The Lee Families of Henry County, Iowa

JOHN LEE, deceased, a worthy pioneer of Henry County Iowa, of 1836, was born in Franklin County, Ohio, Dec. 26, 1797, was a farmer by occupation, and removed to Bond County, Ill., in an early day, where he was united in marriage to Miss Charity Smith, daughter of Zedek Smith, Esq., who was born in Tennessee, in November, 1800. Mr. Lee emigrated with his family to Henry County, Iowa, in November, 1836, and located in what is now New London Township, on unsurveyed land. The exact date of his arrival at the site of his future home was Nov. 14, 1836. He made his claim on what is now section 11 of New London Township, where he made his home till late in life, when he removed to New London Village. His death occurred April 22, 1879, in his eighty-second year. His wife, an estimable Christian lady, who had reared a family of twelve children, four sons and eight daughters, died Oct. 11, 1 865. The children all lived to be men and women, and are all living at this date (1887) except three, They were born in the following order: Eliza, Jan. 21, 1821; Jane, Oct. 12, 1823; Sarah, Oct. 20, 1824; Almira, April 10, 1826; Samuel, Nov. 4, 1827; John, March 25, 1829; Julia Ann, Jan. 2, 1831; Willmm, Dec. 23, 1832; Thomas B., June 29, 1835; Polly Ann, Oct. 7, 1837; Charity, July 26, 1839, and Louisa, Sept. 26, 1841. The nine elder children were born in Bond County, Ill., and the three younger in Henry County, Iowa.

In early life Mr. Lee was a Whig, and a Republican after the organization of that party. Both he.and his wife were consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal Church from early life. He was an upright, honorable, industrious citizen, and deserves creditable mention in the annals of the pioneer days of Henry County. That this sketch is not more complete is not the fault of the writer, but owing to the indifference of certain members of the family, who could, but would not, take the trouble to supply the necessary information.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

THOMAS BRUNCE LEE.

Thomas Brunce Lee is a representative of one of the most prominent and honored pioneer families of Henry county. The student of history cannot carry his investigations far into the annals of this county without learning of the close, intimate and helpful connection of the Lee family with its public affairs. Thomas Brunce Lee was born in Bond county, Illinois, June 29, 1835, and is a son of John and Charity (Smith) Lee. In 1836 the father removed to Henry county with his family, locating at the head of Flint creek in New London township, where he purchased a claim from his brother-inlaw, Eaton Smith, consisting of a little more than one hundred and sixty acres of land. There were no improvements upon this property, but with characteristic energy he began its cultivation and development and in course of time built a double log house and log barn. He then broke the wild land, placing it under the plow and planting seed which brought forth good harvests. As the years passed he transformed this once wild tract into a fine farm, upon which he continued to reside throughout his active business career. He afterward sold a part of the farm, but retained forty acres up to the time of his death, which occurred April 21, 1878, when he was eighty-one years of age. He had for some years survived his wife, who died in 1865, at the age of sixty-five years, the burial being made in Farfel cemetery. 'Mrs. Lee was born in eastern Tennessee east of Nashville, in 1800, and later her people removed to Illinois, where she was married. In the family of John and Charity (Smith) Lee were twelve children. Eliza Ann became the wife of William Miller and is now deceased. Jane married John Redfearn and has also passed away. Sarah became the wife of John D. Hale and is deceased. Elmira is the deceased wife of Isaac Redfearn. Samuel is living in New London and is one of the venerable and respected pioneer residents of this part of the state. John has passed away. Julia Ann is the wife of James Crawford, Sr., who is mentioned on another page of this volume. William is living in New London, but at the present writing is visiting in California. Thomas B. is the subject of this review. Polly Ann is the deceased wife of Stephen Lewis. Charity Ann married John Lewis and has also passed away. Louisa, who complete the family, is the deceased wife of Newton Jones.

