Richard Bland Lee

Richard Bland Lee the third son of Henry Lee II and Lucy Grymes was born on January 20, 1761, at "Leesylvania", the estate built by his father on land overlooking the Potomac River in Prince William County in the Colony of Virginia. He was named after two distinguished relatives, his great-grandfather Richard Bland of "Jordan's Point", and his great-uncle, jurist and statesman Richard Bland, whom Thomas Jefferson called "the wisest man south of the James".[1]

Possibly educated by tutors as a youth at "Chantilly", the home of his venerated cousin Richard Henry Lee in Westmoreland County, Virginia, Richard enrolled at the College of William and Mary in 1779. Though not directly involved in the Revolutionary war as his brother Henry Lee III was, Richard nevertheless took an active interest in the American cause. In June 1779 for example, Richard's uncle "Squire" Richard Lee of Lee Hall introduced a resolution in the House of Delegates that would authorize the building of a new statehouse. Though only eighteen years of age, Richard Bland Lee, in a letter written later that month, rebuked his famous uncle, characterizing the effort as "abominable ... [at a] ... time of public danger when our expenses are already unsupportable."[1] On June 17 of the next year Richard was admitted to the Phi Beta Kappa Society, an academic organization through which he was able to refine his speaking skills.[2] In December of that year, a British invasion fleet transporting newly minted British General Benedict Arnold and his troops appeared off Jamestown, prepared it seemed, to launch an advance upon Richmond.[2] Phi Beta Kappa undertook to secure its papers against capture, and many of its members joined a hastily formed local militia company to offer at least some resistance to the expected invasion.[1][2]

Richard Bland Lee may have been a part of this militia, or may have earlier returned to "Leesylvania" to "converse with his father about the future."[1] Part of that future had apparently already been decided for him, as his father Henry Lee II had destined a part of his holdings on Cub Run to Richard, who it appears agreed to act on his father's behalf in managing this property sometime in 1780 or 1781. In 1787, he inherited 1,500 acres (6.1 km²) of this holding from his father, land that would comprise the estate he would later name "Sully".

Sully, Home of Richard Bland Lee

Upon his death in 1787, Henry Lee II bequeathed 3,000 acres (12 km²) of his Cub Run estates to be equally divided between his sons Richard Bland and Theodorick. Being the older of the two, Richard was given the more alluvial northern half, on which he already resided, having lived there as manager of the estate since approximately 1781. After his election to Congress, and for most of the next five years, Richard turned day-to-day management of his estate over to his brother Theodorick, who supervised spring planting, fall harvest, collection of rent from tenant farmers, and the construction of the large house Richard had planned for the estate on which construction had begun in 1794. Before he left for Congress in 1789, Richard had chosen a name for his estate, Sully. The exact origin of the name is unknown, though Robert S. Gamble in Sully: Biography of a House speculates that Sully was named after "Chateau de Sully" in the Valley of Loire in France. According to Gamble, "if he turned to a specific source, it was doubtless the Memoires of Maximilien de Bethune, Duke of Sully and France's Minister of Finance under Henry IV."[1] This work was well known among wealthy Virginians in the late 18th century.

Upon his defeat for reelection to Congress, Richard returned to "Sully" and took over primary operation of his estate. Determined to steer clear of the untenable practices characteristic of the tobacco monoculture which predominated in Virginia, Richard, like George Washington whom he idolized, applied modern methods of farming designed to diversify production and to halt depletion of the soil. To the end he switched to growing staple crops - wheat, rye, barley, corn and timothy, fruit trees - apple to produce cider, and peach for the making of peach brandy. He planted clover to help replenish the soil and he "tried crop rotation and the application of nutrients, especially crushed limestone, to fields where productivity was decreasing."[1] During this period he either abandoned or severely limited the growing of tobacco at "Sully." He planted large vegetable gardens and in 1801 Richard built a dairy house constructed with red Seneca stone.

