Francis Lightfoot Lee

Francis Lightfoot Lee
Delegate to the Continental Congress from Virginia
In office 1774–1779
Member of the Virginia Senate
In office 1778–1782
Personal details
Born	(1734-10-14)October 14, 1734 Stratford Hall Plantation, Westmoreland County, Virginia Colony
Died	January 11, 1797(1797-01-11) (aged 62) Richmond County, Virginia
Resting place	Mount Airy, Tayloe Family Estate, Warsaw, Richmond County
Parent(s)	Thomas Lee Hannah Harrison Ludwell
Signature

Francis Lightfoot Lee (October 14, 1734 – January 11, 1797) was a member of the House of Burgesses in the Colony of Virginia. As an active protester regarding issues such as the Stamp Act of 1765, Lee helped move the colony in the direction of independence from Britain. Lee was a delegate to the Virginia Conventions and the Continental Congress. He was a signer of the Articles of Confederation and the Declaration of Independence as a representative of Virginia. In addition to his career in politics, Lee owned a tobacco plantation as well as many slaves. He was a member of the Lee family, a prominent Virginian dynasty whose members accumulated their wealth and power through plantation slavery.

Family, education and early life

Coat of Arms of Francis Lightfoot Lee

Francis Lee was born on October 14, 1734, at a Lee family home at Machadoc, later known as Burnt House Field, in Hague, Westmoreland County, Virginia. He grew up at Stratford Hall, a large tobacco plantation, which his father completed in 1738. He was educated at home, where Lee pursued classical studies under Dr. Craig. He was of English descent, and was born into one of the First Families of Virginia. Lee was the fourth son of Thomas Lee and Hannah Harrison Ludwell (of the nearby Green Spring Plantation). His middle name "Lightfoot" came from Francis Lightfoot, the best man at his father's wedding.

In 1772, Francis married his cousin, Rebecca Plater Tayloe, the second daughter of John Tayloe II of nearby Mount Airy and his wife Rebecca Plater of Maryland, sister of George Plater. They were 2nd cousins, once removed. Eaches grandfather's married the daughters of Henry Corbin.

Lee lived his entire life in the region of Virginia between the Rappahannock River and the Chesapeake Bay (known as the Northern Neck).

Government service

In 1774, Lee was among those who called for a general congress and the first of the Virginia Conventions, which he attended. He served in the Virginia State Senate from 1778 to 1782, and was a delegate to the First Continental Congress held in Philadelphia, serving until 1779. As a congressional representative of Virginia, he signed both the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation.

Death

Lee died of pleurisy at his residence (named "Menokin") in Richmond County, Virginia, on January 11, 1797, following his wife's death four days prior. He is buried in the Tayloe family burial ground at Mount Airy Plantation, near Warsaw, Virginia.

Legacy and honors

• The World War II Liberty Ship SS Francis L. Lee was named in his honor.
• He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1768 as a member.

Relations

Lee was the grandson of Col. Richard Lee II and a great-grandson of Col. Richard Lee I. Senator Richard Henry Lee and diplomats William Lee and Dr. Arthur Lee were his brothers. Another brother, Thomas Ludwell Lee, was appointed to a committee, along with Thomas Jefferson, to re-write the laws of Virginia. Francis Lightfoot Lee had no children; his namesake Francis Lightfoot Lee II was the son of his brother Richard Henry Lee, and further men of the same name descend from him.

See also

• Memorial to the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence

Further reading

• Dill, Alonzo Thomas. Francis Lightfoot Lee, The Incomparable Signer. Edited by Edward M. Riley. Williamsburg: Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission, 1977.
• Twain, Mark. "Francis Lightfoot Lee". Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, I, no. 3 (1877). Reprinted in Charles Neider, ed., Mark Twain: Life as I Find It (New York, 1961).

External links

• United States Congress. "Francis Lightfoot Lee (id: L000190)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Biography by Rev. Charles A. Goodrich, 1856
• Francis Lightfoot Lee Bio
• Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Lee, Richard Henry" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. This article on his brother also contains a paragraph on Francis Lightfoot Lee.