Thomas Brunce Lee was reared to manhood amid the wild scenes and environments of pioneer life when much of the land was still in its primitive condition, when the streams were unbridged and the forests uncut and when the work of progress and development lay largely in the future. He shared with the family in the hardships and trials incident to pioneer life and also in the pleasures which were common in those early days. His education was gained in one of the old-time subscription schools, but later a free school was established, its sessions being held in an old log building with slab benches, luncheon floor and other primitive furnishings. The desk was made by laying a rough board upon wooden pins driven into the wall and the school session was of short duration, being held principally through the winter months, for the labors of the children needed upon the farm throughout the remainder of the year. When not busy with his text-books Mr. Lee was engaged in farm labor and he continuously followed the occupation as a life work until 1 88 1, when he removed to New London, where he has since lived retired. He purchased two hundred and seven acres of land on section 12, New London township. He carried on general farming and stock-raising, bringing his fields under a high state of cultivation and also raising a good grade of stock, whereby his income was materially increased, for he always found a ready sale on the market for the products of his place.

On the 7th of August, 1862, Mr. Lee enlisted at New London as a member of Company K, Twenty-fifth Iowa Infantry and was mustered into the army at Mount Pleasant. The regiment was assigned to General Sherman's command and he participated in all of the battles and skirmishes with the Twenty-fifth Iowa. They were in almost constant fighting and he also participated in the march to the sea. He took part in the battle of Arkansas Post. Vicksburg and the siege of that city, the battle of Lookout Mountain. Chattanooga, Missionary Ridge. Ringgold, Kenesaw Mountain. Resaca and Columbia, South Carolina, the Twenty-fifth Iowa being the first regiment to enter the last named city. Mr. Lee Avas also in the engagements at Savannah, Georgia, at Buford, South Carolina, Raleigh, North Carolina, and at Goldsboro, being at the last named place at the time of General Lee's surrender. He took part in other engagements of lesser importance and was also in the grand review in Washington, D. C, videre the victorious army marched through the streets of the city amid the cheers of thousands who rejoiced that the war had been brought to a successful close. He was mustered out at Davenport, Iowa, and then returned to Henry county, where he resumed his farming operations.

On the 9th of March, 1873, Mr. Lee was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Bridges, a daughter of Napoleon and Sarah (Hackleman) Bridges and a native of Des Moines county, born in Pleasant Grove township. Mr. Lee is one of the worthy and prominent citizens of Henry county. He belongs to the methodist Episcopal church, in which he has for many years served as trustee. Politically he is a republican, but without aspiration for office, preferring to give his time and energies to his business affairs in former years. His careful conduct of his farming interests and his utilization of the resources at his command made him one of the prosperous agriculturists of the community and now with a comfortable competence he is living retired in New London.

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

THOMAS B. LEE, farmer, residing at New London, Henry Co., Iowa, a pioneer of 1836, was born in Bond County. 111., June 25, 1835. His parents were John and Charity (Smith) Lee, also pioneers of Henry County of 1836, of whom a biographical sketch appears elsewhere in this work. The subject of this sketch was reared on his father's farm in the northern part of New London Township, and received a common-school education. He was engaged in farming until the summer of 1862, when he enlisted on August 7 as a private in Company K, 25th Regiment Iowa Infantry, and served until the close of the war. His first service was at the beginning of the siege of Vicksburg under Grant, next at the battle of Arkans.as Post, Kennesaw Mountain and Chattanooga, which included Missionary Ridge, Taylor's Ridge and Lookout Mountain. Next at Nashville, Resaca, and Columbia. S. C, from there to Savannah. Ga., where he was among the first to enter the city. From there he went to Beaufort and Columbia, S. C, participating in those engagements. He made the march to the sea under Gen. Sherman, fighting his last battle at Goldsboro, N. C. During his long term of active service Mr. Lee was neither wounded nor a prisoner. was never confined in a hospital or in an ambulance. On his return from the war lie resumed farming in lleiny County, and w.as married in Des Moines County, Iowa, to Miss Elizabeth Bridges, March 1873. Mrs. Lee was born in Des Moines Count and is the daughter of Napoleon and Sarah (llackelman) Bridges. Her parents emigrated from Illinois to Iowa in 1836.

