Background
Lee, Francis Lightfoot was born on October 14, 1734 in “Stratford,” Westmoreland, Virginia, United States. Son of Thomas and Hannah (Ludwell) Lee.
politician member of Virginia State Senate
Lee, Francis Lightfoot was born on October 14, 1734 in “Stratford,” Westmoreland, Virginia, United States. Son of Thomas and Hannah (Ludwell) Lee.
He was educated at home, where Lee pursued classical studies under Doctor Craig.
As an active protester regarding issues such as the Stamp Acting, Lee helped move the colony in the direction of independence from Britain. Lee was a delegate to the Virginia Conventions and the Continental Congress. He was a signer of the Articles of Confederation and the Declaration of Independence as a representative of Virginia.
He was of English descent, and was born into one of the First Families of Virginia.
Lee was the fourth son of Thomas Lee and Hannah Harrison Ludwell (of the nearby Greenspring Plantation). They were 2nd cousins, once removed.
Lee lived his entire life in the region of Virginia between the Rappahannock River and the Chesapeake Bay (known as the Northern Neck). In 1774, Lee was among those who called for a general congress and the first of the Virginia Conventions, which he attended.
He served in the Virginia State Senate from 1778 to 1782, and was a delegate to the first Continental Congress held in Philadelphia, serving until 1779.
As a congressional representative of Virginia, he signed both the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation. Lee died at his residence (named “Menokin”) in Richmond County, Virginia, on January 11, 1797. He is buried in the Tayloe family burial ground at Mount Airy Plantation, near Warsaw, Virginia.
Member Virginia House of Burgesses from Loudoun County, 1758-1768, from Richmond County, 1769-1776. Member committee forming Virginia Committee of Correspondence, 1773. Member Virginia Senate, 1779-1782.
Married Rebecca Tayloe, spring 1769.
