George Washington’s Mulatto Man – Who Was Billy Lee?

Tom Stoppard wrote an entire play and film about two men who are mentioned, but never appeared in Hamlet. James Thompson has written an entire book assembling the life of Billy Lee, who left no evidence of his own. In researching the independence era, it seems Thompson kept coming across mentions of Lee. He seems to have collected them all, and reassembled them into a life, complete with decisions and moral judgments . Remarkable.

Looking back from the 21st century, this was a bizarre time for families and slaves. There was all sorts of mixing of the races, but when the children were born, what we now call racism took over. Children born largely white entered society. Children born with African features became slaves, despite their parents’ freedom. They became family secrets. First Lady Martha Washington owned her half-sister Ann. She also owned a nephew, William, who was also her grandson. And slave.

Lee was a mulatto, born of another Washington. George Washington agreed to take him and his brother on, and paid for them. Lee, an excellent horseman, accompanied Washington throughout the Revolutionary War, and relieved Washington of the small details of his life so he could focus on strategy. It was a helluva life, and as Thompson notes, Lee lived better than most colonists, let alone slaves.

We don’t know if he could read or write, and the only images of him are in the background of portraits of Washington. (He is completely different in every one. See photo below for probably the most accurate one.) But from notes, references, receipts and snippets of letters between other people, Thompson has constructed what was a 32 year collaboration between master and servant. It’s almost entirely inference and assumption.

Lee’s story is good for about 150 pages, but Thompsons goes on after that for another 350 pages. It turns out Thompson believes George Washington wasn’t just the greatest man in the world; he believes Washington was the greatest man in all of history. He says so several times. The book takes a completely unexpected turn to the full lineage of the Washingtons and the Fairfaxes as far back as they go, and a history of the machinations and shenanigans that made Virginia. The family tree is almost as dry as the Old Testament, with page after page of marrying and begetting, and often no other details, or even dates (which start about 1400). There is no point in keeping track of them, because none of them figures in Billy Lee’s life until we get to the mid 1700s. Thompson even provides biographies of the artists who painted Washington’s portraits. The book is a feast of biographies.

Thankfully, Thompson comes around at the end with an analysis, adding perspective, context and real value to what we know. Unfortunately, it is mostly defending George Washington against his other biographers, though he does upbraid the greatest man for maltreating Lee.

This is a very odd “biography” from every angle. Despite the title and the tagline, it mostly about Washington. It is not so much a narrative as a reference source for every conceivable family connection. As such it is a most unsatisfying story of Billy lee.

It’s a shame no copies are available given that it’s on C-Span today and a fascinating story.