The Descendants of Joel Lee
(born: July, 1781, in Virginia)

When researching this family's lineage I found it to be one of the most mixed-up and confusing to document that I've ever worked on before. This is due to a number of issues, not to mention poor handwriting of the census takers; hard to find census due to the poor handwriting; failure to correctly log the individuals of the households by the census takers at the time the census were taken, and improper logging by those currently providing the records on genealogy research web sites.

However, using a combination of documents and many different types of records, despite the mistakes of others, I have managed to find a large amount of information about the family's lineage. Below is a summary of what I know so far.

Currently this is an ongoing research project. Many new facts and documents are being collected and used to understand more about this family's lineage. For example, see this page  

Joel Lee Family Lineage:

FACT: The Historical Society of Howard County, Missouri reports that Joel Lee, who served in the Revolutionary War, is the father of John Lee. If this is correct, then Joel Lee, born 1756, is also the father of Joel Lee born in 1781 in Virginia. John and Joel were brothers. But, there is also evidence pertaining to the marriage of John Lee and Sarah Owen, that indicates John's father may have been William Lee. It is possible that William Lee is mistaken in that other report; mistaken as being the father of the two brothers. There may have been a William, who was a brother of John and Joel; all being sons of Joel Lee, the Revolutionary War soldier of 1775.

There is also evidence indicating that Nancy Lee, who married Elijah Harris, in 1794, is a sister to Joel, John and possibly a William. Elijah Harris's parents were William and Elizabeth Harris.

Nancy (Lee) Harris, and her husband, Elijah Harris, report ably did not move to Missouri with her brothers. They moved to Wilson County, Tennessee.

Currently more research is being done on the Harris family connections, and the father of Joel, and John Lee.

Facts pertaining to Joel and John Lee that settled in Missouri:

FACT: There appears to have been more than one Joel Lee that served in the Revolutionary War. If not, then "the" Joel Lee (the one who served in the Revolutionary War) did not make the move to Howard County, Missouri in the early 1800s, as did many of the Lee family members. A Joel Lee, well known for serving in the Revolutionary War, later lived in Saratoga, New York, and remained there till his death many years later. Listed below, on this page, are some notes pertaining to the service of Joel Lee in 1775 in the Revolutionary War.

FACT: Joel Lee Jr., born abt. July, 1781, and John Lee Sr. born abt. 1782-90, and members of their families, moved to Howard County, Missouri.
Per land records it is indicated that John Lee purchased property from a James Ramsey in Howard County, MO. on Dec. 26, 1818. From the report of Howard County's Historical Society, it would indicate John was still in Virginia in March of 1816, when his son John Lee Jr. was born. John most likely first arrived in Howard County before the Fall of 1818.
Joel Lee, believed to be the brother of John Lee (Sr.) first appears (as documented) in Howard County, MO. by Aug. 8, 1826. This is when Joel Lee signed the probate record to do with the death of John Lee, husband of Sarah Lee (widowed). Joel can be found in the 1820 census of Prince George County, Virginia. So, Joel Lee must have arrived in Howard County, MO. a few years after his brother John Lee did; after 1820, but before August of 1826.

FACT: Both Joel Lee Jr. and John Lee's wife, are listed in the 1830 census of Howard County, MO. John Lee Sr. is not listed in the census. John Lee Sr. died prior to Aug. 8, 1826. Probate records of Howard County, MO. document this to be true.

The 1830 census list Joel Lee in the age range of between ages 40 to 50.

It lists Sarah Lee (John Lee's wife) as between the age of 50 to 60. However, a Virginia marriage record list her as being born in 1789; so she should have been listed as between 40 and 50 years old in the census. If she were born in 1789, per the marriage record, then in 1830 she would have been 41 years old. Sarah (Owen) Lee and John Lee married in Virginia in 1806.

FACT: Historical records of Howard County, Missouri Society records state this:
"John Lee was born March 5, 1816, in Richmond, Va., son of John Lee, Sr., and Susan (Owen)
Lee, natives of Virginia. John Lee, Sr. was a son of Joel Lee, a soldier of the Revolution of 1776,
who served under General Washington. The elder John Lee, with his wife and children, came
from Virginia to Missouri in 1819 and this family was one of the first families of the state. John
Lee, Jr. was one of the leading farmers and stockmen of Howard County, Mo., and he was also a
prominent financier of Boonville, one of the organizers of the bank of Ahle, Lee & Duncia at
Boonville, which bank was conducted until 1882, when Mr. Lee became head of the banking
institution known as John Lee & Son, Bankers. In 1885, John Lee, Jr. sold his interest in this bank
and assisted in the organization of the Commercial Bank, becoming a director, a position he held
until his death in 1893.
The father died at his home at Old Franklin on Dec. 18, 1893, at the advanced age of 77 years.
Mr. Lee was widely known in this section of the state. His home and farm were at Old Franklin in
Howard County, but his chief business interests are in Boonville. By a former marriage, John Lee,
Jr., was the father of two children, who are now living: Mrs. Ida Swinney, wife of E. F. Swinney, a
prosperous banker of Kansas City, Mo., and Samuel, of Kansas City."

