To assuage his grief, Harry Lee plunged deeper into politics and in 1791 was elected Governor of Virginia. Two years later he married again, this time to Anne Hill Carter of Shirley. One of their sons was Robert E. Lee, later commander-in-chief of the Armies of the Confederacy. After a two-year term in Congress, Harry Lee's star began to wane. His attempt to establish a town, Matildaville, at the Great Falls of the Potomac, had failed, and his other land speculations had gone sour. Eventually he spent two years in debtor's prison in Westmoreland County, where he had once sat as a justice. In 1810, he moved his family to Alexandria, and in 1812, was given a permanent commission as a major-general in the United States Army, but his failing health made it impossible for him to take part in the war against England. He spent his last days in the West Indies, in a vain attempt to recover his health. He died in 1818. [6]
Harry's brother, Richard Bland Lee, did all he could to keep economic ruin from devastating the former war hero, but managed only to get himself deeper in debt. In 1808, during the period of financial disaster, Harry Lee and his son sold the Langley tract to Richard Bland Lee for $25,000. William Maffitt was a witness. [7]
No records or correspondence have yet appeared to indicate that any of the Lees built a dwelling on the Langley tract. Thomas Lee had the money, but architectural historians do not believe the house was constructed during his lifetime. Philip Ludwell Lee could have built on the tract, especially because of his town, Philee, on the Potomac, but again the house does not appear to be old enough to have been built during his lifetime.
Light Horse Harry Lee might have built the house when he was involved with the development of Matildaville; estimated dates for the construction range from 1790 to 1810. But after 1803 both Harry Lee and his brother Richard Bland Lee were facing financial difficulties and probably would not have built a large brick house on the Langley tract at that time.
During Richard Bland Lee's ownership of Langley, the land was rented to tenants. [8] A Lee descendant wrote in 1969 that "no Lee ever resided at 'Langley.' During the Lee tenure, 1719-1839, the place was always rented out." [9] So far, no listing of these tenants has been discovered. The only person mentioned as a tenant is J. C. Scott. [10] Scott has not been satisfactorily identified, although he may have been John Caile Scott, grandson of Alexander Scott, owner of Strawberry Vale. [11] He could have leased a portion of Langley and even built a house on the property. That this was customary in those days is shown by the terms of a lease agreement between Richard Bland Lee and Henson Lewis, which reveals that Lewis leased 130 acres of Lee's Cub Run tract on which he consented to pay taxes, plant and maintain an apple orchard, and construct a brick or stone framed dwelling at least 16 feet square and a brick or stone framed barn. This lease clearly indicates that a tenant on the Langley tract might have built Salona under the terms of a similar contract. [12]
Advertisement for Salona, Alexandria Gazette, November 18, 1811.