William Lee (slave)

John Trumbull's picture of George Washington also shows William Lee, 1780.

William Lee (* around 1750 ; † 1828 ), also known as Billy Lee or Will Lee (sometimes referred to as Mulatto Will in youth books ), was an American slave, the personal servant of George Washington and the only one of Washington's slaves who got his freedom by his will immediately after his death. He served on Washington's side in the American Revolutionary War and can sometimes be seen in paintings next to Washington; this made him the most publicized African American of his time.

Early years

On May 3, 1768, George Washington acquired Lee from the future Colonel John Lee of Westmoreland County in Virginia for £ 61 and £ 15. William got his last name "Lee" from its previous owner. At the same time Washington acquired William's brother Frank and two other slaves. He paid a heavy price for the brothers because they were house servants, not just field workers. Fairer skinned slaves, such as William and Frank, were often chosen to be house servants; these had responsibilities and privileges that most slaves never attained. Frank became the butler at Washington's Mount Vernon mansion , while Lee served in various roles, including serving as Washington's personal servant. As its servant, he performed such tasks as brushing and tying Washington's long hair.

Washington went fox hunting frequently , and Lee became his hunter (the person in charge of the pack of dogs), a task that required a high level of horsemanship. In his memoir, Washington's step-son George Washington Parke Custis Lee described while on a hunt:

Will, the huntsman, better known in Revolutionary lore as Billy, rode a horse called Chinkling , a surprising leaper, and made very much like its rider, low, but sturdy, and of great bone and muscle. Will had but one order, which was to keep with the hounds; and, mounted on Chinkling … this fearless horseman would rush, at full speed, through brake or tangled wood, in a style at which modern huntsmen would stand aghast.

Before the Revolutionary War, Lee often accompanied Washington on trips, such as to the House of Burgesses (a kind of lower house that held the General Assembly together with the Board of Governors ) in Williamsburg , Virginia, on the exploration expedition into the Ohio Valley in 1770, or in 1774 for the first continental congress in Philadelphia .

Lee served on Washington's side during the eight years of the War of Independence, including the winter at Valley Forge and the Battle of Yorktown . The historian Fritz Hirschfeld put it this way: Lee “rode alongside Washington into the middle of the battle, ready to give the general a reserve horse or his telescope or whatever he might need. ... ".

After the war

Lee's wife was Margaret Thomas Lee, a Philadelphia Free African American who had served at Washington Headquarters during the war. Although slave weddings were not recognized in the Virginia Constitution, Washington made it possible in 1784 for Margaret to move to Mount Vernon to live with William. It is unknown whether she actually came to Mount Vernon. In 1799, Lee was considered unmarried.

In 1785, Lee injured his knee while on an inspection trip with Washington. Three years later, on the way to the post office in Alexandria , Lee injured his other knee; this gave him serious limitations. When Washington was elected president in 1789, Lee attempted to accompany him on the trip to New York for the inauguration , but he had to remain in Philadelphia for medical treatment. He was treated by different doctors; from them he received a steel bandage for his knee that allowed him to follow Washington to New York. Lee's disability prevented him from performing his various duties. He spent his last years struggling with alcohol as a shoemaker in Mount Vernon. Revolutionary War veterans visiting Mount Vernon often stopped to reminisce about the war with Lee.

When Washington died in 1799, Lee was freed by his last will; he led Lee's loyal service during the War of Independence. Lee was the only one of Washington's 124 slaves who, by Washington's will, was immediately given his freedom. The remaining slaves he owned were not free until after Martha Washington's death. The other 153 slaves in Mount Vernon were owned by Martha's first husband and were unable to obtain their freedom through Washington. For the rest of his life, Lee received a generous $ 30 a year pension, food, clothing, and the option to stay at Mount Vernon. Lee stayed in Mount Vernon and was buried there.

“If Billy Lee had been a white man,” wrote historian Fritz Hirschfeld, “he would have received an honorable place in American history because of his close proximity to George Washington during the most exciting periods of his career. But because he was a black servant, a hobbling slave, he was practically ignored by both white and black historians and biographers. "

literature

• Fritz Hirschfeld: George Washington and Slavery: A Documentary Portrayal . University of Missouri Press, Columbia 1997.
• Henry Wiencek: An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America . Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York 2003.

Web links

• Billy Lee's Memories of the Revolution , on the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association website
• Last Will and Testament of George Washington , on Living Trust Network

Individual evidence

1. ↑ quoted from Custis in Hirschfeld: George Washington and Slavery. 1997, p. 99.
2. ^ Hirschfeld: George Washington and Slavery. 1997, p. 111.
3. ^ Hirschfeld: George Washington and Slavery. 1997, p. 106.
4. ^ Hirschfeld: George Washington and Slavery. 1997, ch. 19th
5. ^ Hirschfeld: George Washington and Slavery. 1997, p. 111.