m this he went on
to other negotiations between America and Europe.

Arthur Lee returned to America in 1780, and from 1782 to 1785 he served
as a member of Congress. During these years he entered somewhat into the
real-estate business in Alexandria. When his will was probated, he left
to his niece, Hannah Washington, wife of Corbin, a half-acre lot on
Washington and Oronoco Streets.

Hannah and Corbin Washington sold a half-acre lot to Charles Lee on
March 19, 1796. It is described as beginning at the intersection of
Washington and Oronoco on the southwest side, running west on Oronoco
123 feet 5 inches and south on Washington 176 feet 7 inches.

Charles Lee and Anne, his wife, sold this property to their brother,
Edmund I. Lee, for five thousand dollars in January 1801. Part of the
lot was rented at that time to Henry Zimmerman, subject to a ground
rent, and part to Howard Beale, and there were houses, ways, advantages,
and so on.

Edmund Jennings (always called Edmund I., following the eighteenth
century usage of I for J) Lee was born just prior to the Revolution in
1772, when great events were stirring. He grew to young manhood in the
post-Revolutionary days, and developed into an able lawyer, one of those
stalwart citizens, giving his time and energy to his family, his church,
and his city. He has been overshadowed by his more famous brothers,
"Light Horse Harry" and Charles Lee, Attorney General in Washington's
cabinet, and his immortal nephew, Robert Edward Lee.

At twenty-four, Edmund Jennings Lee married Sarah Lee, daughter of
Richard Henry Lee of Stratford, his near cousin, and that same year,
1796, settled in Alexandria. Nearly everyone of local prominence dined
at Mount Vernon on some occasion or another--and so did Edmund Lee and
his wife. Washington's diaries record three dates when the former was
present and one when the latter accompanied Attorney General Charles Lee
and his wife. Mrs. Edmund Lee as "Miss Lee" had visited General and Mrs.
Washington innumerable times with her father. As a matter of statistical
interest, the General's diaries enumerate more than one hundred visits
of various Virginia Lees to Mount Vernon.

Edmund I. Lee is remembered in his native city for saving the Glebe
lands for Christ Church. Glebe lands were property belonging to the
Church of England, and used for the support of the rector and the needs
of the parish. After the Revolutionary War the Virginia Assembly
confisca