The stamp
appears upon it from his boyhood, and grows more plain as his years
progress."
The old homestead in which Lee was born deserves some notice on its own
account. It was built by Thomas Lee, a grandson of Richard Lee, the
emigrant who came to Virginia about the time that Charles I was losing
both his crown and his head. While Charles II was still in exile, this
same Thomas Lee offered the king a haven in Virginia, which was not
accepted.
The original brick structure was destroyed by fire, but the house was
rebuilt on the same site during the time of Queen Anne, and it is said
that she aided in its reconstruction. This was the ancestral home of
the Lees for several generations.
Robert E. Lee, though naturally proud of his lineage, never showed
great interest in the family tree. He never had the time or the
inclination to study genealogy, and always said that he knew nothing of
it beyond the fact that Colonel Richard Lee had come to America during
the reign of Charles I. Upon having a family seal and crest made, he
apologized for the seeming parade by saying, "I have thought, perhaps
foolishly enough, that it might as well be right as wrong." Later,
however, when approached on the subject of publishing a family history,
he wrote: "I am very much obliged to Mr.
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