Background
Charles Lee was the second son of Henry Lee and his wife Lucy Grymes, and the brother of "Light-Horse Harry" Lee and Richard Bland Lee. He was descended from Richard Lee, the emigrant ancestor of the family.
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Charles Lee was the second son of Henry Lee and his wife Lucy Grymes, and the brother of "Light-Horse Harry" Lee and Richard Bland Lee. He was descended from Richard Lee, the emigrant ancestor of the family.
In 1770 he entered the College of New Jersey where he was commended by President Witherspoon for his "application and genius. " He received the degree of A. B. in 1775. At some time he studied law in Philadelphia.
In 1777 Lee was serving as "naval officer of the South Potomac" and apparently retained the office until 1789, when the Virginia office ended and he applied to Washington for retention as customhouse officer. His appointment as "collector of the port of Alexandria" was confirmed by the Senate in August 1789 and he served until 1793. His friendship for Washington was rooted in early attachments. He shared Washington's political outlook, gave him constant support, and aided in the struggle in Virginia for the ratification of the Constitution.
He was admitted to the bar in June 1794 (J. H. Martin, Martin's Bench and Bar of Philadelphia, 1883). From 1793 to 1795 he was a member of the General Assembly of Virginia for Fairfax County. He vigorously supported Washington's policies and stanchly sought to stem the enthusiasm in Virginia for Genet and France and for Thomas Jefferson. On November 19, 1795, Washington offered him the appointment to the office of attorney-general of the United States to succeed William Bradford. Lee accepted the appointment on November 30 and held the office until the overthrow of the Federalists in 1801. He was persistent in his opposition to a conciliatory policy toward France, advised the recall of Monroe as minister to that country in 1796, and was sympathetic in his views with his close friend John Marshall.
President Adams sought in his final appointments to take care of Charles Lee among other Federalists and on February 18, 1801, nominated him as judge of one of the new circuit courts. His confirmation on March 3, 1801, placed him among the so-called "midnight judges. " When Congress in 1802 repealed the Judiciary Act of the previous administration Lee retired to his home in Virginia. His political fortunes fell with the defeat of the Federalist party and his remaining years were spent in private law practice in the Virginia courts and before the federal courts, especially the Supreme Court of the United States, where his friend Marshall was presiding. He spent the latter years of his life at his stone house in Fauquier County, near Warrenton, where he died on June 24, 1815.
Lee was the most prominent trial lawyers in Northern Virginia and the District of Columbia. He served in notable cases including the celebrated case of Marbury vs. Madison. He was also one of the defense lawyers in the trial of Aaron Burr in Richmond. In the impeachment of Judge Chase by the Republicans in 1805 he was one of the defense lawyers.
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Lee was twice married. His first wife was Anne, daughter of Richard Henry and Anne Lee, whom he married at "Chantilly, " Westmoreland County, Virginia, on February 11, 1789. She bore him six children. His second wife was Margaret C. (Scott) Peyton, widow of Yelverton Peyton and daughter of the Rev. John and Elizabeth (Gordon) Scott. Of this marriage there were three children.
