WEBVTT - Robert E. Lee's Cheating (And Incestuous) Half-Brother 0:00:08.245 --> 0:00:14.565 School of Humans. I really don't know what was up 0:00:14.605 --> 0:00:18.645 with the kids of the revolutionary heroes, you know, the revolution, 0:00:18.845 --> 0:00:21.685 the American one specifically, this is American Fela. We're talking 0:00:21.725 --> 0:00:26.125 about America. But like the kids of the people who 0:00:26.205 --> 0:00:29.685 served in the war, like the sons of the founding fathers, etc. 0:00:30.205 --> 0:00:34.245 They were kind of like Braddy and a little entitled 0:00:34.285 --> 0:00:37.445 and also more than one of them, because you've heard 0:00:37.485 --> 0:00:39.725 these stories already on the podcast, more than one of 0:00:39.765 --> 0:00:46.445 them at some point fuck their wives sisters. Like why 0:00:46.485 --> 0:00:49.285 did that keep happening? I don't know. I feel like 0:00:49.365 --> 0:00:51.045 at the time it was like, you know, if you 0:00:51.085 --> 0:00:54.125 did that, that was technically considered incest. Also, it's just 0:00:54.165 --> 0:00:57.845 not a nice thing to know, like just don't have 0:00:57.965 --> 0:01:00.725 sex with your wife's sister. I feel like that is 0:01:00.765 --> 0:01:04.685 like one of the main rules of you know, being 0:01:04.685 --> 0:01:08.405 married and also sisterhood. I just don't understand it. But 0:01:09.685 --> 0:01:11.565 this week on American Filth, you're going to be hearing 0:01:11.765 --> 0:01:15.645 the other story. This time it is about Henry Lee 0:01:15.725 --> 0:01:18.605 the Fourth, who is the older half brother of none 0:01:18.645 --> 0:01:21.245 other than Robert E. Lee himself and the doozy he 0:01:21.285 --> 0:01:24.845 got himself into for being a big pile of trash filth. 0:01:24.885 --> 0:01:33.725 One might say, cue the theme song, this is American filth, 0:01:33.725 --> 0:01:35.725 and I'm Gabby Watts. Every week I tell you a 0:01:35.765 --> 0:01:40.685 filthy story from American history. This week's episode Robert E. 0:01:40.845 --> 0:02:00.285 Lee's cheating and technically incestuous half brother. So let's set 0:02:00.325 --> 0:02:03.565 the scene, why don't we. Henry Lee the fourth he 0:02:03.645 --> 0:02:10.325 was born in seventeen eighty seven in Virginia, specifically Stratford, Virginia, 0:02:10.445 --> 0:02:13.245 and there is where he lived with his mother and father, 0:02:13.725 --> 0:02:20.005 and the Stratford Hall Plantation. Wow, they had many enslaved people. 0:02:20.885 --> 0:02:23.805 And here's the thing. His father, Henry Lee the third, 0:02:24.645 --> 0:02:27.285 he had been a revolutionary war hero, one of those 0:02:27.285 --> 0:02:29.165 people I was talking about in the intro of this 0:02:29.205 --> 0:02:33.645 podcast the problem with old pop pop. Henry Lee the 0:02:33.685 --> 0:02:36.965 third is daddy had a bit of a gambling problem 0:02:36.965 --> 0:02:39.525 and a bit of a spending problem, and he would 0:02:39.565 --> 0:02:44.765 spend two years of his life in a debtor's prison. Whoopsies. 0:02:45.645 --> 0:02:48.165 I think that's what's gonna happen nowadays, now that sports 0:02:48.325 --> 0:02:52.125 gambling is legally again, soon many of our fathers will 0:02:52.165 --> 0:02:57.405 be in debtors prison. But alas also Henry Lee the fourth, 0:02:57.485 --> 0:03:00.325 the son, his mother died at a very young age. 0:03:00.685 --> 0:03:04.005 And so his father remarried another lady, and that's the 0:03:04.085 --> 0:03:06.485 lady who is the mother of Roberty Lee. Okay, so 0:03:06.605 --> 0:03:09.325 robert Y Lee is about twenty years younger than Henry Lee. 0:03:10.005 --> 0:03:12.805 But Henry Lee at the time, he had a lot 0:03:12.845 --> 0:03:15.365 of promise, He had a lot of potential. People are like, 0:03:15.405 --> 0:03:18.485 oh my god, you're gonna be the next big guy 0:03:18.605 --> 0:03:22.645 in America. Like, even though your debt has all these 0:03:22.685 --> 0:03:26.485 gambling problems, all these debt problems, he was a war hero, 0:03:26.645 --> 0:03:29.605 and you get that war hero blood in you. Also, 0:03:29.725 --> 0:03:36.085 you share his name, Henry Lee. You're gonna be awesome. Unfortunately, 0:03:36.165 --> 0:03:38.485 sometimes you can just be a wealthy white man in 0:03:38.525 --> 0:03:40.885 this country and people are like, you're gonna be amazing, 0:03:41.365 --> 0:03:44.845 But actually, you have no skills, you're nothing like your father. 