Hannah Lee Corbin

American planter and feminist

Hannah Ludwell Lee Corbin (February 6, 1728 – c. October 7, 1782) was an American women's rights advocate and member of the Lee family in Virginia. A controversial widow in her own time in part for her refusal to marry her paramour (with whom she had children) or conversion from the Church of England to the Baptists, she may today be best known for asking that women be given the right to vote.

Personal life

A member of the politically influential Lee family, Hannah Ludwell Lee was born on February 6, 1728, on her parents' Stratford Hall plantation in Westmoreland County, Virginia.^[1] Her father was prominent civil servant Thomas Lee and her mother was colonial heiress Hannah Ludwell. The fourth of eleven children, her siblings included Philip Ludwell; Francis Lightfoot and Richard Henry, both of whom signed the United States Declaration of Independence; Thomas Ludwell; diplomat Arthur; alderman; William;^[1] and Alice.^[2] In 1747, Hannah Lee married her cousin Gawain Corbin, who had succeeded his father as burgess but died in 1760 from injuries sustained in a horse-riding mishap;^[3] they had one daughter, Martha.^[4]

Following her husband's death, Corbin inherited vast swathes of property, including 500 acres (200 ha) in Lancaster County^[3] and 2,250 acres (910 ha) in Caroline County, as well as slaves.^[4] She subsequently cohabited with physician Richard Lingan Hall (died 1774),^[1] although they never married and she gave their children the Corbin surname, so as to not violate her husband's will, which stipulated that her inheritance would be forfeited if she remarried;^[4] Corbin and Hall had a son, Elisha,^[5] and a daughter, also named Martha.^[6] Formerly an attendee of the Church of England,^[7] Corbin became a member of the Baptist church around 1764, to the disapproval of her siblings.^[2]

Career

In March 1778, Corbin wrote to her brother Richard Henry, complaining about the "male domination in law and politics", while arguing for women's suffrage:^[8] "Why should widows pay taxes when they have no voice in making the laws or in choosing the men who made them?"^[9] In response, he asserted that women were "already possessed of that right".^[10] According to The Virginia Baptist Register, Corbin was the "first Virginia woman to take a stand for women's rights".^[11]

Death and legacy

She died around October 7, 1782.^[1]

References

Citations

1. Kierner, Cynthia A. "Hannah Lee Corbin (1728–1782)". Dictionary of Virginia Biography. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
2. Kerrison 2006, p. 78.
3. McGaughy 2004, p. 172.
4. McGaughy 2004, p. 173.
5. McCarty & Much 2005, p. 188.
6. Kerrison 2006, p. 77.
7. Lee 1988, p. 151.
8. Frey & Morton 1986, p. 229.
9. Taylor & Longest 2001, p. 58.
10. Stanton, Anthony & Gage 1889, p. 33.
11. Watkins 1987, p. 1450.

See also

• Frey, Sylvia R.; Morton, Marian J. (1986). New World, New Roles: A Documentary History of Women in Pre-industrial America. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 9780313248962.
• Kerrison, Catherine (2006). Claiming the Pen: Women and Intellectual Life in the Early American South. Cornell University Press. ISBN 9780801443442.
• Lee, Nell Moore (1988). Patriot Above Profit: A Portrait of Thomas Nelson, Jr., who Supported the American Revolution with His Purse and Sword. Rutledge Hill Press. ISBN 9780934395687.
• McCarty, William M.; Much, Kathleen (2005). The McCartys of the Northern Neck: 350 Years of a Virginia Family. Gateway Press. ISBN 9780976715504.
• McGaughy, J. Kent (2004). Richard Henry Lee of Virginia: A Portrait of an American Revolutionary. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9780742533851.
• Stanton, Elizabeth Cady; Anthony, Susan B.; Gage, Matilda Joslyn (1889). History of Woman Suffrage. Vol. 1. Susan B. Anthony.
• Taylor, Welford Dunaway; Longest, George C. (2001). Regarding Ellen Glasgow: Essays for Contemporary Readers. Library of Virginia. ISBN 9780884901884.
• Watkins, Rees (1987). The Virginia Baptist Register. Virginia Baptist Historical Society.