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Stratford Hall Plantation in Westmoreland County, Virginia
Westmoreland County, Virginia

Westmoreland County is a county located in the Northern Neck of the Commonwealth of Virginia, a U.S. state in the United States. As of the United States Census, 2000, the population was 16,718....
, United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, was the home of four generations of the Lee family
Lee family

The Lee family, in the United States of America, is a historically significant Virginia political family, whose many prominent members are known for their accomplishments in politics and the military....
 of Virginia, including two signers of the Declaration of Independence
United States Declaration of Independence

The United States Declaration of Independence is a statement adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the Thirteen Colonies then at war with Kingdom of Great Britain were now independent states, and thus no longer a part of the British Empire....
, and was the birthplace of Robert E. Lee
Robert E. Lee

Robert Edward Lee , was a career United States United States Army officer , an engineer, and among the most celebrated generals in American history....
, Confederate General-in-chief during the American Civil War
American Civil War

The American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several Naming the American Civil War, was a civil war in the United States....
.

Thomas Lee
Thomas Lee (Virginia colonist)

Thomas Lee was a leading political figure of colonial Virginia. He was a member of the Lee family, a political dynasty which included many figures from the pre-Revolutionary War era until the late 20th century....
, Hon. (1690-1750), a Virginian who served as acting Governor of the colony and advocated strongly for westward expansion, purchased the land for Stratford Hall in 1717, recognizing the potential for the waterfront site both agriculturally and commercially.






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Stratford Hall Plantation in Westmoreland County, Virginia
Westmoreland County, Virginia

Westmoreland County is a county located in the Northern Neck of the Commonwealth of Virginia, a U.S. state in the United States. As of the United States Census, 2000, the population was 16,718....
, United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, was the home of four generations of the Lee family
Lee family

The Lee family, in the United States of America, is a historically significant Virginia political family, whose many prominent members are known for their accomplishments in politics and the military....
 of Virginia, including two signers of the Declaration of Independence
United States Declaration of Independence

The United States Declaration of Independence is a statement adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the Thirteen Colonies then at war with Kingdom of Great Britain were now independent states, and thus no longer a part of the British Empire....
, and was the birthplace of Robert E. Lee
Robert E. Lee

Robert Edward Lee , was a career United States United States Army officer , an engineer, and among the most celebrated generals in American history....
, Confederate General-in-chief during the American Civil War
American Civil War

The American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several Naming the American Civil War, was a civil war in the United States....
.

History


Col. Thomas Lee
Thomas Lee (Virginia colonist)

Thomas Lee was a leading political figure of colonial Virginia. He was a member of the Lee family, a political dynasty which included many figures from the pre-Revolutionary War era until the late 20th century....
, Hon. (1690-1750), a Virginian who served as acting Governor of the colony and advocated strongly for westward expansion, purchased the land for Stratford Hall in 1717, recognizing the potential for the waterfront site both agriculturally and commercially. Construction of the Georgian
Georgian architecture

Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking world to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four Monarchy of the United Kingdom of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United Kingdom, and George IV of the...
 Great House however did not begin until the late 1730s. Designed by an unknown architect, the brick Great House is a two story H-shaped structure, surrounded on its four corners by attending outbuildings, all of which still stand today. Following construction of the Great House, Thomas Lee expanded the site into a bustling hive of activity, and soon the working plantation became "a towne in itself" as one visitor to Stratford marveled. A wharf on the Potomac River
Potomac River

The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic Ocean coast of the United States. The river is approximately 383 statute miles long, with a Drainage basin of about 14,700 square miles ....
 welcomed countless trading ships, a gristmill
Gristmill

A gristmill or grist mill is a building where grain is ground into flour, or the grinding mechanism itself. In many countries these are referred to as corn mills or flour mills....
 ground wheat and corn, and slaves and indentured servants farmed tobacco and other crops on the thousands of acres encompassing the plantation. Blacksmith
Blacksmith

A blacksmith is a person who processess iron or steel by forging the metal; i.e., by using tools to hammer, bend, cut, and otherwise shape it in its non-liquid form....
s, coopers
Cooper (profession)

Traditionally, a cooper is someone who makes wooden staff vessels of a conical form, of greater length than breadth, bound together with hoops and possessing flat ends or heads....
, carpenters, tailors, gardeners and weavers all plied their trade at Thomas Lee's Stratford. Stratford Hall is set in the Historic Northern Neck- a rural peninsula in Virginia where Historic Christ Church is found.

In the middle of this busy world, Thomas Lee
Thomas Lee (Virginia colonist)

Thomas Lee was a leading political figure of colonial Virginia. He was a member of the Lee family, a political dynasty which included many figures from the pre-Revolutionary War era until the late 20th century....
 and his wife Hannah Harrison Ludwell (1701-1749) raised eight extraordinary children: six sons and two daughters who would play an important role in shaping the early history of the nation. The eldest son, Hon. Philip Ludwell Lee, Sr., Esq. (1727-1775) became the inheritor of Stratford. Richard Henry Lee
Richard Henry Lee

Richard Henry Lee was an United States statesman from Virginia best known for the motion in the Second Continental Congress calling for the colonies' independence from Great Britain....
 (1732-1794) and Francis Lightfoot Lee
Francis Lightfoot Lee

Francis Lightfoot Lee , was a member of the House of Burgesses in the Colony of Virginia. He was active in protesting issues such as the Stamp Act which moved the Colony in the direction of seeking Independence from British control....
 (1734-1797), both delegates from Virginia to the Second Continental Congress
Second Continental Congress

The Second Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that met beginning in May 10, 1775, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, soon after shooting in the American Revolutionary War had begun....
, were signers of the Declaration of Independence
United States Declaration of Independence