[This passage is too damaged in the scanned book to reproduce. See the original book.]

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected.

REV. JONATHAN LEE.

Rev. Jonathan Lee is well known in Henry county in connection with his farming interests and as a minister of the Baptist church and one who has labored long and effectively for the moral development of the community and the uplifting of his fellow men. He has wielded a wide influence and what he has accomplished has made his name an honored one wherever he is known. He was born in Vernon, Indian, on the 9th of November, 1839. His paternal grandfather, Mark Lee, was a native of Kentucky, and with his family removed from that state to Indiana in 1821. About two years later both he and his wife died of milk sickness and were buried in the same grave. Their son, Martin Lee, was born in Kentucky but w'as reared in Indiana, and having arrived at years of maturity, was married at Vernon, that state, to Miss Lydia A. Riley, whose birth occurred in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her parents were Rev. Oliver and Elizabeth (Harrison) Riley. Her father was a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church and served as chaplain in the war of 1812 with a Virginia regiment. She was a cousin of President Harrison. At the time of their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Martin Lee settled on a farm near Vernon, Indiana, where they remained for two years, and in 1840 they drove across the country with covered wagons to Tippecanoe township, Henry county, Iowa. It was then a largely undeveloped region but here and there a few settlements had been made to show that the work of improvement had been begun. Mr. Lee purchased eighty acres of uncultivated land on section 31, Tippecanoe township, and at once began to plow and plant the fields and in due course of time he gathered rich harvests. For a long period he was closely associated with farming interests here and he died in this county in April, 1899. His wife passed away in November, 1903. and thus the county lost two of its prominent, worthy and respected pioneer settlers.

Rev. Jonathan Lee is the eldest in a family of three sons and three daughters, of whom two sons and one daughter died in childhood, while the others reached mature years. He was less than a 3'ear old when brought from Indiana to Iowa and his education was acquired in the district schools of Tippecanoe township. He spent his boyhood days on the home farm with his parents, working in the fields through the months of summer and until crops were harvested in the late autumn. His times was thus occupied until he reached the age of twenty-one years, when he determined to engage in farming on his own account and bought forty acres of land in brush on section 31, Tippecanoe township. A log cabin had been built on the tract and he at once began to improve the land. At the same time he began preaching the gospel as a minister of the Baptist church, having studied for this holy calling under the direction of the Rev. M. Elliott, the first Baptist preacher ordained in Iowa. Rev. Jonathan Lee was ordained at Glasgow in 1857, and engaged in preaching in addition to carrying on the work of the farm. For many years he lived in a log cabin, his home being formed of that primitive character until 1883, when he built his present frame residence, comprising seven rooms in a two-story building with an addition containing kitchen and pantry. He has resided on this farm since he started out in life on his own account, and has extended its boundaries until it now comprises two hundred and twenty acres of arable and productive land on sections 29, 30 and 31. Tippecanoe township.

While Rev. Lee has succeeded in his farming operations and has become one of the substantial agriculturists of his community, he has also devoted considerable time to the work of the church and is now pastor of two different churches. He was also pastor of the Baptist church at Seymour, Wayne county, Iowa, for eight years; at Harrisburg, Van Buren county, Iowa, for fifteen years; and at West Point, Lee county, for a short time. He is now pastor of the Glasgow church at Jefferson county, Iowa, and an outstation of Tippecanoe township. His first ministerial work, however, was done at Rome, Iowa, where he engaged in preaching in the railroad depot and he built a meeting house there. He also preached for twelve years in the village of Salem and for two years in Bonaparte and he has acted as supply pastor at Mount Pleasant and other places. He is now moderator of the Keokuk Baptist Church Association, which position he has filled since 1900, and he has been a member of the board of the Iowa Baptist State Convention since 1898. Thus his labors have been most untiring, earnest and effective in promoting the interests of his church and in advancing moral development and in the various localities with which he has been connected. He has also been president of the Old Settlers' Association of Salem since 1895, and in this connection is widely known, and has been vice-president of the Savings Bank of Rome since its organization.

