Evening star., 1936-12-19
Bv Mary.Carfer Roberts.

2. d. Roosevelt. Richmond: Gar
rett & Massie.
~HIS book will well be OF inter-
est to Washingtonians. 1t is
the history of those members
i of the Lee family who made
their home at Stratford Hall. and as
such it contains names which, in ad-
dition to their national fame, are oil
peculiar local interest. The book has
been compiled in connection with the
work of the Lee Foundation in restor-
ing Stratford. it being deemed fitting
that the history of the house should
be preserved. Miss Armes, olstln-
euished research worker, has exam
ined many hundreds of records in pro-
ducing her account, which is COM
mended for its accuracy and careful
ness.
The work begins with tracing OF
the Lee family from its first colonists
to Thomas Lee. who started TO build
Stratford in 1921 or thereabouts.
From this point it proceeds in eonsid-
cradle detail to describe such mem
hers of the family as made the great
house their home, continuing to 1922,
when Lee ownership of the estate
ceased. through subsequent owners 10
1929, when the Lee Foundation pur-
chased the old place.
ulustrious Lees who lived at Strait
ford include Light Horse Harry OF
Revolutionary fame, Thomas Lee,
commander in chief of Virginia; Fran
els Lightfoot Lee and Richard Henry
Lee signers of the Declaration of In
dependence, while the most famous
member of the family, Robert E. Lee,
was born there.
Miss Armes tells her story through
the lives of the successive occupants
of the house. A great part OF her
narrative is given over to the turou-
lent history of Light Horse Harry
father of Robert E. Lee. While she
ahides closely by the records, 1t Is
clear that she found considerable
material for hero-worship in the
dashing colonel. She dWells on the
fact that he was responsible for more
successful engagements in the ReVo-
given credit; she emphasizes the irony
of the fallen fortunes of his later
wears. when, after serving Virginia
as Governor for three terms, ne was
thrown into debtors prison. she re-
calls rumors of a plan afoot to MUIR
der him when he went to Baltimore
10 protest against entry into the war
of 1912 and met there with the IN
iuries, at the hands of mob, which
later caused his death. She seems 10
find in him the high point OF the
Stratford Lees, whose fortunes ebbed
steadily thereafter.
NEXT to Light Horse Harry the
greatest amount of personal de-
tail is devoted to Henry Lee, his son,
who died in Paris, where his widow
later ended her days in actual want.
Ii was this Lee who had sold STRAIT
ford and his sister-in-law had come
into possession of the Lee estate. This
vas Elizabeth McCarty, and 1t was
due to her that Stratford was re-es-
tablished and maintained in its old
state, postponing its dilapidation for
a good many years. She had married
Henry D. Storke, who bought STRAIT
ford in 1927, when it was put up for
public sale, due to the financial fall
ure of the previous owner.
These three lives-Light Horse
Harry, Henry and Elizabeth-give the
book most of its human interest, the
sest of the account being chiefly mere
record or what is already known in
history. Mention, however, should be
made of Hannah Lee, daughter of the
builder of Stratford, who, though not
n resident of the estate, stands out
of the record as a distinct person.
ality.
Hannah married Gawen Corbin and
removed to Packatone, WeStmoreland
County, and distinguished herself as
an eighteenth century feminist. Left
widow, she protested against having
to pay taxes when she had no vote
and won from her illustrious brother,
Richard Henry, agreement that there
was no real reason why women prop
erty owners should not have the fran
chise. She was religions in more
than a formal manner and, finding
the established church unsatisfactory,
joined the BaptistS, who were new
sect in Virginia.
THE latter part of the book is given
- over to an account of the work of
restoration carried on by the Lee
Foundation. 1t is a record of palms.
taking and widespread research.
Perhaps no review of this study OF
o great American family is complete
without reference to an earlier work
of Miss Armes' which came as a by
product of her Lee researches, the
journal Book of Nancy Shippen,"
which was published last year. Nancy
Shipper was the daughter of Alice
Lee and granddaughter of Stratfords
builder. She married. unhappily, into
the Livingstone family of New York,
after her parents had forced her to
break her engagement to young
French officer with whom she was in
love. Her tragic story was recorded
only in her own diary. 1t was not
upon it in the home of DR.. Lloyd
Shippen of Georgetown. 1t was pub
lished last year, an amazingly inti-
mate and living account Of heartbreak
q century and half ago.
The present work is abundantly il
Illustrated with pictures of the old
house in various states and of its va
rious owners. 1t is a book which will
be indispensable to collectors of works
of Americana. The labor which it
represents deserves high praise.
THE BATTERY. By Raymond Glider.
Boston: Houghton Miffiin Co.
THIS highly readable and amusing
book recounts the history of
America as it has washed over the
south-most tip of Americas most
famous island, Manhattan. The
first record. as Mr.. Glider finds
1t. was that of Giovanni da YER
Kiru nf