William G. Lee (1839 - 1916)

Born 29 Mar 1839 in Murray, Georgia, USA

Ancestors

Husband of Margaret Jane (Morgan) Lee — married 16 Jun 1865 in Tellico Plains, Monroe, Tennessee, United States

Descendants

Died 29 Jun 1916 at age 77 in Tellico Plains, Monroe, Tennessee, USA

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Charles Lee [send private message]

Biography

DNA Confirmed Parents of William Isaac Lee (1867-1933)

Regarding William Isaac Lee (b. Bet. Jan. - Sept. 1867 - d. November 24, 1933 Estelle, Walker, Georgia) who married Lydia Magdillon Warren (b. March 8, 1872 Winchester, Franklin, Tennessee - d. August 12, 1957 LaFayette, Walker, Georgia)...

I am the original source for Capt. William G. Lee (1839-1916) and Margaret Jane Morgan (1839-1925) being listed as William Isaac Lee's parents on so many family trees. In 2014, I added them as his parents only to research the possibility, not realizing that my Ancestry.com tree was publicly listed. This caused the information to spread like wildfire among his many descendants, then to distant kin, on to other researchers and eventually Google, Yahoo, Bing and many genealogical sites. Shortly after, based on William Isaac's recorded year of birth, his age made me determine that he could NOT be the child of William G. Lee and Margaret Jane Morgan.

The reason why this parentage was originally thought impossible was because Capt. William G. Lee was fighting in the Civil War from 1861 until late 1864. William Isaac Lee was purportedly born in April 1864, making this parentage highly improbable, even if out of wedlock. The most compelling argument that originally made this parentage impossible was that "Capt. Bill" met & married Margaret Jane Morgan 14 months AFTER William Isaac's birth. This was the view until DNA provided indisputable proof that William G. Lee and Margaret Jane Morgan ARE the parents of William Isaac Lee.

Why all the confusion? Well, it is well known to family that William Isaac was very secretive about his early life (parentage, family, personal history, place of origin, etc.). Late in life, he finally confided to his wife Lydia that he had stolen a horse at a very young age and ran away from home. He would never elaborate further on this, likely due to the stigma associated with horse theft at that time. It was a hangable offense in nearly every state throughout most of his life with no statute of limitation. With the new DNA evidence, the only possible explanation is that William Isaac had lied about his age and birthdate to both appear older (to obtain work) and to help hide his identity.

The few facts he gave about his early life have all proven to be false or distortions of the truth:

Birth Date of 1864: The newfound DNA evidence for William Isaac's parentage disproves the birth year of 1864. William & Margaret did not wed until June 16th, 1865 in Monroe county, Tennessee...14 months AFTER William Isaac Lee was purported to have been born. Having a child out of wedlock was exceedingly rare in those days, especially for a prominent person such as Capt. Lee (a local hero after the war). The mother would immediately be labeled a "whore" and the father would almost always deny any claim to the child, or would often simply disappear. None of this happened. William G. & Margaret were both lifelong residents of Tellico Plains, were considered devout Baptists and pillars of their community. A more accurate birth for William Isaac is likely between January and October of 1867, as Margaret Jane had already given birth to children in both 1866 and 1868. Any earlier would be impossible as his parents had not yet met. A birth of 1869 or 1870 is also unlikely because he would have almost certainly appeared in the household in the 1870 census record and would have been too young to pass as a teenager in 1880. This suggested birth date of 1867 also coincides w/ William Isaac's reported age of 14 years in the 1880 census.

Twin Sister: Late in life, William Isaac also briefly stated that he had a twin sister named Almeedy (or Almeda). William G. Lee & Margaret Jane Morgan did not have a child named Almeda/Almeedy. Their children born between 1865 & 1868 were all male. There are no records of an Almeda or Almeedy Lee (or other spelling variants) in the 1870 & 1880 censuses, family bibles or birth and death records. Nor is there any record of her having been buried at New Providence, the family cemetery or anywhere in Alabama. It appears that Almeedy likely did not exist.

Capt. Bill the Riverboat Captain & Sheriff of Dallas County: William Isaac also stated that his father was a riverboat captain and the "sheriff of Selma Alabama", which is in Dallas County. No records exist of a riverboat captain having existed in Alabama named William or Bill Lee. Furthermore, no record of a constable, deputy or sheriff named William/Bill Lee exists. The sheriffs of Dallas County during William Isaac's early life were: 1861 - J.B. Harrison, 1865 - S.J. Howard, 1866 - James McDedman, 1868 George P. Rex, 1869 - George H. Craig, 1870 - Marcellus DeKamp, 1874 - C.M. Shelly and 1877 - George R. Mason. No William or Bill Lee before, during or after those dates. Nor was there ever a constable, deputy or sheriff named William/Bill Lee in any of the surrounding counties. This story was too specific in detail to be "misremembered" and was likely a fabrication that grew over time to give his father a (rightly deserved) air of importance, while concealing his parents’ identity & his place of origin.