0:03:45.285 --> 0:03:48.805 And also you're gonna ruin everything because you suck. So 0:03:49.605 --> 0:03:51.845 let's hear a little bit about what he's actually like. 0:03:55.805 --> 0:03:58.925 So first let's start with his physical appearance. Okay, one 0:03:59.005 --> 0:04:07.605 person described him as quote rather meaty, yummy, meaty. But 0:04:07.725 --> 0:04:10.045 you know what type of meaty did they mean? Did 0:04:10.045 --> 0:04:12.205 they mean more like a pork chop or kind of 0:04:12.205 --> 0:04:16.325 more like a salami. People also said he had a 0:04:16.405 --> 0:04:20.085 very fleshy face. I don't know, meaty fleshy. These aren't 0:04:20.125 --> 0:04:23.645 very nice descriptors, but maybe it's because his mom and 0:04:23.725 --> 0:04:29.525 dad were cousins. Classic the old meaty incest gene. Though 0:04:29.565 --> 0:04:33.725 back then, remember marrying your cousin was an incest. What 0:04:33.965 --> 0:04:37.085 was incest is fucking your wife's sister. But we'll get 0:04:37.125 --> 0:04:42.765 to that. Speaking of fucking people's sisters, another thing about 0:04:42.765 --> 0:04:44.445 Henry Lee the Fourth is he was a bit of 0:04:44.525 --> 0:04:50.405 a womanizer. Specifically, he would go after his friend's sisters. 0:04:51.205 --> 0:04:54.085 Isn't that rude? Like he'd be hanging out with his friends, 0:04:54.605 --> 0:04:56.205 he'd be like, so, it's your sister up to and 0:04:56.245 --> 0:04:58.405 they'd be like, Henry Lee the Fourth, I'm not telling 0:04:58.405 --> 0:05:00.565 you what's up with my sister because you're gonna be 0:05:00.605 --> 0:05:03.765 a big fuck boy to her. This happened a lot 0:05:03.805 --> 0:05:07.125 of times. He would like seduce women his friend's sisters 0:05:07.565 --> 0:05:13.325 and then just leave them immediately, like this one lady. 0:05:14.125 --> 0:05:16.645 She wrote a letter and said that Henry Lee the 0:05:16.725 --> 0:05:20.405 Fourth part took from her. Don't you guys hate it 0:05:20.405 --> 0:05:22.565 when a man just partakes from you and then just 0:05:22.685 --> 0:05:25.805 leaves you. On Red That's basically what happened to her. 0:05:26.085 --> 0:05:28.605 They were gonna meet up, he sent her a letter, 0:05:28.645 --> 0:05:32.405 but then he never showed up. Isn't that annoying? She's 0:05:32.485 --> 0:05:35.165 just waiting for him, pining for him, looking at his 0:05:35.285 --> 0:05:37.565 love note, and then he's just like, just gidding, girl. 0:05:37.725 --> 0:05:39.525 I was just putting feelers out there. I was just 0:05:39.525 --> 0:05:42.365 seeing who was available, and I'm actually not gonna partake 0:05:42.405 --> 0:05:48.725 from you ever. The freak again, What a shitty guy. Also, 0:05:48.845 --> 0:05:51.205 some of Henry Lee's friends didn't even seem to like 0:05:51.245 --> 0:05:55.165 him that much, like apparently he was very sarcastic quote 0:05:55.165 --> 0:05:58.245 filled with mirth. I hate that. Not too much mirth 0:05:58.285 --> 0:06:01.325 around me. No, thank you. As you guys know, this 0:06:01.365 --> 0:06:04.405 is a very serious podcast where no mirth is involved. 