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death in London in 1767, William Lee stayed in that city, courted his heiress cousin Hannah
Philippa Ludwell (30 years old at the time and known for an independent disposition), and married her on March 7, 1769. By this time, her sister Frances had also died, and Hannah Ludwell Lee worked to ensure that she (and not her remaining sister
282:(1740–1792) would also become an American diplomat and politician. Complicating matters, relations shared the same name, including two men who died childless: the founder Richard Lee I's son William (1651-1696) who held Northumberland county offices, distant cousin named William Lee of Northampton County, the son of his great uncle
440:
Nonetheless, a free Black community remained at
Centerville, in what he had called the Hot Water Tract. Although William L. Lee's will also made a bequest to establish a free school there, in 1818 the College of William and Mary brought suit, alleging that the annual allotments of corn had not been
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Both sisters then moved to Green Spring, wary of suitors attracted by their wealth. As executor, Hodgson tried to impose discipline on the plantation, including its slaves freed by
William Lee's will on January 1 following his death, but finally sold the estate to George Mason in 1824. After interim
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Lee learned that his wife died suddenly in Ostend, Belgium on August 18, 1784, on her way home with the children, and ordered her buried in London with her parents. In 1785, his eyesight failing, he also tried to strengthen the
Episcopal Church, while waiting for his daughters to arrive (they did in
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During the war, his brother
Richard Henry Lee had warned William Lee that slaves were fleeing to British lines, such that Lucy Paradise's Rich Neck plantation had but one remaining slave, and all Richard Taliaferro's slaves at Powhatan Plantation and Champion Travis' of Jamestown Island had escaped.
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William Lee returned to
Virginia for five years, 1763-1768, to work at Stratford and assist his eldest brother Col. Philip Lee (1717-1775, already a member of the Governor's Council), then sailed to London en route to making his fortune in India or elsewhere. However, after hearing of Col. Ludwell's
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His underage sisters remained at
Menokin, then after Col. Frank Lee's death moved to Alexandria, Virginia, where Portia married merchant William Hodgson in May 1799. William L. Lee often visited them, and Philadelphia, but also chose to pull down the old house against the advice of Benjamin Latrobe
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for 1774 after
Sheriff Plomer resigned. The other sheriff for that year, Stephen Sayes, was also American born. The position gave them the opportunity to press in high places the American case for less taxation and more representation. After his year as sheriff, William Lee was elected an Alderman,
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months later) would inherit the 7000 acre Green Spring plantation, but she did not want to return to
Virginia. While Hannah proved to be shrewd in understanding the purchasing desires and needs of planters' wives (thus helping to gain business from their husbands), William Lee also made some unwise
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As a younger brother, Lee did not expect to inherit plantations from his parents, but after completing his education moved to London and became a mercantile agent for
Virginia in the tobacco trade. Beginning in 1760, he and his sister Alice (who was trying to escape an unfortunate marriage to Billy
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who was administering Philip Ludlow's will. Thus, the family stayed in London and William Lee began a career as a tobacco merchant, as well as raising the family described below, and superintending the education in England of the sons of their brother Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Lee and Ludwell Lee,
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William Lee died at Green Spring plantation on June 27, 1795, and was buried beside his Ludwell grandparents in Jamestown. The will he penned in 1789 left most of his estate (including about 8700 acres of land once held by Philip Ludwell III) to his son WIlliam Ludwell Lee, then 20 years old, who
390:, as General Lafayette's (outnumbered) forces fell into an ambush by Lord Cornwallis' troops during their retreat to nearby Yorktown, Virginia, where Cornwallis would ultimately surrender. In February 1782, Lee forwarded a complaint to Lafayette for damage done the estate.
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While at Green Spring with his son William Ludlow Lee, William Lee was concerned about the blacks, ordering that the most promising be apprenticed to various trades, as well as ordering repairs made upon the mansion that had grown decrepit under a succession of overseers.