Construction on the large house was begun in 1794 and completed in 1795. It is a "Federal"- or "Georgian"-style home of two and a half stories. He erected a 1+1⁄2-story addition in 1799 coincident with the wedding of Portia Lee who, along with her sister Cornelia Lee had come to live with Richard and Elizabeth Lee under their guardianship. Driven into significant debt trying to aid his brothers Maj. Gen. Henry ("Light Horse Harry") Lee and Charles Lee extricate themselves from severe financial difficulties, Richard sold "Sully" in 1811 to a cousin, Francis Lightfoot Lee (1782–1858). Richard Bland and Elizabeth Lee initially moved to a home in Alexandria, then to a country home called Strawberry Vale near Scott's Run (current site of Tysons Corner), and finally to the historic Thomas Law House at Sixth and N Streets, Southwest in Washington, DC.

Sully is located at Chantilly, just off U.S. Route 50, on State Route 28, the southern access road to Dulles International Airport. It is owned and operated as a museum house by the Fairfax County Park Authority.

Elizabeth (Collins) Lee (c. 1768–1858)

Richard married Elizabeth Collins (c. 1768–1858) in 1794, at her parents' home in Germantown, PA. Elizabeth was the daughter of Philadelphia Quaker merchant Stephen Collins and Mary Parrish, and the sister of Zaccheus Collins, a prominent botanist. Her lifelong friend was Dolley Payne Todd Madison.

1. Mary Ann Lee[14] born May 11, 1795, died June 21, 1796, of dysentery. Buried at Sully in unmarked grave.
2. Col. Richard Bland Lee II[14] born July 20, 1797, died August 2, 1875. Married Julia Anna Marion Prosser (1806–1882), daughter of John Prosser and Mary "Polly" Poole. Both buried at Ivy Hill Cemetery, Alexandria, Va.
3. Ann Matilda Lee[14] born July 13, 1799, died December 20, 1880. Married Dr. Baily Washington III (1787–1854).
4. Mary Collins Lee[14] born May 6, 1801, died February 22, 1805. Buried at Sully in unmarked grave.
5. Laura Lee[14] born May 10, 1803, died in infancy.
6. Cornelia Lee[14] born March 20, 1804, died December 26, 1876. Married Dr. James W. F. Marcrae.
7. Hon. Zaccheus Collins Lee[14] born December 5, 1805, died November 1859 in Baltimore, MD; Served as U.S. District Attorney from 1848 to 1855. Married Martha Jenkins.
8. Male Infant[14] born April 15, 1807, died April 15, 1807.
9. Male Infant[14] stillborn June 11, 1809.

Richard died in Washington, D.C., and was buried in the Congressional Cemetery there in 1827. In 1975 he was reinterred at his home, Sully near Chantilly, Virginia.

His home is now open to visitors as a county park.[15]

Lee Family Coat of Arms

Richard Bland Lee was the son of Henry Lee II (1730–1787) of "Leesylvania" and, Lucy Grymes (1734–1792).[16]

• Lucy Grymes Lee was the daughter of Hon. Charles Grymes (1693–1743) and Frances Jennings.[16]

Henry Lee, II, was the third son of Capt. Henry Lee I (1691–1747) of "Lee Hall", Westmoreland County, and his wife, Mary Bland (1704–1764).[16]

• Mary Bland Lee was the daughter of Hon. Richard Bland I (1665–1720) and his second wife, Elizabeth Randolph (1685–1719).[16]

Henry Lee, I, was the son of Col. Richard Lee II, Esq., "the scholar" (1647–1715) and Laetitia Corbin (c. 1657–1706).[16]

• Laetitia Corbin Lee was the daughter of Richard's neighbor and, Councillor, Hon. Henry Corbin, Sr. (1629–1676) and Alice (Eltonhead) Burnham (c. 1627–1684).[16]

Richard Lee, II, was the son of Col. Richard Lee I, Esq., "the immigrant" (1618–1664) and Anne Constable (c. 1621–1666).[16]

• Anne Constable Lee was the daughter of Thomas Constable and a ward of Sir John Thoroughgood.[16]

• Biographic sketch at U.S. Congress website
• Sully Historic Site in Fairfax County, Virginia
• What is this Sully I see Everywhere