Richard Henry Lee--Francis Lightfoot Lee--Carter Braxton.
RICHARD HENRY LEE, a signer of the Declaration, was born at Stratford,
on the Potomac, in Westmoreland, January the 20th, 1732, about a month
before the birth of Washington. The father of Richard Henry was Thomas
Lee; the mother, Hannah, daughter of Colonel Philip Ludwell, of
Greenspring, of the old family of that name, in Somersetshire, England,
who were originally, it is said, from Germany. Richard Henry Lee's early
days were passed somewhat after the Spartan manner, his mother, one of
the high-toned aristocracy of Virginia, confining her care to her
daughters and her eldest son, and leaving her younger sons pretty much
to shift for themselves. After a course of private tuition in his
father's house, Richard Henry was sent to Wakefield Academy, Yorkshire,
England, where he distinguished himself by his proficiency in his
studies, particularly in the Latin and Greek. Having finished his course
at this school, he travelled through England, and visited London. He
returned when about nineteen years of age to his native country, two
years after his father's death, which occurred in 1750. Young Lee's
fortune rendering it unnecessary for him to devote himself to a
profession, he now passed a life of ease, but not of indolence; for he
indulged his taste for letters, and diligently stored his mind with
knowledge in the wide circle of theology, science, history, law,
politics, and poetry. Being chosen (1755) captain of a company of
volunteers raised in Westmoreland, he marched with them to Alexandria,
and offered their services to General Braddock in his expedition against
Fort Du Quesne; but the offer was declined. In his twenty-fifth year Mr.
Lee was appointed a justice of the peace, and shortly after a burgess
for his county. Naturally diffident, and finding himself surrounded by
men of extraordinary abilities, for one or two sessions he took no part
in the debates. One of his early efforts was a brief, but strong,
elaborate speech in support of a resolution "to lay so heavy a tax on
the importation of slaves as effectually to put an end to that
iniquitous and disgraceful traffic within the colony of Virginia;" and
on this occasion he argued against the institution of slavery as a
portentous evil, moral and political.[660:A]
In November, 1764, when the meditated stamp act was first heard of in
America, Mr. Lee, at the instance of a friend, wrote to England making
application for the office of a collector under that act. It was
difficult to retrieve so unpopular a step. During this year he brought
before the assembly the subject of the act of parliament claiming a
right to tax America; and he composed the address to the king, and the
memorial to the commons. His accomplishments, learning, courtesy,
patriotism, republican principles, decision of character and eloquence,
commanded the attention of the legislature. Although a member at the
time of the introduction of Henry's resolutions of 1765, Mr. Lee
happened not to be present at the discussion; but he heartily concurred
in their adoption; and shortly after their passage organized an
association in Westmoreland in furtherance of them. When the
defalcations of Treasurer Robinson came to be suspected, Mr. Lee, like
Patrick Henry on another occasion of the same kind, insisted with
firmness on an investigation of the state of the treasury. It was he who
introduced the motion (November, 1776,) for separating the offices of
speaker and treasurer; and he had a principal agency, together with
Henry, in carrying that measure into effect.[660:B] A fragment of his
speech on this occasion is preserved.
In the succeeding year he vigorously opposed the act laying a duty on
tea, and that for quartering British troops in the colonies. He was now
residing at Chantilly, his seat on the Potomac, a few miles below
Stratford. In July, 1768, in a letter to John Dickinson, of
Pennsylvania, Mr. Lee suggested that not only select committees should
be appointed by all the colonies, but that a private correspondence
should be conducted between the lovers of liberty in every province.
The Virginia Assembly, in 1773, (about the same time with that of
Massachusetts,) appointed a committee of correspondence, consisting of
six members, of whom Mr. Lee was one. In the next year he was a delegate
in the congress that met at Philadelphia. Patrick Henry spoke first, and
he was followed by Richard Henry Lee.
He was an active and laborious member of the leading committees, and he
composed the memorial to the people of British America--a masterly
document.[661:A] When Washington was chosen commander-in-chief, Mr. Lee,
as chairman of the committee chosen for the occasion, prepared the
commission and instructions. He prepared the second address to the
people of Great Britain.
In May, 1776, the convention of Virginia passed a resolution instructing
her delegates in congress to propose to that body to declare the
colonies free and independent; and when those instructions were received
at Philadelphia, the delegation appointed Mr. Lee to bring forward a
proposition to that effect. He accordingly, on the second of June, made
that motion, which was seconded by John Adams. On the tenth Mr. Lee
received by express, from Virginia, intelligence of the dangerous
illness of his wife; and he, therefore, left Philadelphia on the
eleventh, the day on which a committee was appointed to draught a
declaration of independence. Had he remained he might have been chairman
of that committee, and author of the Declaration of Independence.[661:B]
That instrument was adopted on the eighth of July, and shortly
afterwards Mr. Jefferson enclosed to Mr. Lee the original draught, and
also a copy of it as adopted by Congress. In August Mr. Lee resumed his
seat in that body.
