The Lee family boasts perhaps the most distinguished ancestry on record, having provided, for example, greater numbers of Revolutionary and Civil War generals and officers, politicians, and statesmen than any family of comparable size and standing. Colonel Richard Lee, Secretary of the Colony of Virginia and presumably a Counsellor to King Charles, was the progenitor of the Virginia Lees and was himself descended from the Coton branch of the Lees of Shropshire. The purpose of this volume is to collect and preserve in permanent form the history of Colonel Lee's posterity, believing that such a record will add something of interest to American history.
In The Lees of Virginia, Paul Nagel chronicles seven generations of Lees, from the family founder Richard to General Robert E. Lee, covering over two hundred years of American history. We meet Thomas Lee, who dreamed of America as a continental empire. His daughter was Hannah Lee Corbin, a non-conformist in lifestyle and religion, while his son, Richard Henry Lee, was a tempestuous figure who wore black silk over a disfigured hand when he made the motion in Congress for Independence. Another of Thomas' sons, Arthur Lee, created a political storm by his accusations against Benjamin Franklin. Arthur's cousin was Light-Horse Harry Lee, a controversial cavalry officer in the Revolutionary War, whose wild real estate speculation led to imprisonment for debt and finally self-exile in the Caribbean. One of Harry's sons, Henry Lee, further disgraced the family by seducing his sister-in-law and frittering away Stratford, the Lees' ancestral home. Another son, however, became the family's redeeming figure--Robert E. Lee, a brilliant tactician who is still revered for his lofty character and military success. In these and numerous other portraits, Nagel discloses how, from 1640 to 1870, a family spirit united the Lees, making them a force in Virginian and American affairs. Paul Nagel is a leading chronicler of families prominent in our history. His Descent from Glory, a masterful narrative account of four generations of Adamses, was hailed by The New Yorker as "intelligent, tactful, and spiritually generous," and Pulitzer Prize-winning historian W.A. Swanberg, in the Chicago Sun-Times, called it "a magnificent embarrassment of biographical riches." Now, in The Lees of Virginia, Nagel brings his skills to bear on another major American family, taking readers inside the great estates of the Old Dominion and the turbulent lives of the Lee men and women.
"This booklet provides a summary account of the six main branches of the Lee family descended from Richard Lee and Anna Constable, and of their most notable members"--Foreword, p. iv.
In bridging the gap between Lee's private interests and public career, J. Kent McGaughy seeks to overturn many of the misconceptions about Lee and shows that, throughout his life, he remained dedicated to his family and public service.
Reprint of the original. The publishing house Anatiposi publishes historical books as reprints. Due to their age, these books may have missing pages or inferior quality. Our aim is to preserve these books and make them available to the public so that they do not get lost.
This collection of more than 100 ghost stories has entertained lovers of Virginia genealogy, history and folklore for generations. Mrs. Marguerite du Pont Lee, daughter of Eleuthere Irenee du Pont, humanitarian and campaigner for women's rights, was also a great student of psychic phenomena. This interest in the unexplained led her to gather tales of ghosts and the paranormal from around her adopted state, many of them dating back to the colonial period. Charmingly written and illustrated throughout, most of the tales (like the encounter of Warner Taliaferro of Belle Ville in Gloucester County with the spirit of his neighbor, Mrs. Tabb, on the night of her death) deal with ghosts sited at the venerable homesteads that proliferate in Virginia. Thus, for example, we have stories set at The Anchorage and Gunston Hall in the Alexandria area, Federal Hill and Traveller's Rest near Fredericksburg, Mount Airy and Woodlawn in the Tidewater, Edgewood and Westover near Richmond, Ash Lawn and Fairfield within the Piedmont, Carter Hall and Elmwood in the Shenandoah Valley, Ivanhoe and Ellerslie in Southside, and still other tales from the Eastern Shore, Southwest Virginia, and West Virginia. Many of the ghost stories, of course, concern early Virginians who materialize on the family trees of Virginia researchers.
