Richard "Squire" Lee


Richard Lee, known most commonly as "Squire", was a prominent Virginian colonist, and American politician, who was active in the American Revolutionary War.

Family

He was born at "Lee Hall" in Westmoreland County, Virginia, the third of seven children born to Henry Lee I and Mary Bland. Through his father's brother, Thomas 1690-1750, he was the first cousin to Founding Fathers Richard Henry Lee and Francis Lightfoot Lee—both signers of the Declaration of Independence.
In 1786, at the age of 60, he married 17-year-old Sarah Bland "Sally" Poythress, a daughter of Peter Poythress of "Branchester" and Elizabeth Bland. The couple had 5 children;
  1. Richard Lee II
  2. Mary Lee
  3. Lettice Lee
  4. a son who died in infancy
  5. Richardia
Great uncle of Robert E Lee
After his death, Sally married secondly Willoughby Newton and was the mother of Willoughby Newton.

Career

Squire served in the Virginia House of Burgesses, as a representative from Westmoreland, for the years 1757–58, 1762, 1769, 1772, & 1774. The House of Burgesses became the Virginia House of Delegates in 1776, due to the outbreak of the war, and Richard served there during the years 1777, 1780, 1784–87, 1790 & 1793.
He was a delegate to the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1775–76, which drafted the 1776 version of the Constitution of Virginia. He later served as Justice of the Peace for Westmoreland County, Virginia and was a Naval Officer for the Port of Potomac.