0:06:06.405 --> 0:06:08.965 In terms of his actual biography of things that he 0:06:09.005 --> 0:06:11.765 was doing at the time. He started getting into politics 0:06:11.805 --> 0:06:14.805 in eighteen ten when he was elected to the Virginia 0:06:14.845 --> 0:06:18.565 House of Delegates, and then right after that there was 0:06:18.605 --> 0:06:21.805 a War of eighteen twelve and he served. He became 0:06:21.845 --> 0:06:25.165 a major in the infantry, and then after the war 0:06:25.205 --> 0:06:29.005 he was like, I'm trying to follow my daddy's footsteps. Well, 0:06:29.045 --> 0:06:31.805 had the part when dear Papa went to the debtors prison, 0:06:32.405 --> 0:06:36.005 but he tried to win his father's congressional seat in 0:06:36.085 --> 0:06:40.645 the US Congress, but alas he lost. So what did 0:06:40.685 --> 0:06:48.005 Henry Lee the fourth do? Well? He turned to home restoration. See, 0:06:48.045 --> 0:06:50.885 after his father had been in the debtors' prison, he 0:06:50.925 --> 0:06:54.405 had relocated his family from the Strafford Hall plantation to 0:06:54.485 --> 0:06:59.085 another place in Alexandria that was cheaper. But now that 0:06:59.245 --> 0:07:01.765 Henry Lee the fourth was in charge, he was like, 0:07:01.885 --> 0:07:03.805 I'm going to go back to that house and I'm 0:07:03.845 --> 0:07:07.845 gonna make it buttafall. I mean, we can all appreciate 0:07:07.885 --> 0:07:12.125 a straight man getting into interior design. So let's see 0:07:12.125 --> 0:07:20.325 how he does. Another important thing for Henry Lee the 0:07:20.365 --> 0:07:23.485 fourth to do was to wed. And to wed, well, 0:07:24.485 --> 0:07:27.685 you know, he's the son of a revolutionary war hero, 0:07:28.085 --> 0:07:33.765 he's a gentleman of Virginia. He's got a plantation. So 0:07:33.845 --> 0:07:39.285 who did he marry? This woman named Anne McCarty. Anne 0:07:39.365 --> 0:07:44.005 had many great qualities. Most importantly, she was very rich 0:07:44.365 --> 0:07:50.805 and seventeen. Henry Lee was thirty at the time, AND's 0:07:50.805 --> 0:07:53.765 sister was named Elizabeth and was two years younger than her. 0:07:54.645 --> 0:07:57.485 They had both lost their father when they were very young, 0:07:57.805 --> 0:08:00.685 and their mother married again, but then their mother died 0:08:00.725 --> 0:08:04.245 in childbirth out five years later, so the girls were 0:08:04.325 --> 0:08:09.045 raised by their stepfather. But the thing is their mom 0:08:09.285 --> 0:08:13.165 was super rich, and when she died, the girls got 0:08:13.165 --> 0:08:16.605 her money and they became some of the richest ladies 0:08:16.605 --> 0:08:22.365 in Westmoreland County. Conveniently, she was also very attractive. So 0:08:22.485 --> 0:08:25.685 Henry Lee the fourth was like, she's my mate, let's 0:08:25.725 --> 0:08:30.125 get together. And Anne, perhaps she liked his meaty and 0:08:30.245 --> 0:08:35.525 fleshy appearance, or maybe she was just seventeen and was like, well, 0:08:35.565 --> 0:08:39.205 the Lee's their very established family in Virginia. I guess 0:08:39.285 --> 0:08:43.645 this would be a financially and socially responsible choice to 0:08:43.685 --> 0:08:46.365 wed this guy. I hate how his face is so 0:08:46.725 --> 0:08:52.605 filled with flesh. So Anne McCarty, she moved to the 0:08:52.645 --> 0:08:57.445 Stratford Hall plantation and now, unfortunately I have to tell 0:08:57.485 --> 0:09:04.605 you something very sad that happened. So a very unfortunate 0:09:04.645 --> 0:09:09.405 feature of the Stratford plantation was there was a set 0:09:09.445 --> 0:09:12.885 of stairs that went from the main drive up into 0:09:13.085 --> 0:09:16.165 the second floor of the house where there was an entryway. 