Richard Lee I

Richard Lee I was an English-born merchant, planter and politician who was the first member of the Lee family to live in America. Poor when he arrived in the colony of Virginia in 1639, Lee may have been both the colony's wealthiest inhabitant and as its largest landholder by the time of his death, owning 15,000 acres (23 sq mi) in Virginia and Maryland. In addition to holding several important government and military posts, he became a merchant, planter and politician and served a term in the House of Burgesses. He managed to negotiate several major political upheavals for his economic gain.