Richard Henry Lee
Note: The following is taken from volume 2 of the Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography (New York, 1915; pp. 21–22), edited by Lyon Gardiner Tyler.
Lee, Richard Henry, fifth son of Thomas Lee, president of the Colonial council, and Hannah Ludwell, his wife, was born in Westmoreland county, January 26, 1732. He was schooled at Wakefield Academy, Yorkshire, England, and returning to America in his nineteenth year studied independently until 1755, when he headed a company of volunteers for service against the French and Indians, but was rebuffed by Braddock. In 1757 he was appointed a justice of the peace for Westmoreland county, and in 1758 was chosen to the house of burgesses, of which he continued a member till its expiration in 1775. In the house of burgesses he proposed “to lay so heavy a tax upon slave importation as to end that iniquitous and disgraceful traffic within the colony.” In November, 1764, he served on a committee to draft an address to the King, a memorial to the house of lords and a remonstrance to the commons, and prepared the first and second of these papers. In February, 1766, he organized the Westmoreland Association, and wrote its resolutions in opposition to the Stamp Act. In 1768 he suggested in a private letter the establishment of intercolonial committees, and was one of the caucus, in 1773, that caused the adoption of the plan by the general assembly. He was elected to the first Continental Congress, 1774, and prepared its memorial to the people of British America, and wrote the address of the next Congress to the people of Great Britain. As chairman of the committee, he drew up the instructions to Washington on his assuming command of the Continental army. He was a member of the Virginia conventions of 1774, 1775 and 1776, and on June 7, 1776, in accordance with the instructions from the last convent: on he introduced in Congress the famous resolution: “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.” He received word of the serious illness of his wife, and left Philadelphia to visit her. He did not return until the Declaration had been passed and signed, and he then added his signature to that immortal instrument. He served in the Continental Congress from 1774 to 1780, and from 1784 to 1787, and was a signer of the articles of confederation in 1778. He is said to have served on nearly one hundred committees during the session of 1776–1777. When not serving in Congress, he served in the state house of delegates. He opposed the adoption of the constitution of 1787, deeming the powers granted to the Federal government as too extensive. After its ratification he served as senator, mainly for the purpose of urging certain amendments, and many of which he was instrumental in securing. After serving as senator, 1789–92, he resigned in the latter year. He was president pro tem.
of the senate, April to November, 1782. He married (first) Anne Aylett, and (second) Mrs. Anne (Gaskins) Pinckard. As an orator he was only excelled by Patrick Henry, and as a leader in the revolutionary movement he stands among the first. His memoirs, political correspondence and political pamphlets were published by his grandson, Richard Henry Lee, in 1825. He died at his residence, “Chantilly,” in Westmoreland county, June 19, 1794.
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