Harrison Genealogy Repository

Notes

Mt. Pleasant, an estate consisting of about 2,600 acres, had been bequeathed by the Immigrant to his eldest son John, and was inherited by Richard as heir-at-law to their father. "The large brick house, largely inclosed by a brick wall, was burned down and another was built on the surrounding heights of the Potomac." This written by William Lee. The date of the fire is not known, but must have occurred between 1716 and 1730. Thomas Lee obtained a lease of this estate in 1716, and apparently lived there until he built the Stratford mansion. It seems likely that the loss by fire, mentioned by William Lee, occurred at Mt. Pleasant, not at Stratford, as has been generally supposed. There is no record of a fire ever having occurred at the latter place; while frequent mention has been made "of burnt house fields," at the former, evidently showing that a fire there had been so serious that the field had been named as a record of the disaster. The new house, built further back from the river and upon higher ground, was probably erected by George Lee when he came from England to settle in Virginia. It, too, has been burned. Richard Lee was educated at Oxford. He was a member of the Council in 1676, 1680-83-88, 1692-98. A Burgess in 1677, and probably earlier. Governor Spotswood described Richard Lee as, "a gentleman of as fair character as any in the country for his exact justice, honesty and unexceptional loyalty. In all the stations wherein he has served in this government, he has behaved himself with great integrity and sufficiency; and when his advanced age would no longer permit him to execute to his won satisfaction the duty of Naval Officer of the same district, I thought I could not better reward his merit than by bestowing that employment on his son." [I Spotswood, 178]. Richard and Laetitia's tombstone is still to be seen at Mt. Pleasant, it is a very large slab of hard white marble. The inscription was written in Latin, and translated, it reads: "Here lieth the body of Richard Lee, Esq., born in Virginia, son of Richard Lee, Gentleman, descended of an ancient family of Merton-Regis, in Shropshire. While he exercised the office of magistrate he was a zealous promoter of the public good. He was very skillful in the Greek and Latin languages and other parts of polite learning. He quietly resigned his soul to God, whom he always devoutly worshiped, on the 12th day of March, in the year 1714, in the 68th year of his age. Near by interred the body of Laetitia, his faithful wife, daughter of Henry Corbyn, Gentleman. A most affectionate mother, she was also distinguished by piety toward God, charity to the poor, and kindness to all. She died on the 6th day of October, 1706, in the 49th year of her age." It is supposed that Thomas Lee in 1749, Arthur Lee in 1792, and Richard Henry Lee in 1794 were buried there as well. Richard Lee's will, dated 3 Mar 1714, probated in Westmoreland Co., VA on 27 Apr 1715. ^[S581]