From Missouri's history records:

FACT: The 1830 census also shows another John Lee living next door to Joel. He is not of the correct age range to have been the John Lee Sr. or John Lee Jr. mentioned above. He may be a son of Joel? John Lee Jr. would be the son listed in Sarah Lee's household between the age of 10 and 15 of that census (He would have been 12 years old in 1830). This information agrees with the children's age listings of Sarah's household of 1830.

(Blue text indicates my subject of interest direct lineage.)

Joel Lee was born in July of 1781 in Virginia. In the 1830 census Joel is listed in Howard County. He was the son of Joel Lee, born 1756 in Virginia, a Revolutionary War soldier. By the 1840s Joel, born July, 1781, is listed as living in Saline County, Missouri. Records found show that he married Catharine Sands on April 27, 1845 in Saline County, MO.. This would have been a second marriage for Joel, because he was almost 65 years old at that time, and Catharine was only 25. Joel is also listed in the 1830 census as having children; this would be before he married Catharine Sands in 1845.
Joel is listed as being a "Farmer" in the 1850 census., likewise in the 1860 census.

One child that is listed as living with Catharine and Joel in the 1850 census was born before they married. This child, Ann, was born about 1839, which was prior to the April, 1845 marriage of Catharine and Joel. Ann appears to have been the daughter of Joel and his first wife. Other persons report that Joel's first wife was named Ora Newman. I have not been able to confirm this is correct or not.

Catharine Sands, born 1820, in North Carolina. She married Joel Lee on April 27, 1845, in Saline County, Missouri.

NOTE:
Joel's daughter, Ann Lee, was born in 1839, and in the 1850 census is listed as being a "Mulatto". Joel's first wife may have been of Indian race, or Black. For years it has been known, by some of the descendants of Joel, that there was Indian blood within the family's ancestral lineage. As to this being the source of the Indian connection is unknown at this time.

Joel and his first wife are found in the 1830 census of Howard County, Missouri. At that time they had two (2) sons, between the ages of 15 to 20; one (1) daughter between the ages of 10 to 15; and one (1) daughter between the ages of 15 to 20. This would indicate that Ann Lee, born in 1839, was an additional child of the couple. There may have been other children also born to them before Ann's birth. Joel's "first wife", name unknown at this time, died sometime before 1845. Joel remarried in 1845 to Catharine Sands.

The children of Joel and Catharine Lee were:
(per census records dating after 1840)

Ann Lee, born 1839 (Daughter of Joel and his first wife)
Louisa Lee, born 1847
William A. Lee, born 1849 - died 1927
(Above information confirmed by the Saline Co., Missouri's 1850 census, household of Joel Lee. Children listed below confirmed by the 1860 census.)
John W. Lee, born Feb. 16, 1852 - died Dec. 22, 1929
Joel Lee, born 1853
Elizabeth Lee, born 1855
Charles Lee, born 1857
Arra Ereline Lee, born 1863 (confirmed by the 1870 census report)

William A. Lee, born 1849, in Saline County, MO.. William married Mary E. Whight on July 14, 1872 in Saline County. (Note: The marriage license list Mary's last name as "White".)

Mary E. Whight, born about 1851, was the daughter of Dora Ann Whight who later (second marriage) became Dora Ann Coats, wife of Joseph Coats.

More about Mary E. Whight found here

NOTE:
The 1870 census of Saline County, MO.. has some mistakes, or misleading information about these individuals. It shows William Lee, as "William Lee Coats", a farmer living in Joseph Coats household. It also shows Mary E. Whight, and her siblings, but does not show or indicate the "step-children" relationship to Joseph of these children. It is my understanding that Dora Ann )Aka. Dovie - maiden name unknown at this time) was married to a "unknown Whight before she married Joseph Coats.)

