^Lot 434 Robert E. Lee

Scarce and extremely desirable handwritten check, 7.75 x 2.75, filled out, “West Point, N. Y., Cash—Bank of the Old Dominion at Alexandria,” and signed by Lee, “R. E. Lee,” payable to “Cash—B—Farmers Bank of Virginia” for $32.50, July 5, 1854. Several vertical folds, uniform toning, some light areas of soiling (a heavier area showing through from a stain on the reverse), wrinkling to the paper over which the signature is placed, a small area of glue residue, and the expected cancellation cut and red pencil notation, otherwise very good condition.

In 1854, Brevet Colonel Lee was serving as the superintendent of the Military Academy at West Point. He had been appointed to the position in 1852 and during his three years as superintendent spent time with cadets including later confederate general J.E.B. Stuart. His oldest son, George Washington Custis Lee, attended West Point during his tenure and graduated in June 1854, first in his class. Lee’s wife remained in Virginia and he managed his affairs from afar, banking in his boyhood home of Alexandria with the Bank of the Old Dominion and Farmers Bank of Virginia, both of which would close during the Civil War. Lee checks are both scarce and desirable.