DNA Confirmation of Parentage: As of this writing, 11 direct descendants of Capt. William G. Lee and Margaret Jane Morgan have taken DNA tests. Seven of these are confirmed descendants of William Isaac Lee; my aunt, a 1st cousin, myself and 4 distant cousins. The remaining 3 test takers are confirmed descendants through other children of William G and Margaret Jane. Each of the 11 tests show the same common ancestors, so the results are indisputable.

The only remaining question that might help us zero in on an exact birth date is why, to date, William Isaac has not been located in any 1870 census record.

- Charles B. Lee Jr. (cblee1978 at yahoo dot com) May 8th, 2020 (Revised May 20th, 2023)

Residence

1850 McMinn, Tennessee, USA

1860 Monroe, Tennessee, USA

1870 Monroe, Tennessee, USA

1880 Monroe, Tennessee, USA

1910 Monroe, Tennessee, USA

Burial

New Providence Cemetery - Tellico Plains, Monroe county, Tennessee

Biography From Tellico Plains Newspaper

Capt. William G. Lee was a prominent citizen of Tellico Plains, Fourteenth District of Monroe County. He was born in Murray County, Ga., on March 29, 1839, to Clem and Frances (Richey) Lee.

Clem Lee, William's father, was born in North Carolina in 1792 and died in Polk County in 1852. He moved to Polk County Tennessee about the time of the Hiwassee Purchase around 1819. After marriage to Frances Richey he moved to Georgia, remained there ten years, and in 1836 or 1837 he again moved to Polk County where he remained until his death. He was a member of the Baptist Church, and a Democrat in politics.

William's mother was born in Monroe County, Tenn., about the same date as her husband, and died in Polk County in June of 1876. She was also a member of the Baptist Church. Of their family of nine children, five now living, our subject is the seventh...William G. Lee. William was only fifteen at the time of his father's death, but assisted his mother all he could by working on the farm or by giving her his wages when he worked for others. He also went to school during that time.

Around late May or early June of 1861 he enlisted in Company H, Third Tennessee Infantry, Confederate Army. He was a private for twelve months, then upon the reorganization of the Third Tennessee Infantry on May 14 1862 he was elected first lieutenant and later was made captain of the newly re-formed Company K. He was at the first battle of Bull Run, the battle of Tazewell and was severely wounded at the siege of Vicksburg. He was paroled by General Grant on July 6th 1863 after the Conferderate surrender at Vicksburg. By August of 1863, William Lee along with most of the Third Tennessee Infantry regrouped with Braxton Bragg's army in Chattanooga to participate in the upcoming Battles For Chattanooga.

After the war he returned to Tellico Plains and married Miss Margaret J. Morgan on June 16th 1865. Ms. Morgan was born on October 10th 1839 to Amasiah and Irene (Hunt) Morgan. Mr. and Mrs. Lee were both members of the Baptist Church. Their marriage born six children: John Luther McKenzie Lee, Amaziah Thomas Lee, Francis I. Lee, Margaret J. Lee, Mary Harriett Lee. and Worth Stickley Lee.

William Lee rented land he and his family lived on in Tellico Plains for thirteen years finally purchasing it around 1878. Mr. Lee was quite successful in all his business transactions, a Democrat, and was considered a good citizen.

Military Service Notes

Family lore has always stated that he & his brother, George Washington Lee, fought on opposite sides during the Civil War. However, military & public records show that William G. & George Washington Lee BOTH were Confederate army Captains in the 3rd Confederate Tennessee Infantry Regiment (aka Vaughn's 3rd) mustering out of Monroe County Tennessee, both were captured in the Siege of Vicksburg, held as P.O.W.s and paroled by Grant thereafter. In fact, there were four brothers in the 3rd: William G., George W., Alexander L., and John Lee...all sons of Clem and Frances. William, George, and Alexander were all part of Company H which was later reformed to Company K. John Lee was part of Company B.

Also note, some online records show George holding the rank of Colonel and William G. holding the rank of Private when they were mustered out. This is likely because the TN 3rd Infantry was absorbed into two other units at different dates due to significant losses to the 3rd. Each company only held, at most, two Captains. So as units and companies were merged due to military losses, it was common to see many demotions.