Windsor May 30th 1888
Mrs. George T. Lee[1]
My dear Ella[2],
George’s last letter informed me, that I have now another daughter, who will be welcomed with the most affectionate interest by all the members of her new family, into their midst. I hope, it will be in George’s power after a while to bring you to Virginia, where you may be sure of having a Virginia welcome, as far as warm and loving interest can give one.
George wrote me, he was going to try to persuade you to write me a long letter. I add my persuasions to his, that you will send me, not one letter, but many, in the course of time, Long, pleasant letters, giving me information about yourself, those you love, and telling me of the country around you. It will give me great pleasure to correspond with you, and I hope you will grant my request, and not think it troublesome. And I hope too, you will call me mother. That is the name Alice, my Roberts wife gives me, and I trust you will do the same. Here are two requests already from your new mother, but from what George has written me, I think, I may depend upon your kindness to grant both. I would particularly like to hear of yours & George’s home life.
Alice, Katharine, and Robert, join me in love to you, and many wishes for yours and George’s future happiness.
I remain,
Your affectionate mother,
Lucy Lee[3]
Source: Transcribed from facsimile of original letter, courtesy of Rhonda Lee. Vertical files, du Pont Library, Stratford Hall
Transcribed by Colin Woodward, 2016 January 8
[1] George Taylor Lee (1848-1933) was a New Market cadet during the Civil War. He was born at "Brookfield" just north of Richmond and moved to Powhatan as a boy. In 1866, he attended Washington and Lee University. In 1870, he moved to Hardy, West Virginia, where he taught and studied law. In May 1888, he married Ella Goodrum, a native of Arkansas. He became a lawyer and practiced law in Johnson City, Tennessee.
[2] Ella Goodrum Lee (1863-1930).
[3] Lucy Penn Taylor Lee (1827-1913) was 20 years old when she married Charles Carter Lee, who was 49 at the time. They owned a farm in Powhatan County called “Windsor Forest.”
