Stratford Hall (plantation)
Stratford Hall | |
Back side of Stratford in 2012 | |
Coordinates | 38°9′7″N 76°50′22.2″W / 38.15194°N 76.839500°W |
---|---|
Built | 1738 |
Architectural style | Georgian style |
NRHP reference No. | 66000851[1] |
VLR No. | 096-0024 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 |
Designated NHL | October 7, 1960[3] |
Designated VLR | September 9, 1969[2] |
Stratford Hall is a historic house museum near Lerty in Westmoreland County, Virginia. It was the plantation house of four generations of the Lee family of Virginia (with descendants later to expand to Maryland and other states). Stratford Hall is the boyhood home of two Founding Fathers of the United States and signers of the United States Declaration of Independence, Richard Henry Lee (1732–1794), and Francis Lightfoot Lee (1734–1797). Stratford Hall is also the birthplace of Robert E. Lee (1807–1870), who was General in Chief of the Armies of the Confederate States during the American Civil War (1861–1865). The Stratford Hall estate was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960, under the care of the National Park Service in the U.S. Department of the Interior.[3]
History
Thomas Lee (1690–1750) was a Virginian who served as acting Governor of the colony and was a strong advocate for westward expansion. Lee purchased the land for Stratford Hall in 1717, aware of its agricultural and commercial potential as a waterfront site. Construction of the Georgian Great House did not begin until the late 1730s. Designed by an unknown architect, the brick Great House is a two-story H-shaped structure, surrounded on four corners by attending outbuildings, all of which still stand today. Following the construction of the Great House, Thomas Lee expanded the site into a bustling hive of activity, and soon the working plantation became "a towne in itself" as one visitor to Stratford marveled. By the time Stratford was completed around 1742, an estimated 200 enslaved Africans and African Americans were living at Stratford and other properties owned by Thomas Lee.[4]
A wharf on the
Amid this busy world, Thomas Lee and his wife
During this period, Caesar, an enslaved man, was a chef. He was noted for preparing hot chocolate for guests, as the hall had one of Virginia's first three chocolate grinding stones. His son Caesar Jr. was the plantation's
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c0/2007Stratford_033.jpg/200px-2007Stratford_033.jpg)
Several years passed before "Light Horse Harry" remarried to Ann Hill Carter (1773–1827) of
Light Horse Harry fell heavily into debt and eventually served a two-year term in debtors' prison. Anne Carter Lee and the children departed from Stratford Hall during the winter of 1810–11 and moved to Alexandria. Stratford Hall passed into the hands of Harry and Matilda's surviving son, Major Henry Lee IV "Black Horse" (1787–1837). Still, financial troubles and personal scandals forced him to sell the plantation several years later.
After the Lees
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f6/StratfordHallPlantationEastGarden.jpg/200px-StratfordHallPlantationEastGarden.jpg)
Stratford Hall remained in private hands for more than a century. William C. Somerville of Maryland purchased the property from Henry Lee IV in 1822.[6] After his death, his heirs discovered that obligations incurred by Henry Lee IV continued to encumber the property.[6] The plantation was foreclosed in 1828 and purchased by Henry D. Storke of Westmoreland County, who was married to Elizabeth "Besty" McCarty, sister of Henry Lee IV's wife, Anne Robinson McCarty.[6] Besty Storke lived on the property until she died in 1879 and was buried there.[6]
In 1929, a group of women dedicated to preserving the memory of Robert E. Lee and the Lee family joined to form the Robert E. Lee Memorial Association and purchased Stratford Hall from the Storkes' heirs. The Association maintains the site, which is open to the public.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/25/Lee_Jackson_Stratford_Hall_stamp.jpg/220px-Lee_Jackson_Stratford_Hall_stamp.jpg)
Stratford Hall was depicted on a 4¢ United States postage stamp of the 1936–1937 Army-Navy issue. The stamp shows General Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, with Stratford Hall in the center.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/StratfordHallPlantationPano.jpg/800px-StratfordHallPlantationPano.jpg)
Burials at Stratford Hall
- Thomas Lee
- Hannah Harrison Ludwell
See also
- List of National Historic Landmarks in Virginia
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Westmoreland County, Virginia
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
- ^ "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
- ^ a b "Stratford Hall". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on October 6, 2012. Retrieved June 27, 2008.
- ^ "Enslaved Community". Stratford Hall Historic Preserve. Archived from the original on February 21, 2024.
- ^ Deetz, Kelley Fanto (December 21, 2020). "Oppression in the kitchen, delight in the dining room: The story of Caesar, an enslaved chef and chocolatier in Colonial Virginia". The Conversation. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
- ^ a b c d Nagel, Paul C. "The Lees of Virginia: Seven Generations of an American Family" p 251
Further reading
- ISBN 978-0-19-505385-2.
- Stratford Hall Plantation and the Lees of Virginia. Stratford, VA: Robert E. Lee Memorial Association. 1998.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Official website of Stratford Hall
- Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. VA-307, "Stratford, State Route 214, Stratford Hall, Westmoreland County, VA", 139 photos, 34 measured drawings, 15 data pages
- National Historic Landmark: Stratford Hall
- The Inn at Stratford Hall
- "Stratford Hall" in the Encyclopedia of Virginia