The David and Eliza Lee Family

David Lee 

David Lee was born May 1830 to David and Flora/Floria (Collins/Collier) Lee. He had one brother, James Monroe Lee. According to oral histories and the family's genealogical research, the brothers were enslaved, possibly on the Tinsley Farm Plantation, along the York River near Williamsburg and Yorktown, Virginia; however, family historians are still researching these connections. When asked who had enslaved David and James Monroe, descendant Alexander Lee explained, "I never knew, he [James Monroe] never talked much about the master."  

As family history explains, during slavery: 

"David was taught the trades of a painter and a boat builder. His brother, James Monroe became proficient in the art of carpentry and boat building." 

According to descendants Harris and Alexander Lee, David appears to have escaped from slavery and was living in Massachussets before the Civil War began, although he would never talk about how he had escaped, not even to his brother James Monroe. 

Sources: Alexander Lee (1984); Harris Lee (1976, 1984); The Lee Family Reunion Booklet, 1998.

David Lee and the Civil War

Descendant Harris Lee Sr. recalled in 1976 and 1984 oral histories that, with the onset of the Civil War, David joined the Union forces while living in Massachusetts. His brother, James Monroe Lee, was forced to fight for the Confederacy. 

Harris Lee, Sr. explained in a 1976 oral history that the brothers "fought against each other in the same battles." Despite the traumas of enslavement and war, David returned to Virginia and lived in the Reservation. 

Sources: Harris Lee (1976, 1984)

After the Civil War 

According to this 1865 Freedmen's Bureau Census, David Lee had returned to York County and was working as a farmer on the Roberts farm. 

According to descendant Harris Lee, David later secured land from the Helm farm and may have worked there as a sharecropper alongside his brother, James Monroe Lee. When Mr. Helm died, his son, Gustav, decided "they had to get off there - he made them get off and get out and get something for yourselves." Gustav Helm, whose farm was "hundreds of acres," "gave them all a piece of land"  of about 3-4 acres each. 

It appears that David was given a piece of land, as was his brother, likely during the 1880s. In 1903, David experienced the loss of his son, John, who drowned in the York River. It is believed that David passed away a few years later in the early 1900s as he does not appear in the 1910 Census. He was buried in the Cheesecake Cemetery. 

Source: Harris Lee (1984:2)

Census of the Colored Population of York County, 1865, Freedmen's Bureau Records
Courtesy: Bernie Vaughan via Ancestry.com

Eliza "Lizzie" (Harrison) Lee 

Eliza "Lizzie" Harrison was born on October 1, 1836 in Brandon, Virginia. She married David Lee and had twelve children, only six of whom survived (three boys and three girls). This 1887 Registrar of Births for the Bruton District of York County records, on the third line from the bottom, the birth of David Lee, one of David and Eliza Lee's children.

David and Eliza's Lee's child, Register of Births, 1887
Courtesy: Bernie Vaubuhn
Source: Register of Births, 1887, Ancestry.com

As family documents explain, after her husband David's passing in the early 1900s, "Eliza remained on the Reservation with her family until 1919-1920. Eventually, she relocated to Boston, Mass. with her surviving offspring. Eliza died on December 5, 1933 at the age of 97 in Boston. Years later, Alexander Lee, a fourth generation descendant, arranged to have Eliza's remains brought to Williamsburg for burial in the Lee's family plot in St John's Baptist Church Cemetery." "Alexander Lee lived in Boston with Eliza and her family at one point and fondly referred to her as "Mama Lee."" Alexander Lee referred to Eliza as the only grandma he ever knew, as his own grandmother, Emily (Byrd) Lee passed away in 1905 before his birth in 1914. 

Source: Lee Family Reunion Booklet (1998); The Family of David and Eliza Lee, n.d.

News clipping of Eliza (Harrison) Lee's death
Courtesy: Bernie Vaughan

Eliza Lee's headstone
Courtesy: The Lee Family

David and Eliza Lee's Children

The Lee Family Reunion Booklet, family genealogy, and additional documentary sources provide these details on David and Eliza's nine children and their families.

Frances "Fannie" (Lee) Washington (b. circa 1860-)

married William T. "Billy" Washington (1853-1930) on January 5, 1882 in York County. She resided in Lackey, Virginia and had 13 children, at least four of whom died at birth or in infancy.

William Harold "Skipper" Washington, son of John Francis and Mabel (Pointer) Washington

Learn more about his life here.
Courtesy: Daily Press

Walter and Nannie's daughter, Nannie, married Israel Jones (1893-1973), the son of Peyton (1862-) and Sarah (1865-) Jones. Together, Israel and Nannie (Washington) Jones had five children:

Nannie (Washington) Jones, daughter of Nannie and Walter Washington, with her husband, Israel Jones, and likely one of her children
Courtesy: The Lee Family

Nannie (Washington) Jones died on September 28, 1979.

Gravestone of Nannie (Washington) Jones, daughter of Nannie Lee and Walter Washington, wife of Israel Jones
Courtesy: The Lee Family

Catherine Lee (1867-1892)

died at the age of 25. 

Robert Lee, Sr. (1865-1910)

married Amelia Lucas. Family oral history recalls that Robert "sailed the high seas." The couple had two children, one boy Robert (Bobby) Lee Jr. and a daughter. Robert Jr. moved to Cape Cod, Mass.

According to this Return of Death certificate from Massachusetts, Robert H. Lee passed away from a ruptured aneurism at the age of 45 on January 6, 1910. He appears to have been working as a longshoreman in Boston, and his remains were returned to York County.

Return of Death Certificate for Robert H. Lee
Courtesy: Bernie Vaughan via Ancestry.com

John R. Lee (1870-1903)

married Martha Ella Taylor. John was part owner with Billy Payne and captain of the schooner, "Homer." He drowned in the York River in sight of his home on March 17, 1903. 

Records from his estate note that he owned a boat and oyster tongs, indicating that he was an oysterman. He may have drown while working the water, which was a dangerous enterprise.

Estate papers of John R. Lee
Courtesy: The Lee family

Jane Lee (1872-1882)

appears to have passed away as a child of just ten years old.

Ezekiel Lee (1874-1888)

was also lost in his youth, at just 14 years old.

Annie/Nannie (Lee) Washington (1879-1939)

married Walter Washington on July 21, 1900 in Portland, Cumberland County, Maine. She resided in Randolph, Mass. 

She had eight children: 

Sarah Lee (1885-1977)

never married but made her home in Boston, Mass. She died in 1977.

James David Lee Jr.  (August 17, 1887-1946)

never married. He served in World War I. When he returned from the war, he purchased a boat and worked the oyster rocks of the York and James Rivers. After the federal government took the family's property on the Reservation, he moved to Newport News, VA. He later worked on the US Steel Fleet. In 1930, he returned to Boston and worked for the U.S. Post Office until his death in 1946. He is buried in Boston.

According to this U.S. Army Registration Card, James David Lee registered for service in WWI at the age of 30. He was working as a farmer at the time and was supporting his mother, Eliza, financially.

World War I registration card for James David Lee
Courtesy: Bernie Vaughan and the Lee Family

Courtesy: Bernie Vaughan

This passenger list from the United States Army Transport Service, dated May 9, 1918, lists Private James D. Lee as one of the passengers and his mother, Eliza Lee, as his emergency contact.

Sources: