Contents


Collection Summary

Scope and Content Note

Arrangement of the Papers

Selected Search Terms

Container List

Correspondence

Other family correspondence, 1807-1825

General correspondence, 1753-1827, undated

Armes, Ethel, research notes, circa 1930s

Original documents, 1809-1895

Maps, 1671, 1775

Architectural plans and drawings of Lee family estates

Copies of title pages from books in Lee family library

Lee family genealogies

Lee, Charles Carter, writings

Legal papers

Newspaper clippings, 1870, undated

Transcripts of letters, 1750-1891, undated

Ethel Armes Collection of Lee Family Papers

A Finding Aid to the Collection in the Library of Congress

Prepared by Jacqueline Goggin

2009

Collection Summary

Creator Armes, Ethel, 1876-1945
Title Ethel Armes Collection of Lee Family Papers
Span Dates 1671-1936
Abstract: Correspondence, architectural plans, genealogical papers, maps, legal papers, clippings, and other material assembled by Armes in preparing her book, Stratford Hall: The Great House of the Lees (1936).
Extent: 500 items3 containers1.2 linear feet
Language: Collection material in English
Identification: MSS54304

Scope and Content Note

The Ethel Armes Collection of Lee Family Papers consists principally of photocopies and transcripts of documents found in other repositories. Armes collected and assembled these in preparation for her book, Stratford Hall: The Great House of the Lees (1936). Materials date from 1671 to 1936 and include family correspondence of the Lee and Shippen families pertaining mainly to life during the Revolutionary War period. The bulk of the correspondence is that of Henry "Lighthorse Harry" Lee, Revolutionary War general and father of Robert E. Lee, and Major Henry Lee, brother of Robert E. Lee. Subjects detailed in the correspondence include military activities during the Revolutionary War, politics and political appointments, financial affairs in the colonies, agriculture, planting, and slavery in Virginia, and family life on Shirley Plantation. Among other family members represented in the collection are Charles Carter Lee, Richard Bland Lee, Mary Randolph Custis and Robert E. Lee, Alice Lee Shippen, Thomas Lee Shippen, and William Shippen. One noteworthy item in the collection is a copy of a letter of former slave Eleanor Berry to Elizabeth Collins Lee, her previous mistress. Duff Green, Nathanael Greene, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Tyler, and George Washington are among the more prominent correspondents in the collection.

Copies of architectural plans and drawings of various Lee family estates, family genealogies, legal papers, maps, and newspaper clippings are included in the collection. The few original documents in the Ethel Armes Collection of Lee Family Papers consist mainly of research notes and correspondence of Armes and pertain to her book. Of particular interest is a letter of Franklin D. Roosevelt to Armes; Roosevelt wrote the foreword to her book.

Return to the Table of Contents


Selected Search Terms

People

  • Armes, Ethel, 1876-1945.
  • Carter, Lucy Grymes Lee, 1786-1860. Lucy Grymes Lee Carter papers.
  • Corbin, Hannah Lee, 1728-1782. Hannah Lee Corbin papers.
  • Green, Duff, 1791-1875--Correspondence.
  • Greene Nathanael, 1742-1786--Correspondence.
  • Hamilton, Alexander, 1757-1804--Correspondence.
  • Hopkins, Cornelia Lee, 1780-1815. Cornelia Lee Hopkins papers.
  • Izard, Elizabeth Byrd Carter Shippen. Elizabeth Byrd Carter Shippen Izard papers.
  • Lee family.
  • Lee, Ann Hill Carter, 1773-1829. Ann Hill Carter Lee papers.
  • Lee, Anne Robinson McCarty, 1798-1840. Anne Robinson McCarty Lee papers.
  • Lee, Charles Carter, 1798-1871. Charles Carter Lee papers.
  • Lee, Elizabeth Collins, -1858. Elizabeth Collins Lee papers.
  • Lee, Henry, 1756-1818. Henry Lee papers.
  • Lee, Henry, 1787-1837. Henry Lee papers.
  • Lee, Mary Randolph Custis, 1807-1873. Mary Randolph Custis Lee papers.
  • Lee, Richard Bland, 1761-1827. Richard Bland Lee papers.
  • Lee, Richard Henry, 1794-1865. Richard Henry Lee papers.
  • Lee, Robert E. (Robert Edward), 1807-1870. Robert E. Lee papers.
  • Lee, Thomas, 1690-1750. Thomas Lee papers.
  • Livingston, Anne Home Shippen, 1763-1841. Anne Home Shippen Livingston papers.
  • Madison, James, 1751-1836--Correspondence.
  • Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945--Correspondence.
  • Shippen, Alice Lee, 1736-1817. Alice Lee Shippen papers.
  • Shippen, Thomas Lee, 1765-1798. Thomas Lee Shippen papers.
  • Shippen, William, 1736?-1808. William Shippen papers.
  • Tyler, John, 1790-1862--Correspondence.
  • Washington, George, 1732-1799--Correspondence.

Subjects

  • Agriculture--Virginia.
  • Plantations--Virginia.
  • Slavery--Virginia.

Places

  • Shirley Plantation (Va.)
  • Stratford Hall (Va.)
  • United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783.
  • Virginia--Social life and customs.

Return to the Table of Contents


Arrangement of the Papers

This collection is arranged alphabetically by type of material or name of person.

Return to the Table of Contents


Container List

Correspondence

Armes, Ethel (b. 1876), 1932-1936, undated

Carter, Lucy Grymes Lee (1786-1860), 1798-1813

Corbin, Hannah Lee (1728-1782), 1759-1760

Izard, Elizabeth Byrd Carter Shippen, 1799-1824, undated

Lee, Ann Hill Carter (1773-1829), 1805-1816

Lee, Anne Robinson McCarty, 1828-1837, undated

Lee, Charles Carter (1798-1871), 1817-1868

Lee, Cornelia (Cornelia Lee Hopkins) (1780-1815), 1801-1808, undated

Lee, Elizabeth Collins (1747-1858), 1792, undated

Lee, Elizabeth Collins, 1925-1927, undated

Lee, Henry (1756-1818)

1779-1816

Undated

Lee, Henry (1787-1837)

1816-1830

1831-1836

Lee, Mary Randolph Custis (1806-1873), 1834-1871, undated

Lee, Richard Bland (1761-1827), 1811-1812

Lee, Richard Henry (1794-1865), 1840

Lee, Robert E. (1807-1870), 1840-1865

Lee, Thomas (1690-1750), 1720-1750, undated

Shippen, Alice Lee (1736-1817), 1778, undated

Shippen, Nancy Lee (Anne Home Shippen Livingston) (1763-1841), undated

Shippen, Thomas Lee, 1783-1809

Shippen, William, 1814

Other family correspondence, 1807-1825

General correspondence, 1753-1827, undated

Armes, Ethel, research notes, circa 1930s

Original documents, 1809-1895

Maps, 1671, 1775

Architectural plans and drawings of Lee family estates

Copies of title pages from books in Lee family library

Lee family genealogies

Lee, Charles Carter, writings

Legal papers

Newspaper clippings, 1870, undated

Transcripts of letters, 1750-1891, undated

Return to the Table of Contents