324:, a mentor of their ancestor Richard Lee I. Enslaved labor on that plantation (like at many Lee family plantations) grew tobacco (prices of which were depressed during his ownership), as well as indigo, wheat, corn, cotton and flax, among other crops.
377:. Towards the end of the war Lee moved to Brussels, and then, leaving his wife and children there rather than risk a wartime voyage, returned to Virginia alone to try to collect more than 10,000 English pounds of debts owed him by Virginia planters.
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and Mary Kendall. Unless this merchant returned to Virginia between 1779 and 1781, a different man won election and re-election to in the Virginia House of Delegates, representing Northumberland County as the American Revolutionary War ended.
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and replaced it with a new one. However, William L. Lee died on January 24, 1803. He was interred beside his father at Jamestown, with Bishop James Madison officiating at the service, which was postponed because of weather.
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owners, John and Robert C.A. Ward of New Jersey resumed using slave labor. Cornelia married Richmond businessman John Hopkins and bore four daughters before dying in Richmond of complications from the last birth in 1818.
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William married Hannah Phillipa Ludwell (1739–1784) on March 7, 1769, in London, following her father's death in that city. Hannah was also born into the First Families of Virginia as one of three daughters of Col.
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paid, nor did the college ever establish the school, although the case reportedly reached the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. By 1842 James City County voters were asked for permission to lend the funds out.
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Although ill and going blind (cataract surgery in Philadelphia in 1789 having failed), Lee in 1790 accepted the post of James City County sheriff, and served two years.
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230:. His son William Ludwell Lee (who survived him only by a decade) became an early Lee family genealogist as well as left a will freeing his slaves.
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448:, and the replacement mansion burned down. In 1966, the National Park Service acquired about 200 acres of the property, which is now part of
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258:, a merchant and colonial officeholder who had founded the influential Virginia family in the previous century. Lee was thus born into the
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William Ludwell Lee (1775–1803), who never married, and whose will administered by his brother in law William Hodgson freed his slaves.
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elected him to the Virginia Senate in 1783 together with David Jameson, and confirmed Lee as their sole senator in the next session.
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481:(1730–1787). Her maternal grandparents were Hon. Charles Grymes (1693–1743) and Frances Jennings, and resided at "Morattico" in
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but could not fulfill his dream to become a member of Parliament. Nonetheless, he continued his campaign for American rights.
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206:(August 31, 1739 – June 27, 1795) was a Virginia merchant and member of the Lee Family of Virginia who served as an
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decisions concerning her Virginia plantations firing the long-time overseer and antagonizing the widely respected
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Cynthia Miller Leonard, Virginia General Assembly 1619-1978 (Richmond: Virginia State Library 1978) pp. 152, 155
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chose not to accept his father's advice to change his surname to Ludwell so that family name would not die out.
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Green Spring would again become a battle site in the American Civil War, as part of the
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and received a private education appropriate to his class. Two of his elder brothers,
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and his three daughters (the Ludwell family included no sons). Ludwell owned
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892:— This article on his brother has a long paragraph on William Lee.
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Virginia's Eastern Shore: a history of Northampton and Accomack Counties
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Moreover, his wife's plantation on July 6, 1781, became the site of
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Shippen) lived in London with their mother's widower brother, Col.
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
794:"Free Black Community at Centerville, James City County, Virginia"
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Portia Lee (1777–1840), who married William Hodgson (1765–1820).
841:. Associates of Colonel Philip Ludwell III, Inc. 19 March 2016
214:, became a plantation owner through marriage, and represented
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Memorial to the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence
270:(1734–1797) were planters and politicians active within the
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After joining the Haberdashers Company, Lee was appointed
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Delegate, Continental Congress, 1774, 1776, 1784-1787
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by the childless Col. Frank Lee and his wife Becky).
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treaty that Lee helped draft became the cause of the
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Cornelia Lee (1780–1818), who married John Hopkins (
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606:. Virginia Beach: Donning Company. p. 192.