The United States Declaration of Independence is a statement adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the Thirteen Colonies then at war with Kingdom of Great Britain were now independent states, and thus no longer a part of the British Empire....
. Richard Henry was later instrumental in guiding the fledgling nation, serving as President of Congress
President of the Continental Congress

The President of the Continental Congress was the presiding officer of the Continental Congress, the convention of delegates that emerged as the first national government of the United States during the American Revolution....
 from 1784-5. Thomas Ludwell Lee
Thomas Ludwell Lee

Thomas Ludwell Lee, Sr. was an editor of the Virginia Declaration of Rights. He was the older brother of Richard Henry Lee, Francis Lightfoot Lee, William Lee , and Arthur Lee ....
, active in local politics, served as a Virginian legislator and helped compose the Virginia Declaration of Rights
Virginia Declaration of Rights

The Virginia Declaration of Rights is a document drafted in 1776 to proclaim the inherent natural rights of men, including the right to rebel against "inadequate" government....
. William Lee
William Lee (diplomat)

William Lee was an United States diplomat during the American Revolutionary War. He was born at Stratford Hall Plantation in Westmoreland County, Virginia to Hon....
 (1739-1795) and Dr. Arthur Lee
Arthur Lee (diplomat)

Dr. Arthur Lee , was an United States diplomat during the American Revolutionary War. He was the son of Hon. Thomas Lee and Hannah Harrison Ludwell ....
 (1740-1792) were both diplomats to England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 during the turbulent struggle for American independence. Hannah Lee was an early proponent of women's rights, and Alice Lee married prominent physician Dr. William Shippen
William Shippen, Jr.

Dr. William Shippen, Jr. , was the first systematic teacher of anatomy, surgery and obstetrics in Colonial America and founded the first maternity hospital in America....
 (1736-1808) of Philadelphia.

Hon. Philip Ludwell Lee, Sr. (1727-1775), a member of the House of Burgesses
House of Burgesses

The Virginia House of Burgesses was the first elected lower house in the legislature in the New World established in the Colony of Virginia in 1619....
 and King's Council, continued to expand the plantation following his inheritance of Stratford until it eventually encompassed almost . A lover of horses and music, Philip and his wife Elizabeth Steptoe (1743-1789) had two daughters, the oldest of which was known as the "divine Matilda". Philip died in 1775, and Elizabeth continued to reside there. In 1780, the widow married Philip Richard Fendall I, Esq. (1734-1805). The new couple resided at “Stratford” along with her two daughters and son-in-law (and later Revolutionary War
American Revolution

The American Revolution refers to the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which the Thirteen Colonies of North America overthrew the governance of the British Empire and then rejected the British monarchy to become the sovereign United States of America....
 hero Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee (1756-1818), who had married the daughter Matilda. An arrangement was reached in 1784-85, that the Fendall’s would turn over their rights to “Stratford Hall”, and at the same time, Henry would sell a ½ acre lot, situated on Oronoco Street in Alexandria, Virginia for 300 pounds. It was here that Philip R. Fendall built the "Lee-Fendall House
Lee-Fendall House

The Lee-Fendall House is a historic house located at 614 Oronoco St. in Alexandria, Virginia....
". As a result, Matilda inherited Stratford and resided there with her second cousin and her husband Harry. Their time together was cut short however, when Matilda died after eight years of marriage.

Several years passed before "Light Horse Harry" married a second time, this time taking Ann Hill Carter (1773-1827) of Shirley Plantation
Shirley Plantation

Shirley Plantation is an Estate located on the north bank of the James River in Charles City County, Virginia. It is located on State Route 5 , a scenic byway which runs between the independent cities of Richmond, Virginia and Williamsburg, Virginia....
 as his bride. Their fourth child, Gen. Robert Edward Lee
Robert E. Lee

Robert Edward Lee , was a career United States United States Army officer , an engineer, and among the most celebrated generals in American history....
 (1807-1870), was born at Stratford Hall in 1807. Robert E. Lee, future Confederate
Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America formed as the government set up from 1861 to 1865 by eleven Southern United States U.S. state of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S....
 General-in-chief, spent only four years at Stratford, yet remembered it fondly throughout the remainder of his life. In the midst of the American Civil War
American Civil War

The American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several Naming the American Civil War, was a civil war in the United States....
 he wrote to his wife that "In the absence of a home I wish I could purchase Stratford. That is the only place I could go to, now accessible to us, that would inspire me with feelings of pleasure and local love. You and the girls could remain there in quiet. It is a poor place, but we could make enough cornbread and bacon for our support and the girls could weave us clothes. I wonder if it is for sale and at how much."

With debts mounting, "Light Horse Harry" and his wife and children departed Stratford during the winter of 1810-11 and moved to Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria, Virginia

Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the United States Census 2000, the city had a total population of 128,283....
. Stratford Hall passed into the hands of Harry and Matilda's surviving son Maj. Henry Lee IV
Henry Lee IV

Henry Lee IV Biographer and historian born in Stratford, Virginia to Major General Henry Lee III and Matilda Lee. He was a half-brother of General Robert E....
 "Black Horse" (1787-1837), but financial trouble forced the sale of the plantation several years later. Stratford remained in private hands for more than a century, but in 1929 a group of women dedicated to preserving the memory of Robert E. Lee and his family joined together to form the and purchase Stratford Hall. These women worked tirelessly to fund the purchase and restoration of the property. Today, the site is still maintained by the Robert E. Lee Memorial Association, and is open to the public. Encompassing over , visitors today can tour the Great House, numerous outbuildings, the restored working gristmill and can explore the gardens, walking trails and Miocene era cliffs found on the site.

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