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Lot 388
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R. B. Lee Re: Lighthorse Lee and Bushrod Washington
R. B. Lee Re: Lighthorse Lee and Bushrod Washington
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Description:

Richard Bland Lee
Fairfax County, VA, July 7, 1812
R. B. Lee Re: Lighthorse Lee and Bushrod Washington
ADS

RICHARD BLAND LEE, Autograph Document Signed, Separate Answer of Lee in case of Rowand v. Lee et al., July 7, 1812, Fairfax County, Virginia. Also signed by Justice of the Peace John Jackson. 7 pp., 7.25" x 12". Expected folds; light toning; very good.

In this answer to a lawsuit initiated by Thomas Rowand, Richard Bland Lee attempts to explain the complicated financial and property transactions between himself, his brother General Henry "Lighthorse Harry" Lee III, and his nephew Henry Lee IV. The complicated land and slave transactions also included Bushrod Washington (1762-1829) "of Mount Vernon," the Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court who inherited the Mount Vernon estate from his uncle George Washington in 1802. In 1798, Henry Lee III had mortgaged his Cabin Point plantation to Bushrod Washington.

Thomas Rowand (1783-1857) had acted as an agent for Henry Lee III, and he began a long legal battle with Lee over the ownership of the slaves. After the division of his uncle John Lee's estate in 1803, Henry Lee III brought the slaves that had worked the Cabin Point plantation to his own Stratford Hall plantation. Four years later, he sold the slaves from Cabin Point to his brother Richard Bland Lee for a $2,000 credit, and Richard Bland Lee hired out the slaves beginning in January 1808. In 1810, Richard Bland Lee sold the Cabin Point slaves to his nephew Henry Lee IV.

Excerpts
"The defendant...answereth that and saith—that on the 9th day of Nover in the year 1807 this defendant settled his accounts with Genl Henry Lee also one of the defendant's to this Bill, when the said Henry Lee gave his both to this defendant for the balance appearing to be then due him to this Defendant amounting to $40,662, that at the same time the said Henry Lee assigned to this defendant all his interest in certain landed estates held by him in courtesy, which belonged to his late wife Matilda...." (p1)

"that some time afterwards, the said Genl Henry Lee conveyed to this defendant all his life interest in the said landed estates—that the rents & issues of said estates might be applyed to the payment of the said bond: that subsequent to this last conveyance, this defendant agreed with Henry Lee junr. that if he would join his father in a deed to this defendant for one of the said landed estates called Lengley situate in the county of Fairfax, that he this defendant would immediately release to the said Henry Lee junr. all the residue of the property held by this defendant which has been settled on him by his mother Matilda, late wife of Genl Henry Lee, which property consisted of about 1200 acres of land in Loudoun County on the River Potomack, of an Island in the River Potomack called Merton & the half of another Island called Eden in the State of Maryland." (p1-2)

"But from the perplexed situation of all the above mentioned property this defendant despairs of receiving any indemnity. The said Genl. H. Lee while in confinement as aforesaid did also convey to this defendant a certain undivided interest in certain large tracts of land in Hampshire County for the use and benefit of a certain William Wilson—which lands are also regarded as of little value. This defendant denies having purchased the said mortgage on Cabin point from the Hon. Bushrod Washington with any funds derived from the said Genl. H. Lee or belonging to him—or for his use, but with the joint funds of his wife and himself—& solely with a view to their interests. This defendant has heard that the said Genl. Henry Lee while in confinement as aforesaid did make several conveyances to his said son Henry Lee junr. of divers property for the purpose of securing the payment of debts due from him to hi said son H. Lee junr. and to other persons—but this defendant is generally ignorant of what those conveyances particularly contained—but always understood that the property conveyed was of little or no value on account of the perplexities attending it." (p5)

"This defendant further denies all fraud & combination and prays to be dismissed from the hon. court with his costs." (p6)

Historical Background
Henry "Lighthorse Harry" Lee III (1756-1818) served as a cavalry officer in the Revolutionary War. He resigned his commission and married Matilda Ludwell Lee (1763-1790) in 1782. She brought with her to the marriage the Stratford Hall plantation in Westmoreland County, Virginia. They had three children, including Henry Lee IV (referred to as "Henry Lee junr." in this document). Lee began buying large tracts of land on credit, borrowing tens of thousands of dollars that his assets could not cover. The Panic of 1796-1797 and the bankruptcy of Robert Morris also harmed his already bleak financial situation.

After his first wife's death in 1790, Henry Lee III married Anne Hill Carter (1773-1829), another plantation heiress, though her father placed her inheritance in trust to keep it free from the claims of her new husband or his creditors. Lee and his second wife had six children, including future Confederate General Robert E. Lee (1807-1870).

Lee's younger brother Richard Bland Lee was driven into significant debt trying to aid his brothers Henry and Charles extricate themselves from severe financial difficulties.

From 1809 to 1810, Henry "Lighthorse Harry" Lee III was jailed in Westmoreland and Spotsylvania counties for nonpayment of debts. While in prison, he wrote Memoirs of the War in the Southern Department of the United States, 2 vols. (1812), but the memoir did not sell well. He emerged from prison as a bankrupt.

In July 1812, just weeks after his brother wrote this answer, Henry Lee III traveled to Baltimore to defend his friend Alexander C. Hanson, editor of the Federal Republican newspaper and an outspoken critic of the War of 1812. A Democratic-Republican mob attacked the house where Lee and Hanson were, and the Baltimore police took them to the jailhouse for their protection. However, the mob broke into the jailhouse, beat Lee badly, and left him for dead. He survived, but he never recovered his health. In attempt to avoid his creditors, Lee traveled to the Caribbean. He returned to the United States early in 1818, landing at Cumberland Island, where he stayed with the daughter of Nathanael Greene, his former commander. He died there on March 25.

Richard Bland Lee (1761-1827) was born at Leesylvania, his father's estate in Virginia. Educated by private tutors, he enrolled at the College of William and Mary in 1779. In 1780 or 1781, he agreed to manage some of his father's holdings, and in 1787, he inherited a 1,500-acre estate in Fairfax County, Virginia, that he named "Sully." A younger brother of Major General Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee and Charles Lee, who was U.S. Attorney General from 1795 to 1801, Richard Bland Lee served several terms in the Virginia House of Delegates between 1784 and 1799. He supported the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, and Federalists, including George Washington, elected him in 1788 to Congress, where he served from 1789 to 1795. After moving to Washington, D.C. in 1815, President James Madison appointed Lee as one of three commissioners to superintend the reconstruction of government buildings damaged or destroyed by British troops in 1814. Congress disapproved of the commissioners' work, especially their perceived ill treatment of Benjamin Latrobe, Architect of the Capitol. Madison appointed Lee as a commissioner to adjudicate claims from loss of property during the War of 1812. After two contentious years in that role, Lee was the subject of a Congressional inquiry, which absolved him of any corruption but found that many claimants had perpetrated an extensive system of fraud. In 1819, President Monroe appointed Lee as a judge of the Orphans' Court in the District of Columbia, a position he held until his death.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 7.25" x 12"
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