Richard Bland Lee Served His Country

Richard Bland Lee, born on January 20, 1761, into Virginia's wealthy gentry, inherited land and followed his family's political legacy. Elected to the Virginia General Assembly in 1784 at age 23, he served until 1788, then represented Northern Virginia in the first three Federal Congresses from March 4, 1789, to March 3, 1795. He later served in the Virginia House of Delegates in 1796 and again from 1799 to 1806. Lee cast a crucial vote for the Compromise of 1790, reached among Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton, which settled the nation's Revolutionary War debts and chose the new United States capital on the Potomac River. After moving to Washington, D.C., in 1815, President James Madison appointed him as one of three commissioners to supervise reconstruction of federal buildings damaged by British troops during the War of 1812, and he was later selected to adjudicate claims for wartime property loss or destruction. In 1819, President Monroe designated him judge of the Orphans' Court of the District of Columbia, where he served until his death in 1827. He was buried in Congressional Cemetery and later reinterred on the grounds of Sully.

Sully Square, Virginia · United States