651:. Washington and Lee University. Archived from
604:James City County: Keystone of the Commonwealth
958:United States Senator from Virginia, 1789-1792
413:November, and would be sent to be educated at
982:Virginia House of Delegates, 1777, 1780, 1785
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254:(1701–1750). He could trace his descent from
890:(11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
551:. Virginia Historical Society. p. 478.
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332:who at age 16 married London dilettante
190:diplomat, merchant, soldier, legislator,
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502:Brutus Lee (1778–1779), who died young.
492:on August 18, 1784, they had children:
393:Upon William Lee's return to Virginia,
59:May 5, 1783 – October 17, 1785
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989:Virginia House of Burgesses, 1758-1776
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172:and Hannah Harrison Ludwell
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260:First Families of Virginia
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467:Green Spring Plantation
310:Green Spring Plantation
294:Lee family Coat of Arms
252:Hannah Harrison Ludwell
1270:Lee family of Virginia
446:Battle of Williamsburg
388:Battle of Green Spring
375:Fourth Anglo-Dutch War
339:Robert Carter Nicholas
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1049:Judiciary Act of 1789
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690:McCartney pp. 225-227
475:Lucy Ludwell Paradise
369:. An unofficial U.S.-
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154:Francis Lightfoot Lee
1027:Petition to the King
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571:Leonard pp. 135, 138
355:Continental Congress
276:Continental Congress
210:diplomat during the
192:justice of the peace
1202:Laetitia Corbin Lee
1148:Samuel Phillips Lee
359:American Revolution
119:Westmoreland County
99:Westmoreland County
1172:Thomas Ludwell Lee
1166:Hannah Ludwell Lee
974:president, 1784-85
908:2014-09-09 at the
882:Lee, Richard Henry
463:Philip Ludwell III
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783:Nagel pp. 193-194
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264:Richard Henry Lee
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203:
202:
114:(1795-06-27)
75:Succeeded by
54:
1255:1795 deaths
1250:1739 births
1184:William Lee
1142:Ludwell Lee
1017:(co-author)
858:Attribution
839:Ludwell.org
626:Nagel p. 93
510: 1778
357:during the
318:James River
284:Hancock Lee
204:William Lee
161:(1732–1794)
156:(1734–1797)
151:(1740–1792)
129:Nationality
79:Hugh Nelson
65:Preceded by
23:William Lee
1244:Categories
1190:Arthur Lee
1154:Thomas Lee
1150:(grandson)
1106:Depictions
845:21 October
659:2011-06-29
517:References
280:Arthur Lee
248:Thomas Lee
234:Background
187:Occupation
170:Thomas Lee
149:Arthur Lee
1192:(brother)
1186:(brother)
1180:(brother)
1174:(brother)
1123:1972 film
1079:Namesakes
1070:Chantilly
177:Education
166:Parent(s)
145:Relations
55:In office
1168:(sister)
1162:(mother)
1156:(father)
1045:(signed)
1039:(signed)
906:Archived
238:Born at
208:American
132:American
103:Virginia
1212:Related
875::
796:. 2000.
415:Menokin
399:Warwick
367:Prussia
363:Austria
226:in the
220:Warwick
43:Warwick
1134:Family
869:
610:
555:
137:Spouse
1144:(son)
1058:Homes
371:Dutch
1114:1776
1086:USS
847:2016
608:ISBN
553:ISBN
401:and
330:Lucy
222:and
109:Died
93:Born
45:and
1094:SS
1088:Lee
884:".
469:in
365:or
312:in
242:in
1246::
1121:,
837:.
713:^
640:^
525:^
512:).
507:c.
452:.
397:,
218:,
121:,
101:,
41:,
1125:)
1117:(
976:)
972:(
964:)
960:(
938:e
931:t
924:v
849:.
662:.
616:.
561:.
537:.
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