The Lee family of the United States is a historically significant Virginia political family, whose many prominent members are known for their accomplishments in politics and the military. The long-held theory for over 200 years is that they descend from the Lees of Shropshire, England. While some twentieth-century scholarship seems to discredit this claim, the exhaustive research of genealogist Alan Nicholls fully supports the Shropshire connecti...
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The Lee family of the United States is a historically significant Virginia political family, whose many prominent members are known for their accomplishments in politics and the military. The long-held theory for over 200 years is that they descend from the Lees of Shropshire, England. While some twentieth-century scholarship seems to discredit this claim, the exhaustive research of genealogist Alan Nicholls fully supports the Shropshire connection. The family became prominent in colonial America when Richard Lee I ("The Immigrant") immigrated to Virginia in 1639 and made his fortune in tobacco.
Members of the family include Thomas Lee (1690–1750), a founder of the Ohio Company and a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses; Francis Lightfoot Lee (1734–1797) and Richard Henry Lee (1732–1794), signers of the United States Declaration of Independence; Thomas Sim Lee (1745–1819), Governor of Maryland and, most famous, General Robert E. Lee (1807–1870) Confederate States of America...
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