Samuel Lee was born July 29, 1840 to William Lee and Elizabeth Martha Lee in Chesterfield County, South Carolina. On December 31, 1861, Samuel Lee enlisted for the duration of the Civil War in Cheraw, South Carolina and was assigned to B.Huger Rutledge’s Calvalry, whose nicknames include”Charleston Light Dragoons, Rutledge Rangers, Rutledge Mounted Rifles.” Samuel Lee was enlisted by James Chapman Craig of Chesterfield County. Samuel returned home to Chesterfield, South Carolina when the War ended. He married Sarah Ellen White, daughter of Richmond White and Anne Parsons White in 1888. Samuel Lee was a farmer and operated a grist mill on flat creek near Haleyville, Alabama. The couple’s children were: Thomas Anson White Lee, Mary Adeline Lee, and Samuel Homer Lee. Samuel Lee died on June 17, 1915 and Sarah Ellen died July 20, 1927. Both are buried in the Union Grove Cemetery in Marion County, Alabama near Haleyville.
Samuel William Lee was the third son and the third child of William Lee and Elizabeth Martha Thomas. He first appeared in the 1840 census with his brothers James Crawford Lee, John Thomas Lee and his mother William and Elizabeth Martha Thomas Lee.
In the 1850 census, Samuel Lee was nine years old, living in Chesterfield, County. His father William was 34 and his mother Elizabeth 37. His sibling were James, age 12, John T, age 11, Hannah, age 7, Henry, age 6, Mary, age 4, Ann, age 3, Jane age, 2, and Eliza not yet 1 yet.
In 1860, Samuel was 19 years old. He is in the home of his father William Lee and mother Elizabeth Martha Lee. Siblings in the home were John T (21), Jane (12), Eliza (11), and Charlotte (9).
In December 1861, Samuel W. Lee enlisted into Company A of the South Carolina 4th Calvalry. The person who enlisted him was James Chapman Craig.
Fold 3 at Page 2 Civil War Service Records (CMSR) – Confederate – South Carolina – Fold3
Like Samuel Lee, James Chapman Craig was also born in Chesterfield County. He raised Calvalry in Chesterfield, South Carolina in 1861. His company became attached to 4th Calvalry, Hampton’s Brigade, then to Butler’s brigade. They were first stationed in Georgetown, South Carolina. By January 1863, James had earned the title of his regiment as “Captain Craig’s Calvalry”. By February 2nd, 1863 he had a heart attack and had to resign from service in June. He returned home to Chesterfield.
.James Chapman Craig died in 1877 when his overcoat got caught in a saw mill he was operating.
Find A Grave at https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/45782966/james-chapman-craig
Harold Lee, Samuel Lee’s descendant compiled this list of soldiers in Company A of South Carolina 4th Cavalry. One of the privates in the company was Samuel James Parker. Samuel Parker was married to Samuel Lee’s sister, Hannah.
[1] 4th SC Volunteer Cavalry – Company A (researchonline.net) accessed December 28, 2021.
After Captain Craig left Company A in 1863, Samuel Lee was paid by Captain J.W. McCurry. He was paid $24.40 for use of his horse. Captain Joseph W McCurry was a native of North Carolina who lived in Camden in Kershaw County with his wife Sallie Eleanor McDonald McCurry before the War. Sallie died in 1888 and J.W. Craig returned to his native state. He died in Winston Salem, North Carolina in 1910. [2]
Page 8 Civil War Service Records (CMSR) – Confederate – South Carolina – Fold3
Newspapers.com – The Western Sentinel – 20 Sep 1910 – Page 5.
In the Spring and Summer of 1864, records show that Samuel Lee was sent to Lynchburg with unserviceable horses.
Page 10 Civil War Service Records (CMSR) – Confederate – South Carolina – Fold3.
On June 27, 1864, Samuel Lee was at the Receiving and Wayside Hospital in Richmond, Virginia. His disposition was Winder Hospital.
Page 12 Civil War Service Records (CMSR) – Confederate – South Carolina – Fold3.
Samuel Lee was at the Winder Hospital on July 15, 1864 where he received clothing.
