Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 06.djvu/404

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LEE, Francis Lightfoot, signer, was born at " Stratford," Westmoreland county, Va., Oct. 14, 1734 ; fourth son of Gov. Thomas and Hannah (Ludwell) Lee. He was educated at Stratford by the Rev. Mr. Craig, a Scotch clergyman. He became a member of the house of burgess- es for Loudoun coun- ty, and signed the Westmoreland de- claration against the stamp act with his three brothers in 17- 65. Upon his mar- riage to Rebecca, daughter of Col. John Taylor, of Richmond county, Va., in 1772, he made that county his home and was at once elected to rep- resent it in the house of burgesses. He succeeded Col. Richard Bland as delegate to the Continental congress, Aug. 15, 1775, serving 1775-79. He signed the Dec- laration of Independence, assisted in prepar- ing the Articles of Confederation and defended the rights of the States to the Newfoundland fisheries and to the free navigation of the Mississippi river. He retired from congress in the spring of 1779 and resumed his duties as master of his extensive estates and justice of the peace of Richmond county. He represented the county in the state legislature for one or two terms. See Sanderson's " Lives of the Signers." He died in Richmond county, Va., April 3, 1797. LEE, Frederic Schiller, physiologist, was born in Canton, N.Y., June 16, 1859 ; son of John Steb- bins and Elmina (Bennett) Lee ; grandson of Eli and Rebekah (Stebbins) Lee ; and of Moses and Nancy (Wheeler) Bennett, and a descendant of Samuel Lee, Watertown, Mass., 1670; and of Rowland Stebbins of Ipswich, England, who set- tled in Boston, Mass., in 1634. He was graduated from St. Lawrence university, A.B., 1878, A.M., 1881 ; from Johns Hopkins university, Ph.D., 1885, and studied under Carl Ludwig, at Loipsic university, 1885-86. He served as instructor in biology at St. Lawrence university, 1886-87; as instructor in physiology and histology at Bryn Mawr college. Pa., 1887-88, and associate, 1888- 91 ; as demonstrator of physiology at Columbia university, 1891-95, and was appointed adjunct professor of physiology in Columbia in 1895. He was elected a member and fellow of several im- portant scientific societies, including the Ameri- can Association for the Advancement of Science, 1900. He became one of the editors of tlie Amer- ican Journal of Physiology ; joint author of : In

Sickness and in Health (1896) and An American Text-hook of Physiology (1896); translator and editor of a General Physiology : An Outline of the Science of Life, by Max Verworn (1899); reviser and editor of Huxley's Lessons in Elementary Physiology (1900); and the author of numerous articles, chiefly upon physiological subjects, in the scientific journals in America, England and Germany.

LEE, George Washington Custis, soldier, was born in Fort Monroe, Va., Sept. 16, 1832 ; son of Robert Edward and Mary Anne Randolph (Custis) Lee. He was graduated at the U.S. Military academy at the head of the class of 1854 ; was commissioned 2d lieu- tenant in the Corps of Engineers, U.S. army ; was promoted 1st lieutenant Octo- ber, 1859, and served in the engineer bu- reau, Washington, D.C., 1859-61. In May, 1861, after the secession of Virginia, he I'esigned his com- mission in the U.S. army, and was com- missioned major of engineers in the pro- visional army of Vir- ginia, and with that army was transferred to the Confederate States army, June 8, 1861. On July 1, 1861, he was assigned to the engineer corps with the rank of captain, and was engaged in thf^ fortifications around Richmond. On Aug. 81, 1861, President Davis made him an aide-de-camp on his staff with the rank of colonel of cavalry. He visited Bragg's army at Murfreesboro, Tenn., in December, 1862, with President Davis, and on June 25, 1863, was commissioned brigadier-gen- eral and organized a brigade which he com- manded in the defence of Richmond. He was promoted major-general in October, 1864, and commanded a division of the corps of General Ewell in the defence of Richmond. In the retreat from Richmond, he crossed with his division on the pontoon above Drewry's Bluff, A^^ril 2, 1865, and at Sailor's Creek, April 6, he was made pris- oner with Generals Ewell, Kershaw, Barton, Du Bose, Hunton, Corse and other officers and con- vej'ed to City Point, Va., where he was paroled and sent to Richmond, Va. He was professor of civil and military engineering and applied me- chanics in the Virginia Military Institute, Lexing- ton. Va., 1865-71 ; and on Feb. 1. 1871, succeeded his fatlier as president of Washington college, having been elected to the oflSce, Oct. 28, 1870. The name of the institution was in honor of