0:09:16.205 --> 0:09:20.645 These were outdoor stairs, and this is very sad. When 0:09:20.685 --> 0:09:23.485 Henry Lee was a little, tiny baby boy, his older 0:09:23.525 --> 0:09:25.885 brother who was four years old at the time, fell 0:09:26.005 --> 0:09:31.405 down those stairs and died. And despite the fact that 0:09:31.445 --> 0:09:35.445 he was trying to be an interior designed king, Henry 0:09:35.525 --> 0:09:37.605 Lee the fourth did not think to get rid of 0:09:37.645 --> 0:09:44.005 these treacherous stairs during his renovations. Well, Henry Lee the 0:09:44.045 --> 0:09:46.405 fourth and his wife, Ann McCarty, they had a little 0:09:46.445 --> 0:09:50.245 beautiful baby girl, and when she was two years old, 0:09:50.845 --> 0:09:53.365 she was outside playing around, she went up those stairs 0:09:54.165 --> 0:09:58.965 and she also fell down the stairs and died. These 0:09:58.965 --> 0:10:04.805 are some terrible stairs, and Henry and the entire Lee 0:10:04.885 --> 0:10:10.085 family were very upset. Obviously, Anne didn't know how to cope. 0:10:10.165 --> 0:10:13.525 She turned to Laudanum, remember the opiate of choice at 0:10:13.565 --> 0:10:18.485 the time. She was very distraught. Henry Lee also didn't 0:10:18.485 --> 0:10:22.285 know what to do, so Elizabeth, Anne's younger sister, who 0:10:22.325 --> 0:10:24.965 was sixteen years old at the time, came to stay 0:10:25.005 --> 0:10:27.925 at the house to help her sister through her grief. 0:10:29.165 --> 0:10:34.525 When Elizabeth arrived, Henry was made her guardian. Not only 0:10:34.645 --> 0:10:37.565 was he in charge of her welfare in general, he 0:10:37.605 --> 0:10:44.485 also became in charge of her money and property. And obviously, yes, 0:10:44.965 --> 0:10:48.605 Henry was grieving the loss of his daughter, but also 0:10:48.645 --> 0:10:50.925 remember he was a dumb piece of shit who liked 0:10:50.965 --> 0:10:55.405 to go after people's sisters, and this time his wife's 0:10:55.405 --> 0:11:01.045 sister was there. He was sad and a bitch. Elizabeth 0:11:01.045 --> 0:11:03.325 looked very similar to Anne, which I don't like that 0:11:03.405 --> 0:11:06.845 biographers kept mentioning that detail like who cares? So that 0:11:06.885 --> 0:11:10.405 doesn't make it any better. The only difference was that 0:11:10.445 --> 0:11:13.045 Anne had long black hair and Elizabeth had these rich 0:11:13.165 --> 0:11:17.965 mahogany curls. And she was younger by two years, you know, 0:11:18.085 --> 0:11:23.245 fresh sixteen, and one biographer said that the two of 0:11:23.245 --> 0:11:27.645 them were thrown together and quote a state of unguarded intimacy. 0:11:29.165 --> 0:11:31.365 And what that means really is that Henry Lee took 0:11:31.365 --> 0:11:36.725 advantage of Elizabeth and at some point they had sexual intercourse. 0:11:39.845 --> 0:11:42.525 Don't you love that power dynamic? A sixteen year old 0:11:42.525 --> 0:11:46.165 within a thirty two year old man who's technically your guardian, 0:11:46.565 --> 0:11:54.045 who's grieving, you're in his house. Terrible. And while Virginia's 0:11:54.085 --> 0:11:58.365 society liked to gossip and gossip they did, and there 0:11:58.445 --> 0:12:01.645 was a vicious rumor that was going around that a 0:12:01.765 --> 0:12:06.045 dead baby was found in an outhouse. Maybe it had 0:12:06.085 --> 0:12:09.925 been still born, maybe it had been killed, maybe there 0:12:10.005 --> 0:12:12.205 is no baby at all. And this was all made up. 0:12:13.205 --> 0:12:17.285 But many people believe that this was the baby that 0:12:17.485 --> 0:12:21.165 came from the union between Henry Lee the fourth and 0:12:21.245 --> 0:12:27.805 his wife's sister. What a claim be right back after 0:12:27.845 --> 0:12:36.565 these soothing advertisements. And you gotta love gossip and how 0:12:36.645 --> 0:12:41.805 gossip gets around, and the gossip about the Stratford Hall 0:12:41.845 --> 0:12:46.605 plantation was certainly juicy. Somebody claimed that they had found 0:12:46.605 --> 0:12:49.645 a dead baby in an outhouse, or they had heard 0:12:49.685 --> 0:12:51.885 that somebody had found a dead baby in an outhouse, 0:12:53.205 --> 0:12:55.605 and they're like, was that the baby of Henry Lee 0:12:55.605 --> 0:13:01.485 the fourth and Elizabeth McCarty, Henry Lee's wife's sister. Mm 0:13:01.525 --> 0:13:07.245 mm mmmm mm. The rumors were running them muck. And 0:13:07.285 --> 0:13:12.045 then it only got worse