Hannah Lee Chapter NSDAR is named for a true
daughter of the American Revolution, Hannah Lee
Washington, the daughter of Richard Henry Lee of
the illustrious Lee family of Virginia. Hannah’s
marriage to Corbin Washington, nephew of George
Washington, joined two historically prominent
families of the Revolutionary War. Fourteen of her
descendants have been DAR members.
Hannah Lee was born about 1766 to Richard Henry
and Anne Aylett Lee, at Chantilly plantation on
the Potomac River, in Westmoreland County,
Virginia. She joined three siblings: Thomas,
Ludwell, and Mary “Molly." Sadly, Anne Lee died of
pleurisy (pneumonia) December 12, 1768, at the age
of 30, when Hannah was only two years old. Her
brothers, who had also been ill, recovered.
Richard Henry Lee, who had been away attending to
colonial business, raced home when he was
notified. He was reported to be devastated by his
wife’s death. They had been married eleven years
and one week. His family, especially his brother
Thomas and wife Mary, helped with the little girls
during this time. A merchant, tobacco farmer,
politician, and family man, Richard Henry Lee was
also practical and in June or July of 1769,
married Anne Gaskins Pinckard. She was a
twenty-three year old widow with one or two
children. Anne Gaskins Pinckard had three
ancestors who came to America on the Mayflower -
so her family also had a historical lineage. They
had five surviving children: Anne "Nancy,"
Henrietta "Harriotte," Sarah "Sally," Cassius, and
Francis Lightfoot II.
Hannah was a popular family name used several
times in each generation of the Lee family. She
may have been named for her Aunt Hannah Lee
Corbin, an early advocate of women's right to vote
and own property, her Grandmother, or
Great-Grandmother, who were also named Hannah.
It is assumed that Hannah and her sisters shared
tutors with their brothers, as had their father’s
sisters, Hannah Lee Corbin and Alice Lee Shippen.
It is known that one of the tutors, a Miss Paton,
quit her post in 1777 to go abroad. In addition to
learning to read and write English, do
mathematics, and to run a large household, Hannah
probably studied French, music, dance, drawing,
deportment, and needlework as was typical of the
times and her social class.
The Lee family of Virginia were strong supporters
of the American Revolution. Richard Henry Lee and
his brother, Francis Lightfoot Lee, helped write
and were signers of the Declaration of
Independence. Their brother, Arthur, wrote papers
under an assumed name and went with Benjamin
Franklin to France. Another brother, William, was
active in English politics for the colonial cause
before serving in Berlin and Vienna. Their sister,
Alice, was married to William Shippen, who was a
prominent physician in Philadelphia. Richard Henry
devoted much of his life to politics, was the
sixth President of the United States in Congress
assembled under the Articles of Confederation, and
later was a U.S. Senator from Virginia. He spent a
great deal of time away from his plantation and
family, but family always came first.
In May of 1787, Hannah Lee married Corbin
Washington, son of John Augustine and Hannah
Bushrod Washington, also of Westmoreland County.
John Augustine was a brother of George Washington.
In "Journal of a Young Lady of Virginia 1782,"
published in 1871, written by her cousin Lucinda
Lee Orr, during a summer of family visits. Hannah
and Corbin were full of merriment, pulling jokes
on their sisters and cousins. They were congenial
guests, considerate and kind-hearted towards
others.
The marriages in their families are like a "Who’s
Who" of important families at that time and the
descendants even more so. Hannah’s half sister
Anne married Charles Lee, who was the third U.S.
Attorney General. He was appointed by George
Washington and continued to serve under President
John Adams. Corbin’s brother, Bushrod, was an
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court for
thirty-two years. Robert E. Lee, general of the
Confederate Army, was a second cousin, born after
she died.
Hannah and Corbin lived most of their married life
at Walnut Farm and became the parents of six
children.
- Richard Henry Lee Washington, b. 1788 d.
September 17, 1817 (unmarried)
- John Augustine Washington II, b. August 6,
1789 d. June 13, 1832; he married Jane
Charlotte Blackburn November 14, 1811 (d Aug
1856), they had five children. Their son John
Augustine Washington III would be the last to
live at Mount Vernon. He was killed at Cheat
Mountain, West Virginia, on September 13,
1861.
- Bushrod Corbin Washington, b. December 25,
1790 d. August 15, 1851. He was married twice:
1. Anna Maria Thomasina Blackburn, b. October
30, 1790 d. September 21, 1833 m
September 27, 1810, they had two children:
Hannah Lee Washington, b. May 19, 1811 m.
1835, William P. Alexander
Thomas Blackburn Washington b. 1813 d. 1854 m.
Rebecca Jane Cunningham b. 1820 d. Sept 1890,
London, England
2. Maria Powell Harrison b. July 27, 1791 d.
November 4, 1847
- Jane Mildred Washington b. 1793 d. October
1807, at the age of 14, at Mount Vernon
- Mary Lee Washington b. 1796 d. August 15,
1827 at the age of 32. She married Noblet
Herbert Sr. at Mount Vernon. and was buried
there as well. They had four children.
- Corbin Thomas Washington b. about 1797 d.
1802
Hannah and Corbin had been married eleven and a
half years when he died in Dec 1799 from
tuberculosis. He was just 35 years old. Two years
later, on November 23, 1801, Hannah Lee Washington
also died of tuberculosis at the age of 36. They
are buried in the family cemetery at Bushfield
plantation. Their children first lived with
Hannah's brother Thomas and his wife, Corbin's
sister Mildred, until his death in 1805. At that
time they went to live with Corbin's brother
Bushrod and his wife Julia Anna Blackburn
Washington at Mount Vernon. They had no children
of their own but in addition to Hannah and
Corbin's orphans they raised the children of
Anna's brother Richard Scott Blackburn. These are
the Blackburn sisters that Hannah's boys married.
Little more than the basic facts are known about
Hannah Lee Washington; in this she is much like
many of us who love and serve our country but who
will not be found in published histories.
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