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'Richard Henry Lee' (January 20, 1732–June 19, 1794) was an American who served as the sixth President of the United States in Congress assembled under the Articles of Confederation, holding office from November 30, 1784 to November 22, 1785. He was preceded in office by Thomas Mifflin and succeeded by John Hancock.
Lee was born in Stratford, Westmoreland County, Virginia on January 20, 1732. Richard was the son of Col. Thomas Lee, Hon. (1690-1750) and Hannah Harrison Ludwell (1701-1750) [1].
Richard was sent to England and educated at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wakefield in Yorkshire. In 1752 he returned to Virginia, where he began to practice law.

Contents

Early career

American Revolution

Quotes

Political offices

Marriage

Children

Ancestry

Further reading

External links

Early career

In 1757 he was appointed justice of the peace for Westmoreland County. In 1761 he was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses, this is where he met Patrick Henry when both headed many committees on resolves. An early advocate of independence, he became one of the first to create Committees of Correspondence among the many independence-minded Americans in the various colonies.

American Revolution

In August, 1774, Lee was chosen as a delegate to the first Continental Congress in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1775 he became a Colonel of militia in Westmoreland County. In Lee's Resolution on the 7th of June 1776, Lee put forth the motion to the Continental Congress to declare Independence from England. 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."'' Due to Lee's absence from the Congress because of his wife's illness, Thomas Jefferson was to write the Declaration.

Quotes

“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.” Richard Henry Lee ^[1]
“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.” Richard Henry Lee

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

★ Virginia State House of Burgesses (1777, 1780, 1785)

★ Colonel of the Westmoreland, Virginia Militia

★ United States Senator from Virginia (March 4, 1789 - October 8, 1792)

★ President pro tempore during the Second Congress

Marriage

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). The couple had four surviving children. Anne died December 12, 1768 at Chantille, Westmoreland Co., Virginia.
Richard married second in July 1768, Anne (Gaskins) Pinckard. The couple had five surviving children.

Children

'With Anne Aylett'
'1.' Thomas Lee (1758-1805).
'2.' Col. Ludwell Lee, Esq. (176-1836), 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.
'With Anne (Gaskins) Pinckard'
'6.' 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).
'7.' Henrietta "Harriotte" Lee (1773-1803), who married Hon. George Richard Lee Turberville (ca. 1770), son of Hon. George Richard Turberville, Jr. (1742-1792) and Martha Corbin (1742).
'8.' 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).
'9.' Cassius Lee (1779-1850).
'10.' Francis Lightfoot Lee (1782-1850), who married Jane Fitzgerald (d. 1816), daughter of Col. John Fitzgerald and Jane Digges. (grandparents of Francis Preston Blair Lee)
'11.' ? Lee (1784), who died in infancy.
'12.' ? Lee (1786), who died in infancy.

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 (ca. 1657-1706).
Laetitia was the daughter of Richard’s neighbor and, Councillor, Hon. Henry Corbin, Sr. (1629-1676) and Alice (Eltonhead) Burnham (ca. 1627-1684).
Richard II, was the son of Col. Richard Lee I, Esq., "the immigrant" (1618-1664) and Anne Constable (ca. 1621-1666).
Anne was the daughter of Thomas Constable and a ward of Sir John Thoroughgood.

Further reading

★ President Who? Forgotten Founders, , Stanley L., Klos, Evisum, Inc., 2004, ISBN 0-9752627-5-0
1. Letters from the Federal Farmer to the Republic (1787-1788), Letter XVIII

External links

★ Presidential Biography by Stanley L. Klos

★ http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/signers/rhlee.htm

★ Biography by Rev. Charles A. Goodrich, 1856