Page 13 Civil War Service Records (CMSR) – Confederate – South Carolina – Fold3,
From the Richmond Enquirer, 6/16/1864
THE WINDER HOSPITAL is the largest in the Confederacy, containing six separate divisions, each accommodating four hundred and fifty patients, under the control of a Division Surgeon. Tents, for seven hundred patients, have been recently raised for convalescents. Surgeon A. G. Lane, by whom the hospital was organized in the Spring of 1862, is in charge. The number of beds in each ward of the hospital has been lately increased one-third; this will make the capacity of the hospital, including the tents, 4300. The hospital has been recently re-modeled and repaired. The improvements add greatly to its convenience. It is healthily located, and supplied by wells with clear, cold, pleasant water. – Has a register, bath house, library, and a bakery at which the whole of the bread for the hospital is baked. The first division of the hospital is assigned to the accommodation of soldiers from Georgia, and the remaining five to those from North Carolina. There are now 2129 patients in the hospital under treatment.
http://www.mdgorman.com/Written_Accounts/Enquirer/1864/richmond_enquirer_61664.htm accessed December 31, 2021.
In 1864, Samuel Lee purchased 86 acres of land from his father William Lee. He mortgaged the land in 1874 to Edward Waddill. His father, William Lee took over the mortgage and passed it to brother Henry Lee and then to brother John Thomas Lee. In 1892, Samuel officially signed the land over to John Thomas Lee. By then, he was living in Blount, Alabama.
State of Alabama
Blount County
Whereas I Samuel W Lee of the County of Blount of the State of Alabama but formerly of the County of Chesterfield in the State of South Carolina did on or about the fifth day of December A.D. 1874 make, execute and deliver to Edmund J Waddill of Cheraw in the County of Chesterfield the State of South Carolina. My mortgage deed bearing date on that day whereby I did convey to the said Edmund J Waddell by way of mortgage all that certain piece parcel or tract of land situate in the County of Chesterfield in the said State of South Carolina heretofore described for the purpose of securing to the said Edward J Waddill my bond made executed and delivered by me the said Samuel W Lee to the said Edmund Waddill on or about the 30 day of November A D 1874 which said bond was in the ____ sum of one thousand dollars conditioned for the payment of the sum of five hundred dollars on or about the 30 day of November A D 1875 and whereas the said bond and mortgage was afterwards by the said Edmund J Waddill dully assigned transferring and set over to William Lee and by the said William Lee was dully assigned transferred and set over to Henry Lee and the said Henry Lee dully assigned transferred and set over the said bond and mortgage to John T Lee and whereas I the said Samuel W Lee did agree with the said John T Lee to sell and convey to him said tract of land for full satisfaction of said Mortgage and the further sum of one hundred and fifty dollars and I have placed him in the full peaceable and quiet possession of said land but have never executed to him a title to said land as I should have done. Now therefore know all men by these presents that I the said Samuel W Lee of the County of Blount in the state of Alabama but formerly of the County of Chesterfield in the State of South Carolina have granted, bargained and released for the consideration heretofore ____ by these presents to grant, bargain, sell, and release unto the said John T Lee of the County of Chesterfield in the State of South Carolina all that certain piece parcel or tract of land situate lying and being in the County of Chesterfield in the State of South Carolina, the same being a tract of land conveyed to me by William Lee by his deed having date the eleventh day of May in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four now of record in the office of Register of ____ Conveyance in the County of Chesterfield in the State of South Carolina containing eighty-six acres more or less, and is bounded as follows: on the east by the run of Big Westfield Creek on the west by lands formerly belonging to William Lee, but now said to be the property of Joseph Lee, on the north by lands formerly the property of William A Peagues and Daniel McLorey but now the property of William A Pegues and John McLorey and John W Odom and on the south by lands of Henry Lee, the same being the tract of land described in the mortgage heretofore referred to together with all and singular the rights, members, hereditaments and appurtenances to the said premises belonging or in anymore incident or appertaining. To have and to hold all and singular the said premises unto the said John T Lee his heirs and assigns forever. And I do hereby bind myself my heirs, executors and Administrators to warrant and forever defend all and said singular the said premises unto the said John T Lee his heirs and assigns from and against myself, my heirs, executors, administrators and all persons whomever lawfully claiming or to claim the same or any part thereof. Witness my hand and seal the 27th day of August in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred ninety two and in our hundred and seventeenth year of the Sovereignty and Independence of the United States of America.
Signed sealed and delivered in the presence of BF Weaver & JM Dodd
Samuel W Lee Seal
State of Alabama
Blount County
Before the subscribing officer, Clerk of the Circuit Court for the County of Blount in the State of Alabama personally appears J W Dodd who having duly sworn says that he saw the within named Samuel W Lee sign seal and as his act and deliver the forgoing deed and that he together with BF Weaver witnessed the due execution thereof.
