Thomas Lee

Colonel Thomas Lee ( – November 14, 1750) was a planter and politician in colonial Virginia, and a member of the Lee family, a political dynasty. Lee became involved in politics in 1710, serving in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly, and also held important positions as Naval Officer for the Northern Potomac Region and agent for the Northern Neck Proprietary. After his father died, Lee inherited thousands of acres of land as well as enslaved people in then-vast Northumberland and Stafford Counties in Virginia as well as across the Potomac River in Charles County, Maryland. These properties were developed as tobacco plantations. Northumberland County was later subdivided, so some of Lee's properties were in modern Fairfax, Fauquier, Prince William and Loudoun Counties as well as the counties in the modern Northern Neck of Virginia. When Lee married Hannah Harrison Ludwell in 1722, he benefited from the connections of the already established Harrison family of Virginia. A year later, he would become a member of the House of Burgesses. Arson destroyed Lee's home, he used money from Caroline of Ansbach and Britain to build Stratford Hall overlooking the Potomac River. Four years later, in 1733, he was appointed to the Governor's Council, the upper house of the General Assembly. In 1747, he founded the Ohio Company of Virginia with fellow Virginian colonists who wished to expand Virginia's territory into the Ohio River Valley. For less than a year, in 1749 until his death in 1750, Lee served as the de facto royal governor of Virginia in place of the absent William Gooch. Early life and education Thomas Lee was born around 1690 at Mount Pleasant, on the Machodoc River in Westmoreland County, Virginia. His parents were Col. Richard Lee II, "the scholar", and Laetitia Corbin, daughter of Henry Corbin. His ancestors had immigrated from Coton, Shropshire, to Virginia in 1642. As the fourth son of the couple, Lee would not receive as large an inheritance as his older brothers. This did not prevent him from becoming successful in politics. Lee attended college at the College of William and Mary around 1700. Lee's education was referred to as a "common Virginia education". He soon became interested in the working of the tobacco industry. He left home to work with his uncle Thomas Corbin in the tobacco business.