Armistead became associated with Robert Beverley (1635–1687), an association that led to several profitable joint business ventures. The relationship grew even closer when Armistead married Beverley's sister-in-law Judith Hone. Armistead had two sons and two daughters, and he acquired even more influential family connections later, when one of his daughters married Ralph Wormeley (d. 1701) and the other married Robert "King" Carter.

Destruction of most of the records of Gloucester County has obscured the details of Armistead's participation in politics. He probably became a vestryman of Kingston Parish within a few years of moving to the county, and by 1670 he was a member of the county court as well as a colonel in the county militia. He became sheriff in 1676 and again in 1680. In 1682 he arrested several local women who were destroying tobacco plants. This put him in opposition to Robert Beverley, the putative instigator of the plant-cutting riots, by which the perpetrators hoped to reduce the supply of tobacco and thereby raise its price. Armistead differed from Beverley on political issues, too. Beverley grew increasingly outspoken in his opposition to English policies designed to control Virginia after Bacon's Rebellion, while Armistead inclined favorably toward the new order.

Armistead served in the House of Burgesses twice. Elected in 1680, he sat at the first meeting of the General Assembly of 1680–1682. His part in suppressing the plant cutters may explain his absence at the second session, and he did not return to the House until 1685. By the mid-1680s he was on friendly terms with Governor Francis Howard, baron Howard of Effingham, who resided at times with Armistead's son-in-law Ralph Wormeley. The association with Effingham proved beneficial, and in 1688 Effingham appointed Armistead to a vacancy on the governor's Council. He was sworn in on October 18, 1688, but his tenure lasted only two and a half years. In April 1691, following the Glorious Revolution, Armistead refused "thro Scruple of Conscience" to swear allegiance to the new monarchs, William and Mary. He consequently lost his seat on the Council. Seven years later the Crown ordered him restored to his place, but Armistead did not take the oaths after the commission was presented to the Council on December 9, 1698.

John Armistead may have been dead by that date, but he could also have been alive and in political retirement in Gloucester County while continuing his refusal to forswear his oath to James II. The date and place of his death are not recorded.

Time Line
1650s - Sometime during this decade, John Armistead's father William Armistead sends him to Gloucester County to manage the properties he acquired after that section of the colony was first opened to English settlement.
1660s - Sometime during this decade, John Armistead becomes associated with Robert Beverley. Armistead will marry Beverley's sister-in-law Judith Hone.
1670 - By this year, John Armistead is a member of the Gloucester County court and a colonel in the county militia.
1676 - John Armistead becomes sheriff in Gloucester County.
1680 - John Armistead is elected to the House of Burgesses.
October 18, 1688 - John Armistead in sworn in to fill a vacant seat on the governor's Council.
April 1691 - Following the Glorious Revolution, John Armistead refuses to swear allegiance to the new monarchs, William and Mary, and loses his seat on the council.
Categories Colonial History (ca. 1560–1763) Colonial Government

John married Judith Bowles Hone Robinson in 1656 in , Gloucester, Virginia, USA. Judith (daughter of 1st Baronet of London, Lord Mayor of London Sir John Robinson and Lady Elizabeth Catherine Potter - Robinson (1619-1688), (Immigrant) (Eng to VA)) was born in Dec 1645 in Heswick, Cleasby, Middlesex, Yorkshire, England; died in Jan 1693 in Kingston, Gloucester, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]