He was in person tall and well proportioned; his features bold and
expressive; nose, Roman; forehead high, not wide; eyes light colored;
the contour of his face noble. He had lost by an accident the use of one
of his hands; and was sometimes styled "the gentleman of the silver
hand;" he kept it covered with a black silk bandage, but leaving his
thumb free. Notwithstanding this disadvantage his gesture was very
graceful. His voice was melodious, his elocution Ciceronian, his diction
elegant and easy. His eloquence flowed on in tranquil beauty, like the
stream of his own Potomac.[662:A] He was a member of the Episcopal
church. He married first a Miss Aylett, and the children of that union
were two sons and two daughters; secondly a lady named Pinkard, a widow.
Francis Lightfoot Lee, brother of Richard Henry, was born in October,
1734. He was educated under a private tutor. He inherited an independent
fortune. He became, in 1765, a member of the house of burgesses, and
continued in that body until 1775, when the convention returned him a
member of congress, in which he remained until 1779, when he re-entered
the assembly. His talents, as an orator and statesman, were of a high
order, but it appears that he was never able to overcome his natural
diffidence. His seat was Monocan, in the County of Richmond. He married
Rebecca, daughter of Colonel John Tayloe, of Richmond County.
Carter Braxton was born at Newington, on the Matapony, in King and
Queen, in September, 1736. His father, George Braxton, a wealthy
planter, married Mary, daughter of Robert Carter, of the council, and in
1748 represented the County of King and Queen, being the colleague of
John (known as speaker) Robinson. Carter Braxton was educated at the
college of William and Mary. Inheriting in his youth, upon his father's
death, a large estate, at the age of nineteen he married Judith,
daughter of Christopher Robinson, of Middlesex. She dying, in 1757, Mr.
Braxton visited England, where he remained for several years, and
returned in 1760: a diary which he kept while abroad is preserved by his
descendants. He married, in 1761, Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Richard
Corbin, of Laneville. During his first marriage he built a mansion at
Elsin Green, on the Pamunkey, and afterwards another at Chericoke on the
same river. He lived in a style of lavish hospitality, according to the
fashion of that day. He was, in 1761, a member of the house of
burgesses from the County of King William, and took an active part in
the session of 1765. His colleague was Bernard Moore, of Chelsea,
son-in-law of Governor Spotswood. Mr. Braxton was, in 1769, a delegate
and a signer of the non-importation agreement. He was a member of the
convention of 1774. In the following year, when Henry at the head of a
party of volunteers had advanced within sixteen miles of Williamsburg,
for the purpose of recovering the gunpowder removed by Dunmore, Mr.
Braxton interposed his efforts to prevent extremities. In this course
Mr. Braxton coincided with the moderate councils of Pendleton, Nicholas,
and Peyton Randolph. During this year Mr. Braxton was a member of the
assembly, and of the convention that met at Richmond. He was also one of
the committee of safety. In December he was elected a delegate to
congress in the place of Peyton Randolph, and he was a signer of the
Declaration of Independence. The convention having, in June, 1776,
reduced the number of delegates in congress from seven to five, Mr.
Harrison and Mr. Braxton were not re-elected. According to
Girardin,[663:A] Mr. Braxton's "Address on Government" was not
universally relished, (it was indeed severely denounced, as has been
seen,) and his popularity had been in some degree impaired by persons
whose political indiscretions, though beyond his control, fatally
reacted against him. He was, nevertheless, returned by the County of
King William a member of the convention, and if he had fallen under a
cloud of suspicion, it appears to have been soon dispersed, for, in
October, 1776, the thanks of the convention were unanimously returned to
Thomas Jefferson and Carter Braxton, for their ability, diligence, and
integrity, as delegates in congress.
FOOTNOTES:
[660:A] Life of Richard Henry Lee, i. 17.
[660:B] _S. Lit. Messenger_, August, 1858.
[661:A] To be found in Life of Richard Henry Lee, i. 119.
[661:B] See Randall's Jefferson, i., and a review of his opinions on
this subject, by Mr. Grigsby, in _Richmond Enquirer_ of January 15th,
1858.
[662:A] The motto of his arms was: "Haud incautus futuri."
[663:A] Burk's Hist. of Va., iv.