[Letter] 1785 November 8, New York [to] Governor Henry / Richard Henry Lee.

See also Lee's biography and a guide to research collections of his papers (http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=L000201), as well as the biography and guide for Patrick Henry (http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=H000511).

Lee reports on the instructions given by Congress in the wake of the death of the honorable Mr. Hardy. Congressmen resolved to attend the funeral in a body, and spent about $370 to see that Mr. Hardy would be "interred in a manner suitable to his station." A discrepancy arose over who would then pay the bill: the heirs who were already financially strapped after the war, Congress who oversaw the formation of the Committee to organize the funeral, or the Committee members themselves who offered to pay out of their own pockets. Lee notes that "it was judged necessary for the honor of the State as well as of the deceased that the money should be borrowed here" in New York and that it will be replaced within the next three months; an itemized list of the charges will follow. At the time this letter was written, Lee had been serving as a member of the Continental Congress and also as President of that body in 1784; during his career he was a member of the House of Burgesses, signed the Declaration of Independence, and attended the Constitutional Convention where he ratified that document. At the time this letter was written, Patrick Henry was serving his second term as governor of Virginia, 1784-1786, having served his first from 1776 to 1779.