Sworn to and subscribed before me the 27th day of August 1892 to which I hereby certify under my hand and the official seal of the Court at my office in Blountsville the County Seat of Blount County. SC Algood
Clerk of the Circuit official Court for Blount County in the State of Alabama
Recorded this 7th day of January 1893 in Book C page 244 Fee 24
RE Rivers
Auditor Chesterfield County SC
Recorded 7 January 1893
Chesterfield Register of Deeds Book 11, page 700, 701, 702.
No record can be found for Samuel in the 1870 or 1880 census. He was living in Chesterfield when he married his wife in 1888 but had immigrated to Alabama by 1890 when his daughter Mary Adeline Lee was born.
Samuel and his wife may have been homesick for South Carolina like the people from Spartanburg.
Newspapers.com – The Watchman and Southron – 14 Aug 1883 – Page 2.
The Lees could have read with wonder the story of the Flying Snake back in their home state.
Newspapers.com – Huntsville Weekly Democrat – 8 Sep 1897 – Page 1.
Sarah Ellen White, daughter of Richmond White and Anne Parsons White, married Samuel William Lee in 1888. Sarah Ellen White was born July 18, 1857, in Chesterfield, SC, Cheraw District. They left SC and migrated to Alabama settling first in Oneonta, in Blount County.
Picture Pages! (freestateofwinston.org).
Photo courtesy of Joann Holdbrooks.
The Lees are listed after this on the 1900 Marion County, AL Census living near Haleyville, just across the Winston County line. In the 1900 census, they report they have been married 11 years. The couple can read and write and they own their own farm. Their children were: Thomas Anson Lee, Mary Adeline Lee, and Samuel Homer Lee. Samuel Lee died on June 17, 1915, and Sarah Ellen died July 20, 1927. Both are buried in the Union Grove Cemetery in Marion County, near Haleyville. Sarah Ellen White says she was married before in her pension application. Thomas Anson White Lee was the son of Sarah Ellen White and William Holmes White. He was adopted by Samuel Lee and his children all bear his name. Anson was around 6 years old when Samuel and Sarah Ellen married.
Ancestry.Com. Year: 1900; Census Place: Goddard, Marion, Alabama; Roll: T623_30; Page: 9B; Enumeration District: 62.
Sarah Ellen White’s father Richmond White was Thrashley White’s brother. Researchers believe their father was William and Elizabeth Parsons White. Her mother was Anna Parsons. She was the daughter of Abington and Mary Parsons. Her father Richmond died sometime before January 3, 1870 and her mother Anna Parsons White died sometime after December 1883 when her brother Marshall married Elizabeth Chewning. He reported his mother was still living.
Ancestry.Com. North Carolina, U.S., Marriage Records, 1741-2011.
Samuel and Sarah Ellen White Lee first lived in Blount County Alabama but then they moved to Marion County, Alabama. Blount County was just getting a new high school when they arrived.
Newspapers.com – Blount County News-Dispatch – 16 Feb 1888 – Page 1.
Blount County, Alabama is also was home to many covered bridges.
Post card from the personal collection of Martha Rogers.
The Lees then moved to Haleyville, Alabama which straddles the line between Marion and Winston Counties. It incorporated on February 28, 1889. Most of the city is located in Winston County, with a small portion of the western limits entering Marion County. Haleyville was originally named Davis Cross Roads, having been established at the crossroads of Byler Road and the Illinois Central Railroad. At the 2010 census the population was 4,173, down slightly from 4,182 in 2000.
Haleyville, Alabama – Wikipedia accessed December 31, 2021.
In the 1880s and 1890s, Samuel and Sarah Ellen White Lee received sad news from South Carolina of many of their relatives passing away.
- Sometime after the birth of her son Jack in 1880 and the 1900 census Samuel’s sister Ann Lee Wilkerson passed away in Marlboro County. Ann’s husband Richard appears as widowed in the 1900 census.
- In 1891 Samuel’s sister Lottie Charlotte White passed away in Chesterfield.
- In 1892 Samuel’s father William Lee died in Chesterfield.
- In 1893, Samuel’s stepmother Hannah Lee died in Chesterfield.
- In 1897, Sarah Ellen White Lee’s brother Simpson White passed away.
In 1899 Samuel and Sarah Ellen White’s final child, a son Samuel Homer was born. In the 1900 census, Samuel Lee age 59 is living with his wife Sarah Ellen White Lee age 42, daughter Mary A Lee (age 9), Samuel H (age 1) and Anson White his 17 year old step son. He is living in Goddard in Marion County, Alabama.
