Thomas Lee

Col. Thomas Lee was a planter and politician in colonial Virginia. A member of the Lee family, a political dynasty. Lee became involved in politics in 1710, serving in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly, and also held important positions as Naval Officer for the Northern Potomac Region and agent for the Northern Neck Proprietary. After his father died, Lee inherited thousands of acres of land as well as enslaved people in then-vast Northumberland and Stafford Counties in Virginia as well as across the Potomac River in Charles County, Maryland. These properties were developed as tobacco plantations. Northumberland County was later subdivided, so some of Lee's properties were in modern Fairfax, Fauquier, Prince William and Loudoun Counties as well as the counties in the modern Northern Neck of Virginia.