John C. Lee

Not to be confused with John Lee, Esq.., who was definitely not a member of "The" Lee Family (descendants of Richard Lee & Anne Constable).

WARNING: Rootsweb is DEAD, DEAD, DEAD! Finding any information on it now is a matter of pure dumb random luck.

John C. Lee was the son of William Constable Lee and wife Alice. He was born c.1682. His date of death is uncertain. John Lee is a man of many mysteries.

His middle name may have been Constable but this is not proven. Middle names were rare in this era and the Constable may have been a genealogical convention to separate him from many other John Lees.

He was also known as Capt. John Lee. He likely served in the militia for his county. Being a moderately wealthy landowner helped to ensure that he'd receive a promotion to officer right away.

For many generations, his parentage was in doubt. Noted Lee researcher Edward Jennings Lee believed that William C. Lee died without being married or leaving heirs. The bulk of his estate went to a young widow named Mary Heath. Many years of diligent research, including DNA studies, suggests that Mary was the daughter of William C. Lee. In addition to Mary, there were believed to be three sons - William, Richard and John.

If John Lee is truly the son of William and Alice Lee, it is unlikely that he was born in England. While many of Virginia's records were destroyed during the Civil War, church records in England still remain. There were a great number of John Lees born in England in the 1680's, and many had a father named William, but none had a mother named Alice. Also, it was not commonplace for a wife to travel with her husband back to England. It's not impossible, it's just very unlikely, and so far, no record of a passage for Alice Felton Lee to England or back home to Virginia. Most likely, he was born in King and Queen County, Virginia.

John Lee may have married. His wife is sometimes listed as Ann Taylor. If she was named Ann Taylor, she was not the daughter of James Taylor & Mary Gregory. If he did marry Ann Taylor, he raised a large family because the Ann Taylor most often linked to this John Lee had seven children.

Some sources state that John died in Caswell County, North Carolina c.1731. We can't prove where John Lee died and we can't prove when he died. It is just as likely that he died in his home county of King and Queen, as it is that he emigrated to North Carolina. Since there is so little information available about him, it's just as possible that he died while still a youngster as it is that he lived to be nearly 50 years old.

Caswell County didn't exist in John's lifetime - it was carved out of Orange County in 1777, many years after John's death. It would be easy to mistake the John Lee for someone who lived in Caswell County. According to that county's historical society, Lee and Lea were common names. Adding to the confusion, many of the Lea families came from King and Queen County to Caswell County.

This article - [BAD LINK] http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=caswellco... - shows that a John Lea died in 1731 in King and Queen County, Virginia, and one of his heirs settled in the part of Orange County, North Carolina, that later became Caswell County. The article states that his parentage is unknown, but offers several theories developed by other researchers.

This article - [DEAD LINK] http://genforum.genealogy.com/cgi-bin/pageload.cgi?John,Lee::nc/cas... - discusses the difficulty in tracing Lea/Lee families in Caswell County because of less than ideal research in the past.

The County Historical Society in in Caswell County maintains a family tree of its founding families. Our John Lee is not on the list, nor is his father William. Surely, as a Burgess of Virginia, William's family was an important man. If one of his kin had emigrated to Caswell County and died there, that immigrant would be included in the county's family tree.

Links to additional material:

• http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=SHOW&db=caswellc... [DEAD LINK]
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caswell_County,_North_Carolina
• http://jacquelifinley.familytreeguide.com/getperson.php?personID=I1...
• http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=jimjessee... [DEAD LINK]