Ancestry.Com. Year: 1900; Census Place: Harleesville, Marion, South Carolina; Page: 9; Enumeration District: 0072.
Find a Grave at Lottie Charlotte Lee White (1849-1891) – Find A Grave Memorial accessed December 31, 2021.
Ancestry.com – North Carolina, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1665-1998.
The State vs. the Dead Body of Hannah Lee | CSI: Dixie (csidixie.org) accessed December 31, 2021.
In November of 1900, voters in Goddard district were almost evenly distributed with 57 for Bryan (Democrat) and 53 for McKinley (Republican).
Newspapers.com – The Marion County News – 15 Nov 1900 – Page 5.
- Before 1900, Samuel’s sister Eliza Lee Butler died in Laurel Hill, Scotland County, North Carolina. Her husband Aaron Butler appears as widowed in the 1900 census.
- In 1901, Samuel’s sister Hannah Lee Parker died in Chesterfield, South Carolina.
- In 1906, Sarah Ellen White Lee’s brother James Thomas White died in Marlboro County, South Carolina.
- In 1907, Samuel’s brother James Crawford Lee died in Richmond County, North Carolina.
Year: 1900; Census Place: Laurel Hill, Scotland, North Carolina; Roll: 1217; Page: 14B; Enumeration District: 0085; FHL microfilm: 1241217
Find A Grave at James T White (1841-1906) – Find A Grave Memorial accessed December 31, 2021.
Samuel appears on an Alabama census of Confederate Veterans in 1907.
Alabama Department of Archives & History; Montgomery, Alabama; Alabama Census of Confederate Soldiers, 1907 and 1921; Roll: Multiple Regiments (Marion County #47); Roll Number: 211.
On April 2, 1914, he received $12.50 in Confederate Pension in Marion County, Alabama.
Ancestry.com – Alabama, U.S., Confederate Pension and Service Records, 1862-1947.
- In 1911, Sarah Ellen White Lee’s brother Alvin Raymond White died in Richmond County, North Carolina.
- In 1912, Samuel’s brother Henry Alexander Lee died in Chesterfield, South Carolina.
Find a Grave at Alvin Raymond White (1849-1911) – Find A Grave Memorial accessed December 31, 2021.
Find A Grave Henry Lee (1844-1912) – Find A Grave Memorial accessed December 31, 2021.
Samuel William Lee passed away June 17, 1915 in Marion County, Alabama.[ There were two siblings who survived him: John Thomas Lee and Sarah Jane Lee Brock. His wife Sarah Ellen White Lee also survived as well as his adopted son Thomas Anson White Lee and his wife Daisy Odell Stone and their children: Thomas Ray, Jessie Graham, Lillie Mae, Carl Elmo, and Samuel Odell. Neither of his children Mary Adeline “Addie” Lee or Samuel Homer Lee had married or left home when he died.
Death Certificate obtained from State of Alabama.
Samuel Lee was buried at the Union Grove Congregational Church in Haleysville in Marion County, Alabama.
Find A Grave at Samuel William Lee (1840-1915) – Find A Grave Memorial accessed December 31, 2021.
PVT Co A 4th South Carolina Cavalry
Servant of God, well done! Thy glorious warfare’s past; The battle’s fought, the race is won, And thou art crowned at last!
Epitaph for Reverend Tony Eugene Wood great great gramdson of James Crawford Lee (brother of Samuel William Lee) from Newspapers.com – The Charlotte Observer – 15 Oct 2009 – Page 20.
Sarah Ellen White Lee died in 1925. She was most likely the last surviving sibling. Her sister Liza Jane White Brock died in 1923 in Morven, North Carolina of cancer of the stomach. Sarah Ellen White Lee was also buried at the Union Grove Congregational Church in Marion County, Alabama.
Ancestry.Com. North Carolina, Deaths, 1906-1930.
In Thee O Lord have I put my trust
Find A Grave at Sarah Ellen White Lee (1857-1927) – Find A Grave Memorial accessed January 2, 2022.
Like his brothers, Samuel William Lee was a soldier and a farmer. Unlike older brothers James Crawford Lee and John Thomas Lee he had a fairly small family. He left the Chesterfield area to go to Haleyville, Alabama, where his family was well regarded and looked to as Pioneers of the area. The family had its share of tragedy and sorrows but they put their trust in the Lord. The following quote was left at the Find A Grave page for Samuel William Lee.
Martha's Family Connections 