because people were realizing not 0:13:12.085 --> 0:13:16.965 only had Henry Lee taken advantage of this girl sexually, 0:13:18.245 --> 0:13:24.645 he also had taken her money. That's right, the man 0:13:24.685 --> 0:13:28.085 who'd been appointed her guardian of her welfare and her 0:13:28.125 --> 0:13:32.485 belongings and her monies, he had actually taken those monies 0:13:32.525 --> 0:13:36.685 and put them into the Stratford plantation. Because remember he's 0:13:36.725 --> 0:13:40.285 into interior design. Now he'll do whatever it takes to 0:13:40.285 --> 0:13:44.765 make this plantation really sing again. I love when a 0:13:44.805 --> 0:13:47.285 man becomes so obsessed with a project that it becomes 0:13:47.365 --> 0:13:53.565 everyone else's problem too, and don't accuse me of man 0:13:53.645 --> 0:14:03.845 hating it's women's history. Months shut up. Obviously, Elizabeth was 0:14:03.885 --> 0:14:07.565 really upset. She left Stratford and went to stay with 0:14:07.605 --> 0:14:10.765 her grandmother. She wrote to one of her friends that 0:14:10.805 --> 0:14:14.245 she was almost quote overpowered by a sense of desolation 0:14:14.445 --> 0:14:20.005 and desertion, left friendless and alone. She ended up cutting 0:14:20.005 --> 0:14:24.285 off all her hair, her beautiful Mahogany girls because she 0:14:24.405 --> 0:14:27.285 blamed them for the reason that Henry Lee was attracted 0:14:27.325 --> 0:14:30.685 to her and why all this happened. For the rest 0:14:30.725 --> 0:14:35.965 of her life, she kept her hair short. Anne, Henry 0:14:36.045 --> 0:14:39.485 Lee's wife and Elizabeth's sister, was so distraught that she 0:14:39.605 --> 0:14:42.165 was using even more laudanum, and she went down to 0:14:42.205 --> 0:14:45.365 Tennessee to a rehab facility for whatever they had for 0:14:45.445 --> 0:14:49.405 rehab back in those days. This was pre sanatorium. It 0:14:49.445 --> 0:14:51.205 was probably just like a church where you had like 0:14:51.285 --> 0:14:54.005 a lady say that you're a bad person for using laudanum. 0:14:54.045 --> 0:14:58.365 But anyway, she escaped the house as well. Obviously that 0:14:58.445 --> 0:15:01.885 makes sense. Your husband cheated on you, took advantage of 0:15:01.925 --> 0:15:11.205 your sister. Also, your daughter died. You're upset, get it. Meanwhile, 0:15:11.365 --> 0:15:16.365 Henry Lee was not dealing with this very diplomatically. A 0:15:16.365 --> 0:15:18.525 lot of his friends were trying to stand by him, 0:15:18.645 --> 0:15:23.045 being like, yeah, he made one mistake, which was taking 0:15:23.045 --> 0:15:25.165 advantage of his ward and having sex with her and 0:15:25.205 --> 0:15:28.485 then also taking all of her money. One tiny it'd 0:15:28.605 --> 0:15:32.645 be mistake. We should forgive him. But society was like, no, 0:15:32.845 --> 0:15:35.565 he's a little bitch. We don't like him. And Henry 0:15:35.645 --> 0:15:39.485 Lee he was not being demure, he was not being mindful. No, 0:15:40.085 --> 0:15:42.525 when people were trying to insult him, he was like, 0:15:42.605 --> 0:15:45.605 I'm going to argue with you. Meanwhile, people were like, hey, 0:15:45.725 --> 0:15:48.685 you actually not only did you do a morally bad thing, 0:15:48.725 --> 0:15:52.005 you also technically did an illegal thing. You did incest. 0:15:52.525 --> 0:15:54.605 But then Henry was like, shut up, I don't care. 0:15:55.005 --> 0:15:57.365 By the way, Thomas Jefferson did stuff like that all 0:15:57.405 --> 0:15:59.645 the time, and you guys like him, so shut the 0:15:59.645 --> 0:16:02.245 fuck up about me doing stuff like that. Thomas Jefferson 0:16:02.285 --> 0:16:05.245 did it, I can do it too. And this was 0:16:05.285 --> 0:16:07.725 a actually a pretty big moment for Henry Lee because 0:16:07.765 --> 0:16:12.765 the Lee family notoriously hated Thomas Jefferson. Henry Lee's father, 0:16:12.925 --> 0:16:15.925 Henry Lee the Third, who at this point