Children of William Lee and Mary E. Whight (Aka. Mary E. Coats):
George Lee, born abt. 1871 in Brownsville, MO.
William Lee, born Abt. 1872 in Brownsville, MO.
Samuel Birt Lee, born Abt. 1876, born in Brownsville, MO.
Wyle C. Lee, born Aug. 13, 1877, born in Brownsville, MO.
Henry Lee, born May, 1890 in Brownsville, MO.
Raymond Lee, born Feb., 1883 in Brownsville, MO.
Carrie B. Lee, born Aug., 1886 in Brownsville, MO.
Watson Lee, born Jan., 1888 in Brownsville, MO.
Nettie M. Lee, born Abt. 1891, born in Brownsville, MO.
Joseph Lee, born Abt. 1896, born in Brownsville, MO.

Wyle C. Lee, born Aug. 13, 1877 in Brownsville, Missouri. He married Eliza Jane Ida Mae Treece (aka. Ida Mae Treece), in Pettis County, MO., on Oct. 1, 1904. The marriage was recorded in Pettis County, MO. on Oct. 4, 1904.

Ida Mae Treece, born Nov. 22, 1880, daughter of William Treece and Gillian Ann Shackelford. More about Ida Mae Treece here

Children of Wyle C. Lee and Ida Mae Treece:
William Charles (Buck) Lee, born 1905
Clark B. Lee, born 1912; died 1918
Kathryn Lee, born Oct. 14, 1914
Betty A Lee, born  Feb. 1, 1918
Hubert Joe Lee, born Mar. 8, 1919

Other Notes:
(These things must be considered when using and understanding census and other documents in research.)
Saline County, Missouri was formed on Nov. 25, 1820. The county's area was originally part of Howard and Cooper counties.

Howard County is referred to as "The Mother of Counties"; 31 other counties (including Saline County) were formed from territory of the original Howard County, of January 13, 1816. It originally contained 22,000 square miles - about one-third as large as the present state of Missouri.  Even some counties that are now in lower Iowa were originally part of Howard County, Missouri.

From the Library of Congress: (Soldiers of the Revolutionary War - served in 1775)
(Listed in the list below is the Joel Lee that I believe to be the Revolutionary War soldier that is the father of Joel born 1780, and his brother John Lee Sr., of the family who moved to Howard County, Missouri in 1819.)

Aaron Albee, Ebeu Allen. John Allen, Ebenezer Amidon, Sergt. John Bacon. Drum Major Rufus D. Bacon. Trumpeter John Blood, Josiah Barnes. Ephraini Boyers, James Brown. Paul Brown. William Brown, David Burrill, William Butler, Capt. William Carter, Capt. Lemuel Corbin. Capt. Samuel Corbin, Sergt. Elisha Corbin, Sergt. Ephraim Corbin, Sergt. Asa Curtis, Sergt. John Curtis, Drummer Nathaniel Corbin, Thomas Carroll. John Caten, Ichabod Chamberlain, Jacob Chamberlain. Ezekiel Chase, Nathan Clarke, Joseph Cody, Peter Cooms, John Comstock, Elijah Converse, Elisha Corbin, Jr., Joshua Corbin, Stephen Corbin, Amos Cummings, Cornet Jonathan Day, Corp. Ebenezer Dodge, Joseph Davis, Daniel Dodge, John Dodge, John Dodge, Jr., Mark Dodge, Nathan Dodge, Noah Dodge, Drummer John Edmunds, Benjamin Edmunds, Lemuel Edmonds, Asa Edmonds, Ebenezer Edmunds, Stephen Edmunds, Joshua Ephraims, 1st Lieut. Timothy Foster, Corp. William Foster, Jonas Fairbauk, John Fenner, Nathaniel Fitts, John Fiveash, Nathan Fletcher, John Foster, Jonathan Foster, Joseph Foster, Lemuel Foster, Corp. Ira Green, Ebenezer Griggs, Peter Grove, Maj. Nathaniel Healy, Lieut. Samuel Healy, Ensign Lemuel Healy, Corp. John Healy. Ebenezer Dodge, Joseph Davis, Stephen Healy, Luke Harris. David Haskell, Jeremiah Haskell, Benjamin Havens, Silas Hayden, Hosea Hay ward, Simeon Hay ward, Joseph Healy, Jr., Samuel Healy, Ebenezer Hibbard, Samuel Hibbard, Ezekiel Hovey, Elijah Humphrey, Riohard Hunt, Benjamin Inman, Nathan Inman, Sergt. Eleazer Jackson, Sergt. Moses Jewell, Benjamin Jewell, Ebenezer Jewell, Jesse Jewell, Wilham Jordan, Capt. David Keith, Lieut. Joseph Keith, Benjamin Kidder, Samuel Kidder, Phineas Kimball, Iohabod Kocks, Maj. William Earned, Thomas Larned, Joel Lee, Sergt. Joseph Marcy, Amasa Marshall, John Mason, Nathaniel May, Blkins More, Benjamin Morris, John Morris.