imported>JJMC89 bot III: Moving :Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Maryland to :Category:United States representatives from Maryland per Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Speedy

2025-11-06T14:38:24Z

Moving Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Maryland to Category:United States representatives from Maryland per Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Speedy

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imported>JJMC89 bot III: Moving :Category:Lee family of Virginia to :Category:Lee family (Virginia) per Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2025 January 8#US families disambiguated by state

2025-01-16T06:18:26Z

Moving Category:Lee family of Virginia to Category:Lee family (Virginia) per Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2025 January 8#US families disambiguated by state

New page

{{short description|American politician (1755-1815)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2011}}
{{More citations needed|date=November 2007}}

[[File:Benjamin Contee.jpg|thumb|200px|Benjamin Contee]]
'''Benjamin Contee''' (1755 – November 30, 1815) was an American [[Episcopal Church in the United States of America|Episcopal]] priest and statesman from [[Maryland]]. He was an officer in the [[American Revolutionary War]], a delegate to the [[Confederation Congress]], and member of the first [[United States House of Representatives]].

==Early life==
Contee was the son of Col. [[Thomas Contee]] (1729–1811) and Sarah Fendall (1732–1793). He was born at "Brookefield", near [[Nottingham, Prince George's County, Maryland|Nottingham]], [[Prince George's County]], Maryland, the home of his father, and original home of his ancestor, Maj. [[Thomas Brooke, Sr.]], Esq. (1632–1676).

==Military and political career==
At beginning of the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]], Contee entered the [[Continental Army]], rising to the rank of captain of the [[3rd Maryland Regiment]], which proved to be one of the army's elite units until its near annihilation at the [[Battle of Camden]].

After the war he was elected to the [[Maryland House of Delegates]], where he served from 1785 to 1787. He served as a delegate to the [[Confederation Congress]] from 1787 to 1788, and the [[United States House of Representatives, Maryland District 3|third district]] of Maryland in the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. Congress]] from 1789 to 1791. Along with his brother [[Alexander Contee]] (1752–1810), he became a merchant of London, at their stores in Nottingham, [[Queen Anne, Prince George's County, Maryland|Queen Anne]] and [[Upper Marlboro, Maryland|Upper Marlboro]]. He was declared insolvent due to "mishaps in trade". After having served in Congress, he went to Europe and traveled through Spain, France, and England.

==Marriage and children==
On April 8, 1788, he married his cousin, Sarah Russell Lee (1766–1810). Sarah was born at "[[Blenheim (Maryland)|Blenheim]]" in 1766, and died December 6, 1810, at "Bromont", near Newburg, Charles Co., Maryland. Sarah was the daughter of [[Philip Thomas Lee]] (1736–1778) and Ann Russell (died 1777) of England. The Contees' children were Sarah "Sallie" Elinor Contee (1789 – {{circa|1815}}), Philip Ashton Lee Contee, Sr. (1795–1842), Edmund Henry Contee (1799–1832), and Alice Lee Contee (1803–1868), who married Gov. [[Joseph Kent]].

==Episcopal minister==
On his return to America he completed his study in [[theology]] and was admitted to holy orders in 1803 by Rev. [[Thomas John Claggett]], [[Episcopal Diocese of Maryland|Bishop of Maryland]], a neighbor, friend, helper and patriot of the Revolution. That same year he became rector of William & Mary's, Charles County. He was a distinguished minister of the Episcopal Church and for several years the incumbent of [[Port Tobacco Village, Maryland|Port Tobacco]] Parish, [[Charles County, Maryland]]. He was a native of Prince George's County and brought up in the church. In 1808, he added Trinity, and in 1811, St. Paul's, Prince George's Co., Maryland, to his charge. He continued as a Judge of the Orphan's Court, and was always in the Standing Committee.

==Property==
Benjamin resided briefly in the mid-1790s at "[[Blenheim (Maryland)|Blenheim]]". At the time of his death he was living at the glebe house of Trinity Parish near Allen's Fresh. Benjamin and his wife were more than likely interred in the Contee cemetery at "Locust Hill" just outside Port Tobacco, which has been destroyed. If not there, then they were buried in the original Christ Church cemetery in Port Tobacco, which is now covered by swamp.{{Citation needed|date=November 2007}}

==References==
{{No footnotes|date=November 2007}}
*Fendall, Douglas Allen. ''The Descendants of Governor Josias Fendall''.
*(attained from several sources including: "Across the Years in Price George's County").
*"Clergy in Maryland of the Protestant Episcopal Church, Since the Independence of 1783".
*Purcell, L. Edward. ''Who Was Who in the American Revolution''. New York: Facts on File, 1993. {{ISBN|0-8160-2107-4}}. Reference for military and congressional service only, not family information.

==External links==
{{Portal|Biography}}
{{CongBio|C000710}} Retrieved on 2009-05-07

{{s-start}}
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{{succession box | before=''no one'' | title=[[United States House of Representatives, Maryland District 3|U.S. Congressman, Maryland's 3rd District]] | years=1789—1791 | after=[[William Pinkney]]}}
{{s-end}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Contee, Benjamin}}
[[Category:Fendall family]]
[[Category:1755 births]]
[[Category:1815 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Nottingham, Maryland]]
[[Category:18th-century American Episcopalians]]
[[Category:Continental Congressmen from Maryland]]
[[Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Maryland]]
[[Category:Members of the Maryland House of Delegates]]
[[Category:Continental Army officers from Maryland]]
[[Category:American Episcopal priests]]
[[Category:19th-century American Episcopalians]]
[[Category:Contee family]]
[[Category:Lee family (Virginia)]]
[[Category:18th-century members of the United States House of Representatives]]

Benjamin Contee - Revision history

imported>JJMC89 bot III: Moving :Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Maryland to :Category:United States representatives from Maryland per Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Speedy

imported>JJMC89 bot III: Moving :Category:Lee family of Virginia to :Category:Lee family (Virginia) per Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2025 January 8#US families disambiguated by state