was deceased 0:16:16.045 --> 0:16:19.845 rip he hated everything about Thomas Jefferson. He was like, 0:16:19.925 --> 0:16:22.765 he did not behave himself well during the revolution. I 0:16:22.765 --> 0:16:26.965 should know. I'm a revolutionary war hero. So the fact 0:16:26.965 --> 0:16:29.965 that Henry Lee the fourth was comparing himself to Thomas Jefferson, 0:16:30.845 --> 0:16:32.405 he was really trying to make a point with that 0:16:32.485 --> 0:16:35.365 because he hates that guy. He's like, I will deign 0:16:35.405 --> 0:16:38.245 to compare myself to Thomas Jefferson because you can't have 0:16:38.325 --> 0:16:40.605 a different standard for me than you had for him, 0:16:40.685 --> 0:16:43.845 because he was the fricking president. Also, remember, my father's 0:16:43.845 --> 0:16:47.205 a war hero. It's always a good sign when people 0:16:47.245 --> 0:16:51.965 are like, do you know who my father is. At 0:16:51.965 --> 0:16:55.725 this point, Henry Lee the fourth had been given a nickname. 0:16:56.685 --> 0:17:00.245 His father, Henry Lee third, had been called light horse 0:17:00.285 --> 0:17:06.605 Harry because he was so swift at horseback riding. His 0:17:06.685 --> 0:17:08.925 horse was so fast it was as if he was 0:17:08.965 --> 0:17:14.765 not even upon the horse. But Henry Lee the fourth, 0:17:14.965 --> 0:17:19.885 after all this mess, people were calling him black horse Harry. 0:17:21.085 --> 0:17:25.805 That's no good. A black horse often symbolizes an omen 0:17:26.805 --> 0:17:32.245 like a famine. Biblically, at least, it's not a great 0:17:32.285 --> 0:17:36.565 thing to be called. And despite all of Henry Lee's 0:17:36.645 --> 0:17:42.445 protesting against everyone, he did eventually get sued by Elizabeth 0:17:42.525 --> 0:17:48.365 McCarty herself, with the help from her stepfather. They're like, hey, 0:17:49.005 --> 0:17:51.645 you need to give us back all the money that 0:17:51.765 --> 0:17:56.005 you took from Elizabeth's inheritance that you used to restore 0:17:56.085 --> 0:17:59.045 your freakin' house. And so looks like, shit, you dumb bitch, 0:17:59.445 --> 0:18:05.645 so give it back to us. But see, Henry, he 0:18:05.645 --> 0:18:10.005 had already used up all that money, and also he 0:18:10.085 --> 0:18:13.845 had some gambling debts taken after his father. Isn't that cute. 0:18:16.045 --> 0:18:18.685 So unfortunately for him, despite all of his efforts with 0:18:18.725 --> 0:18:22.005 this freaking house, he ended up losing it. He had 0:18:22.045 --> 0:18:25.205 to sell it off to a friend, which I'm sure 0:18:25.285 --> 0:18:29.125 was very humiliating because that plantation had been in their 0:18:29.245 --> 0:18:34.205 family for six generations. Wow, he really fricked that up, 0:18:34.285 --> 0:18:40.085 didn't he. So after he lost his big old mansion, 0:18:40.485 --> 0:18:44.125 Henry Lee was in a bit of a crisis. He 0:18:44.205 --> 0:18:46.565 needed to make money. He needs to get a job. 0:18:46.685 --> 0:18:49.445 Isn't that humiliating being a man who has to have 0:18:49.485 --> 0:18:53.005 a job. So he's like, I'll do the most stable 0:18:53.085 --> 0:18:58.205 thing I can think of. I'll become a writer. Yes, 0:18:58.405 --> 0:19:01.245 a writer, that's the easy career you could go with. 0:19:01.365 --> 0:19:06.445 Back in the day. I suppose he fled down to Tennessee, 0:19:06.485 --> 0:19:09.805 where his wife was and attempted to reconcile with her. 0:19:10.525 --> 0:19:13.245 She still hated his guts and didn't really want to 0:19:13.285 --> 0:19:16.685 be with him. But the couple became acquainted with none 0:19:16.765 --> 0:19:22.925 other than Andrew Jackson, and Henry Lee, being a squirrely, 0:19:23.045 --> 0:19:26.045 meaty faced boy, was like, hey, Jackson, let me write 0:19:26.085 --> 0:19:30.005 stuff for you. And so Henry Lee started writing these 0:19:30.085 --> 0:19:34.085 articles talking about how great Andrew Jackson was. And