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born Thomas Lee's six sons, two of whom became signers of the Declaration of Independence, and all six noted for service to their native colony.
Stratford in later years became the home of General Henry Lee, better known as "Lighthorse Harr>'", a brilliant officer under Washington's command during the Revolution. Washington's boyhood home, Wakefield, is little more than a stone's throw from the Lee abode.
Lighthorse Harry's fourth son, Robert Edward Lee, whose fame was to pale that of his noted ascendants, was born at Stratford on January 19, 1807. There he lived until 1820, when after nearly a century of Lee tenure, the estate passed into other hands. In the following decades, the mansion and grounds deteriorated.
Comparatively recently, 1929, the historic site was lifted from oblivion by the formation of the Robert E. Lee Memorial Foundation, whose purpose was to acquire the property, restore and maintain it for the nation.
NO other American, perhaps, had held a higher place in the affections of his countrymen than Robert E. Lee. All sections wanted a share in the project, and in a few years the purchase price had been donated. On October 12, 1935, representatives of 44 states gathered at Stratford to witness its dedication as a national shrine.
A fine highway makes the famous old mansion and its typical colonial plantation easily accessible to the thousands of visitors who tour historic tidewater Virginia each year. Much has been done to restore the activities of
Swinf J»ne, 1951
the estate as they were in the days o4 Thomas Lee and his sons.
Colonial times are relived with the rebuilt grist mill at Stratford clatter ing and creaking once again, furnish ing adjacent farms and homes with meal ground between millstones already worn by ten score years of service. Although there were many fine examples of old mills throughout; the country, the search for pre-Revolu ^ tionary wooden machinery was nearly abandoned before an exact type was found in a two hundred-year-old milL in Maryland.
In a letter to his wife in the fall of 1861, General Lee said: "In the absence of a home, I wish I could purchase Stratford. That is the only place I could go now, accessible to us, that would inspire me with feelings of pleasure and local love. We could make enough for our support, and the girls could weave us clothes."
BY reviving the arts and industries it is hoped to make Stratford a self-sustaining plantation. From the restored smoke-house Virginia hams, hung over hickory coals for the curing process, are being shipped to far parts of the country. Sausages, preserves, pickles and jellies are made in the kitchen and sold in the plantation store.
Fine cattle and thoroughbred horses graze the sunny acres, flocks of fowl dot the barnyard, there is activity all about. The old Lee home re-echos the life of colonial days for the instruction of the entire nation. It is in this way a fitting memorial to an illustrious family.