Cooperative Living June 2018 - 33

war debts while trying to survive a tobacco
recession. They saw taxation without
representation as a violation of their rights
as English subjects.
According to Cathy Gouldman Perry,
Leedstown resident and member of
Leedstown Resolutions Chapter of the
Daughters of the American Revolution,
Thomas Ludwell Lee wrote his brother,
Richard Henry Lee: " We propose to be in
Leedstown in the afternoon of the 27th, where
we expect to meet those who will come from
your way. This would be a fine opportunity
to effect the scheme of an association, and I
should be glad if you would think of a plan. "
Who were these men who dared to stand
up to King George III?
About half were descendants of British
immigrants to Westmoreland County.
Prominent families included five Washingtons
and six Lees, the father of James Monroe, a
Madison and a Marshall. Others were from
surrounding counties. All knew the Crown
would consider the action treasonous.
The resolve was written by fiery orator
Richard Henry Lee. It is believed by some
historians to have laid the foundation for the
Declaration. Indeed, Lee was the man who
introduced the resolution for independence
in the Second Continental Congress.
" The six articles had to do with preserving
the laws, the peace and good order of the
colony, taxation without representation, the
Stamp Act, and the protection of liberty
and property, " says Perry.
The document bound them together to
protect " fundamental Rights " and each other
in the event of reprisal ... " at the risk of our
lives and fortunes. " It was the first organized
resistance to English aggression on
American liberties, making Westmoreland
County the hotbed of resistance.
" Their prominence and their numbers
Signer John Belfield, enacted by Charles Belfield, leads the flag-bearing procession
opening the Northern Neck of Virginia Historical Society's 11th annual Commemoration
of the Feb. 27, 1766, signing of the Leedstown Resolutions.
exceeded those from any other small
geographical area in the colonies, "
wrote Flemer.
The resolution worked. The
Stamp Act was withdrawn. But
the first fire of independence had
ignited and the flames of resistance
began to spread.
Ten years later, many of those
courageous signers would step up
again to sign the Declaration of
Independence.
2018
Few remnants of the colonial
past remain in Leedstown
today. What remains of the
signer's gathering place -
Bray's Church - is located in
Leedstown Campground. The
once-busy shipping center on
the upper Rappahannock River
is gone. So is the public
warehouse and tobaccoinspection
point.
The river channel is 60 feet
The foundation of Bray's Church is located in
Leedstown Campground.
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deep here, the community
some 70 miles from the
Chesapeake Bay. A couple
dozen homes dot the shoreline.
Signer John Augustine Washington, brother to George
Washington, as portrayed by Bob Bailey, vice president
of NNVHS.
June 2018 | Cooperative Living | 31
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Cooperative Living June 2018

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