then 0:19:34.245 --> 0:19:36.925 when Andrew Jackson won the presidency in eighteen twenty eight, 0:19:37.525 --> 0:19:45.845 Henry Lee became one of his speech writers. At this point, 0:19:45.925 --> 0:19:48.645 Henry Lee probably thought he was on the up and up. 0:19:49.045 --> 0:19:52.005 He was like, yeah, I was involved in this scandal. Sure, 0:19:52.605 --> 0:19:56.685 I had sex with my wife's sister, stole her money, 0:19:57.165 --> 0:20:00.925 lost my house, blah blah blah, But look I'm Andrew 0:20:01.045 --> 0:20:08.085 Jackson's boy now. Andrew Jason liked him so much. They 0:20:08.205 --> 0:20:11.365 was like, hey, Henry, how would you like to be 0:20:11.485 --> 0:20:16.605 basically the ambassador to Algeria? That would be a nice life. 0:20:16.925 --> 0:20:18.925 You don't even really have to do that much. This 0:20:19.045 --> 0:20:21.565 is just kind of like a vacation position where like 0:20:21.565 --> 0:20:23.925 I give you money to hang out in Algeria. How 0:20:23.925 --> 0:20:27.685 do you like the sound of that? And Henry Lee 0:20:27.845 --> 0:20:30.685 was like, that would be so dope. I would love 0:20:30.765 --> 0:20:35.205 to do that. The problem was was that when he 0:20:35.325 --> 0:20:38.365 was getting approved by the Senate, it actually caused a 0:20:38.445 --> 0:20:42.405 fight to erupt. People hated Henry Lee the fourth so 0:20:42.685 --> 0:20:45.845 much that they were like, why would we make him 0:20:45.845 --> 0:20:49.165 the ambassador to Algeria? We don't want him to represent 0:20:49.245 --> 0:20:54.925 the United States abroad. He sucks, like Andrew Jackson, do 0:20:54.965 --> 0:20:57.685 you even know what he did? He did a lot 0:20:57.725 --> 0:21:01.525 of messed up shit. And Andrew Jackson was probably like, 0:21:02.685 --> 0:21:05.765 but that's my boy, and doing messed up shit my 0:21:05.845 --> 0:21:09.925 whole thing. But the Senate was like, fuck you guys, 0:21:10.605 --> 0:21:16.805 and they didn't approve him. This was all happening in 0:21:16.845 --> 0:21:20.845 February eighteen thirty, and by the next month, basically everybody 0:21:20.885 --> 0:21:24.365 in the country knew Henry Lee's business, that he was 0:21:24.445 --> 0:21:29.725 a horrible person. And Henry Lee he was probably really upset. 0:21:29.765 --> 0:21:31.485 He was like, ah, I was about to have the 0:21:31.525 --> 0:21:34.925 best time in Algeria, not really having to do anything. 0:21:35.085 --> 0:21:38.445 It was gonna be great. Now what am I gonna 0:21:38.485 --> 0:21:42.205 do with my life? One thing he did is he 0:21:42.245 --> 0:21:45.085 wrote a book. He got access to some of the 0:21:45.125 --> 0:21:48.165 writings of Thomas Jefferson, and he wrote this book called 0:21:48.645 --> 0:21:52.525 Observations on the Writings of Thomas Jefferson, with particular reference 0:21:52.565 --> 0:21:55.405 to the attack They contain on the memory of the 0:21:55.525 --> 0:22:00.565 late General Henry Lee. That's right. He was, like, I'm 0:22:00.565 --> 0:22:04.365 going to dedicate my time in the family tradition. I'm 0:22:04.405 --> 0:22:07.125 talking about how Thomas Jefferson is a little bitch boy 0:22:07.125 --> 0:22:10.285 who we all hate, and also how Thomas Jefferson spoke 0:22:10.365 --> 0:22:14.285 badly of my dad. I mean, if you don't have 0:22:14.365 --> 0:22:17.285 anything else, I guess you might as well defend your father, 0:22:17.485 --> 0:22:22.805 the Revolutionary War hero. He also wrote a book about Napoleon, 0:22:24.925 --> 0:22:27.885 and at this point he was living in France, and 0:22:27.925 --> 0:22:29.685 that's where he lived until the end of his life, 0:22:30.165 --> 0:22:35.965 when he died of influenza in eighteen thirty seven. At 0:22:35.965 --> 0:22:38.885 this point, Henry Lee had reconciled with his wife and 0:22:39.125 --> 0:22:42.565 she lived with him in Paris until she died in 0:22:42.645 --> 0:22:45.965 eighteen forty. Though, honestly, how