Jeremiah Lee and His Mansion

One of the unsung heroes of the American Revolution derived from Marblehead, Massachusetts. Jeremiah Lee (1721-1775) became Marblehead’s most prominent figures. In the pre-Revolutionary War era, he became one of the richest businessmen- trading dried salt fish and shipbuilding, making him flourish by age 21.


His politics made him a figure during the Revolutionary War. He served for twenty-five years as a British Colonel. Lee smuggled war funds through his alliance with France and Spain. He met  with Samuel Adams (1722- 1803) and John Hancock (1737- 1793) regularly, and he became a wanted subject in the eyes of the British Regulars. The meeting in Marblehead before April 19th, 1775 never happened as the Revolutionary War began, and about a month later, Lee contracted a fever and succumbed to his illness on May 10th, 1775.






The Jeremiah Lee Mansion still sits in Marblehead, Massachusetts, with many visitors going. The mansion represents the remaining colonial architecture and representation of wealth. The home welcomed famous visitors such as Marquis de Lafayette, George Washington, and James Monroe. The building was used as a bank for a period of time before being handed over to the Marblehead Historical Society.


Lee built the home for his family but only lived there for seven years before his death. During the beginning of construction in 1766, he designated a room detached from the home called the “Black Kitchen” for enslaved people or servants to work. It became one of only two remaining historic homes in New England to preserve working quarters for the enslaved people. Current tours take guests through eighteen rooms, and three floors and explore the hand-printed wallpaper from the Georgian-style architecture.





Work Citation

Jones-Vail, J. (n.d.). Col. Jeremiah Lee. Revolutionary Rochambeau. https://revolutionaryrochambeau.com/tag/col-jeremiah-lee/  

Museum, M. (2023). Jeremiah Lee’s Brick Kitchen and Slave Quarters. Marblehead Museum. https://marbleheadmuseum.org/kitchen-slave-quarters/ 

NPS. (2005, January 9). Colonials and Patriots (Jeremiah Lee Mansion). National Parks Service. https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/colonials-patriots/sitec12.htm 

Young, M., Clay- Swiggart, C., & Graham, C. (2017, March 21). The Jeremiah Lee Mansion. Vita Brevis. https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2017/03/jeremiah-lee-mansion/  


Photograph Citation

Jeremiah Lee Mansion
Location: Marblehead, MA, USA

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