On the 19th of May, 1858, Rev. Lee was joined in the holy bonds of matrimony to Miss Mary Harter, who was born in Indiana February 12, 1839, a daughter of Peter and Elizabeth (Harter) Harter, both natives of Indiana. Mrs. Lee passed away January 16, 1869, ii6 leaving three children: Amanda, who was born March 23, 1859, and is the wife of Henry Wood, of Fairbury, Nebraska; Curtis, who was born September 16, 1861, married Annie Cline November i, 1882, and is living in Jefferson county, Iowa; and Edwin, who was lion November 12, 1866, married Nellie Cook October 17, 1887, and resides in Salem township, this county.

On the 3d of November, 1869, Rev. Lee was united in marriage to Miss Alice Boyd, who was born in Wayne county, Indiana, June 22, 1850, and acquired her education in Earlham College, in Richmond, that state. Her parents were Dr. J. B. and Nancy (Fender) Boyd, natives of South Carolina. Her mother died when Mrs. Lee was but a babe and she was reared by her grandparents, James and Nancy (Ruby) Boyd, natives of Kentucky. On the 2nd of March, 1869, she came to Van Buren county, Iowa, her grandparents having died, and lived with an uncle, Jacob Fender, until her marriage. A Fort Worth (Texas) daily paper, under the heading, "After Forty Years," gives the following reference to the arrival of Mrs. Jonathan Lee, of Tippecanoe township, Henry county, in Fort Worth:

"One of the most pathetic scenes which has taken place at the Union depot for a long while occurred this morning immediately after the arrival of the Rock Island passenger train from the north. Dr. J. B. Boyd, ex-county treasurer, was at the depot to meet his daughter, whom he had not seen since she was four years of age — forty years ago. The Doctor told Officer Fulford that he was expecting his daughter, Mrs. Alice Lee, but did not know how she looked nor did she know him. Officer Fulford found her after the arrival of the train and took her to her aged father. When she saw the Doctor she said, Ts this Pa?' and both almost broke down and wept with joy over the reunion. As stated, her mother died when she was a little child and her father left her with his mother when she was but four years old and came to Texas with the intention of going on to Mexico. He was here only a few days when the war broke out and he was taken into the Confederate army as surgeon. After the war he established himself in Fort Worth and married. Following his mother's death his daughter was taken care of by an uncle and Doctor Boyd lost track of her until about ten years ago. They have been corresponding since but could not manage to see one another until this morning, when she came in from Henry county, Iowa."

Dr. Boyd died in the spring of 1899. He had served for sixteen years as county treasurer of Fort Worth county, Texas, and was an influential citizen there.

Lnto Rev. Lee and his second wife were born five children: Oliver B., born January 4, 1872, married Ella Wilson August 3. 1889, has charge of the business of the Standard Oil Company at Ottumwa, Iowa. Lydia, born March 31, 1876, died on the 3d of August, of that year. Roe F., born September 26, 1877. died October 31, 1893. Milo D., born September 3, 1882, died September 21, 1883. Raymond J., born August 20, 1886, wedded Mary A. Bausmn and resides on the home farm.

During" his pastorate Rev. Lee has married over seven hundred and eighteen couples and there has been one minister in Iowa who has surpassed this record. His political support is given to the Republican party but he has been without aspiration for office, preferring to give his undivided attention to his business affairs and to his church work and in both he has achieved a measure of success which is certainly gratifying and commendable. His life has in many respects been a source of inspiration to others and his influence in behalf of religious progress is immeasurable.

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.