do you ever actually forgive 0:22:45.965 --> 0:22:49.165 somebody for doing all of that? Women really just be 0:22:49.285 --> 0:22:53.245 settling and it's upsetting. It's like, yeah, sure, are you 0:22:53.325 --> 0:22:56.365 Like she had on me with my sister and then 0:22:56.445 --> 0:22:58.925 spend all of my sister's money and also all of 0:22:58.965 --> 0:23:02.525 my money on his stupid house. But you know what, 0:23:02.605 --> 0:23:05.205 it's what I deserve. I think this is what people 0:23:05.245 --> 0:23:08.405 mean when they say the bar is in Hell Women's 0:23:08.445 --> 0:23:15.445 History Month. As for Elizabeth, she did end up marrying, 0:23:16.405 --> 0:23:20.445 and in eighteen twenty eight the owner of Stratford Hall 0:23:20.525 --> 0:23:24.285 Plantation passed away and that person didn't have anyone to 0:23:24.285 --> 0:23:28.805 pass it on to, so the plantation was for sale 0:23:29.365 --> 0:23:33.045 and Elizabeth and her new husband they're the ones who 0:23:33.165 --> 0:23:42.005 bought the house. Wow, take that, Henry Lee. Elizabeth's husband 0:23:42.045 --> 0:23:45.085 died young, and she lived in the house until her 0:23:45.125 --> 0:23:48.605 death in eighteen seventy nine. She didn't have any children 0:23:48.645 --> 0:23:50.925 of her own, but she left it to her nieces 0:23:50.925 --> 0:23:56.285 and nephews, and a few generations later, her descendants sold 0:23:56.285 --> 0:23:58.765 the house to a foundation who wanted to make it 0:23:58.805 --> 0:24:04.205 a museum. Isn't that some sweet sweet justice? Don't We 0:24:04.285 --> 0:24:08.165 love to see it? On every episode of American filth, 0:24:08.205 --> 0:24:10.885 we learn a lesson, and I think today it's not 0:24:10.925 --> 0:24:14.045 so much a lesson but sort of more a hope 0:24:14.205 --> 0:24:18.765 that sometimes men who take advantage of you sexually and 0:24:18.805 --> 0:24:22.485 then also spend all of your money, bad things can 0:24:22.685 --> 0:24:27.805 happen to them. I'm not saying karma exists, Okay, I'm 0:24:27.805 --> 0:24:31.685 just saying that there is a chance that maybe they'll 0:24:31.685 --> 0:24:35.445 be publicly disgraced and then try to be friends with 0:24:35.445 --> 0:24:39.645 Andrew Jackson and then get dismissed by the entire Senate. 0:24:40.085 --> 0:24:42.805 You know, that could happen. But also I think maybe 0:24:42.885 --> 0:24:45.325 the lesson in this episode is mostly for the Fellas, 0:24:45.365 --> 0:24:50.525 which is just don't have sex with your wife's sister, Like, 0:24:52.525 --> 0:24:57.765 don't How hard is that for people to understand? Clearly, 0:24:57.805 --> 0:25:00.725 in the post Revolutionary War period, these dudes could not 0:25:00.765 --> 0:25:04.405 get that through their stupid, big, thick, meaty skulls. So 0:25:04.485 --> 0:25:16.085 get it through yours stupid heads. Cue the credits. American 0:25:16.125 --> 0:25:18.645 Field is a production of School of Humans and iHeart Podcast. 0:25:18.725 --> 0:25:22.045 This episode was hosted, written, and produced by me Gabby Watts. 0:25:22.045 --> 0:25:26.085 Our theme song is by Jesse Niswanger. Our excuted producers 0:25:26.205 --> 0:25:29.645 are Virginia Prescott, Elsie Crowley, and Brandon Barr And. You 0:25:29.685 --> 0:25:32.245 can follow along with the show at American Field Pod 0:25:32.325 --> 0:25:35.885 on Instagram, or you can stalk me in Brooklyn, New 0:25:35.965 --> 0:25:39.525 York whatever makes you feel most comfortable. Also make sure 0:25:39.565 --> 0:25:42.445 to leave a review leave. Some stars recommend the show 0:25:42.485 --> 0:25:46.125 to a friend, a family, an enemy, just really anybody, 0:25:46.245 --> 0:25:48.525 And I hope you guys have a wonderful freaking week. 0:25:48.605 --> 0:25:52.365 Talk to you guys next time. Peace and blessings. Also, 0:25:52.565 --> 0:25:57.805 fuck you if you've ever fucked your wife's sister. Bye. 0:26:00.125 --> 0:26:01.445 School of Humans.