Thomas LEE

  General Notes:

Thomas Lee was a founder of the Ohio Company, a member of the governing Council of the colony, and acting Governor of Virginia. In 1717, he purchased the land for Stratford Hall Plantation and, during the period of 1730-1738, built the brick Georgian Great House. At the Stratford Landing on the Potomac River, he built a wharf and grist mill. A successful tobacco planter and land speculator, he owned more than 16,000 acres in Virginia and Maryland. The labor force was made up of slaves, indentured servants, and transported convicts.

Thomas Lee and his wife, Hannah, raised a remarkable family of six sons and two daughters. Their eldest son, Philip Ludwell Lee (1727-1775), inherited Stratford. Richard Henry and Francis Lightfoot Lee were the only brothers to sign the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Ludwell Lee helped write Virginia's resolves for independence and was one of the first judges elected to Virginia's supreme court. William and Arthur Lee were both diplomats working to secure the European support during the Revolution. Hannah Lee Corbin was a proponent of women's rights. Her sister, Alice Lee, married Dr. William Shippen of Philadelphia, who served as chief physician and director general of the Continental Army hospitals.

Thomas married Hannah LUDWELL. (Hannah LUDWELL was born about 1695.)