The Other Lee In Powhatan

The brief stay of General Robert E. Lee in Powhatan County has been written about extensively through the years.

His fame and fortune, as well as his misfortune, are perhaps the most extensively documented subjects in existence.

But there was yet another Lee in Powhatan County that few people know of.

He was Charles Carter Lee, who owned Windsor Forest and the Fine Creek property surrounding his home place.

Carter, as he was known by family and friends, was a bit of a different Lee.

Born in 1789, nine years before Robert, Carter was old enough to remember the disgrace which had beset the Lee family as a result of the financial misfortune of his famous father, Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee of Revolutionary War fame.

Carter grew up remembering the father, who once had been the praise of the nation, and his fall into indebtedness.

The financial woes forced the Lee family at Stratford Hall to chain and lock the entrance doors while the family hid inside from the frequent bill collectors.

Finally, Stratford Hall had to be abandoned while Light Horse Harry was imprisoned.

The family moved to a small home in Alexandria.

Although well educated at Harvard, Carter unfortunately had inherited some of his father’s inadequacies when it came to business ventures.

Always his father’s favorite, as evidenced by the gifts bestowed on Carter, the reckless influence of father on son was to cause the boy a life of sorrow and disappointment.

Known for his kind heart, wit, and good humor, Carter was the center of the social circle.

The attention garnered from his outgoing personality often caused him to pursue dreams of wealth, always offering his younger brother Robert a portion.

 Robert, always money-wise and frugal, would scold Carter, causing him to catch a clear view of himself in time to avert another disaster.

Carter once said of himself, "I am amused and amusing."

Carter’s failed business ventures and dreams are a list worth noting. He opened a spa and failed.

Then followed an inn, with the same result.

After the inn came a failed plantation venture and two failed attempts to enter the state legislature.

Then he tried plantation life in Mississippi and failed miserably.

This last failure prompted brother Robert to reply to one of Carter’s pleas, "If it were not for the pain and vexation of your situation, I should have to laugh at the grandeur of your plans."

Then finally, a successful venture: Turning 49, he married Lucy Penn Taylor of Powhatan and settled on the Taylor family farm, Windsor Forest.

Carter was finally able to claim success as a husband and father.

Carter spent his remaining years farming and seeking to publish his father’s memoirs. He urged Robert to help, which he did as time permitted.

Although Carter was his happiest in Powhatan, he was distraught over the death of his brother, Smyth, in 1869.

The next year he was devastated by the death of Robert.

And now only Carter remained to carry on his father’s name.

He was 72 years of age and senility was taking its toll on his mind.

He was only a shell of the bundle of personality of his earlier years.

Adoring his famous brother Robert, the arrival of Robert’s clothes at Windsor’s door after his death caused Carter to burst into uncontrollable tears.

In 1871, Carter Lee passed away and finally found peace.

He was buried in the cemetery at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church on Huguenot Trail in Powhatan.

He never enjoyed the fame of his father or brother who, because of their wartime involvement in the military, became known as great men.

Carter was simply Carter, the entrepreneur and farmer, and forever remembered as "the other Lee."